We had Wednesday the 21st off because it was a holiday in the Dominican Republic. My friend and I took this time to go explore the caves (las cuevas de Caberete). It was amazing. My friend and I got a personal tour guide and on our way to the caves we got to see many of the naive plants of the Dominican. I saw pineapple, mint leaves (used in mojitos), dragon leaves (used in tea when one feels sick), yuca, cocoa, among many other things. Our guide gave us a lot of information about the plants which was quite interesting. We continued on the path and stopped at a part that was in the middle of the wilderness. Here was an amazing kitchen area, bar area, dancing area, and theater area. Our guide told us that thirty years ago all of these things were functioning thanks to a man named Jungle Jim who popularized the area. Jungle Jim was German and Canadian and he ended up having his ashes scattered in the area we were standing in. The area looked amazing and it is unfortunate that it is no longer being used today (due to lack of visitors to the cave). Then we headed down into the first cave. I was a bit nervous since I had never been in a cave before. I didn't know what to expect. Really I was nervous because the steps were narrow and I didn't want to fall down. I didn't exactly come prepared with the right footwear. I was wearing flip flops and I really should have worn sneakers, but it's okay because I made it out alive.
It was such a unique experience being in the cave. It's a good thing I had a hard hat on though because I kept bumping my head on the top of the cave because I was concentrating so hard on where I was placing my feet so that I wouldn't fall. Every time I would bump my head the guide would say "be careful watch your head and watch your feet". I just told him that I wasn't good at following rules because I just couldn't stop bumping my head. Once we got to the bottom there was an opening filled with spring water that me and my friend got to swim around in.It was awesome. It was dark in the cave so the only lights we had were three flashlights. I was scared to go in at first because when I swim in the dark I always think something is going to attack me from the bottom but I put this fear aside and hopped in anyways. I am so glad that I did the water was so refreshing and according to the guide you look five years younger when you get out of the water. So now I look like I'm sixteen and I'm just thrilled about that.
We walked awhile until we got to the second cave. This cave was different from the first because it had stalactite hanging down from the top of it. The guide brought us to a small pool of water where we touched some minerals that were floating in it. The minerals got there by dripping down from the stalactite. There were some unique rock formations on the bottom of the cave as well. One looked like a man and the other looked like a woman so they refer to them as Adam and Eve. We continued walking down the path just a little ways and the guide started to tell us about something else. It was quite dark in the cave and the only light was coming from our three flashlights. As I was standing there I looked to my left and I jumped because I thought I saw a man standing there. I used my flashlight to shine light in that direction and I saw that it was just the rock that looked like a man.
After being scared half to death by an immovable object we moved onto the third cave. The third cave was very open. What was neat is that there was coy fish swimming in the cave water. We could go swimming again at this cave but I chose not to because I was being eaten alive by mosquitoes so I needed to get far away from the still water. There was also a spot where you could stand on a rock and jump into the cave water. The water was very deep but there also were spots that had large rocks at the bottom so you needed to be careful where you jumped. My friend jumped off the "cliff" but I did not. I didn't do it because I remembered a time a couple of years ago when I was at a waterfall and I jumped off a plastic cliff into the water. It wasn't even that high and I hated it so I knew I wouldn't like jumping from an even higher distance
I am glad that I took the one day that we didn't have anything scheduled for during this trip to go to El Cajon and explore. Walking down this road gave me a a better taste for what Dominican life is like because many tourist stay on road that we are staying on. I am also super happy that my friend discovered that there are caves so close to where we are staying. Not only this but I got to see a lot of native plants and fruits. In fact our tour guide, Wilson, showed us this one plant called higuero. He said that here in the Dominican Republic they take the plant and hollow it out (giving the inside of the plant to pigs to eat). Then they drill holes into the plant making different designs. Then one can put a candle under it making the light shine through the plant. It looks beautiful. Wilson told us that they sell these near where we are staying. My friend and I walked down the main road and found the shop that sells the higuero lights. I ended up buying a medium size one that has the design of a turtle on one side and a sun on the other. I'm hoping that it doesn't break in my carry on.
I can't believe that it is almost time to leave. I truly had an amazing experience. Hopefully I will be able to come back in the future.