Tim Burton could do this justice

This could be the opening scene for a vampire attack, or maybe a perfect location for a witch ceremony. As the winds ripped through the tops of the trees we were sheltered, only letting the frigid sub zero air seep into our lungs. If not for the barks and hollering winds, a crack of a stick would send chills down your spine, raise the hairs on the back of your neck. 

The Nightmare Before Christmas, Sleepy Hallow, Corpse Bride. 

Would you believe that this was taken at 10 am? The sun seems to be that high. Too bad I didn't run into Johnny Depp on our hike...

Continental Divide

I decided to take my real camera on our hike today. I also decided to pull off the road to snap this photo. THIS doesn't seem real, even as I sit here in my living room after seeing this earlier today. THIS is heaven on earth, but I'm not sure how I'm going to survive winter. Falling the clocks back is going to make for early cold darkness. Each day gets a few minutes shorter and chiller. Being back in the US is nostalgic. I remember these feelings. Bundled up on the couch at 4:30 pm in pajamas, a scarf, big fat, fluffy socks. Thinking how nice a cup of tea would be, if only I had a butler. My freedom is worth it. 

Breathtaking

There's this view when you drive west on I-70 from Denver. You're view is limited and you are climbing altitude and all of a sudden you reach the top of a hill and this is what you see.

I've seen this view hundreds of times and it never ceases to amaze me, take my breath away, remind me of my place, restore a little tiny bit of faith.

It's the end of October and although we've only had a dusting of snow here in the city, the Continental Divide, those ridges of 14,000 foot peaks that separate the east from the west are already snow covered. It's like a dream up there, high alpine ecosystems. Think of the continent moving, adjusting, colliding and scrunching the rock. Our world is amazing, wondrous, spectacular.

Glorious

Going for a walk isn't that easy anymore... First thing is to check the temperature with the weather app on my phone. Yup, I confirm that it's 33 degrees, about freezing. Now to think about what to layer so that I don't freeze or sweat. Do I wear my new fleece lined pants? A long sleeve shirt? Two shirts? Do I wear my fleece hat and gloves? Ugh, all the decisions just to go outside. 

BUT look at what I get to see once I get outside and walk two blocks north.

Wow

This morning when I walked up to my building I could have sworn that this was the most amazing sunrise I've ever seen. Each step closer to going inside I couldn't take my eye off the sun and I rushed up to my 3rd floor classroom that gratefully faces east and snapped this photo. This is a completely undoctored photo taken with and IPhone 5. Wow.  Getting up in the dark and frigid air is compensated with this. Our Earth is wondrous, beautiful, stunning. I am in awe.

New Day

Luckily the human brain has a way of "forgetting" about crappy stuff. You know how when you are on vacation and things just aren't going your way you think that you'll never put yourself in that situation again and the very next year you are sitting around reminiscing how amazing that vacation was, completely blocking out all the annoying stuff that happened? This is a survival tool, really. If we remembered all the yucky stuff we would die out as a species because I'm pretty sure not many people would go through child birth twice. Unless the bad stuff changes your brain pathways you can get over it pretty quick.

There are new studies that show that if you have experienced long lasting trauma in your lifetime and it actually changed your pathways that you can pass that on to your offspring. Scary, but what's awesome is that humans have the ability to reverse that pathway change and "fix" the traumatic damage and the healthy gene making alleles can now be passed on. Now, it's easier to know about that and read about it rather than actually doing it. But knowledge is the first step to power. So grasp onto that new day that has just started and make it a good one. Even if the hail storm accompanied by thunder and lightening just shortened your walk with your dog...

Que bonita

My final weekend in the DR concludes with a visit to my favorite beach, Playa Bonita in Las Terrenas. Awesomeness from sunrise to sunset...

I will miss the palm trees on the beach and the warm, calm, crystal clear waters.

If you find yourself in need of a tropical, out of the way, isolated place this is it. You can fly into Santo Domingo, rent a car and in just 2 hours be in Playa Bonita. It would probably be much easier to fly into Samana, check ticket prices now. 

Puppy Time in Playa Bonita

It is low season here at DR beaches and you know what that means? Cheaper rates, less tourists and a bit of rain - worth it. Playa Bonita is exactly how it sounds, beautiful, and my favorite place I've been to on this Island. The gov't has been doing work on the roads and a once 5 hour drive has been dwindled down to 2 1/2 hours. The cost for the speed, however is a bunch of tolls. Not a terrible price to pay to leave Santo Inferno for the weekend.

The teachers tend to congregate at a place called Atlantis on Playa Bonita and they allow dogs. I know I needed time to heal from Winnie's death and I've been living out of suitcases, but I MISSED having a dog in my life. I feel a huge wave of relief having her around. Of course it's more work and I have to change my schedule a bit, but it is worth every sleepless moment.

You know what else I've figured out... it's not that I'm not a morning person it's that I've been waiting for someone to share my mornings with. Fresa's routine has been established to get up at 5:30 no matter the day, so at that ripe time she whined and we headed out to the playa. Without her I would have missed this...

Early morning beach walks are the best. Especially in a place with perfect temperatures.

Las Terrenas has done a great job vaccinating and fixing their street dogs. A bunch of dogs hang out at this beach and since you are isolated from any roads and there a few tourists this time of year, Fresa was able to run and play to her and my hearts content.

She rarely sits still for very long when she's awake, so I hung out with her in the grassy area above the beach and we had a little photo shoot.

I love having a puppy. One of the things I always missed with Winnie was that she never looked at me. She was too abused and too old when I got her and I saw my other friends with their dogs have a different connection than I had with Winnie. Getting a puppy is the way to go.

A quick journey around the island (with my photos)

I've been thinking about this place, the Dominican Republic. The weather is fantastic, perfect, I couldn't ask for better weather. On the surface, not digging too deep, there are some amazing spots here. In my year and a half here I've explored quite a bit. There is still one more place I'd like to go before I leave, Monte Cristi, but all in all I've done a pretty good job seeing the beauty. Of course, under that surface there is a huge pile of burning plastics and trash, floating styrofoam, but right now I'm going to show you the beauty. The reality will come in time and my time here is coming to an end. You don't want to say never, but right now I can't imagine coming back here, there are just too many unexplored places on my world map.... For now, enjoy a short ride around the island.

Let's start in the Samana Pennisula. From Santo Domingo you'll need to drive east towards the airport but then north for a few hours.

This is Playa Bonita near Las Terrenas. Now that there is a new toll road the trip is pricer, but a lot quicker. You can stay in a little hotels right on the beach here. If you are in need of peace and quiet, calm waters, gentle breezes and palm trees this is your place.

Playa Bonita

Las Terrenas is a tiny town that has some good qualities. The French have settled there and they have started some programs to help vaccinate and tag stray dogs. You gotta love that. One of the big condo-resort places is called Balcones del Atlantico, and the beach in front of the resort is amazing. There is a coral reef here and the resort actually spends money to help protect the ecosystem. 

Las Terrenas

East of Las Terrenas all the way to the end of the Pennisula is Galeras. From here you can take a boat to the west and end up at Playa Rincon...

Playa Rincon

Take the boat in the other direction and turn around the bend a bit and you'll end up on Playa Fronton, heaven on earth. I'm lucky to be heading back there again in a week.

Playa Fronton

Now head back to the mainland. On a recent trip when we were just about to turn south from the pennisula I looked in the rear view mirror and saw this.

 After enjoying the view keep driving south and to the east and you'll end up in Bavaro, which is a town north of Punta Cana. This is resortville and filled with tourists and locals that all want a shot at your dollars. 

Bavaro Beach

From the east coast you'll need to head back towards Santo Domingo. Right outside the airport is La Caleta. The government has declared the waters here a marine national park. The coral reefs here are trying to be protected. This place is usually not quiet, on the weekends it's filled with local people, food and music.

La Caleta

Before passing through the city you could stop at a cave called Tres Ojos. Literally three eyes. Don't look too gringo or they'll try to rip you off. If you can get down in there with your wallet you'll see some amazing views.

Tres Ojos

Now you can keep driving through the city west to Las Salinas. This little spit of sand jets out and in the formation of a little bay you get a super windy side and a super calm side. Here's a shot from the calm side.

Las Salinas

Not to far out in the shallow waters is a coral reef in need of protection.

El Durrumbao

Get back in the car and drive towards the south western part of this side of the island and you'll get to Barahona. 

Barahona

This is usually a stop before continuing on the long desert journey to Bahia de las Agulias. Many people think this is the most beautiful place on the island. I don't disagree, but it's such a pain to get to that most people will never make it there.

Bahia de las Agulias 

Before we head back up to the coast let's stop in the mountains. The highest peak in the entire Caribbean is Pico Duarte. The trip takes 3 days minium, but here's one of my favorite photos from both trips.

View from La Comparticion

For a great, but somewhat risky adventure, you can head to 27 Waterfalls. This is just north of Santiago and the north coast.

27 Waterfalls

Driving north and going a bit west you'll end up in Punta Rucia. The Atlantic waters here are also filled with corals. 

Punta Rucia

From here drive a short distance east and you will encounter a protected area of manatees. A couple takes care of the area and you can rent kayaks and head out into the green organic waters in search of the sea cows.

Estero Hondo

On the north coast drive east to Caberete. This is actually my least favorite beach on the island. People love it because there are actually waves for surfing, and wind for wind surfing. The sand and water reminds me of North Carolina beaches, not the perfect paradise you think of here.

Caberete

You'll probably need to head back to the Capital to catch your flight...

Reefs, manatees, mangroves, and the moon

There are manatees in the DR!

So a few months ago I was looking through a tourist brochure and I saw an article about a protected bay on the north side of the DR that is a safe haven for a population of manatees. I was instantly intrigued and started brainstorming ways to get up there and check it out. Of course, one of my ideas was to organize a trip for my high school students, so they could see this awesome part of their island. I had no idea what to expect and my expectations were low, but the trip turned out to be amazing.

After a 5 hour bus ride from the capital through the winding mountains we ended up near Punta Rucia.

Day one we hopped on a boat and headed straight for Cayo Arena, a spit of sand out in the middle of the ocean, surrounded by a reef. 

We had 28 students and 4 chaperones with us. When we arrived the sand bar was filled with tourists. 

I saw the most fish I've seen snorkeling on this island. The reefs are being protected and some areas are roped off, so it looks like things are a bit more healthy here. Good news.

After a few hours we headed back to Punta Rucia and prepared for a night of astronomical adventures! 

We're only 19 degrees north of the equator here so the sun sets around 6:15 and usually pretty fast. The air was filled with moisture and before the sun went all the way down I was able to get some sunset photos...

Sun's down... time for the night sky.

Not only was Jupiter and 4 of it's moon visible, but the Perseid Meteor shower was peaking.

One of my students took this photo of the moon by resting her camera on the eyepiece of the telescope.

Sleep time is always the worst part of any school trip... I'm a human so I can't just stay awake and watch all the kids all night.

The next morning we headed to Estero Hondo. Just a few minutes east of Punta Rucia, this is the location of the Mammal Sanctuary. A Belgium man and his Dominican wife live at the sanctuary and look after the manatees. 

When we hiked down the dirt road the kayaks were waiting for us and before we could give any instruction a group of students jumped in and started paddling away. The funny part about this is most of our students had never been in a kayak before, they were just so excited to be there that they couldn't contain themselves and left a group of us behind... I had been thinking about those manatees for so long there was no way I was NOT going to see them... The left behinds waited patiently and finally got our chance to paddle out into the bay. What awaited us was a million times better than I could have imagined. The calm, peaceful waters surrounding our kayaks while we patiently waited for the manatee faces to peek up out of the water for a deep breath of air. It was impossible to capture a photo of their face and I decided to put down my camera and just observe rather than obsess about a photo. So here's where we were...

If you decide to venture out to Estero Hondo it's better to take the kayaks out in the morning when the manatees are more active. In October/November they are mating so are more active. This is one of the awesomest places I've been in the DR!

photoreflection

I was thinking of uploading some photos to the National Geographic photo contest, but after several error messages I decided that maybe I would just put a few of my favorites on my blog...

Inle Lake, Myanmar

I've been thinking about my time in Burma, you know, Myanmar. I feel like that move stretched my comfort zone so far that I've been living in the middle surrounded by the wrinkled, stretched out skin of my zone. The weight of the sac are starting to get to me and I feel like I've got to get out to the limits of my zone, or I'll suffocate. 

Ngorongoro Crater, Tanzania 

Patterns in nature, connectivity, expression, purity. I want more of those things in my life.

Sucre, Bolivia

Love, companionship, commitment. I don't know a single gringa that is in a happy, healthy relationship with a local...

Salar de Uyuni, Bolivia

The best way to bring magic into your life is to be the one creating it.

Lago Verde, Bolivia

Those obstacles, which seem insurmountable, will become your vantage points.