The Arrival

After my two flight journey from the west coast of California to Florida and finally to Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic, I became overwhelmed with expectations of the trip. I had no idea what to expect and as someone that is not fluent in Spanish, but can somewhat get by I wasn't sure how well received that would be. I'd like to say as a 35 year old, I am an experienced traveler and I have traveled to place solo before, but this entire start of the trip felt different. I knew I would have to get out of my comfort zone quite a lot and live with a group of people I did not know for almost ten days. It was going to be an experienced unlike anything I've done before. I was excited and nervous about the arrival most of all.

Navigating the small airport and finding the group was easier than I had thought. A lot of us had the same thoughts after talking and meeting each other while we waited for our guide to pile us into a bus and take us to our lodgings for the week. Ian Derk, our leader and Professor was super helpful and got us all prepared for the day and what to expect.

As we drove through the different small towns, motorcycles with a whole family piled on them zipped by. Despite the beauty that was everywhere, the first thing I noticed was the amount of trash. Overwhelmingly so, which was unfortunate to see. The small clustered, colorful buildings against the jungly backdrop made up for it though.

The lodge was located in Gaspar Hernandez right on the north coast.