DR Touristing: 27 Charcos

27 Waterfalls is one of the more famous attractions in the north DR, so of course we waited until we were almost leaving to visit. Actually, we’d tried to go once when our friends Colin and Charlie visited, but noped back out when we saw the tour busses from a cruise ship. And before that, the drought had left most of the falls dry. Even when we went, only the lower 12 falls were open.

Of course, we brought along the Kraken crew. We piled the six of us into Sombra, minus the cats this time. We had checked the port schedule and made sure no cruise ships were in, so we waltzed up to the gate and had tickets and a guide in minutes. (We also had tickets to the buffet, for afterward, which proved to be a mistake – but more on that later.) Fitted out with life jackets and helmets, we climbed aboard the space shuttle.

Just kidding, we went over the bridge and into the woods. To go down, you must first go up, and so we walked a couple of miles up some moderate hills.

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And because we’ve all been super sedentary, we were embarrassingly slow and tired, and gladly accepted every offer of rest along the way. We kept the enthusiasm up, though.

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Then you make it to the top, and it’s on with the water shoes. You start out wading through a stream, which gradually transitions into a float. Of course, this is where I have to apologize for doing a terrible job keeping water off the camera lens.

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Along the way you encounter the falls, each a little different. You may have the option to jump or slide, or on the larger ones, to take the cheaters’ ladder around the obstacle.

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The last slide takes you into a nice-looking lake, where there’s some time to mess around in a nice big lake, before the short walk back out to civilization.

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And with civilization comes the buffet, and our major mistake. We ate at the falls, and we ate everything they had to offer. Then, all but one of us got a good strong does of food poisoning over the next couple of days. It started with Jazz and Cameron, who were miserable and bed-ridden while the rest of us partied with the crews of Ddraig, Chak Matay (Bums on a Boat), and Sea Dolphin (Sailing, Good, Bad, and Ugly).

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And then it struck me, and it was my turn to languish in bed while Jazz and Lisa had all the fun. At least I had my loyal protector by my side.

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So. Go see the 27 Waterfalls, but maybe bring your own lunch.

A few other notes. We got a bit of video at the falls, but haven’t gotten through editing it yet, so that may show up in another post. We’re actually about a month behind on posting in general – we have more to say about the DR, but we’re really in Puerto Rico right now, sitting pretty in 5 feet of water in La Parguera. Even when we’re behind (which, let’s face it, is usually), you can always see our up-to-date position on the Villa Tracker page in the top menu.