A turning point....

Well friends, we have decided to head home. We agreed to one year on the boat and by the time we reach good old Indiana it will be just over a year. We are sad that we aren't going further south but the trip has been great and will continue to be as we head northward. We will be in Luperon for another week or so then will island hop back up towards the Bahamas and will be landing back in the U.S. sometime in May or June. Back to the real world. Rest is rust so they say!

Doer Don
Starter Sandi

We decided to take a trip to Imbert where they are famous for their waterfalls. These waterfalls are more like a rapids/waterfall mix. We had to wade and swim through little torrents of water and then climb right into the rushing water in order to get to the next set of falls. Here we are making our way to the start of the falls with Terry, Jerry, and Rob. 

This is the first of the 28 waterfalls we climbed and then descended. The water was clean, clean, and refreshing. 

Don just splash landed at the last jump. 

Here are the five of us inside one of the falls. It was so much fun. Thank goodness for our guide. He would literally pull us face first up through the rapids/falls. Then we would be able to jump down or slide down the falls. The highest jump was about 30 feet! 

After the falls, we posed with our guide Umberto. We were so tired we could barely stand! 

Carnival in La Vega is a huge event. It is a celebration of independance. We took a bus to La Vega to witness the parade. Carnival lasts 3 days at the end of February but is also celebrated on a smaller scale every Sunday in Feb. People dress up in costume and wander the streets. Some of the costumes are very detailed and keep in mind that it is about 85 degrees in the shade! People wear "camel backs" (water bags) under their costumes so that they don't dehydrate. This "lady" rode a very tall bike and showed everyone "her" lacy red undies!

This is a common practice at Carnival. The men dressed in costumes and many children have these balls on a rope that they swing and hit ladies (and a few men) in the but with. They say it is to chase the devil out of us. (the bad news is that some of the men actually wear batting gloves when they swing... it hurts like H**L!! 

Whammo, out demons out! 

Crazy costumes at CARNIVAL!!