February 17, 2025

Other than neighbors a few blocks away inexplicably blaring music at 3 am, the area is very peaceful and an enormous relief from the overwhelming traffic noise of Santo Domingo, certainly given staying in a place on a freeway. The mattress may be hard, but the place is simply an immaculate, modern residence with only the tiniest of flaws.

I hadn’t been sure how to use the days scheduled for Jarabacoa, given that the options for transportation to take in the local countryside attractions would be inadequate or expensive. But the owner of the Airbnb has made what seems like an incredible offer, the rental of a scooter for U.S. 11 a day for two days, which is far below what I would have expected in this marketplace. The rental includes a bike that seems to be in a good state of repair, although it is a semi-manual, that is, it requires shifting gears, although not with a clutch. The bike is in very good condition, with a full gas tank, working mirrors, good brakes – what more could I ask for! Hopefully this foretells good deals on bike rental opportunities that may be available later on in my tour of the island.

The day’s planned destinations include two waterfalls, the Baiguate and Jimenoa II, not far from each other, but due to the organization of the access roads, visiting one requires returning to town in order to continue to the other. But what really throws things off is Google Maps’ incorrect route planning, which sees me traveling for some distance from the town before having to turn back and retrace most of my steps.

Once I follow the correct route, getting to the waterfall is easy enough, simply driving along an albeit non-signed paved road to the end, where I leave the bike at a parking lot, then walk along a paved ledge chiseled into a steep cliff that weaves along, fencing protecting visitors from the risk of falling into the creek streaming far below, the shallow water flowing through a series of small waterfalls as it gradually makes its way to a lower elevation.

The object of the visit is the primary waterfall itself, a single torrent of water cascading into a broad pool so shallow that you can easily wade to the edge of the waterfall, although the intense spray of the waterfall assures that you will get drenched doing so. Given the ease of access, Baiguate is popular with many visitors, including the local taxi driver who I saw courting two young American women yesterday in La Tinaja and a hilarious local trio, an enormous man with his diminutive black wife and a small child. He chides the boy to speak English with me, the man easy to drive to distraction with ridiculous jokes: when I comment about how there seems to be an ongoing party around Parque Duarte in Jarabacoa, he shouts “En Jarabacoa cada dia es Domingo!” I found it particularly hilarious that most shops are closed, and yet the shops selling alcohol are all open. “Si, la gente le gusta tomar mucho aqui” he laughs.

A German TUI group arrives, gingerly climbing over rocks to get a better view of the dramatic waterfall. An endearing young couple from Red Deer appears, telling me about their travels, where they have been, and where they dream of going. They enumerate the places that seem exciting – except that to the initiated, many of these places are already hackneyed and have long since run their course. In any case, I am always available for quality travel recommendations in offbeat locales.

The weather is absolutely perfect: despite the moderate elevation, just over 500 metres, it is not that hot here, which is a tremendous relief. Riding back to town reveals another challenge that is becoming increasingly difficult to avoid, and that is the tremendous air pollution of the place. Despite the plethora of new vehicles on the road, any vehicles that seem to be of any vintage spew out toxic gases, the small ostensible resort town of Jarabacoa in the mountains of the Dominican Republic being probably one of the most polluted places I have been in a long time.

Further away from Jarabacoa, the landscape is hilly and verdant, the air clearer, the partially cloudy sky benevolently dispensing sunshine without being oppressive, the winding route to the Jimenoa waterfalls increasingly obscure, thanks to Google Maps incongruous mapping. From a distance, the terrain may evoke bucolic sensibilities, but upon closer inspection, it becomes apparent that the region is beholden to a tremendous amount of wealth, home to extensive country gated communities, luxury condominium complexes secluded in the tracts of forest, not to mention an extensive manicured golf course that spans a considerable amount of terrain along the road.

And finally, Jimenoa, effectively a creek that extends over a series of rocky cascades, originating in a series of dramatic waterfalls on one side, and on the other side of the road, the creek broadening and weakened, its virility sapped in the short distance spanned. At the far end, Jimenoa I falls are off limits possibly due to the dangers they pose to the casual visitor, although the Jimenoa II falls are far from timid, a thundering cascade of water showering into a broad pool in which swimming is prohibited. Entering the waters anywhere from the road to the Jimenoa II falls is now off limits, due to the risks associated with unwittingly entering a more turbulent passage.

There is a trickle of visitors to the site, but due to its size, not necessarily as visible, possibly because swimming is now largely prohibited at the site. But another thing occurs to me – it isn’t really that hot, and the water quite cold.

Returning to Jarabacoa through the exclusive housing projects and past the impressive golf course, the views of rolling green hills all around, then closer to Jarabacoa, the inevitability of the toxic airborne sludge that innumerable motorcycles, cars, buses and trucks pump into the air, the experience of passing through the small burg utterly regrettable, then finally returning to the serene haven I am staying in, the air calm and relatively clear, and other than the group of children playing in the street, quiet.