Day 5
Today we woke up to rain, typical as we were about to go to Jarabacoa, but after an early breakfast as we waited for the bus, the sun came out! Our guide was called "Jerry" and the driver "Paco". At first Jerry began talking only in Spanish, leading us to believe that he spoke no English, but of course he was joking and actually spoke fluent English. Jerry seemed to have a great sense of humour and made us smile all the way. He also told us a lot about all the places we passed on the way and about the Dominican Republic in general. Paco drove like mad even though Jerry said he was the best driver in the company. 
After seeing how the others drive, it could actually be true. We got to know a Canadian couple on the way who were really friendly. First stop was the "La Aurora" cigar factory, which recently celebrated it's 100th anniversary. We saw people making cigars while smoking them, as they could smoke as much as they wanted for free. Each workers target is to make 150 cigars per day, even with the distractions by hoards of visiting tourists. After some interesting facts about cigars, Sean bought a box of Leon Jimenes No.3 in the shop, perhaps because he was now expert in cigars, but perhaps because they were one of the cheaper boxes. We had a free glass of Presidente beer in the on-site bar.
We then continued to the next stop which was the "Monumento a los Heroes de la Restauracion", a huge 67 metre high marble monument in Santiago. This was erected in the 1940s under the dictator Trujillo as a monument to himself. Originally it was known as the "Trujillo peace monument". This was a brief stop for picture taking. From here we could also see a lot of the city of Santiago and the Cibao valley. 
We continued on to our next destination, the waterfalls at Jarabacoa. When we arrived, there was a row of little boys, some as young as 8 or 9 perhaps, and each with a horse most of which did looked a bit tired. We all got a horse each (except the chickens who decided to go by jeep). We could have "helpers" if we wanted. Karolina, who's never ridden before decided to have one, a little boy named Memos. This gave her the opportunity to try her basic Spanish she learnt especially for this trip. Sean on the other hand has ridden before (like 100 years ago) therefore didn't want a helper. This is probably why he ended up furthest back with a horse which either went to fast or too slow. To begin with it just didn't move, then once it woke up and saw the others in the distance, it began a gallop to catch up. The horse ride lasted for about 20 minutes (Seanīs ride was longer), through countryside and over a river,it was then a short walk to the falls, being careful not to fall down the sheer drops along the way.
The falls themselves were perhaps a little disappointing, and were very brown due to the huge amount of rain recently. A brave boy was hanging over the waterfall on some steel wires, doing acrobatics and stuff...they'll do anything for a tip here. After picture taking, we took the horses back along the same route, although more people decided to take the jeep back instead, sore bums maybe. Karolina tipped Memos, and waited for Sean to arrive with his horse which had decided to take lunch and siesta on the way back. We had lunch at "Rancho Baiguate", which wasn't too bad although the selection was limited. We relaxed in the grounds spotting various wildlife and bought a few things (covered in spider webs) at the very reasonably priced gift shop. Karolina bought lime-flavoured crisps made in the locally, turned out to be one of her favourites after that. Also tried a red ice-lolly with raspberry flavour. Yum.
The next stop was the Ceramics factory where people didn't really seem to like tourists. We were guided around the various processes and learnt that the workers earn an extremely low amount of money per piece completed. Felt a little uneasy taking photos of people at work, but they didn't seem to mind too much. Bought some nice things in their giftshop, and then made the trip back to the hotel. We had good luck with the weather all the way, not even a hint of rain. Back at the hotel, Karolina couldn't wait to jump in the pool, but she did at least change into swimming attire first. Later we changed into eveningwear, had a few drinks and watched the entertainment before going in for dinner. Tonight they gave every lady a rose on the way in. More drinks afterwards, Cecilio remembered Karolinaīs name, and Seanīs Spanish is improving around the bar. The rain started and we went to sleep.
