Dunas y Salineras

Our seventh and eighth grade classes were joining up to go on their field trip since there was a minimum number of participants and the trip is optional since it costs a fair amount of money. The problem is that some kids think that if they don't go they don't have to attend school either, so they choose a "day off." For this reason the trip was 2 people short of reaching their 25 person quota. The coordinator came into the faculty lounge the day before, explained the situation, and asked if any teachers would be willing to pay and go along. Steve and I said we would as long as they could cover our classes without us.

I was thrilled for the opportunity to go on a field trip outside of the city we live in. We arrived at school around 6:30 in the morning and left just after 7. We had a long ride from Santiago since San Cristobal and Bani are on the southern end of the island. I've included the map for those of you who are not very sharp on your Dominican Republic cities.

First we stopped at a Cathedral in which the famous, horrible dictator of the Dominican Republic, Trujillo, had been buried. I've included pictures of the outside and inside. It was quite decorated.

Then we went to a plaza where the house of a great liberator had been. By then it was already lunch time so we stopped for pizza. After pizza we continued on the way, with the guides pointing out the fruit plantations. Finally the terrain began to change. We were moving into the desert.
The desert in the south leads right up to the ocean and is where their naval base is located.

We continued on to the salineras- which they translate as salt mines. Really, no mining is done. The water sits out in giant vats for 28 days- until the water has evaporated enough for them to extract the salt with little flat bottomed "boats" and shovels. They fill small "train cars" that then get pulled up to the top of the tracks and dumped off into a large pile of salt. The process seemed extremely primitive to us, but was fascinating.

We started on our way back with the first stop being the dunas (sand dunes). Apparently there are only two major areas of dunes in the world and the Dominican Republic has one of them. There the guides showed us the iron in the sand by extracting it with a magnet. Sadly, this picture does no justice to the size of the dunes.

We stopped at another church, this one much more ruggedly built. The people of this poor area came to watch us, mostly interested I'm sure in the white people. The church is dedicated to a Saint; it was sad to see his statue inside far larger than the painting of Jesus.

We ended the trip with a drive past the cemetery. In the Dominican Republic, many cemeteries are built like small cities rather than a park as we are accustomed in the United States. The bodies go in small "buildings." Finally we ended with a stop at a big Candy Shop, full of dulce de leche and candied figs. We grabbed some real dinner at the shop that was attached and were home by about 6:30 in the evening- a long but fulfilling day.