Damajagua Waterfalls…update below

Don’t forget that name lol. It’s a wonderful excursion if you’re into a million mile climb uphill/ in a bathing suit/helmet and water shoes through the muggy rainforest followed by more climbing but thankfully treacherously downhill.  If you're lucky it will rain to create a nice muddy path, like we had!

Our first sign of civilization (excluding an area of benches that was "just about there") is a canyon with a wooden platform over a rushing river.  That is where you’ll back down a ladder into the water.  The first little slide is the drowning one lol. Be alert, I didn’t realize that the first was the worst! There is no bottom that I could find.  I thought we could do a jump or a slide so I figured this must be a kiddie slide.  Well it wasn’t.  One of the guides had to pull me from under the slide where a small undertow took me. That’s what that loop on the back of the neck is for..  Julian said I’m exaggerating but I thought I was going to drown.  Imagine going freely down a slide where you expect to push off the bottom then float down the canyon like everyone else…. Yeah it wasn’t.  

Once I am whisked (this water is moving at a fairly rapid speed) down to where I can touch, there is a cameraman!  Perfect! My near drowning caught in a photo lest I forget! 

I think my biggest issue here was assuming what came next.  And, no, I didn’t learn from the first, second or even third assumption since this excursion began!  After the photo shoot we step out into deep water again but it’s ok, the strong current and floating device make it easy peazy!  It’s like a lazy but fast river ride, for about thirty seconds till you venture around a drastic turn in the canyon and see about 20 other floaters, right before you connect to them like you're all magnetized.  The strong current was along the bottom of the canyon nudging everyone to become uncomfortably intimate with total strangers!  Awkward just doesn’t seem to capture the horror of finding oneself in that close proximity to an individual that possibly isn’t in your immediate family much less your tour group!  Everything else was anti-climatic involving a 20ft jump off a cliff into a small pool of water and more tramping through the woods. Would I do it again? Probably Not... am I glad that I did it?? Yep!

https://photos.app.goo.gl/T4yY2xzLt2FLAhKMA

UPDATE: I originally wrote this after our Damajagua adventure, but recently stumbled across the photos again. Apparently, I had forgotten some things. Important things. Like exactly how much suffering stood between me and the squirrel monkeys. 😂

That’s really how all of this started.

Our Dominican Republic excursion was a two-fer: Damajagua Waterfalls and Monkeyland.

Did much thought go into exactly what the Damajagua Waterfalls portion might entail?

Nooooo.

My brain had already moved on to the important part:

OMG! I GET TO HOLD REAL LITTLE MONKEYS TODAY!

The waterfalls were actually the first—and by far the largest—part of the excursion. The monkeys were maybe 10%.

I didn’t know—or perhaps hadn’t bothered to comprehend—that yet.

All I had to do first was Damajagua Waterfalls.

How hard could that be?

Yes.

That was my first assumption.

[PHOTO — The three of us together at the bridge]

Look at us. Fresh. Upright. Smiling. Rob is still with us.

The Million-Mile March

Damajagua Waterfalls is wonderful if you’re into a million-mile climb uphill—in a bathing suit, helmet and water shoes—through a hot, muggy rainforest during what I now assume was rainy season.

If you’re lucky, it will rain constantly and create a nice muddy path, like we had!

[PHOTOS — Rainforest trail, stairs and muddy climb]

Somewhere beyond this point, “MONKEYS!” was still serving as motivation.

We started out as a family of three.

Somewhere during the million-mile uphill march, Rob aborted mission.

At first, I wondered where he was.

At some point, I stopped worrying where Rob was.

I had my own problems.

In retrospect, Rob may have been the smartest one of us.

We continued climbing until eventually we reached an area with benches.

My original account describes this as “just about there.”

Excellent!

Surely we had reached the slides and waterfalls we’d worked so hard to get to.

Nooooo.

We were rewarded with a brief opportunity to sit down.

Then we started climbing down the other side of the mountain.

The trail was still muddy, of course, but now it was less big hiking trail and more goat path.

Basically the same rainforest experience, just with a bit of treachery thrown in.

Don’t do it!

Apparently “just about there” is open to interpretation.

Eventually, Julian and I reached the next sign of civilization: a canyon with a wooden platform over rushing water.

At this point, you may notice a pattern.

I kept assuming I knew what came next.

Damajagua kept correcting me.

The Drowning One

This is where you back down a ladder into the water.

The first little slide is apparently the drowning one.

Be alert. I didn’t realize the first would be the worst!

There was no bottom that I could find. I thought we could do a jump or a slide, so I figured this must be a kiddie slide.

Well.

It wasn’t.

Imagine going freely down a natural rock slide expecting to push off the bottom and then float peacefully down the canyon like everyone else.

Yeah.

That didn’t happen.

A small undertow took me under the slide, and one of the guides had to pull me out using the loop on the back of my life jacket.

So THAT’S what that thing is for.

Julian says I’m exaggerating.

I thought I was going to drown.

Once I was whisked down to an area where I could finally touch bottom, what did I discover?

A cameraman!

Perfect!

My near-drowning caught in a photo lest I forget!

The face of a woman thoroughly enjoying her relaxing tropical excursion.

Apparently, the photographer was disappointed with my failure to look sufficiently enthused.

So we tried again.

Fake it till you make it!

I think my biggest problem was assuming what came next.

And no, I did not learn from the first, second or even third assumption I’d made since this excursion began.

The “Lazy” River

After our photo shoot, we stepped into deep water again.

But this was OK!

Our flotation devices and the strong current made it easy-peasy.

It was like a lazy river.

A rather fast lazy river, but still.

For approximately 30 seconds.

Then we ventured around a drastic turn in the canyon and saw about 20 other floaters immediately before connecting with them as though we’d all been magnetized.

The strong current running along the bottom of the canyon nudged everyone together until we became uncomfortably intimate with total strangers.

Awkward doesn’t adequately describe the horror of finding oneself in that close proximity to someone who possibly isn’t even in your immediate family, much less your tour group.

Let’s call it the involuntary group “bad touch.”

Eventually, our accidental human cluster climbed onto a ledge. Where Damajagua presented us with another choice.

Jump or Ladder. Pick One.

You could jump from the cliff into what appeared to be a teacup pretending to be a pool.

Or…

You could climb down a dodgy ladder of roughly the same terrifying height while fast-flowing water pummeled you.

There were no other choices.

Just vibes and consequences.

My original article, written when my memory was considerably fresher, says the jump was about 20 feet.

Apparently it was.

At the time, you could have told me it was 1,000 feet and I would have believed you.

Fear had rendered me incapable of estimating distance.

Twenty feet, apparently. I maintain that 1,000 remains a reasonable estimate.

Julian jumped.

Of course Julian jumped.

Motherhood: Spend years keeping them alive, then pay somebody to let them jump off a cliff.

If you choose the ladder, eventually you leap off it and paddle toward shallow water.

If you choose the teacup, you climb out and leap into the same water, where you also paddle toward shallow water.

Either way, apparently, we’re all getting back in the water.

And because we had not yet exhausted every available method of terrifying me, there was another ladder and another natural stone slide.

Julian did the slide.

I did not.

By then, I had finally learned something from my previous assumptions.

Beached

After thanking whichever deity you worship—or perhaps all deities, just to cover your bases—you eventually drag yourself out of the water.

Or you can do what I did and simply beach yourself onto shore like an exhausted manatee.

Once everyone is collected, you begin the long trek back—up a mountain, down a mountain, across a bridge and through more mud.

If you’re fortunate enough to experience the constant downpour like we did, there’s plenty of mud to go around.

Eventually, you will glimpse the entrance area.

After the near-drowning and involuntary group bad touch, honestly, portions of this became a blur.

Fortunately, I wrote about it when my memory was fresher.

And apparently took enough photographs to reopen old wounds.

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Research. Research. Research.

Now for the genuinely useful part of this story.

Research your excursions.

Don’t do what I did and allow:

OMG! I GET TO HOLD REAL LITTLE MONKEYS! …to constitute the entirety of your pre-booking investigation.

Excursion descriptions and gorgeous photographs don’t always communicate what an experience will physically demand.

Find out how far you’ll walk.

Look at elevation changes. Ask about climbing.

Research the terrain. Check the weather and season.

Find out exactly what “waterfall adventure” means.

And

be realistic about your own abilities.

There is absolutely no shame in deciding an excursion isn’t right for you—or turning around when your body tells you it has had enough.

.And Finally…

THE MONKEYS!

At last. The reason I got myself into this mess.

And they were everything I’d imagined.

See? Rob recovered just fine.

Tiny squirrel monkeys climbed onto us, sat on our shoulders, perched on our hands and, in my case, apparently decided my head was furniture.

Would I recommend Damajagua Waterfalls?

Absolutely—to the right person and it depends what comes with it lol

If you enjoy adventure, rushing water, natural slides, cliff jumps, hiking, mud, questionable ladders and occasionally becoming unexpectedly intimate with strangers, you may absolutely love it. I recommend that someone uncomfortable in the water do not partake. Thisisnot for you.

Am I glad I did it?

Yep.

Would I personally do it again? Probably not unless I got to kiss a dolphin!

Would I go back to see those squirrel monkeys? In a heartbeat.

Next time, however, I’d like to purchase my monkeys à la carte.