Diego de Ocampo: A mountain adventure.

The adventure started with a pre-planning session at Bella Terra Mall on Saturday night. Ok, so maybe "pre-planning" session is a bit of an exaggeration. We really just went to see Ryan Gosling. 
Fine, I'm exaggerating again. Ryan Gosling wasn't at Bella Terra Mall (Darn it). But he WAS in the movie we went to see: Fuerza Antiganster....or as you Yankees might know it, Gangster Squad, newly arrived in the D.R. this weekend after its initial release in the U.S. over a month ago. 

Of course we had to treat ourselves to a little snack.

I mean, what's a movie without the traditional popcorn and beer combination?

After a good two hours of thoroughly enjoyable gun-slinging, we were finally ready to get down to business...over mojitos of course (blackberry, strawberry, and chinola flavors).

Let the planning begin! 
In about a half hour it was all settled. We'd meet at 9:30 a.m. Sunday morning to tackle the highest peak in the Santiago province: Diego de Ocampo. 

For those of you Santiagueros looking to adventure to Diego de Ocampo for yourselves, catch an M concho to a crossroads called "La Reforma." Wait there patiently for the "guagua para los cocos" to pass by and flag it down. Then hop in, pay your driver a whopping 20 pesos, and sit back until he drops you off in the nearby town of "Los Cocos." 

Now once you arrive in Los Cocos you have two options: Option A, make friends with a local and find a ride up to the entrance of the actual hike via jeep/truck/motoconcho. Option B, walk it yourself. 
Being well and seasoned adventurers, we opted for B.

Little did we know, the walk just to get to the entrance is probably 7 or 8 kilometers in itself, straight up hill. 
Locals kept stopping us to ask where we were going, and then laughed incredulously when we told them our final destination.
"A pie?!" they exclaimed. 

But we didn't mind. We had all day to enjoy the sights. 

Hydration is key!

Mountain top baseball. Probably the most awesome baseball field on the planet. 

After what seemed like miles of walking, we finally caught the first glimpse of our actual destination. See that peak in the background....that's where we were headed! Looks pretty far, right? Ya, that was my thought exactly. 

Good thing there was a strategically placed bench to take a quick break. 

Hot sun, rocky path, steep hill. Things were getting rough. 

Giant fallen tree blocking the path. No big deal. 

Time to earn those buns of steel.

3 1/2 hours and a few muddy tennis shoes later, we made it!
 Valió cada segunda de la pena. 

I´m queen of the world!

If we had any hope that the hike back down would be less treacherous, that illusion was quickly shattered by the number of times we fell on our butts trying to keep from tumbling down the mountainside head first. The goats didn´t seem to have as much trouble. 

Let´s take one last long look at that infamous peak where Diego de Ocampo, a rebel slave leader, hid away between his plantation plundering campaigns. 
Kudos to you, Diego, because that was one tough climb.  I´ll be feeling that in my legs all week. If I were a Spaniard, I wouldn´t want to follow you up there either. 

A little ice cream victory celebration was just the trick to make us forget our aching calfs and quads. 

We left Diego de Ocampo sweaty, sun-burned, sore muscled, and all smiles. Just like proper little adventurers should be.