<h1>Dominican Republic Mountains</h1>

Constanza and Jarabacoa

If you feel like discovering a different part of the island and enjoy a different experience around beautiful mountains, I suggest checking out Constanza and Jarabacoa. These two beautiful towns offer some of the best mountain scenery of the Dominican Republic. Located towards the center of the island, you will get to enjoy spring weather all year round. I can almost feel the clean and cool breeze you feel in the morning as I'm describing this area. It's great to see the heavy fog accumulation on the outskirts of the mountain below you. It's like looking at the clouds from above, just mesmerizing.

Both towns rely mainly on agriculture. Some of the most common crops are coffee, strawberries, apples, peaches, garlic, potatoes, and different types of peppers. I was in awe the first time I saw these never-ending strawberry fields on the side of the mountains. You will also notice many different kinds of roses and tropical flower species making this part of the mountains a very desirable area.

The locals are among the friendliest people I have ever met. They treat any stranger as if they were part of their family. These towns may not have the nightlife you would normally find in other towns/cities but they certainly manage how to have fun when the long day at work is over.

You will find some of the largest rivers in the country here. The Yaque del Norte and Jimenoa river merge in the Confluencia. The confluencia is a beautiful camping spot if you ever want to camp out in the woods. This is also a great spot if you are into river rafting. It’s a great experience so don’t miss out on that. They will give you a quick briefing on how to follow the guide’s commands to handle yourself and the boat as it rushes through some adrenaline jumps and turns.

You can stay at some of the local resorts where you can sign up for river rafting, mountain excursions to waterfalls (i.e. Salto de Jimenoa), horse back riding and golfing. The Salto de Jimenoa is just impressive if you visit it after the month of May when they get a lot more rain from tropical storms. To get there, you will have to cross a series of hanging bridges like the ones you saw in Indiana Jones, the movie.

Constanza is very similar to Jarabacoa but I believe it gets slightly colder at times here. It has a record low of 30.2 F back in 1958. Its average temperature ranges between 41 °F (5 °C) and 68 °F (20 °C) and it is located 4000 ft above the sea level. The nearby location of Valle Nuevo freezes from time to time and you may notice snow falling around its highest peaks. However, the snow rarely accumulates. Constanza offers a good starting point to get to the Pico Duarte, the highest point in the Caribbean.