Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
RESERVA CIENTÍFICA LOMA QUITA ESPUELA
The 'Mountain of the Missing Spur' - a reference to the dense underbrush that ripped boot spurs from
cowboys - is a remote and lovely national park, containing the largest rainforest on the island. It is full
of endemic species that are on the point of extinction. The NGO
Fundación Loma Quita Espuela
(
809-588-4156;
www.flqe.org.do
;
Urbanización Almánzar, cnr Calle Luis Carrón & Av del Jaya;
8am-noon & 2-5pm) is actively involved in developing sustainable ways for local farmers to use
this natural resource.
The foundation offers a hike to the top of Loma Quita Espuela (942m, RD$500 for up to five
people, plus RD$100 per person park entrance fee), where an observation tower commands excellent
views over the Valle del Cibao. A guide is mandatory (Spanish only).
There's also a shorter walk that tours several cocoa plantations, where you can buy
bola de cacao
-
crude chocolate balls that are used to make hot chocolate. The tour ends at a local
balenario
(swim-
ming hole), where you can take a dip; there are several Taíno caves nearby, too.
Simple accommodations are available at
Rancho Don Lulú
( 809-863-8929;
www.ranchodonlulu.com
;
r RD$350) just 1km from the Loma Quita Espuela trailhead. There's eight
rooms in a rustic cabin a couple of hundred meters from the owners' home, where you eat (meals
RD$150).
The entrance to Loma Quita Espuela is 15km (30 minutes) northeast of San Francisco de Macorís
on a rough road that gets progressively worse; don't try it without a good 4WD.
TOP OF CHAPTER
Moca & Around
The country town of Moca has prospered in recent decades as a result of its production of
coffee, cocoa and tobacco. The tallest building in town is also its only tourist attraction,
the
Iglesia Corazón de Jesus
(admission free;
, with a panel of beautiful stained
varies)
glass imported from Turin, Italy.
During the 18th century, Moca was one of the Spanish colony's chief cattle centers. In
1805, an invading army took Moca, killed virtually the entire population and burned the
town to the ground. Moca struggled back, and in the 1840s began to raise tobacco as a
commercial crop; now, some of the world's finest cigars contain tobacco grown on the
hillsides around the town.
East of Moca and around 4km east of the town of Salcedo is the
Museo de Hermanas Mi-
rabel
( 809-587-7075; admission RD$20; 9am-5pm Mon-Fri, to 5:45pm Sat & Sun)
. The home
of the Mirabel sisters, Patria, Minerva and María, assassinated by agents of Trujillo be-
cause of their opposition to his regime, has been turned into a time-capsule museum.
