Pico Duarte is 10,174 feet tall, and the hike is a total of 29 miles round trip over the course of three days. It’s located in the beautiful, mountainous town of Jarabacoa, right here in the Dominican Republic! I went with seven other Peace Corps Volunteers, plus a few guides. The guides provided our food and supplies for the weekend, and everything was carried by a pack of mules and horses that hiked up and down the mountain with us. On day one, we hiked to camp, a distance of 11 miles, and it took us 10.5 hours. It was mostly uphill and very difficult. Luckily, there were a few rest stops on the way, and my friends and I kept each other in good spirits, listening to music, singing, talking, joking around, etc.
Once we got to camp, we set up our tents and settled in before having dinner. Camp had no electricity, so we all had to come equipped with headlamps to be able to get around once the sun set. At camp and during the hike, we drank fresh mountain water straight from the stream or from a tap. This was amazing because it is the only place in the DR where the water is fresh enough to drink out of the tap. This was definitely a highlight of the trip for me.
