13-Apr-2014 -- This is the second out of 3 reports reaching or attempting confluence points in the Dominican Republic. The story continues from 19°N 69°W.
After the morning visit of 19°N 69°W, we planned to head towards the west part of the country. The road network is not so dense, such that we had to head south-east first to El Seibo, then to Hato Mayor, followed by an unpaved track to Bayaguana. Progress was slow and I actually had already dismissed the idea of visiting this confluence, due to the coming nightfall. But after we got through Bayaguana, the drive was quick and even before sunset we passed the little town Cevicos (2.5 km from the CP). I turned the GPS receiver on and just in that moment when I got a position reading, we passed a side track that pointed to the confluence (1.8 km to go). We continued exactly towards the confluence up to a distance of 900 m, where we met Freddy, a worker, or more specifically a guard working for Consorcio Cítricos Dominicanos, the largest fruit and juice producer in the Dominican Republic. We explained him our mission and he spontaneously came with us to help us finding our goal. He was happy to see that we had a pack of orange juice from his company in the car.
At 450 m, we reached a gate. We could have continued driving, but I preferred to have at least some walk to assimilate a bit of the area. The orchard was indeed huge. Freddy explained us that all the land up to the nearby mountains belongs to the farm. The confluence was quickly found right at the edge of a track. Some of the trees have been cut since 2011. The vicinity of the confluence looks now more of an open land compared to Vincenzo’s visit three years earlier. Piles of branches of the former trees lie around the spot.
Fredi walked with us a bit further to show us a tree with ripe oranges. He gave us a backpack full of these fruits and we were not allowed to refuse them. On the way back to the car, nightfall came quickly. But the goal had been reached making Rainer happy for this unexpected confluence visit.
We stayed the night in Cotui at dubious cabañas that seem to be intended primarily for hourly use. Here, I tried to eat our orange gifts. But these fruits turned out to be uneatable. However, they were good for juice. The next day we headed towards my main mission: the last unvisited confluence point on the island.
CP Visit Details:
- Distance to an asphalt road: 1.8 km
- Distance to an unpaved track: 0 m
- Distance of car parking: 450 m
- Time to reach the CP from the track: 0 min
- Time at the CP: 6:22 PM
- Measured height: 114 m
- Minimal distance according to GPS: 0 m
- Position accuracy: 3 m
- Topography: on a slight slope, hills and mountains nearby
- Vegetation: grass, orange trees nearby
- Weather: sunny, 25° C (felt temperature)
- Given Name: Freddy’s Orchard Confluence
Pictures of our trip can be found here. The story continues at 19°N 71°W.