Three times now, Tom and I promised and delivered a very cool experience to some young friends. Graduate from high school, and you get to go on a trip to the wilds of a place Spanish explorers described as “a land as jagged as a crumpled piece of paper–covered with tropical plants.” A trip to the Dominican Republic!

Our 18 year old buddy Jacob and I landed in boring, bland Punta Cana. Surrounded by standard tropical issue plants—Crinum asiaticum, masses of Duranta, Heliconia, Alocasia and other could be anywhere in the world stuff. 20 bucks a night in a bunkroom hostel, with young Europeans made it fun but not very local. Luckily, an old friend, a Dominican farm boy who’s now a Punta Cana DJ took us on his moterbike, yeah three of us, to an isolated beach to climb Coconut palms and harvest our own lunch. (great pics!)

Dominican Mountains

In a rented Nissan, we escaped to the jagged mountains. Jacob’s driving skills came in handy– roads became rocky paths for jeeps and donkeys. We left the sedan and hitched a ride in the back of a truck with a bunch of Haitian farmers. Stunning waterfalls. Freezing water. Swimming under bromeliads, tree ferns and thousands of hanging wasp nest dripping from rock cliffs. Giant white top sedge, amaryllis and Chionanthus domengensis under a canopy of Pinus occidentalis kept the rain off us on the climb home.

In Jaraboacoa, we did a crazy rafting trip in wet suits for the cold water. San glasses, I can only say the plant life was lush but tattered by recent raging floods. Wet, bruised, cold, we stepped up to a $35 a night motel and splurged for shaves. The barber kept asking if Jacob wanted his goatee fixed or if “he wants to continue looking like a goat.”

Farming

The next day we looked all day for the elusive Japanese farmers of Constanza. We stopped in a warehouse full, full, full of slim farmers grading their bulbs together (see pic above). Later, went shopping in a family nursery. I love those little black bags they use instead of plastic pots. They’re easier to store, to trash and get the plants out of.

My family in Santo Domingo showed us the town. Columbus home, which was the scene of big Merengue dance party that night. We also saw the wonderful botanical garden — a mirage inside the mayhem of 4 million latinos living tropical heat. A little garden work at their house, tearful goodbyes and a bit of cussing driving through the maze but the car went back to the rental. Jacob and I killed an afternoon relaxing on a day pass to the all inclusive resort. (We saw the same people from our flight – they’d been stuck here ten days!) surrounded by perfectly lined out, boring but comfortable and safe tropical plants. Then a few hours later stepped into the crinum fields of our own familiar flowers and fragrances. True beauty found in the Dominican Republic.

Wow, travel. It’s all about seeing how different plants choose to live out their lives and wondering, dreaming of how yours and theirs might intersect. Lots of pictures on facebook — look for Jenks Farmer Plantsman! And lots more to come on Jenksfarmer.com