Located in Monte Plata, on route to National Park Los Haïtises; it lays nestled –almost hidden– between green mountains in this province, Salto de Socoa (Socoa Falls) is a stunning forest landscape, as it is located on the river of the same name in that province.
Privately owned originally, this place belongs to the Mejia family, who actually live nearby. Weekends are when the falls are most visited, for its cold waters surrounded by greenery. It is an great option for the summer heat, as well as for tourists who enjoy nature like this, beautiful waters surrounded by a thick forest.
The investment made in year 2010 by the Ministry of Environment, has succeeded in drawing attention to the importance of preserving the forest. As a result, the surrounding environment of the fall was improved and a planting-day was promoted in the margins of John Paul lI Highway (Santo Domingo-Samana), celebrating since then many other green activities to educate the Country about the importance of it, and promeoted to tourism as a “hidden treasure”.
In 2010, the Environment Minister, Dr. Jaime David Fernandez Mirabal, inaugurated the optimization works and said: “We chose this incredible place, full of bay leaf, with the idea of integrating the natural resources of this province in a strategy to overcome all forms of poverty, violence and exclusion through the sustainable use of this falls, a point where the forest and the waters meet”
To get to Socoa falls, travelling from Santo Domingo by a rough detour, it takes approximately 30 miles from the Las Americas Highway, turning just before getting to the main airport, and from the other end, it would take about a 75 miles ride from International Airport. Samana, driving on the Northeast Highway opened on mid 2008, which reduces the distance between Santo Domingo and Samana Peninsula by 140 miles or instead a 4 hours drive by Duarte Highway, the drive time is dropped to just one hour cruising at 50 m/h. For all these reasons, the newly designated Northeast highway is the ideal starting point for the Socoa route, crossing the beautiful Bayaguana and Monte Plata plains.
The Socoa falls is a well loved place for educational and religious centers, and for university students to continually come to reforest these green destination where millions of trees are planted under the government program “Volvamos al Verde” (Back to Green) and the “Quisqueya Verde” Plan. These actions are considered by institutions like United Nations for support the efforts of all these ecological parties.
Translated by Eduardo Houellemont
By Victoria Curiel
