Approximate reading time: 5 minutes

The first trip after a few months of travel standstill was more a coincidental accident than a real travel goal. Presa de Valdesia is a beautiful reservoir dam in the Peravia Region of the Dominican Republic. But I actually wanted to visit another destination. Still, I made some great pictures of the artificial dam this day and would like to share them gladly with you.

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It was quiet for the last weeks, even months. The Corona pandemic paralyzed many countries and made also the Dominican Republic a very difficult country for adventurous travelers. Public transfers and bus companies were suspended for months. It was nearly impossible to explore the domestic travel destinations without an own car before the curfew in the evenings. Luckily, these strict regulations were loosened and traveling was made possible again.

The first trip after a few months of travel standstill was more an accident than a real plan. I actually wanted to visit ‘Las Yayitas’ which is a famous local waterfall. It is located up in the north of Baní, but unfortunately the GPS signal got lost in the mountains. Without a reliable internet connection, I couldn’t use Google Maps and also its installed Offline Maps function didn’t want to work when needed. Of course one of these Murphys Law situations, when everything came together. Instead of taking the turn to the left, I went right without being right.

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‘Las Yayitas’ waterfalls were never discovered that day, but luckily the forced compromise wasn’t bad either. By accident, I discovered an artificial reservoir dam called ‘Presa de Valdesia’. It has its name from its eponymous village Valdesia. In the middle of the Dominican highlands, there were a few scattered communities, some farms and only few busy people. Maybe that’s the reason for lack of a GPS signal in these areas. Time ticks simply slower in these areas and people are more disconnected from other communities.

Although Presa de Valdesia is like every other reservoir dam an artificial body of water, it has definitely its charm. Even from far distances, it is easily visible and offers some beautiful photos. In my opinion, the following photos from far distances are better and more beautiful than the close shots.

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But the way to Presa de Valdesia is challenging. Like many other hidden or fairly known tourism destinations in the Dominican Republic, a sturdy SUV is needed to access this difficult territory. The difficult road conditions will leave every clean car dirty and filthy:

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Several accesses exist around the body of water. I ended up at the furthest east point of the dam. But before getting there, there was a march of 15 minutes needed to reach finally the destination.

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But also from the shoreside, the surrounding nature was green and beautiful to see:

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On the shoreside, there was as well an old fishermen’s house. Looked like not in the best condition as the little fishing boat next to it. I couldn’t say, if it was still in operation, but there wasn’t anyone working close to it. It gave still a pretty imagination ad added value to Presa de Valdesa.

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But not only the body of water was worth to take picture. The hilly area around Presa de Valdesa looked also quite thrilling:

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For a pure accident and unwanted travel experience, I shot quite good photos with my camera. I can’t wait to repeat the drive to the same area to reach the desired destination of the Las Yayitas waterfalls. But this time with a functioning GPS signal or at least the Offline Maps. Or these beautiful types of travel accidents would happen again. Can’t be too bad, if the result is similar.

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