The Flora of The Dominican

As I posted my 7 days of events in the Dominican, it just killed me to not include the beautiful plants, flowers, and foliage I came across.  The plants were one of the first things that excited me on the island.  We got into a bus that carried us to the hotel from the airport, and the whole way I was shouting with excitement as I saw all the beautiful diversity of plants along the roadside.  The hotel held even more of that excitement!  So without further ado, here are my favorite photos from my Dominican trip!

Plants Around the Hotel

Plants From the Rain Forest

As we left the hotel for our camp sites, I was very thrilled that my site was held on the very edge of the rain forest.  From the time I was in elementary, I have loved the rain forest and all the beauty it holds.  I was thrilled to have the opportunity to take more photos of the plants here.

These girls showed me around their school grounds that held a wide array of plants and flowers.  I never would have found half of the plants that they showed me!

Plants from the Village

The village day was an incredibly humbling experience for me.  I walked the dirt roads of the village and was humbled by the people and their living conditions.  One thing I quickly found out though is they are very proud of their flower gardens that grow beside their houses and along the fence lines of the roads.  I had so much joy walking up to people to ask if I could take a picture of their plant, and then see the pride in their face as they said yes.  They would give me a cutting of the flowers, or a seed pod to take with me.  I kept thinking to myself, that at least in all the poverty they were surrounded in, they got to experience a little bit of joy and beauty with their gardens!

This is a tree called The Forest Flame.  It is covered in these beautiful red-orange flowers that are simply stunning!

He climbed up to get me a couple of seed pods from the tree!

And he kept on helping me find other seed pods!

And he helped me take photos.  He held the grass back so I could get a photo of the Maidenhair Fern!  So sweet!

These plants made my trip an exciting adventure.  I hope you enjoyed them as much as I did!