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Sitting next to my friends staring down at the picture, I knew this was it. This mystical looking setting seemed like it could only come from a fairytale. This would be the adventure I would seek. I didn’t know how or if I would make it there, I only knew my soul yearned to try. I told my friends, “this one.” “We have to go on this excursion.” They looked at me slightly taken back, almost alarmed. They then proceeded to ask me If I was sure I could do it. I said, “Yes I want to try.” We then proceeded to set up our excursion with Kevin, our Amway representative that helped us out at our hotel Occidental Caribe. Originally, we booked this trip to Punta Cana to attend a friend’s wedding, but booking this trip ended up becoming about a lot more than that to me. This was the first trip I had booked since becoming quite ill with neurological complications from Lyme disease and getting a diagnosis of Ehlers-Danlos. I had spent a lot of time leading up to this trip in bed or dealing with doctors. The illnesses took quite a toll on me not only physically but mentally as well. I was always quite active prior to this and had a lot of goals and dreams. Traveling was one of those dreams and it was starting to feel like none of my dreams were possible anymore. When we got the invitation to go to this wedding, I decided it was my chance to dust myself off and live life to my fullest possible because what is the point of being alive if I was no longer living it. It was time to see what I was still capable of. I must admit I was a little nervous but excited at the same time. Kevin gave us our time in the morning to meet our tour guide. We waited and waited some more. We tried calling to see why it hadn’t come. We were told the bus is on its way we were given “Dominican Time.” We later found out “Dominican Time,” is anywhere from a half-hour to an hour later than the time they give you to meet. Finally, we were able to load the bus and get this trip started. We were headed to the Samana peninsula. The goal of the day’s trip was to make it to the waterfall Salto El Limon. This was not going to be an easy feat. Our bus arrived and we got to meet the horses that we would be riding to get us down to the falls. My friend was not a fan of horses. And once she saw the terrain we would travel, that made this trip all the worse for her. Me on the other hand, I love horses. I used to ride, but I had to get rid of my horse when I could no longer saddle him. I knew the hardest part would be getting on. Once I’m on I should be ok. Besides, with the way I walk, I already look like I had been riding a horse too long. I successfully made it into the saddle with help and was ready to go. The terrain was steep and rugged. There were a lot of loose rocks on the way. The nice part of this was that you really felt like you were escaping into another world. Into some deep seclusion. We got off our horses and had to walk the rest of the way down another steep area of stair steps. Thank goodness there was a strong railing to hold onto. After what seemed like an eternity, the hillside opened to reveal the treasure we had been after. There it was. The mystical beauty. She glistened over the hillside giving off a light mist, falling into a crystal-clear pool at the bottom. At first, all I could do is stare at its beauty. After I got over being mesmerized by it, I realized it was so worth getting over the fear of, “what if my health doesn’t cooperate with me?” and to take a leap into the unknown.