Sustainable Food Forest Experience
Welcome!
Goco Goes is dedicated to creating dynamic and immersive travel experiences that are affordable to anyone!
This itinerary for our Member-Exclusive Sustainable Food Forest Experience will give you exclusive access to learn about living sustainably from contemporary Caribbean peoples who blend Indigenous Taíno, African, and European cultures.
We will be immersed in the Conuco system, an ancestral ethnobotanical practice among the Indigenous Taíno peoples still common in use today to produce an abundance of rich foods and medicines.
In a time when Western agricultural practices are destroying the ecosystems and poisoning the land and water, we must do our best to learn from more sustainable approaches to life that work in alignment with the earth.
This trip should give you optimism in seeing fully mature forest gardens designed intentionally by locals. You will learn the fundamentals in how to design and implement your forest gardens at home with longevity, culture, and your local ecosystem in mind.
Our goal is to help travelers better understand the local host cultures and the natural living environments we interact with. To enjoy life abroad while also supporting the local economy as much as possible to prevent harm via supporting the tourism gentrification pipelines.
We do this by doing our best to use locally owned and operating services and accommodations.
This, in turn, gives our guests an incredible authentic vibe. Because this type of travel can also be burdensome due to cultural and linguistic differences, our Host guides are there to help us bridge those gaps. We ask that you respect our host guides and their humanity and also enjoy your trip! Positive vibes and open-mindedness go a long way in improving your general experience.
Enjoy!
This trip takes place in the Dominican Republic. Santo Domingo, Monte Plata, and the Samaná regions.
Points of interests
*Note: Departure days happen the day after the end of your trip, Day 10.
Day One: Arrival at Santo Domingo International Airport (SDQ). Our host will greet you at the airport's exit and drop you off at our first hotel near the historic district.
You will meet the rest of the travelers in your cohort as we begin our trip with a welcoming ceremony with fresh fruit and refreshments.
The Welcoming Dinner begins at 7 pm(19:00) local time.
We will enjoy fresh natural foods grown locally from the region and end the night with music at a nearby club.
Day Two— Today we will begin our day by visiting a local non-profit sharing traditional music in communities on the outskirts of Santo Domingo.
Lunch
After lunch, we will head to a secret beach for our land acknowledgment ceremony.
The ceremony includes a beach clean-up action followed by a gift offering as a sign of respect.
Swim
Free evening
Day Three - Today we head into the mountains to begin our journey in the countryside. We will be staying in the town of Los Cacaos, a small relatively independent town hidden in a tropical cloud forest. Here we will be surrounded in a true abundance of life.
We will pay a visit to the local conuco to introduce ourselves and to gain our first key insights.
Free evening
Day Four - Breakfast,
In the morning, we will visit one of the many waterfalls and slot canyons in the area. Our hike will be accompanied by a local guide who knows the passage.
lunch
After lunch, we will return to the conuco for our second lesson on sustainable practices.
Lessons can be in propagation, harvesting, air layering, herbal identification, and food processing as examples.
Free evening
Day Five - Breakfast.
We will hike to a second conuco site up the mountains.
In the forest garden, you will have the opportunity to harvest dozens of different types of fruit and we will enjoy a lunch cooked by the family.
After lunch, we will begin a lesson on fruit tree management, what does it look like to take care of a tree from each cycle of life from a seedling to a fully mature life.
Dip in the river to clean off the dirt and sweat!
Free evening
Day Six - Breakfast.
After, we will visit our second waterfall site!
Lunch
Free evening
Day Seven - Breakfast, Morning lesson in the conuco followed by a visit to the river!
Lunch
Free evening
Day Eight - Free Day!
Day Nine - Breakfast. Return to Santo Domingo
End of Trip Dinner Ceremony
Live music
Day Ten - Depart Day! Return to the Santo Domingo Airport (SFQ) 2:30 hours before your flight takes off and safe travels!