School hike turns sour

A gentle walk in a nature reserve turned into a major rescue operation for a group of local school kids and their teachers last Friday (10 Oct) in Puerto Plata.
Four teachers and their 14 students aged between 13 and 15 years old, all from Collegio Costambar set off in the morning for a hike in the reserve located on the Isabel de Torres mountain in Puerto Plata.
Unable to find their way back, one of the teachers was able to make contact with the fire brigade at around 7pm, but his cellphone battery died.
The lost hikers were finally tracked down by the fire brigade at 1am next Saturday morning, tired and hungry, but extremely relieved, as were their friends and relatives, to be found.
The director of local office of the Secretary for the Environment, Carlos Heriberto Finke Herrera, said that the agency that manages the reserve had no knowledge that the group were planning a trip up the mountain.
He also said that park rangers at the scientific reserve on the mountain have been instructed to act as free guides for hikers so they don’t get lost in the dense undergrowth that surrounds the mountain.