Pilgrims dressed in white carry candles beneath the basilica's tall concrete arch, whispering to the Virgin of Altagracia. Outside, the other Higüey takes over, a farm and trade town of honking buses, cattle trucks and corner shops selling chicharrón de leche, curds of milk soaked in syrup.
Beyond the shrine, the old Church of San Dionisio keeps a quieter corner, and dairies around town make the queso de hoja that Dominicans stop for on the highway. It stays hot and humid all year, with showers in every month and a slightly drier spell from January to March. A Local Friend knows when to arrive early, before the pilgrim buses, and when to linger as the plaza empties.
