Clicking the pictures opens as a gallery and the captions should be visible.
Inbound
So, a few things about the DR. Firstly, there are loads of forest fires; I’m not sure if it is because there seems to be a drought or if it’s simply because they burn trash, etc. Secondly, there is a lot of trash. The trash was much thinner on the eastern side of the island but was frustratingly ubiquitous near Ocean World Marina, where we spent the majority of our time in country. The culture is very tip-sy, it’s hard to tell at times when the locals are friendly vs just seeing that we are gringos and therefore we are walking ATMs packed to the gills with money. There needs to be a simple expression in every language to indicate that we are not normal vacationing foreigners but actually frugal (relatively broke) look-a-likes. The people are very vocal about their sexual desires to anyone foolish enough to go running in 90+ degree tropical heat.
As a result of the forest fires and extremely high mountain ranges, the DR can be sensed from very far away. At about 30 miles away we started smelling burning wood, which after a few frantic minutes making sure it wasn’t coming from us let us know that we were headed the right way. Then, the huge 10,000 ft+ mountains became visible about half as close or so. The enormity of Hispañola came into our consciousness with vim after spending the last month and a half in the tiny little Bahamian islands.
Ocean World
As mentioned in the previous post, the entrance to Ocean World was crazy. There are breaking waves and a massive stone breakwater the whole way in and if anything went wrong there would be little time to respond. Everything went well for us and we got cleared in with customs and immigration and settled into our slip the following morning. We spent over six weeks at this marina. Marinas are very comfortable, with easy access to shore, no fear of anyone dragging anchor into you in the night and full autonomy of the crew since no one needs to be shuttled to/from shore in the dinghy. That said, you lose all the privacy and freedom of the true vagabond’s life at anchor. Also, Tuna realized she could jump off the boat to the pier so we had to go get her from other boats that she was exploring. It’s a mix and we were glad to have it for a while and glad again when we left.
A few of our favorite things here:
- Muddah Goose got to come visit for two-and-a-half weeks and the kids spent the night at her hotel almost every night, giving Grete and I some time away from the kids for the first time in months.
- Kid boats! There were two families with kids that lived at the marina and a few other boats that came and went while we were there. The kids loved getting to have friends around every day and we loved it too. We even got along quite well with some of the families and are headed in the same direction so we expect to spend even more time down island.
- The number one sea lion show. Most people in the marina hated the sea lion show, but we loved it. The marina abuts an ocean park and the sea lion show area was around 100 meters from our slip. So, twice a day we’d hear ridiculous music and announcing for the show. Somehow it never got old to us…“Who let the dogs out?!”
The spot had it flaws as well, namely it is located in a fairly remote enclave with just a couple of restaurants and really nothing else. The people - men and women - as mentioned above were very aggressive with the cat calling. One dude went so far as the start running with me and Grete for over a quarter mile. Play on player.
The kids spending the night at MG’s hotel room gave us an exaggerated sense of security and as such, we were walked in on by Fira for the first time, if you know what I mean. “Hey Dada!” has never been so startling.
The enclave that housed the marina is called Cofresí and it is beautiful. In one direction is the Atlantic Ocean, in another huge unspoiled mountains and nearby vast foothills all covered in lush green vegetation. In the US, this land would certainly make up state or national parks, it was that amazing. In the DR, however, they instead have a garbage dump there. In addition to the actual garbage dump the people just seem to throw all of their trash wherever they please. I’ve traveled to around 30 countries, many of which were poorer than the DR, but I’ve never seen a litter problem like this. It was so painful to see, sweeping mountains and beautiful ocean beaches for some stretches covered with so much trash that you cannot see the ground.
The trash problem doesn’t seem to be completely ubiquitous though, because when we later moved to Samaná the litter was not very common.
Also, it is from here that Grete flew to Boston to run the 127th Boston Marathon. She has been training as much as possible in this crazy life we are living and was able to get in the most important training runs in the brutal conditions of the tropics. It’s no surprise to anyone that she crushed it. One of her best friends, Linny, and Muddah Goose were both able to make it up to Bean Town to cheer her on. Many of Grete’s running friends from Pensacola were there as well and from what I saw and heard, they had a great time. I was able to spend the week shouting at the kids as usual but I didn’t have Grete’s judging glares, so I guess you could say I had a pretty great time too.
Adventures
Ocean World Adventure Park
As guests of the marina, we were given free day passes to the adventure park which we used when MG was visiting. After hearing the sea lion show twice daily for about a month we finally got to see it from the other side. There were also waterslides, massive inflatable slides in a lagoon, a snorkeling path, bird, shark, and dolphin shows and on and on. The park was really a great time.
27 Falls of Damajagua, Horses, ATVs, zipline
The waterfalls is one of the most famous tourist attractions in this part of the DR. There are 27 waterfalls in a river running through a national park forest about 45 minutes away from where we were staying. We did a tour and went on 7 of the waterfalls. Some were large jumps from a platform, and others were waterslides carved out of the rock that makes up the river’s edges. The water was cold and the drops ranged from about 10 to 20 feet. Dublin, Grete and I loved it. Fira…not so much. She was able to go down ladders for a few of them and was crying and unhappy for others. Poor the Shessimo.
We also went on a few mile horseback ride through the hills near Maimón and an ATV ride the other direction. We went zip-lining, which was adventurous as well, but not overwhelmingly so, so Fira was able to enjoy it as well. It’s really quite beautiful countryside and it was great to experience it through so many different mediums.
Puerto Plata
This is the third largest city in the DR. Before we arrived we thought we’d rent a car and drive around, etc. but after seeing the roads and drivers I decided I’d rather stay alive. So, any time we went into town we hired a cab. They were fairly inexpensive and since the DR is such a poor country, the cab drivers will wait for you for hours and/or follow you all around at no charge in order to get a return fare. Essentially, they make more money waiting around for us all day than many people there will make in a week.
The city was very lively with beautiful murals all over town, a pink street, an umbrella street and a cathedral zocalo similar to other Latin American towns. We also walked out to see the old fort and as always, enjoyed great food and scenery. One day we took a gondola ride to the top of Isabel de Torres. We hired a guide to talk us through the small details, show us edible plants, etc. The view was spectacular but Grete hated that old dude kept saying Isabella de Torres not Isabel.
Samaná
OK, the marina/resort in Samaná is really nice. Kinda wish we had pushed to here to spend our six weeks, but we enjoyed Ocean World too, so nothing lost. The driving here was very different from Puerto Plata, so we rented a car in order to go sightseeing on our own. This area is unspoiled wilderness for the most part and it was beautiful every direction we went.
Everyone had said that we needed to go to the Limon waterfall, so that was our first stop. The falls were unique and striking. The water was cold, so only Fira and I decided to take a dip after the hot sweaty hike up the hill for a mile or two.
Next up we drove all the way to the eastern extreme of the peninsula to visit a beach called Playa Frontón. We definitely should have had a four wheel drive, but Grete and I continued our long tradition of off-roading in a wimpy little sedan without issue. The weather was threatening to smack us with an afternoon thunderstorm, but it held out long enough for the five mile hike to the beach and back. The trail was cut through thick orchards of topical fruiting trees and went along the rugged black cliffs several hundred feet high on the land side. The beach was indeed very remote and as most things Dominican, there were stray dogs there. The kids named the dogs Steve, Grete, Dublin and Fira. All four dogs escorted us the entire 2.5 miles back to the car and one of them ran along in front of the car for another two miles or so until we hit a smooth enough patch of road to go fast. He also stopped because there was a huge granite mine and he had to stop to play with the stray dogs that were there keeping guard.
The Resort
The marina was attached to a legit resort. This place was clean and polished. We arrived on Friday morning and that night they had movie night with a bonfire, marshmallows, popcorn and a pug. It was a great way to unwind after the passage over from Ocean World, part of which (Scottish Bay) had high wind and waves and kept us all on edge for 4-5 hours.
The resort had two swimming pools, one of which was an infinity pool right on Bahia Samaná. We went there pretty much every day we were in this port to cool off and unwind with two other boats we’re kind of in league with now. Catnip and Magistra are two kid boats that are a great match for our family and we met in Ocean World and continue to head the same way. We’re not sure how much our paths will cross before Grenada, but we’ll certainly spend more time with them when we get south. In the small world of Caribbean sailing we have already met Catnip back in Georgetown and their boy got along very well with Dublin and Fira.
So, after 7 weeks in the Dominican Republic, it is time to head east across the Mona Passage to Puerto Rico and beyond.
