Samaná

Santa Barbara de Samaná

The east coast of the Dominican Republic is very irregular with Samaná Bay extending west into the island for several miles.  Bahia de Samaná is somewhat developed on its north coast and has a national park on south coast.  The main city is Santa Barbara de Samaná, or usually referred to as just Samaná. 

Again, we had the choice between anchoring at Samaná with reports of theft and shakedowns by officials, or pull into an upscale marine a couple of miles to the west.  At $1.00 per foot, the Marina Puerto Bahia was a no brainer.

Check in with the officials was a snap with the marina handling most of the paperwork and providing office space for the officials.

On site, there are three restaurants, two complete with infinity pools, and a small grocery store.

Pollie moved right in.

Included with our marina fees was a one-way ride into Samaná.  You were on your own for the trip back ($20 via taxi).

Like sharks smelling blood in the water, the vendors were all on high alert because a cruise ship was pulling in for a day stop.

Evidently when the cruise ships started stopping at Samaná, the city fathers thought it necessary to build this theme park shopping area to attract the tourists.

Unfortunately, the cruise lines now give the passengers a choice between Samaná and going to this island resort for the day.  Fortunately for us, most of the passengers chose the resort.

We found the old architecture much more interesting than the theme park shopping area.  Besides as Pollie pointed out, they were trying to sell, “the same old crap.”

Their money could have been better spent on other revitalization and beautification projects that the locals could use as well as the tourists.

“Bridge to nowhere”

Their anchorage looks very inviting; too bad it is getting a bad reputation with the cruisers.

Before returning to the resort, we had a great lunch at an open air, street side restaurant attached to this lady’s home. 

A Fish Story

They are called Mahi Mahi, Dolphin (fish, not the Flipper variety), or Dorado (in Latin countries) and often referred to as the perfect pelagic game fish.  They range from Rio de Janeiro to Nova Scotia, but prefer water in the 78 to 82 degree Fahrenheit range.  Studies have shown that they are capable of growing to a length of 4 feet and 40 pounds in less than a year.  Eating up to 20% of their weight each day means they are hungry.  Dolphin, therefore strike first and ask questions later.  But, I wouldn’t know, because I haven’t caught one, yet.  That is a barracuda in the photo above and below.

Unlike Mahi Mahi, barracuda are not good for eating and are carriers of ciguatera.  So in these photos, I am attempting to shake the barracuda off of my lure, and avoid reaching down amongst all of those teeth to unhook him.  This time I was successful, the previous barracuda took my lure.

Motivator is a good platform for trolling, and her aft cockpit is great for landing a fish.  But, the sport fishing boats have the advantage.  They come with live wells for keeping live bait.  Cruisers are generally limited to artificial lures.  On the commercial fishing charter boats, you have a captain to operate the boat, and a first mate to assist with landing the fish.  Without a big strong first mate to subdue a flailing 40-50 pound angry bull dolphin, most cruiser reportedly rely on pouring cheap vodka in the gills to nicely put the fish to sleep.  Notice my first mate is ready to hand me gloves, gaff, vodka, or whatever I need to land dinner.

Thank you Izzy R for the great pictures!

Puerto Plata with Pollie

To reconnoiter Puerto Plata we chose to go with the City Tour offered by the marina.  Fabio our driver/tour guide/ body guard showed up at promptly 8:30 AM.  After picking up a young Canadian couple at a resort, we were off.

Our first stop was the Burgal Rum Factory.  Established in 1888, Brugal founded rum production in the Dominican Republic.  This facility did not actually distill the rum from sugar cane, but did the fermentation, blending, and bottling process.

After tasting a few samples,

We made a few purchases.

Taxi Stand

Puerto Plata moves on motorbikes.  The yellow vests with numbers on the back indicate that they are a taxi, not a private vehicle. 

For about $.25 U.S. you can go anywhere in Puerto Plata.  We found the motorcyclists to be rather aggressive, and stop signs and other traffic signals to be merely a suggestion.  Driving in the DR is not for the faint of heart.

The DR’s presidential election is coming in May, so there are campaign signs everywhere.   The Dominican Republic has had a fairly stable democratic government for a number of years albeit with some U.S. intervention (Christians In Action) and the usual amount of corruption.

Much wealth has been generated in the DR, but unfortunately it has been unequally distributed.  A near riot broke out among the street kids when cash was flashed because Pollie wanted to tip this Michael Jackson impersonator.

While baseball is a national pastime in the U.S., it is the national passion in the Dominican Republic.  This is one of the many DR training fields that may generate a future U.S. MLB player.

Unlike the Bahamas, that produces little food, the economy of the DR is dominated by agriculture, with 56% of the country used for crops and agriculture.

Part of the agriculture is dedicated to tobacco, so our next stop was the cigar factory.

Pollie was a quick study, so they put her to work.

I was forced to test her handy work.

Another product they sold was a drink called Mama Juana.  The bottles are stuffed with Timacle, Osua, Marabelf, Magey, Palo Indio, Bohuco Caro, Brasil, Canelilla, two fingers of honey, three fingers of rum, and then topped off with sangria. 

It is quite tasty, and comes with a claim of, “THIS PRODUCT INCREASE MAN’S VITALITY.”  We’ll let you know if it is effective.

Our next stop was at the Amber Museum.  Dominican amber is resin from an extinct tree, Hymenaea protera, which produced a thick honey like substance that readily trapped insects and plant material.

The transparent quality of the Dominican amber has allowed scientist a glimpse into the ecosystem of a long-vanished tropical forest.  Remember the movie Jurassic Park, and its premise of taking DNA from amber to create modern day dinosaurs?  Much of the filming was done nearby.

No tour is complete without visiting the city’s fort.  Fort San Felipe was completed in 1577 to protect the city from French and English pirates that continuously terrified inhabitants of Puerto Plata.

The fort provided a great view of Puerto Plata Harbour which is mostly commercial and not very appealing to the cruiser boats.

Like most of the tourist attractions, Fort San Felipe had its share of vendors hoping to cash in on the unsuspecting vacationers.  Many of the hawkers said their handicrafts “were made by my father.”  So I figured their fathers must have been Chinese. 

Pollie’s blond hair seemed to make us even more of a target.  When she went up to pet the burro, she was suddenly lifted onto the animal.

She would have been happy with sidesaddle, but he insisted that she straddle the animal.

Turns out that a picture on a burro is worth $5.00, but I enjoyed the show so much, I was willing to pay $10.00.

He left me holding the burro while he ran for change for my twenty.

Our last stop was to the top of the mountain via cable car to see the statue of Jesus billed to be much like the one Rio de Janerio, Brazil.

Of course, our tour guide/body guard insisted on getting the normal tourist shots for us.

Turks & Caicos to Dominican Republic

After six day of exploring Providenciales, Caicos, or Provo (“just say Provo mon, don’t hurt your tongue.”), and a thorough boat cleaning, it was time to depart T&C. 

 

We made an early morning exit on high tide to clear the sand bar and other skinny water near the marina entrance.

The water did not get deep for several hours as we crossed the Caicos Bank.  In several spots we had less than 4’ under the keel, and several times we had to change course to dodge coral heads.  You definitely want to cross the Caicos Banks when the visibility is good.

That afternoon, we were in deep water again and headed for Big Sand Cay.

Ensuring the anchor set was easy in the beautiful clear water.  We didn’t need to dive on the anchor, but we didn’t pass up the opportunity for a great swim.

Eight hours later, at 12:30 AM, we departed for the 12 hour crossing to the Dominican Republic.  After seeing the low lying limestone Bahamian Islands for months, the green hills and mountains of the DR were a welcome sight.

On the north coast of the DR you only have two real options.  You go into Luperon’s well protected harbor that is known for its tricky entrance, garbage strewn water and corrupt officials, or you can go into the Ocean World Marina a few miles to the east near Puerto Plata.  We chose the well marked entrance, clean water and marina oversight of officials at Ocean World.

Four line handlers met the boat and tied us off near the bird show in progress.  Soon, customs, immigration, PR Navy, navy intelligence, and a drug enforcement agent accompanied by a marina official asked to come aboard.  All remained on the back deck as we completed the necessary paper work.  We were told that each, accompanied by one of us had the authority to inspect the boat.  After I stated that we had no weapons, all declined the inspection, except the navy intelligence gentleman that asked to see the engine room.  They all were very amused by Pollie’s herb garden.

We had been warned that the Dominicans like their music loud and late into the night.  I think we may get a taste of it from the nearby casino and nightclub this Easter weekend.