Colazione e poi si parte per Sabana de la Mer. Speriamo che il gua-gua non parta mentre sto mangiando il mio uovo. C’è anche la guardia della banca, che si trova 50m più in là, e penseresti che sia venuto a bersi un caffé, ma è qui ogni volta che ci veniamo anche noi. E’ un po’ strano sto tipo: canta, parla in italiano, sta qua 5 minuti e torna al suo alvoro.
Las Galeras è internazionale come Las Terrenas, ma meno commerciale e meno lussuosa. A Las Terrenas c’è una fila di ristoranti con menu occidentali lungo la spiaggia. Las Galeras ha qualche hotel e un resort, un paio di ristoranti occidentali e nel complesso è abbastanza tranquilla. Ci sono molti espatriati, che gestiscono un ristorante, un bar, insegnano inglese o semplicemente sono pensionati che non riescono a star fermi e vengono qui a dedicarsi al mercato immobiliare di giorno e ai giovani domenicani/e di notte. E’ comunque un paese molto tranquillo, anche perché non è una zona di passaggio, si trova proprio sulla punta della penisola di Samanà, quindi chi viene qua viene apposta per Las Galeras, la strada finisce qua.
La strada principale di Las Galeras. Una delle due strade del paese.
Las Galeras è il primo posto dove alle 7 del mattino la gente ancora dorme. C’è qualcuno al ristorante, ma poca gente. Forse perché è domenica o forse perché sono più rilassati. Anche qui la zona vicino al mare è dedicata ai turisti (con un paio di alberghi di lusso e un resort), mentre appena dietro questa fila di edifici ci sono i locali per la gente del posto e gli straccioni come noi.
Ecco il gua-gua. C’è una signora con un buon profumo che sta andando a prendere l’aereo per il Costa Rica. Parlava con un altro passeggero della sua pressione alta e del colesterolo. Si dicevano che bisogna mangiare meno grassi, meno sale, bere tanta acqua e camminare. Mmm? un po’ cammino. Tutto il resto invece non lo sto rispettando. Viviamo piuttosto male: mangiamo un sacco di cose fritte (patate, pollo, pesce, braciole e persino banane), acqua ne beviamo poca perché pesa portarla in giro, sale in abbondanza. Quando torniamo dobbiamo fare una buona disintossicazione.
Processione mentre aspettiamo la barchetta
12.21 HATO MAYOR
Da Samanà abbiamo preso un traghetto per attraversare il golfo; appena arrivati dall’altra parte, a Sabana de la Mer, abbiamo preso un gua-gua per Hato Mayor, da qua dovremo cambiare e prenderne uno per Higuey e poi un altro per Boca de Yuma. Arriveremo per le 3 credo. Bello tornare sulla strada.
Prima ripensavo a John, il proprietario di El Cabito. Due volte siamo stati al suo ristorante 50 m sopra il mare e due volte lui stava bevendo. La sera si sarà fatto un litro di vino nell’ora che siamo stati lì. Del resto non ha altro da fare. Della gestione del campeggio si occupa Rosa, una spagnola. Lui deve solo bere e guardare il mare.
Samanà. “Traghetto” per attraversare il golfo e arrivare a Sabana De La Mer
15h50 Boca de Yuma, Hotel El Viejo Pirata.
Che bello! C’è una strada che separa l’hotel dall’oceano, ma l’ombra del terrazzo e l’arietta dal mare mi fanno sentire perfettamente a mio agio anche qui. Il proprietario, un certo Sandro, è qui da tre giorni. Prima c’era un altro, un triestino, che per per vari motivi si è stancato; resta comunque a vivere qui, con la seconda moglie dominicana e una figlia, ma ora dell’albergo se ne occupa Sandro. Sandro ha anche un figlio, che ha un resort a Juan Dolio, il paese dove andremo una volta lasciata Boca de Yuma. Sandro ha detto che gli può chiedere di farci un buon prezzo, ma non sarà mai più economico dell’alberghetto hippy che ho visto sulla Lonely Planet. Ci sono rimaste poche migliaia di pesos, domani dovremo tornare a Higuey, a un’ora scarsa da qui, con Sandro in cerca di una banca.
7.22am It wasn’t difficult to wake up at 6.30. Normally at 9.30pm we are so tired that we fall asleep with ease, because for a reason or the other we often wake up early. It’s already hot, this early in the morning; there is so much stuffiness that smog hovers at nose height.
On a horse toward El Limon waterfall
We are waiting for a pickup to El Limon, where we are doing a horse tour to see a nice waterfall (I lost the pictures of this place). At this time of the morning many have already done their morning swim and are going back home to start work, in the shop or cooking. What I regret is that we didn’t have time to cross the border between the touristic Las Terrenas and the local one. We crossed it yesterday on the gua-gua, arriving, it would have been nice to go on foot. The most athletic this morning walk with weights on their wrists or carrying plastic bottles full of sand. No kidding here! On the gua-gua coming here there were some very well dressed women, one even had an iphone.
We are already late on our schedule. The German girls told us to leave before 8am because later there are too many tourists at the waterfall.
Walking by the beach at the Grand Paradise resort to get to our camping on the promontory.
3.15pm EL CABITO
This place! People pay a lot of money (10 euro for an octopus), to have dinner on a stilt house about 50 meters above the ocean. You can even jump, but El Cabito is not responsible for your safety; and there’s a rope to come back up.
Luca don’t jump!
We walked for one hour in the heating midday sun (the time we like to spend under the sun, apparently), to save 3 euro of moto concho. It was a nice walk though, we passed by the beautiful beach of the Grand Paradise, the only resort in town.
The restaurant at El Cabito
View from El Cabito
Tomorrow we are leaving this place, before breakfast (because here it costs 250 RDS per person, and a beer 150! I’ve never had a beer so expensive in the Dominican Republic), because it’s a bit expensive, far from the beach and far from the town. This place is amazing, isolated, and for this reason you have to pay; it’s nice for a night, but we prefer the comfort and prices of the town. Our tiny house is on stilts, with a curtain as door, plus a mosquito net (around the matress, placed on the floor), to protect us from possible attacks. My butts hurt, after this morning ride.
Our cute tree house in El Cabito
7.30pm CHINOLA, passion fruit. This is delicious! In Las Galeras the main road leaves from the beach and goes perpendicularly toward the mainland. Tonight we walked a bit along this road and we got a bit out of the “town centre” (the crossroad of the only two roads that are in Las Galeras) and we walked a bit further because the place where we normally eat wanted 200 RDS for the chicken, instead of 150 like yesterday. So we tried a new place, with no floor and tables outside under a plastic curtain, and we had our nice chicken for 150 and two juices. Two delicious juices. I must tell my mother that once we are back we won’t have chicken for a long time.
April 12
Relax day in Las Galeras. As soon as we came down from El Cabito we found a room in a nice hotel near the only crossroad in Las Galeras. At the Paradiso Bungalows there are 6 tiny houses, each including one bedroom and one bathroom; we are staying in one of these, in another is the French owner, the others are empty.
Our bungalow in Las Galeras
It was 8 am when we arrived, and they hadn’t opened yet. Considering that they have no clients, I’m not surprised. As soon as we put down our bags we went to a cafeteria at the other corner of the crossroad to have pancakes with jam and a lovely coffee. The owners are Americans, a bit hippy. I borrowed a book, “The girl with pear earring”, that I have to read in one day because tomorrow morning we leave town.
After breakfast we went to the supermarket to buy something for lunch (cheese crackers and water) and we went to a nice beach a bit far from the center. We got lost to get there, but it’s really nice. We walked between houses and a bit in the jungle, but you can also get there directly by car. I can’t remember the name of the beach, but everybody knows it in town.
At this beach they also rent sunbeds and there’s a café, but we refuse and lay our towels on the sand in the shade. After a short time next to us come two white elder men with two black girls. They seem to be well established couples, not a flirt. There’s also a lady from Rome that from time to time comes to talk to the men. They are probably spending their retirement here.
We stayed at the beach the whole afternoon, I was reading with no rest. Luca spent his time swimming and watching a pelican flying and diving in front of us.
In the evening after the shower we had dinner in a place at the end of the road, with rice and chicken, the one that a Georgian man last night recommended as the best place in Las Galeras. The food was actually good and it was interesting to look at locals coming for dinner.
It’s only 7am, and I thought I woke up early. But I look out of the window and I see one man cleaning the beach, two guys running. I look out of the other window, other beach: there’s someone swimming, before going to school, someone exercising, the dog taking the owner for some jogging, again, another dog waiting patiently that his human friend finishes to bath. And more people running forth and back in this beach 100m long.
Last night there was a quarter of moon. It was enough to illuminate the sea. The sea is so clear that you can see the rocks beneath even in the night. Time to leave Rio San Juan.
5pm. It’s really hot here in Las Terrenas, I can’t breath. I called mum this morning; she told me she bought a gum little ball for the cats, one of those very jumpy, and Cagliostro is loving it. He plays with it then hides it under his paws. I can tell mum is having fun with the cats, I don’t know why she insists that I should send them away.
Luca has a terrible pain in one ear. It’s probably otitis. We bought a medicine, but it is not miraculous.
Once we arrived in Las Terrenas, we left our bags at the beautiful Casa Robinson and had lunch at an Italian restaurant. Lasagne with aubergine. It’s nice to have something different from time to time.
I don’t like to see white aged men flirting with girls that could be their granddaughters. Las Terrenas is weird because it’s really international. There are Haitians and Italians, French and Italian are as common as Spanish. There isn’t much to see, but that is not too bad, because I have a bit of a headache and Luca that terrible pain in the ear. If tomorrow he’s not better we won’t be able to ride the horses, maybe we’ll go after Las Galeras (where I booked the tree house!).
If I had learnt Reiky better maybe I would know which one is the hearing chakra and I could heal him. But I’m lazy and I don’t know.
6.20 pm. A scene. Nice café by the sea, a juice at 70 RDS (1.30 euro). A pretty Dominican girl with many piercing is dancing while a fat bold man is filming her with his phone, and another old man with a great belly is waiting for the girl to go back to sit next to him to finish her drink. Is she looking for clients or for a possible husband?
<<Once upon a time there was a girl that fell in love with a curly boy with a white beard. Sometimes he doubted this love, what she said she was feeling. But while she looks at his freckles and she gets lost in the blue flower that is his eye, she knows that her love is true and will last forever>>
7.30 pm We are at a cute restaurant owned by a French guy, eating “fish and ship” and “calamarso l’americaine”. But the guy is drunk and luckily there’s a girl helping him, let’s hope he taught her well how to cook (and that he doesn’t sleep with her, she’s too young). Ready. At this time it’s still so hot that only when some breeze comes you feel ok.
I don’t want to leave this place. We are on the terrace, reading, while the sun goes to sleep at the bottom of the ocean.
Today we’ve been to the Playa Grande, at about 10 kilometers North from here. It’s easy to get there on a gua-gua from Rio San Juan. We passed by a golf course.
The beach is beautiful; the dunes formed by the wind gave the impression to be in the desert. And the waves were so strong they took off your swimming suit and earrings. There were very few locals at the beach. It seemed more like a place for tourists or rich people, there’s a sunbeds and umbrellas rental service, and a nice swimming pool right behind the beach, surrounded by gazebo where those with money can go get changed or relax in the shade.
An amazing beach, but maybe too luxurious for us. There are some stalls selling food and drinks, but too expensive, considering you are in the Dominican Republic.
Playa Grande in Rio San Juan
At the end of our day at the beach a dog came closer, looking for cuddles. I can’t stand seeing these poor stray dogs with sweet and sad eyes because they suffer cruelties from humans and other dogs. That look at you with tenderness and just want some love. They are not treated too well dogs in this country.
Io non me ne vado più da qua. Siamo sul terrazzo a leggere, mentre il sole va a dormire in fondo al mare.
Oggi siamo stati alla Playa Grande, una decina di chilometri a nord. E’ molto facile arrivarci in gua-gua da Rio San Juan.
Molto bella; le dune formate dal vento davano l’impressione di stare nel deserto. E c’erano delle onde alte e forti che ti portavano via costume ed orecchini. Poca gente del posto in spiaggia. E’ una cosa un po’ di lusso, con un servizio lettini e ombrelloni, una piscinetta appena dietro alla spiaggia, circondata da gazebo dove chi ha soldi può andare a cambiarsi o rilassarsi all’ombra.
Una spiaggia bellissima, ma troppo d’elite forse per noi. Ci sono dei chioschetti dove prendere da mangiare e bere, ma con prezzi alti rispetto alla Repubblica Dominicana.
Playa Grande a Rio San Juan
Alla fine della nostra giornata in spiaggia si è avvicinato un cane che voleva un po’ di coccole. Non ce la faccio più a vedere questi randagi dagli occhi dolcissimi e tristi perché subiscono mille cattiverie dall’uomo e dai loro simili. Che ti guardano con tenerezza e vogliono solo un po’ di affetto. Non sono trattati molto bene i cani qui.
