Tamara Moves Out of Her House

Early this week was a big push to get things moved out of Tamara's house. Its not easy to motivate towards a moving day, even harder when its being planned while sitting on an excellent beach, and especially not easy when hot and sticky bus rides are involved. We said good bye to the Norwegians we met, we said good bye to the Canadians we met and Caberete to return to San Francisco de Macoris, the small city where she had been living since September 1st. Having finished the last of her volunteering projects the week prior, we could now focus on packing up and giving things away to prepare for our last four weeks in the country. These next weeks will be full of visiting other volunteers, a few famous natural features of the island and spending more time at the beach.

Now all packed up and the room cleaned it was time to take all the stuff to Santo Domingo, where the peace corps office it located. Our baggage now amounted to a suitcase, a duffel, a backpack, two daypacks, a camera bag, two computer bags, two boxes full of food, coffee, and tea, a bag of random things and two bags of books. There at the office, Tamara could donate books, clothing and other items to fellow volunteers whom could and did really appreciate the things. While Tamara was unpacking and organizing I found a flight that gets us back to Boston on Saturday morning ,May 21st. JetBlue leaves Santo Domingo at 2:05Am arrives New York for an hour stopover at 5:24Am before taking off for Boston and finally arriving there at 8:50Am.

The next adventure would take me up into the Dominican Alps to a village called Jarabacoa, where the focus was on hiking, biking, rafting, and horse back riding.

Caberete, Yo Lo Quiero!

That means Caberete, I Love It! A little vacation town on the North Coast of DR, this gem has the most consistent wind on the island and great beaches. Its known in the windsurfing/kitesurfing population worldwide as a precious destination for wind addicts. Early December I took a vacation here and experienced 5 consecutive days with no breeze. December isn't know to be a windy time there, so I took a little weekend trip there with Tamara recently, here's how it went.
Traveling with a surfboard doesn't condone itself to DR public transit's habit of putting two passengers in every seat, and I usually have to buy additional seats for my gear. We took the comfortable tour bus from the city, even though it takes a more roundabout path to the beach. At the end of the line, we crammed body and gear into a public car for a 25 kilometer drive that took an hour from all the stopping we did. Over three hours travel in total but at a reasonable total under $10. Arriving at Hotel Alegria, same place we stayed in December because it is on the beach, has kitchens, and costs under $50 a night.
A morning of clouds and rain showers gave in to a hot sunny day with winds in the upper teens! I unleashed the new surfboard for a virgin run in the 88 degree turquoise salt water. Under my newest (and freshest graphics) kite Naish Torch 12M I was moving fast over the medium chop inside Caberete's outer reef. The beach was a kaleidoscope of kites, around 75 kites were in the air, still the most I've seen at once. The new North Whip board was feeling good under my feet, solid in turns and quick to accelerate. I moved out far from the beach to play in the waves breaking over a deep reef that protects the bay. Catching waves with a kite is one of the most fun things i've done yet and makes tiring and fun filled hours feel like minutes.
After a second sunset session that night we went brought two pizzas back to the room. Cable TV, pizza, and white wine was just what I wanted.
Yes! More wind the next day! This time no clouds even at 9:00 so just after some delic. omletes we got a little morning reading on the sand. I really like cooking on vacation because you know you can be full and happy from good food and not get ripped off. So again, lunch at the room was turkey sandwiches along with chips and salsa following Presidente Grande. The kiting was as good or better this afternoon and I kited by a sea turtle twice. Its very amusing with what speed and personality they dive under as soon as they spot you boarding near them. Back on the beach, a fellow kiter asked me about my kite with interest. After a little back and forth about the price during the next day we came to an agreement and I sold it. Yes, I sold it :( Time to shop for new one :)
That concluded the wind for the trip, but I still had another day and half on the beautiful beach. Kayaking, reading, swimming and shopping is how you can spend time there with no wind; and don't forget rum drinking. I guess I didn't want to leave because Tamara and I started planning our next trip there which could be any weekend now. Ha!
On the bus back to San Fran across the aisle sat two Jehovah's Witnesses. They were part of a group of 25 from California on a mission to reach out to deaf and dumb Dominicans. It was entertaining talking to them since they were signing everything they said with there hands. In the only way I can identify their specific religion I said "so you guys are the ones who believe the end of the world is coming really soon?" They did respond to that, it was funny but not funny enough to quote. The end.

Manzanillo and Back

Hey readers, just planted the backpack and kiteboard for a few days back here in San Francisco de Macoris. This past weekend Tamara and I set our sights on Monte Cristi, a far flung fishing village on the North Coast of DR. To get there, we traveled to and stayed in Santiago. This city is the largest of the Cibao valley region and has the second largest population of the country. Its most notable for the large and recent hilltop monument.

A guagua (bus) took us further North and West to Monte Cristi where we took a motorcycle through town and to the Playa Moro. The ride was scenic, but uncomfortable as Tamara and I rode on the same bike with the driver. She had her backpack and purse, I was wearing my kite and camera on my back and holding my kiteboard. These moments really need a photo to tell the story but everyone is too hot and cramped to be patient enough for a pose like that.

Moro is essentially a beach cut into the inside of a crumbling mountain. We hiked first to the top of the lookout. A beautiful day spread out over the North Atlantic and clear views of the reefs in the warm ocean water below us. Even a short hike like this is not advisable in the mid-day sun, but to us it was just more anticipation to taking a swim from the deserted beach below.

Once down on the sand,it really was our beach for the day. Only a group of four was there before us, but they were huddling in the shade under the small overhang in the base of the cliff. Generally Dominicans do not sunbathe, they avoid the sun as much as possible including enjoying the shade at the beach. At this moment I still can't think of words to cleverly describe the fortune that I was feeling at being so alone with Tamara in a place of such beauty. I didn't waste any time, just kicked off the shoes and ran into the calm sea.

This semi-circular beach was just too good to see only from the sand, so I took to the water with my goggles. I had noticed the bottom characteristics from the cliff above, and was aiming to swim over some of the reef and see what kinds of fish were there. I was pretty happy with what I found, a scattering of reef features about 8 feet high in 10 to 12 feet of water with a sand bottom. Further away from the shore was where the 14 foot reef shelf began. It was the healthiest I have seen anywhere on the island, brightly colored although a little sparse of fish. The short swim took me about an hour because I was breath holding and diving around the edges of the reef to explore along my way.

A motorcycle ride, bus, and another motorcycle and we reached Manzanillo. This is the site of a Peace Corps Volunteer named Arya, friend of Tamara and mine. We shared a big beer atop his room at sunset before strolling into town to get the tour. Manzanillo is a shipping port, and so I learned the town is used to seeing Extranjeros (foreigners) as a result I got fewer stares than usual. At the market we picked up some sandwich fixings to make some grilled cheeses and tuna melts. Arya is a bass player, and so we spent time talking about music and Arya filled a flash drive with music for me to take away and load onto my computer.Next stop Punta Rucia because it had a favorable wind forecast days before and I was desperate for some kiteboarding. To get there; motorcycle ride, bus ride, motorcycle ride. The last motorcycle ride was almost forty-five minutes and Tamara were covered head to toe in fine brown dust. First impression of the town; depressed, what had happened here? A lot of tourist ready places were closed or vacacant, and there was only one or two hotels. After check-in at La Tortuga (The Turtle) we hit the beach and I blew up my kite (finally!). The wind increased as soon as my gear was ready so I hit the water. The conditions were gusty but the quality of the spot made up for what consistency the wind was lacking.

The wind started wailing! I began thinking I should have brought a smaller kite. Tamara and I moved farther down the beach, sitting on ours felt like a sandstorm. The wind lightened a bit and I got a second session of the day. After asking a local for dinner advice, we made the 2K walk up to Playa Ensenada. On a Sunday this beach was full of Dominicans and it was a party scene. Tamara and I ordered parrot fish from one of the vendors. It came marinated and fried whole with batatas (like home fries) and salad. Tough to eat a whole fish in the dark with just two plastic forks but it was delicious.

The morning meant a search for somewhere that was open and willing to make us breakfast. Karen's beach shack made a couple omelets, and later we had to hike up a hill on the road outside town to get cell reception. Tamara made the call for a reservation for that night back in Santiago. Among other things, the hotel continued to turn the water off to our room. I had already made progress in the acceptance of the local's gross inefficiency, but until Tortuga hadn't experienced such unwillingness to be helpful when given the chance.

I got two more kiting sessions in that day before our scheduled motorbike ride to the bus stop on the highway. The driver we had talked with earlier showed up forty-five minutes late and drunk. We got a ride from some guys in a pickup truck to a town where we could get a bus back to Santiago. It was a different way to get back, but turned out to be better scenery and a shorter distance. The hotel had some great chicken soup for dinner and the rain in the night helped for sleeping. In the morning we caught the bus for San Francisco and were back to Tamara's house by 11:00. Plenty of time for lunch and to get a nap before we had to teach class at 2:30. Next weekend to Caberete!