If you see Puentes such as this, would you not want to walk them? See where they go?? See what's at the end? Wonder why they're called "Bridges to Nowhere?"

****

We took the Courtesy Shuttle from the Hotel to the front gate, where we waited at the Curb, under the shade of a few Palm Trees and watched the small motorcycles zoom by, and a few minutes later, hopped on the gua-gua. Or El Bus Publico.

Remember this wild and crazy Grenadian Buses we used to rave about? I'd take those any day, compared to this old and battered mini-van that appeared before us, already overfull with passengers, the cobrador waving us in before the van had even stopped.

I looked at Dave, as I entered and gingerly tried not to sit on the gentleman's lap as I squeezed myself into one inch of visible empty space, and I winked as the driver took off, with the side door open and the lady in front of me sitting there sideways on her seat, one hand holding her purse, the other her phone, and her legs swinging out in open air, like on some wild and crazy roller coaster ride.

Just another day, right? If only I had my camera at the ready.

We arrived in Samanà a few moments later, and disembarked at El Mercado, the heat and hustle and bustle instantly apparent. We took a quick walk through the market and we both agreed that although our first goal was to provision some, we both felt the need to stretch our legs first.

"Let's walk towards the Bay, see what the anchorage looks like" suggested Dave. "And then we can walk back towards the market".











Off in the distance we noticed there was a Cruise Ship in Town, a few boats anchored and...

"Look, there's that bridge!" I pointed to Dave !!

We'd sailed by this bridge when we entered Samanà, and marvelled at its size and look.

Later Research revealed it to be "The Bridge to Nowhere", and in summary, here's a few interesting facts I learned.



There are two very small islands that lie just off Santa Bárbara de Samaná (Samaná) called Cayo Linares and Cayo Vigia.

Joaquín Balaguer was the President of the Dominican Republic (on three different occasions, in the early '60's, late 60's, and mid-80's).

Balaguer wanted Samanà to be THE biggest resort town in the Caribbean, and one of his endeavours towards this goal was to build a bridge to span these three islands.

And so they were built in the late 60's, and on the Cayo's, a Casino and Restaurant, which was open for a while in the 80's.

We headed in that general direction and managed to find a way there, quickly finding ourselves under the bridge,



along with the expected vendors trying to coerce us to visit their booth and buy their stuff.



We promised them we'd buy a cold Cerveza on our way back from Los Puentes, as we pointed upwards. Their smile was genuine and friendly.

We found the stairs going up and were met with these Signs of Discouragement making sure we wouldn't enter,



and then this one, in 4 languages no less,



The Construction Workers said we could Pasaje if we wanted, "si si, no problema".



Sidestepped a few mounds of dirt,



went through this,



"Looks Good to keep going" we both agreed.



It was a nice (very safe) walk across, with only certain parts under construction,



"Remember that optical illusion image, where you're not sure if you're going UP or DOWN?" I asked Dave, as I happily snapped some photos away?





There was one more hurdle to get through,



and then we were rewarded with this view.



Nice eh?

The once would have been Casino/Restaurant/Bar was indeed dated,



with lots of Modern Day Art revealing something about ourselves to future generations,





Dispersed among the overgrowth of fallen palm leaves, we found what would've been a Rest Park,



and then, what? The Stonehenge of Samanà?



We reached the end of the walk when we arrived at this view,





We walked back across Los Puentes, enjoyed ourselves an ice cold Cerveza, por favour, and watched the world move around,



and then back towards El Mercado, passing by the finely landscaped, well manicured Cruise Ship Market,



then towards the less manicured downtown.

The Open Air stores a shopping district of Clothing Stores,



Hardware Shops,



and then arriving at the Mercado



Sure Beats our Malls back home eh?

What I didn't know... the WHOLE town was destroyed by fire in 1946 and had to be completely rebuilt.

The vendors selling their Fruits and Veggies were hopeful you'd come see them (but not aggressive), the smells of the pots of Fish outside quite almost distasteful, the rapid jibber of Spanish almost as loud as the sounds of the motorcycles zooming by, the heat overwhelming and the whole experience, quite incredible for every sense in our body.

We were offered a ride back on a small motorcycle, that barely looked like it would fit the driver, much less Dave, and I, or our two bags full'o'stuff.

We were heading for the bus coming at us when the Dominican Limousine offered us a deal we couldn't refuse.



and experienced up close and personal the streets of Samana.

What a wonderful Adventure.