LUPERON, DOMINICAN REPUBLIC - HOME OF THE NOT SO BRAVE (OR
01 May 2009
April 30, 2009 We have been here in Luperon for over two weeks! Our trip from Great Sand Cay to Luperon was one of the best trips yet. Sea conditions were very mild and the wind allowed us to do some motor sailing. Our Yanni, beloved engine of Emerald Seas, was the major player in getting us safely to the DR. We left Great Sand Cay at 3PM and we were anchored by 9AM the next day. It was a beautiful night trip- lots of stars out.
Luperon is known as being one of the best hurricane holes in the Caribbean. It is surrounded by steep hills, covered in trees and the smell of the earth, flowers, jungle and the sound of birds is the first thing you notice when you arrive. The water in the anchorage is very muddy looking, a result of fresh water run-off from the rain, boats dumping their effluent in the water and the town of Luperon sends its waste as well. No swimming here! The Dominican Republic people are very friendly, the houses are brightly painted and colourful even though most of them are the size of a small shack. Food and beer are very inexpensive.
We went on an adventure tour to visit and climb some waterfalls. It was lots of fun- check out some of the pics in our Luperon Album. We climbed up the river and the falls - some of us had to be dragged up by the guides but Jim and I managed very well. The trip was very challenging and a bit scarey in places but we all made it. To get back we had to slide down the same falls we had just climbed up. Sure glad we were wearing helmets! Got lots of water up my nose on the first waterfall as did other members of the group. A quick reminder to hold the nose and the rest of the trip down was fast and fun. Big smiles on everyone's faces - partly because we were still alive and no one was injured, but mostly because we knew there was a cooler of Presidente beer and a big lunch awaiting us when we got back to the van.
Another day,a trip was made to Puerto Plato with a group of sailing friends - we toured a rum bottling plant, tried their rum (not that good), visited an Amber factory which was very interesting, enjoyed a great Domican Republic lunch and then we went grocery shopping.
On Monday, April 25th, Jim and I took the bus to Santo Domingo, the capital of Domincan Republic. It is a city of about 2 million people and is a 5 hour drive away. The trip there was interesting. We travelled through Santiago, the farmlands, mountanous areas. We saw sugarcane fields, rice fields, banana plantations, orange plantations. We saw the most daring motorcyclists ever - the narrow 2 lane roads are treated as if they were 5 lane highways, people use the middle of the road for passing or they use the side of the road for passing. I saw a bus pass 4 cars on a curve as we were travelling towards it........the bus did not flip and better yet, we did not hit the bus or any of the young children, dogs, goats, chickens, cows, horses, donkeys, old men, old women and geese that enjoy special DR road privileges, not enjoyed anywhere else in the world.
In Santo Domingo, we stayed at a little hotel in the old Colonial part of Santo Domingo, the oldest city in all the Americas. Christopher Columbus' brother, Bartholomew founded this place in 1498 (originally named La Isabella). Sir Francis Drake invaded this place in 1568 and then the French in 1655. The place is full of history! We saw the ruins of many famous forts including the Fort of Santo Domingo, the Fort of San Francisco, the Fort of Charity. There were many ancient houses and churches and statues. The streets of the old city were very clean. There were some great restaurants to enjoy and many beautiful plazas (parks) to relax in. A great place to visit.
At our hotel we were able to enjoy hot showers and a fast internet connection. This gave us a chance to shower and waste water to our hearts content and catch up on the internet and get our Canadian taxes filed online. After two days in the city we were happy to return to Emerald Seas.
The weather here has been quite windy. The tradewinds are blowing strongly and there have been lots of squalls. Of course, everyone, including ourselves are chomping at the bit and waiting for the weather to improve. The trip along the northern Dominican Republic coast to Samana is 140 miles and has two spots to duck into. It has to be motored at night when the "night lee" of the DR stops or slow downs the trades. These tradewinds will be straight on the nose............So, its very important to wait for the tradewinds to be very light and the sea conditions to die down. After getting to Samana, we have to do the Mona Passage to Puerto Rico, a distance of 160 miles - two nights, one day for the Mona and the weather has to be just right for that one too..............As you all know, Jim is a very, very patient man and loves to sit around being very patient.................at least Jim says he is a patient man. I wish I had a dictionary onboard so that I could read to him the real meaning of "patience". There have been some very tense moments here on Emerald Seas while listening to weather reports. Jim hears about light winds somewhere on the planet and decides that they have named the area we are in wrong and that really, truly, the weather is perfect for going. I glance outside at the gusting winds, the two anchors down, the rain pouring and wonder, briefly if Jim and I are both on the same planet, the same boat at the same time. Is there really, truly a parallel universe - Jim on one side and me on the other? What's that you say Jim?????? I am the second anchor???? No, I will not let you write on this computer. Ok, everybody, gotta go....time to discuss the weather again............maybe with the weather gods this time.........