December 4 - 11
On Wednesday, my mom, Kira's dad Robert and his partner Marianne came to visit us! Before they arrived in the evening we spent the beginning of the morning working at the school cleaning out their sports supplies, but then got asked to go back in the afternoon to do some organizing work while no students were using the space. After working at the school until five, we decided to go to Playa Bonita for a quick swim and the sunset and to wait for our families to arrive! They arrived at around 7:30 when we all piled in the car and went out to eat at El Pasito where we ate on Thanksgiving.
On Thursday, Kira and I went diving in the morning at Punta Poppy. We did two shore dives. The first dive was just Kira and I with a compass trying to navigate for the wreck near shore there and continue looking for the missing masks. We were unsuccessful in both of these tasks, but then on our second dive we went out with Paul and found the wreck. In the afternoon we just went to Playa Bonita with the family and again watched the sunset there. We then celebrated the fifth night of hanukkah with a menorah that my mom brought and we ate burritos at Fata Morgana.
On Friday, we all got in the car and drove almost an hour and a half east to Las Galeras and spent the day at Playa Rincon. When we arrived it was rainy, but it soon cleared up to be a beautiful day perfect for snorkeling and lounging on the beach. We had lunch at a local, small restaurant on the beach where we got fish, lobster, rice, beans, and plaintain chips. It was really tasty! We then drove a little ways down the beach and went snorkeling on the reefs right near the shore. We were able to see a bunch of cool brain and fan corals and some bright schools of fish as well. While our parents continued snorkeling Kira and I tanned and took naps on the beautiful white sandy beach there. Overall, even though I was tired afterwards, it was a super fun day and exciting to get out of Las Terrenas.
On Saturday, we went to Playa Coson in the morning, which is the beach past Playa Bonita and the beach that the surfers go to because the waves are bigger. It was a beautiful sunny day to be at the beach and the waves were perfect for jumping into, body surfing, and swimming around in. We stayed at Coson until lunchtime, and then returned to Fata Morgana. After we ate we drove to el Salto de Limon which is the waterfall that Kira and I went to before. This time however, we walked in from the top of the waterfall instead of from the bottom. On the way there, Kira, my mom and I missed one of the short cut turns and ended up having to walk through super muddy trials filled with horse poop to get there. It was honestly kind of funny though and very worth it once we got there. The waterfall is so refreshing and nice to swim in, and a great respite from the loud, hot city. On the way back we went on the shorter and easier path through this beautiful meadow up on a hill with a gorgeous view. Driving back to Las Terrenas we stopped at an ecolodge that my mom's friend Noemi owns. It is off the main road and up this winding street way up high on a mountain. The views from up there were breathtaking and we stayed and talked with them for a while before continuing on our way. Upon arriving back in Las Terrenas we decided to stop and get empanadas for dinner at a beach hostel and restaurant called Afreeka. This was the first time we had them and they were really good! Unlike most other empanada places in town they had many more vegetarian options which was awesome.
On Sunday we got up early and went to Los Haitses National Park which is only accessible by boat from Samana bay. We went on our own boat from Sanchez with Edit (who runs Fata Morgana) as our own personal tour guide. We started off with a swim at the first cave we went to which was full of bats and fish in the water. The water was cold, but a beautiful blue and it was fresh water which was super refreshing. We then got back in the boat and on the way to the next cave saw islands known for the birds that go there during mating season, which it was, and so of course there were tons of birds everywhere. The second cave we went to had some really awesome petroglyphs on the walls and cool smaller areas that we had to crawl through that lead into hidden big open areas. After this cave we went to the mangroves there which were beautiful and it felt almost as though we had entered a magical forest because of all the roots surrounding us. After stopping by to see the impressive mangroves, we went to the next cave which also had a lot of petroglyphs. There were drawings painted by natives of many different animals such as birds and sea creatures and a few different drawings of the medicine man. After the natives painted these images, the Spanish colonizers left writing and drawings on the walls, and then people who were hiding out during Trujillo's dictatorship in the 1920s and 30s. They had written their names and dates on the walls on the caves. Seeing all this history written right there on the walls was super fascinating and powerful because we were standing in the exact spot that so many people had also been to throughout time. Our last stop in Los Haitises was our lunch stop at a little beach which was next to a small cave. We ate food and then went into the last cave, which had carvings of faces in the walls. We then were able to swim out of an opening and around a point back to the beach and our boat.
I am so glad we were able to go to Los Haitises, and Edit was a wonderful and informational guide. It was a beautiful day but I also learned a lot about the horrible past in the DR of their colonization and how people lived and survived under such an oppressive dictator.
We arrived back to Las Terrenas in the early afternoon, and all then went back to Fata Morgana to grab the paddle boards and go to Las Ballenas Beach past the dive shop. The sunset was of course beautiful and full of vibrant pink and purples. I took a nap in a hammock to relax and then we drove to the mosquito beach bar past Punta Poppy near El Portillo beach. We ordered drinks and relaxed there for a bit before going to dinner near Punta Poppy. It was a long day full to the brim of activities but was super fun and I was grateful to learn more about Dominican history.
On Monday morning, my mom left Las Terrenas to get on the bus back to Santo Domingo to take her flight home to MD. I woke up early to go with her to the bus stop and say goodbye. After she left, the rest of us went to a beach that I had never been to before but Kira went to with Dennis called Playa Escondida. The name literally means 'the hidden beach' and it really is hidden. To get there you have to walk for about five minutes through a little path in the trees to the far right of Playa Bonita. It was a super nice secluded and peaceful beach with reef close to the shore. I then went to spend time at Playa Bointa while Kira and Robert paddled out to islands near the beach called Las Ballenas Islands. Their name means 'the whale isalnds' because their shape looks somewhat like a whale from shore. I hung out with our friends at Playa Bonita until for most of the day until they returned. For dinner we went to pizza near Punta Poppy. For some reason pizza is a really big thing is Las Terrenas and there is a whole line of pizza restaurants right there on the beach.
On Tuesday, Robert and Marianne left around midday. In the morning we went with them to Punta Bonita to the left of Playa Bonita and then Kira and I stayed there until early afternoon. We went back to Fata Morgana for lunch and then worked at the school in the afternoon helping to paint. Kira went to Spanish class at night.
It was fun to have our families here and have a car to be able to get out of Las Terrenas and go have fun adventures! I am however, really not looking forward to coming home (of course I miss people but not the weather!)
