Las Galeras

It’s raining steadily today. You almost wouldn’t believe that yesterday was hot and perfect, but it was.

We got up early and caught a gua gua to Las Galeras – we were only too happy to get out of stifling Samana, where we were constantly hassled as tourist targets by everyone selling something. Gua guas are the local ‘buses’ in the DR. Either beat-up old minivans or pick-up trucks, they’re super cheap, easy to find and easy to catch – they honk at anyone at the side of the road, looking for fares, and if you want a ride you just wave. I’ve seen them bursting at the seams with people, but yesterday it was mostly just us, 2 Italian ladies and 2 Dominican boys in the back of the pickup. One of the boys was carrying an iguana inside a cage. He took it out and let me hold it. (It was a strangely tender moment, holding that wee dinosaur.) The other boy, with a gleam in his eye, opened up his duffle bag to reveal a boa constrictor. Seems they work for an aquarium/zoo in Punta Cana, and were taking the creatures to various resorts for a show-and-tell. A little later, a lady with a variety of buckets and bundles climbed in with us and offered round pieces of fresh baked, still warm, coconut bread. The Italian dames went crazy for it - well, and so did we; the atmosphere in the back of that pickup truck, with the blue sky overhead and greenery all around, was that of a festive picnic. A festive picnic without much conversation. The best kind.

The beaches here are essentially stunning. I won't even put pictures of them in this post - it's too much. Yet, Las Galeras is a simple fishing town. There's one road with basic shops and eateries that terminates at the beach with Modesta's Restaurant and bar (owned by the same lady with the pan de coco in the gua gua). There are a few upscale places run by Europeans of course - but essentially, it's all very authentically Dominican.

The land surrounding "La Hacienda", our new digs, is gorgeous, peaceful, bucolic. Horses and open fields, all very green. The fields are full of squash, watermelon, peppers, yuka, sweet potatoes, papayas, almond trees, mango trees, lime trees, sour oranges, etc etc. (All of these foods grow at La Hacienda, and we are told to help ourselves.) There are also plenty of horses here; one room of this house is full of saddles. I hope to ride one of these days....

[A side note for Rose: This farmland borders jungle, and apparently TARANTULAS march down the roads at night, huge furry legs casting long shadows... There aren't any other dangerous little critters here. I had a frog in my shower yesterday, and of course the geckos are always around, here and there on the walls, but that's all pretty tame for a tropical country.]

The best thing about this country setting is that it's only 10 minutes from the closest beach. There are several beaches, each more beautiful than the last, within walking distance. You can walk for half an hour through the jungle, or an hour through farmlands, or a couple of hours through jungle and fields - depending on what you fancy - for different, totally private, pristine and deserted beaches. Next blog post will be all beach pics, so be prepared!

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