2 days ago

To add to the list of things I've seen people carrying on their motorbikes:

1. a very long ladder

2. panes of glass

3. guns

4. a live chicken (tucked under the arm)

From Feb 11:

In Samana town now - it's smaller somehow, but bigger somehow, than Las Terrenas. Roads are wider, there seems to be more money here. Some of the motoconchos are in fact motorbikes pulling carriages. But it also feels less rich culturally. Maybe because it's not as dense and chaotic. What's for sure is that the air was still and stifling today, unlike in Las Terrenas, where the long beach that skirts the town brings in a near-constant fresh breeze. Las Terrenas is on the Northern coast of the Samana peninsula and technically, it's on the Atlantic. Samana town sits on the bay of Samana, on the Southern coast of the peninsula; it's on the Caribbean and the water is discernibly warmer. But, my friends, there are no beaches here! Well, okay, there's one - we swam there today - but it's a 'blue flag' beach, trademark of a resort. Neat rows of reclining beach chairs occupy a tidy parcel of sand and face a swimming area sectioned off with a string of buoys. (I don't call that a beach.) We spend just enough time there to soak up the atmosphere, overhead trivial complaints about minor deviations from perfect luxury, and I confess I felt a wave of satisfaction to be seeing the country from outside the walls of a tourist tank.

This is the beautiful pedestrian bridge connecting two small islands to Samana. The resort signs emphatically warn guests against crossing them. Consequently, they were tourist-free. It's true, there are no railings on the steep flights of stairs, the bridgedeck and supports are eroding away, and on the islands themselves the structures resemble Aztec ruins. But as far as I can see from my short time here, the bridges could be/probably were the gem of Samana. With all that ocean stretching away to one side, and the bay and town on the other, it's an obvious tourist magnet. Seems to be a typical failing of the Dominican government to create but not maintain such impressive structures and buildings. Curious and sad.

This hostel room is a bit cell-like. It's quieting down outside, to my surprise. An hour ago, you could distinctly hear 3 or 4 separate sound systems blasting merengue. (And by 'sound system' I mean the flatbed of a parked pickup truck stacked 3 high and 3 wide with amps - about what you'd need for a small stadium.) Are people just being considerate or is there some kind of noise curfew? Hard to imagine the latter, in a place where there don't seem to be any rules. Earlier, the whole town was a thrumming dance floor, young and old people moving un-self-consciously to the music. Maybe they've just moved inside the merengue halls.

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