Monday, March 16, 2009

Day Trip to the South Side


Yesterday a group of us took off on a day trip to the South side of the island to visit the area of Barahona, and some other places along the way. I think this post will be more pictures than writing, I went a little camera crazy but I think the photos really capture it better than I could in words. Through friends of friends I came in contact with a local surfer called Marcus. He has turned out to be a god send, not only does he do ding repairs but he also has been kind enough to take my medical student buddies and I on sight seeing trips around the island. He gave me a ridiculously great deal on the repairs to my favorite surfboard, injured in an incident involving bad roof ties and high speed! Armed with my newly repaired surfboard, a convoy of 3 car loads of friends and I took off at 6am on the hunt for some waves. My previous Dominican Republic surf expedition to the North was enjoyable but only produced head height mush, nice to get wet in but not the epic quality surf I have been hoping to find, and I embarked on this adventure with high hopes.

The 3 hour drive along the coast was beautiful. The Dominican Republic has some amazing mountains, I hope to at some point this week to go explore them. They filmed the movie Jurassic Park here. The roads are in good condition and the drive was very interesting. The beach we stopped to surf at was stunning. The coastal waters are an amazing, milky bright blue and the beaches are fringed with palm trees. But damn it, it was windy AGAIN! We were greeted by shoulder to head height wedgy mush, but still we were all eager to hit the water and made the most of what was on offer. Even better than the surf was wandering through the streets of the village. The Dominican Republic is a very poor country, but the small villages are vibrant and colourful, full of gorgeous little shacks and people riding around on donkeys. When we came out of the surf some of the local kids brought us coconuts which was really touching. However when we pulled into the beach I remember seeing a young boy, no older than ten, standing there naked, his face swollen and bruised, clearly beaten. I assume he was unable to buy clothes. I didn't even think to offer him one of my spare shirts, and by the time I did he was gone.

After a morning surf we continued down the coast and went for lunch at a local waterfall. The water was icy cold and refreshing, and the food delicious as always. Typical food here consists of rice and beans with fish and plantains. We drove a little further down the coast in search of waves, but its seems the surf gods were against us. We returned to the previous beach for an afternoon session, the wind died off a little and there were some rideable ones coming through. The break is a left, it's rocky and shallow on the inside but has a really fun takeoff and good shape. I can see with the right conditions it would definitely be a quality wave. The drive back to Santo Domingo was long, by the time we got home it was around 10 at night. Even though the waves weren't epic it was a thoroughly enjoyable day, the only downside was managing to drop my wallet in a Dominican public toilet (EEEW YUCK!).

However I do have one unfortunate discovery to comment on, a few days ago I found out my plans to reach Cuba from here are unattainable. Flights are unreasonably expensive. It seems the cheapest place to fly to Cuba from is Cancun in Mexico, so i will try to reach Cuba later on in my trip. I have been dreaming of going there ever since I was young, after my parents dragged me off to see the documentary on the Buena Vista Social club. I left the movie theatre inspired, announcing "I'm going to Cuba!". I am taking this set back not as total defeat, simply as a bump in the road. My plans will now change, back to Puerto Rico then onto Central America. But hey, things could be a whole lot worse!

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