Not a trip report - Punta Rucia

[Chris]

I would not enjoy it if Punta Rucia becomes synonymous with trash on this board, as it is only partly accurate.

Ensenada is dirty. The beaches closer to town are clean and pleasant to swim in. The beaches on the other sides of the two 'heads' that enclose the bay are as clean as can be expected, with only washed up trash to be seen. I had no problem swimming here. This washed up trash could be from any beach, or even from large vessels and boats that dump their trash. Estero Hondo is pristine, a wonderful, clean and impressive area.

So, let's not tar "Punta Rucia" as a larger area with the same brush as Ensenada, it is really only one beach that is truly littered with trash.

If there are no city fathers, and if anyone that is so inclined has the time and energy, a good way to spend it, would be to get to know the business owners and work with them so that everyone learns together what is involved in keeping their beaches clean - and why this matters. One can get the same attention to detail going that we see daily on Cabarete beach. The business owners clean up in front of their area.

Btw, there is a town dump and it is actively used. We happened across it when we took a little road to nowhere.

A trash problem in my view is one that can be dealt with with education and first hand lessons and reasons to the local people so that it starts making sense for them not to litter. It is much easier not to litter, if there is a trashcan at hand. It is much easier to go to the toilet if there is a toilet. At the moment, these folks do not know a different way. That is where I think the AI's that use the area, can do a little bit in terms of education - you know, have a social consciousness and assist the businesses with real first hand, low down, grassroots methods and reasons for cleaning up and trash management that makes sense.

For heaven's sake, these businesses have no running water - I for one was glad to eat off a styrofoam plate as I would really have been worried if I received a plate washed in local water. Yes, the people need to do something. But they need to know how and why. How did you all learn about trash management? Surely somebody along the line told you to clean up, pick up and not to litter? or did you know this automatically?. I don't think so.

And all this Keith, is why I am defensive. (no offense meant to you or others) People are quick to criticise. But they are much slower to do something real about the thing that they are critical about. And I did not want to talk about trash at all...

[quejeyoke]

don't worry, I'll watermark your pics with your web address before funneling them to the different newspapers and hoping they'll work on it.

[Simon & Nicky]

Seeing as we brought it up, Ensenada is a stankhole of the worst kind, it is a rat infested putrid place - It has plenty of oil drums for waste disposal which were all empty when we went there - the beach on the other hand was covered. Did I mention the used needles? Did I mention the turds? Did I mention the used feminine towels? Did I mention the dead rats? Do not under any circumstances go there and let your children play on the beach. It was always our intention to go back with an underwater camera to prove what I saw when I swam - just to say it again - the sea is literally heaving with empty plastic cups and human excrement. I haven't had the need to return there yet (I doubt if it will be for many years if I can help it). The quick answer? Simple - There is a Pepsi advert painted onto one of the rocks in the bay. It is THE most detrimental advert on the entire planet. Again, I missed the photo oportunity so, whoever has the mis-fortune of going there first take a snap and send it to the advertising people at Pepsi. I think they'll get the message. Get them to put their hands in their pockets and do something. Maybe, just maybe then people will realise it is in everyone's interest to keep the place tidy.

By the way - Manatee's? Don't make me laugh! There is a tourist office for manatee watcher's and on two seperate occassions we have been and both times there was nobody there but a guard. There are no boats to take you out - nothing. It is sponsored by the EU who apparently send money to run the place. I doubt if there's been a manatee dumb enough to swim there in years but if the EU keeps paying I guess they just keep the money and tell people like us to go away and come back tomorrow - when there will still be nobody there.

Sorry to be so blunt but when we left there everyone in the car was close to tears. It is a sad and sorry place.


Simon

[quejeyoke]

letter sent to diario libre, el caribecdn and listin digital regarding the garbage problems at beaches, speacially Punta Rucia w/ pics included. No email link found for Hoy and El nacional.

[BushBaby]

Originally Posted by Simon & Nicky

By the way - Manatee's? Don't make me laugh! There is a tourist office for manatee watcher's and on two seperate occassions we have been and both times there was nobody there but a guard. There are no boats to take you out - nothing. It is sponsored by the EU who apparently send money to run the place. I doubt if there's been a manatee dumb enough to swim there in years but if the EU keeps paying I guess they just keep the money and tell people like us to go away and come back tomorrow - when there will still be nobody there.

Sorry to be so blunt but when we left there everyone in the car was close to tears. It is a sad and sorry place.
Simon

Simon,
You probably noticed I said in my post that there USED to be Manatee there some 11 years ago. My comment on the ecological tour related to a tour which DID have a boat to take visitors round the lake. I did NOT suggest that that boat was still there &/or operating - that facility will obviously now be down to the local town officials to organise.

Now, I wouldn't be so bold as to insist that the manatee are still there, that would be very irresponsible as I haven't been to the area for over 10 years, but I certainly wouldn't dismiss the idea that they COULD still be entering the lake, without seeing some form of report on an investigation/research of the lake. It is a natural habitat for the manatee afterall - the right sort of vegitation, water conditions & (hopefully still) devoid of intense boat trafic.

Next time you are up that way Chris, take a SLOW boat out & see what you can see. "SWMBO" saw some when SHE was tour guiding, so should be able to advise the tell-tale signs for what to look for!! - Grahame.

[Hillbilly]

Keith No, there is no municipal status for Punta Rucía. It is a part of Puerto Plata Province, but it is the least important of POP's many problems.

The trash is an issue, and that is why I have not been to the Ensenada in over 4 years.

I do know that there have been people to see the manatees no so long ago, so there muct be something there for them to see.

Gee- I go to Luxuryville and you guys go and explore my place?? Hrumpf!

HB

[JDJones]

I go to Boca Chica every weekend, and the amount of trash that gets thrown around is incredible.
We had a large dominican family next to us on the beach a couple of weekends ago, right on the water's edge. They did their thing with soft drinks, spaghetti, potato chips, etc.
Every one of them, without fail, would finish a plate of food and drop it where they sat. Within an hour, they had the beach around them full of plates, foam cups, empty chip bags, and assorted other crap. Not one of them lifted a finger to pick up anything.
I know this is an educational thing, but for petes sake, one would think that someone having a fun day at the beach would feel some embarrasment at having all that trash floating around them. (I did, BTW, pick up some of the trash, right in front of them, but to no avail. They didn't even notice I was there)
In all due respect, there is not a lot of trash recepticles on the beach, but then again, I have seen many persons that would not walk 5 feet to a trash can when they were available.

[Simon & Nicky]

If I took a sh*t in your living room and left it there would you say - ah well it's an education thing, I'll pick it up? I remember the time when my own brother fresh out of hospital for testicular cancer asked me for a lift to my parents and on the way home he threw a sweet wrapper out of the window. I stopped the car and made him go back and pick it up. Watching him try to bend down to get it was strangely satisfying! We both enjoyed the same education. I simply do not buy into this education bull****, there are sink estates in Britain littered with burnt out cars, used needles and excrement. If you want to do that in your own back yard to make a point then there's no amount of education that's going to put it right.

This is just a bone idle don't give a damn attitude that makes this place what it is. I choose not to drop litter not because I had a better education but because I know the difference between right and wrong. This was instilled in me at birth. I choose to try to cause a minimum impact on the environment so that other people who I will probably never meet can enjoy the same experiences that I have had. It is not education it's just thoughtfullness, kindness and a love of your fellow human kind. Not all of us are like-minded.

Simon

[Chris]

Originally Posted by BushBaby

Next time you are up that way Chris, take a SLOW boat out & see what you can see. "SWMBO" saw some when SHE was tour guiding, so should be able to advise the tell-tale signs for what to look for!! - Grahame.

The area certainly looks ideal for manatees. While waiting to sail off into the sunset around the Florida Keys one time, we had two manatees (momma and baby) come to drink the fresh water from a hose that we were using to hose down the boat. They are amazing animals and we saw a lot of them while in Florida. The Manatee Education center in the US (I think it is in St Pete, Florida or thereabouts) teaches that there are only two habitats for Manatees in the world - the one in Florida, and the other somewhere on the African West Coast, where there are smaller manatees. So, I was quite surprised to see that there is a manatee habitat here in the DR. I would not be surprised however if there are manatees to be found. The area looks exactly right and the main enemy of manatees is humans and boats. So, there are really not many humans or boats around the area. But I don't think a manatee will jump out to be noticed just because somebody comes by on a boat Next time we go to the area, I am planning to take a long, slow boatride and see what I can see.

We loved exploring your place HB!