Samana is still exactly where it was, on the north side of Samana Bay. It is also pretty much like it ALWAYS was, a city that is primarily a business center and embarkation point for whale watching tours and a city you have to pass through to get to the best part of the peninsula, the northeastern tip including Las Galeras. That said and now I'll try to answer your queries as to the current situation in Samana.
1. The marina port is currently being used as the primary port facilities for the rebuilding of the hotel on Cayo Levantado. It has been busy in this aspect. However, the dredging was never finished as the Mejia government ran out of funds and never completed the project. My sources tell me it will be completed eventually. maybe by the Pinero group that has invested over $150 million dollars in their recently acquired hotels here on the peninsula.
2. The Malecon may be empty but that is entirely normal for October, probably the deadest month for tourism on the island. However, yesterday a thousand tourists spent the day there and on other parts of the peninsula. They had embarked from a cruise ship that will be calling weekly (Wednesdays) to Samana's port.
3. Downtown Samana is in a period of redevelopment as the city prepares for the coming onrush of tourism activity as our new airport and highway opens. And frankly, downtown Bagdad as you call it, looks a lot better in it's current state of rebuilding than much of the rest of the country's communities. At least there's a lot of activity. There's also other beautification projects in the works but at this time, I am not at liberty to discuss them publicly.
4. No money or tourists on the street directly relates to the lowest/slowest month of our low season. Ask the same people the same question in Febuary at the height of whalewatching season an you'll recieve exactly the opposite answer.
5. The new shopping center will not have any problem filling up once it is finished. I hear it is also being financed by Pinero as part of their agreement to improve the peninsula.
6. The highway and the airport will certainly improve the lot of the ENTIRE peninsula, not just Samana. Construction is happening all over the peninsula.
To rise from the dead you have to be dead first and Samana has never been that.
7.Las Terrenas,...fast becoming the Boca Chica of the north coast with uncontrolled growth, prostitution and a hefty increase in crime. It's nothing to be proud of.
"Where art thou. Samana? I'm lost. Thank you."...Samana is a frame of mind and to find it you'll have to take a hard look inward.
Last edited by Andy B; 10-26-2006 at 05:27 PM.
|
(10)
Samana! Samana! Where art thou!
