Saludos! I just returned from the Barahona area excited to share my images and trip report with the world.
The variety of landscapes was impressive. Sand & stone beaches,rivers & cascades, verdant mountains & desert with cactus, hundreds of butterflies, pelicans, iguanas, scorpions, green vegetation that came down from the mountains and was reaching across the beaches.
Combine all that with delicious and inexpensive seafood, arroz con coco all over, & friendly people. All of that added up to one of my best vacations in the 17 years of traveling all over the DR.
I flew into Las Americas in Santo Domingo and took a taxi to Caribe Tours. It was about a 30 minute ride for 600 pesos-about $20 US-(bargained down from 800 pesos).
Caribe tours to Barahona took about 2 & 1/2 hrs (for 190 pesos=$6 US).
I stayed 3 days at the Ponte Vedra Hotel in El Arroyo which is about 15-20 minutes south of Barahona. I will do a couple of hotel reviews later on.
The 4th day I wanted to check out the view from Hotel Casa Bonita which is situated atop a hill. The hotel itself had just undergone renovation and was so beautiful and tranquil that I decided to move there immediately. Oh yes, that view---sweeping panoramas of the palm trees below with the Caribbean Sea in the background. To the right were green mountains with the town of Bahoruco hidden below the thick vegetation. The river Bahoruco flowed down below and led to Playa Bahoruco with it's smooth white round stones.
At the entrance to the road leading up to Hotel Casa Bonita were several small homes (colorful wooden shacks with tin roofs). I got to talk to a young man who is a larimar cutter. He makes jewelery out of the larimar which is found only in the Dominican Republic and specifically there in the mines of Bahoruco.
I became friends with several people and began receiving offers to explore the mines. One option was to go by public van at 8 am, but would have to return with the same van at about 5 pm. Another option was to go by large motorcycle for 500 pesos (about $16). I opted to go with my new friend Blanco (who was mas prieto que yo) on a small motorcycle for 300 pesos (gas included). An added adavantage was that he previously worked in the mines so he was also my guide.
The ride up was very steep and rough-I had to get off and walk a short distance 3 separate times-combination of really bad road, loose gravel, and very steep. The road became so bad and narrow that I wondered how the van could get past-then I realized that it must have to stop at some point and the people would have to walk the rest of the way.
After about 30 minutes we arrived-I was told that the mines are at an altitude second only to that of Pico Duarte. It was still warm but the air seemed somewhat thinner. There were several wood braced openings where the mines were and about 30 workers, that I could see.
It was worth the ride because the workers were very friendly and helpful in navigating the steep terrain. To see the larimar in it's natural setting was amazing. The size of the mines were about 3 foot x 3 foot. They asked me if I wanted to crawl inside and take photos and I told them in Spanish that I didn't think that my insurance covers death by cave-in. That gave them a good laugh.
I bought a couple of pieces of raw larimar,which they broke open for me, for about 100 pesos each, each the size of my fist.
The workers get paid only if they find the larimar, and the payment depends on it's quality. A high percentage of the young men in Bahoruco have worked or are working in the mines. I spoke to one man who has been working there for over 30 years and his son has started working there as well.
There were 5 beaches in the area. These include Playa Quemaito, Playa Bahoruco, Playa San Rafael, Playa Paraiso, and Playa Los Patos. They were all within a 15 minutes drive of each other. (There were no car rental companies in Barahona, but I was able to travel by public transportation-about 20 pesos per person between beaches).
The entire coast was one long scenic view. Deep blue water color with the ocean crashing against the rocks giving way to light blue and green water colors near the beaches.
The beaches all had smooth white stones or smooth pebbles. I would recommend a good pair of water shoes to be able to enjoy bathing there.
I particulary liked the way that the white stones under the ocean reflected back the sunlight giving the water a light blue irredesent color that I hadn't seen before.
Playa San Rafael had 2 areas of balnearios which included cascading water and natural swimming pools. There were stands set up with food-fresh fried fish, tostones, arroz de morro y guandoles y coco----all of the rice in that area of the country was always served with coco----delicious! A meal as described was about $6 US., including a coca cola.
Playa Paraiso had a few areas of sand, but mostly stones, some fishing boats, and the river was trickling into the ocean. The town of Paraiso was nice and scenic. There was a nice restaurant on the beach named the Sea View that served light lunches and beverages.
Playa Los Patos had the largest balneario-clean crystal clear refreshing water coming from the river and flowing into the ocean. The beach was beautiful with the smooth pebbles and stones shimmering in the sunlight.
The water at all of the beaches in that area, except parts of Play Quemaito were too rough to swim in, but I was able to run in and out of the surf.
Lunch was available. It was nice being able to go back and forth between the ocean and then clean off and get refreshed in the balneario of the river.
Another day after asking my new friends and their friends for prices to take me to Bahia de las Aguilas, I decided to go with Eco-Tours which is a small tour business that has a French girl and a Dominican driver. It cost 2000 pesos (about $65). That included lunch, van & boat transportation, stop overs at Los Patos, a cave with a couple of taino faces, & a fresh water swimming hole.
They picked us up at 8 am and we returned at 8 pm. There were 2 other tourists besides me.
Bahia de las Aquilas lived up to it's reputation as a gorgeous beach. Powdery white sand, the most crystal clear water that I have seen in the DR (including Isla Saona, Samana, Bayahibe, Playa Rincon) and on a par or even better than Grand Cayman or St. John's US Virgin Island.
It was different because there were no palm trees. There were sea grape trees and other trees and shrubs that I had never seen before that provide shade. We were dropped off by boat and got to spend 5 hours there.
I highly recommend taking the boat to get there from the nearest town called Las Cuevas. The views along the coast to get to the beach were spectacular. There were large rock formations, pelicans, eagles nests, crystalline green water, small hidded white sand beaches. Still , that was overshadowed by the beauty of the beach of Bahia de las Aguilas.
It has no hotels, no facilities and I hope it stays that way. That was part of the beauty.
All in all it was well worth the distance traveled to get there. Fifteen years ago when I first traveled to Barahona I saw one beach that had rocks and I thought this is not what I wanted in a Caribbean beach vacation. Where was the soft sand and palm trees? Now that I have been to most parts of the country I have a deep appreciation for the unique beauty for this area.
I have posted my images here on the DR1 website in the media gallery section.
http://dr1.com/media/cgi-bin/media.c...t=Gerace&img=0
If you have any questions I would be happy to answer them. I hope you enjoy my photos.
Gracias,
Paul Gerace
Barahona to Bahia de las Aguilas
