Pedernales

[Chirimoya]

I've just returned from a weekend in the wild west of the Dominican Republic.

Here's the first installment of my trip report - mainly photos but also some factual information about places to stay and visit in the area.

[laurapasinifan]

you know I read in your post that you mention it is arid there. I went on a hunting trip there last july and my buddy said the same thing...it hardly ever rains.....well we spent 2 days there and set up tents. the first night it POURED cats and dogs and iguanas and crocidles!!! ha ha ha...and then the next day we had another hour long shower....we were somewhere near Enriquillo and Juancho right on the coast. With this huge mountain flowing up off the flat fields we were shooting.


here are 2 photos...i hope they dont distract from your trip report....

LOOKING inland or north this is the view from the fields:



not 15 minutes away is this beach..big smooth stones and no people



bob

[Chirimoya]

Well Bob, it has to rain some time! What's that beach called?

I've just put up the second installment of my trip report.

[laurapasinifan]

I read the blog...a LESSER no LESS!!!!! ha ha ha...very very rare.

the beach is right at Los Patos
here are a few more shots:


Dominican traffic is very dynamic...NO?:




this rock wants to grow up and be a windsheild breaker some day!!:




bob

[Chirimoya]

We passed by Los Patos, it looked very nice. I remember swimming in the small river there on my first or second visit, over 10 years ago. We also encountered the bovine gridlock several times, day and night, on the road between Oviedo and Pedernales.

BTW Oviedo - what a misnomer. Of all the places named after cities in Spain this one has to win the greatest contrast with namesake award.

The third part is up now, and there's one more to come.

[laurapasinifan]

come on there has to be a story in the vehicle abandonment dept!!!!!

ha ha ha

wasnt that water COLD....(Los Patos)

bob

[Chirimoya]

Oh, there is, but this is all I'm fit for right now. I need to muster up some more energy to tell it though.

A catalogue of disasters like you'd never believe.

[Katrien]

Dear Chirimoya,

Thanks for sharing your beautyfull pictures!

Would you happen to know if we can get all the way to the beach of the Bahia with a SUV? Checking google earth, it seems that at a certain rocky point the track has been blocked by something big and red? If so, we shouldn't bother trying to drive all that distance for nothing but just take the boat...

Greetz,

Katrien

[Chirimoya]

Today's Diario Libre has a feature on the Cabo Rojo caves with much more information.

Diario Libre Online

[Mirador]

The first time I visited La Cueva was about 30 years ago. I was going through trying times, including suffering certain symptoms that suggested acute emotional issues. That day I drove endlessly, only to be stopped at the gate of the Air Force base restricting access to Cabo Rojo. My arrival coincided with the landing of a private twin engine plane, loaded with armed men, who after dismounting, ran down the landing strip in revelry, laughing. When the air base commander saw me, instead of greeting me with suspicion, invited me to play dominos with the new arrivals. I was extremely uncomfortable, and amid small talk, I stood up, said goodby, walked to my car, and kept on driving toward La Cueva.
The dirt road to La Cueva was littered with 10 feet high hills of conch shells. I was taken aback by the primitive state of the cave dwellers. Nowhere in sight the most basic conveniences of modern living. I befriended the cave dwellers, and shared with them my last bottle of Macorix rum . I must have been in a drunken stupor when I insisted in joining several fishermen on a nightime foray for lambí. At one moment I fell out of the boat. I remember hearing shouts. I swam for hours in the darkness, with intermitent resting periods floating on my back, toward a faint outline of the moonlit shore. Later I learned it was Bahía de las Aguilas.