Bahia de las Aguilas/Barahona trip report
We left Barahona (Bahoruco) for the trip to Pedernales and Bahia de las Aguilas on Wednesday, around 10am, there were 10 of us in two vehicles. We arrived at Cabo Rojo around noon, the beach in Cabo Rojo is just beautiful, is like a preview of what you will find in Bahia de las Aguilas (BDLA). The funny thing is that the road from the main highway to Cabo Rojo is very dusty and dry, nothing will warn you of the beauty of the beach and the whiteness of the sand in Cabo Rojo.
After taking pictures (which I will post later), we took the road from Cabo Rojo to BDLA, the road is dusty and the terrain is dry, but is driveable, there are no curves and hills and you don't need a 4x4, any vehicle will take you as far as Las Cuevas, which is about 20-30 mintues from Cabo Rojo.
When we arrived at Las Cuevas I was pleasantly surprise, the place had changed a lot from when I was there almost 10 years ago. It actually looked beautiful and it has a lot of potential as a tourist spot. We negotiated a boat at the boat ramp (not the restaurant) where all the fishermen wait for customers. There were 10 of us so they charged 2000 pesos for the round trip, at the restaurant they were charging us 2,500. We also paid 20 pesos each to the park ranger for entrance to the park (which I'm sure went straight to his pocket). The pilot was very nice, he took us there and waited for us to take us back. He said that if we wanted to spend the afternoon he would come back later, but we only wanted to be there for an hour since we had other places to go and were going back to Bahoruco that same day.
Seen BDLA finally was like an epyphany to me, I was all for development before, but now I just pray to God they leave all that beauty alone. There were 11 of us and we all agreed that beauty such as that should not be tarnished with hotels and all the filth that comes with it.
I suggest everyone makes that trip and you will see what I'm saying. BDLA should be kept as a sanctuary as it is now, everyone can enjoy its beauty by taking the short boat trip, you can spend the day, bring refreshments and snacks and plenty of sunblock and repellent and just enjoy.
A huge bird followed us the whole trip from BDLA back to Las Cuevas, it was really scary since it would sweep down on us like if we were fish but then as soon as we started yelling, laughing and taking pictures, it would soar back up, but always right on top of us. The said the bird is a "tijereta", it thought we were sardines (????).
After we left BDLA we went to Pedernales for some seafood which we found right at the entrance of town, right after the gas station. After we ate, we left and drove towards Barahona, but first made a stop at "Pozos de Romeo", three fresh water holes right on the side of the road and took a refreshing dip on the first hole, which is shallower, about 4-5 feet deep, there is another hole which is 15 feet deep and the third one which should be like 10 feet deep. This is a must do, is fresh water and sparkling clean because it comes from within rocks.
After getting all the salt water and sand off we left left and made another stop in Enriquillo for more pictures, the view of the beach is gorgeous in Enriquillo, and then Los Patos, which as been remodeled and looks great. The water as always ice cold and sparkling clean, just what we needed.
After stopping in Los Patos it was too late to stop in San Rafael, but it didn't matter, we had two more days in Bahoruco before heading out to Santo Domingo so we left Los Patos around 6:30 pm and arrived in Bahoruco around 7pm, we would go to San Rafael the next day.
Next day we went to Polo Magnetico and Las Marias in Neyba, and later in the afternoon we went to San Rafael, we didn't do Lago Enriquillo since we had done the trip less than a month ago.
It was a great trip, this is a must do trip, I suggest everyone to take at least three days and travel the southwest, you will not be disappointed, is food for the soul.
I will be posting the pictures later this week.
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