Last events in Las Terrenas.

Just a few things to catch up:

Today is our last day here in Las Terrenas, and also my birthday. Can’t think of a better place to spend it. We are in this town in a great house, with one door on the street, and the other leading directly to the beach. You walk thru the garden gate and right onto the beach, feeling a little like Dorothy when her house lands and she opens the door into a world of color.(when color was very new in movies.)

Today like every day, our choice was lunch at home, at the gelato place two doors away, accessible from either street or beach, or, savory or sweet pastries from the French patisserie a couple of blocks away.

A couple of things I didn’t mention earlier: there are virtually no shells on the beach at all, something I don’t remember from any other place I’ve been. It’s not really a problem, as I have shells from a number of places, including some that date back nearly 50 years, from our trips to Hummingbird Cay in the Bahamas. Plus all the shells I bought from our neighbor’s estate sale a decade or so back. She used to make decorative crafts and had many containers of them.

Another thing that is relatively scarce here are insects. I love finding many kinds of insects, but not the biting or stinging kind (but they are always very good at finding me.) I have gotten a bite or two here and there, but not in the quantities I usually do, which is a great relieve. Just another reason to love this place.

ONe more thing that I mentioned on fb with a short video, but neglected to describe here, and one of the most entrancing sights and stories I’ve come across here. Our first night, and then every subsequent night here, we’ve seen fishermen near the shore, with headlamps casting an eerie green glow, and holding square nets with which they combed thru the waves breaking near shore. They were obviously fishing for something, but we had no clue what it was. And we didn’t see anyone catch anything, although they diligently looked at every scoop.

Loring googled fishing in the DR, and got our answer. They are baby eels, called elvers. They are very desirable and very expensive in Japan, for sushi and other dishes. In addition to here, they are caught in Maine, and probably other places as well. They became so popular that regulation was enacted in Maine to keep them from being overharvested and poached.

They have gone for as much as $2000 a lb, which explains why the fisherman here are ok with just finding a few at a time. Nights after the first, we did see someone catch one here or there, and put it in a plastic container around his neck that looks like a half gallon milk carton.

That’s all I can think of now. I am heading out to the beach. (Loring is already there) for our second sojourn of the day. We spend a couple of hours there twice a day, morning and afternoon. And will have time for one final beach visit tomorrow morning before our driver picks us up at 11am to bring us to the city.

Our last Terrenas decision will probably tonight’s dinner, which one of the beach restaurants to choose, and what to eat! The restaurant we ate at the first night was perhaps the best. But it is a little more formal than the others, and its seating is looking out at the beach and ocean, but on a paved floor.

I hate to be picky, but I do prefer the ones we can walk to and eat at right on the beach, without shoes, and with our toes literally in the sands!

Well off to the beach for a few more hours. I will no doubt play in the waves with my underwater music device, listening to everything from Bob Marley to Shakira to Bruce Springsteen.

More time in Las Terrenas

Our next to last day in Terrenas. Then we head to Santo Domingo for our last two days before heading home.

Today is the first day that it hasn’t been beautifully sunny.  It didn’t seem like it ever rained here. No one out on the beach today. I feel bad for people who are only here for a few days. Just hope that it’s sunny tomorrow, which is our last day and also my birthday.

If this keeps up we may have to have dinner inside tonight rather than directly on the beach.  I have had some kind of seafood every night – shrimp, grilled whole fish, conch,etc. With different sauces and preparations.  

Our days are all very similar : breakfast on our outside living room, a couple of hours or more on the beach, back to the house for lunch, read a bit more, back to the beach…  shower, ( usually outdoors in the garden) more reading and/or writing, then strolling down the beach to choose our restaurant of the evening. There are about a dozen just to the right of us, back to back, and a few others in the other direction.

Loring usually does two long swims a day. I play in the gentle waves for about the same amount of time, listening to music on my underwater mp3 player as I do in the Y pool at home.

Except for today. 

I have to say this may have been the best ocean water I have ever been in. And we have been to many beaches in many places over the years.  These waves are gentle and the rhythm is lulling. The bottom is sandy and descends gradually.

The beach itself is beautiful too. I used to value a beach partly by how secluded it was.  Now that doesn’t seem to matter, as long as it isn’t terribly crowded. I like to watch the people strolling by, most of whom, if they aren’t Spanish speaking and assumedlly from here, are French.  Same thing on the streets. The kids are so much fun to watch. They are all so happy, gleeful reallly, in the water. Some are with their parents, others are in little groups and I assume they are local. How nice to live someplace where you can walk to the beach. I guess that is what I am doing too, but only on a very limited basis.

Did I say that there are days when I haven’t been out in the town at all, just on the beach and in our living room/garden. So no shoes, either. One night after dinner the waiter came after me as we were leaving, saying don’t forget your shoes. I told him I didn’t have any!

There is a real mix of shops outside our door. Some are tourist shops with crafts, beach clothing etc. and others more for locals, like bodega type mini markets. There are a fair # of real estate offices, and we have been quite surprised at the prices, which are quite high. And they are mostly condos or rentals in developments or communities. I haven’t seen anything that is right on the beach like ours, except for developments that say beachfront, but that means the property is on the beach, but not the actual accomodations.

I have been good (so far) and have not purchased any crafts. There are some nice things, mostly wood,  some metail, and a few stalls with paintings. But the paintings seem like poor imitations of the more well known Haitian paintings. 

The thing that has caught my attention, though, is the gemstone larimar.  It’s native just to the DR, and to a particular area, on the opposite side of the country from where we are. Many stores are filled with jewelry made of larimar. But I prefer the uncut raw stones, and plan to purchase one or several to use in mosaics or mixed media pieces, perhaps with beach glass from Puerto Rico.

I read that someone discovered a mine with the stone in the early 20^th century, but it was seemingly forgotten and then rediscovered in the late 20^th. The name comes from daughter of the man who discovered it, combined with mar, which is ocean in Spanish.  It is a sea blue sea colored mineral, much of it veined with white striations. Its color has  somewhat of a similarity to turquoise, but wouldn’t be mistaken for it .   

I wonder if this is really the only place that it exists.  Maybe there are others that haven’t been discovered yet. In any case, should make a good souvenir. 

 

Dominican Republic 2022

·        Our fifth day in Las Terrenas, Dominican Republic. I’d never really considered the DR as a travel location, because my (mis)conception was that the country was wall to wall exclusive all inclusive resort developments, just the kind of place we don’t want to go! And of course all of that is there, at least I assume so. But there is much more to the country, and we have found a wonderful corner of it.

·         

·        This is

·   our first trip outside the country since the pandemic began, and my first trip of any length since then.(Loring has managed to do his yearly wilderness backpacking trip both years, since their goal is not to see anyone at all for the two weeks) My only travels in two years have been four days in Philadelphia when covid #s were seeming to subside, and a recent overnight in Connecticut.

 For this trip we wanted someplace warm with a direct flight from home.

Las Terrenas is a small town on a peninsula along the northern coast of the country.  Our house couldn’t be better. The front door is on the street, of the main beach road of the town. The backdoor fronts directly on the beach, thru a small garden with an outdoor living room. (thatched ceiling, no walls.) Aside from the beach, it is where we have been spending most of our time. There ‘s a gate at the end of the garden, and then you are on the beach.

We are the only house in town that sits right on the beach. Up and down the beach from us are a row of restaurants, with tables right on the sand.  No need for shoes unless you are going to town!

I have only been on the beach and in the house today, so no shoes at all. Loring did venture out briefly to buy fruit, mangoes and bananas and a papaya, at one of the small mini marts just a couple of blocks away.  Most every day we go out for something. One day for sunscreen. One day for gelato!

The restaurants are great, every meal has been delicious. We haven’t been to the same restaurant twice, anad probably wont hit them all by the time we leave. We have had kind of fish dish every night, whole grilled fish, filets with a delicious sauce, shrimp and calamari in a sauce, etc.

Our routine here has been to have breakfast and lunch here, and dinner out. In other places we have tended to have lunch as our big meal out, partly because we had to go further for a restaurant.

So we’ve had cereal, meusli for Loring, special K for me, with bananas, or, eggs with a baguette. Oh, did I mention that there’s a French bakery down the street?!  Four or five different kinds of bread,  croissants, pain au chocolat, meat pies, fruit tarts…

The gelato place is only two doors down from our house. Yesterday we had gelato for lunch. Other days lunch has been bread or crackers, cheese, and some prosciutto type meat for the first couple of days. There is a big supermarket, about a fifteen minute walk away. We went there the first day and loaded up, and may go again.

The beach here is beautiful ând not too crowded. Palm trees provide shade. And the water, well it may just be the most wonderful ocean water I have ever been to. We’ve been to many many beautiful beaches over the years, but this one has the calmest waves I can remember. I am perfectly happy just floating around for an hour or so once or a couple of times a day.

The street outside is busy, with the majority of vehicles  motorcyles, some with up to four people including a kid or two.  After that, ATVs, and then cars, and a bicycle here and there. It’s loud on the street, but from inside the house you hardly hear it. The waves are louder.

Last night after dinner, we walked down the beach a ways, and came across an amazing sight.  There were a dozen or so men in the shallow water, each with a headlamp and a net. The headlamps provided an eerie light to the men as they each drew their net across the water. We are not sure what they were fishing for, and didn’t see anyone catch anything. Perhaps they are there every night, we will have to go see.

The people here are a mix of locals and visitors, and it’s not always easy to know which is which. There are very few people from the US. We’ve only heard English sporadically, and most of it has been British.  I have heard more French, after Spanish of course, then any other language.

Over the weekend it was somewhat more crowded, but not terribly so. More families with children. I am guessing that at least some were on day trips from Santo Domingo, two and a half hours away.

There are still some kids around, some with adults and some on their own. There were two boys that came selling something on the beach, and a few more adult vendors. I have been really surprised at the lack of hustling, on the beach and in the shops. No one   said let me know if you have any questions in the shops we went to, and the beach vendors were not at all insistent; a mere no gracias sent them on their way.

Before we left home more than one person Loring knows had said “be careful” referring to theft and other crime I’m sure. But we haven’t seen any of that. I’m sure it’s more prevalent near the resorts and other high end developments. But that is exactly the kind of place we don’t want to go! I don’t want to be insulated from the people that live here. And while this is a resort town, it is pretty low key and friendly. Don’t tell anyone, but we don’t even lock the gate to the beach when we go out. The owner told us it wasn’t necessary.

One last thing, down the street from us is one of the nicest playgrounds I have ever seen, with certainly the best view. (although I’m not sure how much that matters to the kids.) There are kids on the structures, and parents on the benches, and some adults hanging out who don’t even have children with them.

I will stop here for now, come back in a couple of days when there is more to report.