—Continued from previous page We took a shuttle bus up to the legendary Altos de Chavón, a replica of a 16th century Mediterranean village, built almost completely from stone, that overlooks the Chavón River. Artists’ studios and craft shops, restaurants, boutiques, and more line the cobblestone streets. There is also the Altos de Chavón School of Design and a 5,000-seat amphitheater where Frank Sinatra, Carlos Santana and countless other luminaries have performed. For Bill’s birthday celebration we took a boat ride up the Chavón River, then had a great dinner and birthday party aboard Ultra. The sportsfishermen attending the tournaments there even loaded up our freezer with fresh fish!
sirens in and around the bank building. “EEK! Are we being arrested? Are we going to be locked up abroad?” Turns out it was just a false bank alarm and we just happened to be standing there. We kept thinking though: Headline in the local paper might have read, “Tourists from Texas charged with bank robbery — or for kneeling down in front of an ATM!” SALINAS From Santa Domingo we sailed on to Salinas to pick up fuel. We loaded up into the back of the pickup-truck taxi were off to the gas station. The highlight for us in Salinas was the salt pond and salt mine. The salt looked like snow all over the ground. ISLA BEATA We sailed on to Isla Beata to an excellent anchorage complete with a fishing village. Strung between the palm trees the fishermen had clotheslines filled with fish they were drying in the sun. We walked the beautiful beach and fed the Rottweiler-sized iguanas. We had great fun exploring this area with the fantastic snorkeling and extravagant sea caves. BAHIA DE AGUILAS (BAY OF EAGLES) This was our last stop before jumping off on our passage to Ile-à-Vache, Haiti. It has a picturesque five-mile white sand beach fronted by water of every shade of blue. We snorkeled there and could barely see, thanks to the number of fish blocking our view! We traded the fishermen T-shirts and cans of tuna and Vienna sausages for a bucket of lobsters and yummy hogfish. This country is full of fabulous hiking and ziplining, an abundance of waterfalls, beautiful beaches, great anchorages, dense jungle, excellent fishing and spectacular snorkeling and scuba diving opportunities. We hope you get the chance to explore the Divine Dominican Republic, too!
Local Knowledge and Notes
The Dominican Republic’s dramatic coastline is one we hope that you, too, will get to explore
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A vessel is required to check in and out of each port they visit in the Dominican Republic — i.e., an entrance and exit paper from each port is required to move from port to port inside the country. We thoroughly enjoyed this country, but we cannot stress enough the importance of making copies of all of your documents: zarpes, cruising permits, etcetera, just in case you lose your original copy. The Navy thoroughly checked inside our lockers, under the floorboards, and in the cabinets, looking for stowaways. Upon our checking in and out with the Port and Immigration authorities during our short stays in the marinas, we were not asked to pay any additional fees. We feel that the marinas had a great influence and better control over the authorities’ process. We even had to request an additional despacho when the first one expired during a weather delay. Presidente is the official DR beer, however, the two other very popular brands are Brahma and Bohemia. On a hot day, all three are perfect to quench your thirst. Both Presidente and Bohemia are offered in regular and “you are gonna need a bathroom in 30 minutes” sizes. The super size is so big they even give you a bamboo holder to keep your beer cold, since it is 40 fluid ounces — the equivalent of four glasses of beer — versus a regular 12-ounce beer. We would get a jumbo size bottle of beer and split it.
CARIBBEAN COMPASS
SANTA DOMINGO AND BOCA CHICA After a day stop for a snorkel at Isla Catalina, we pressed on to Santa Domingo, home of Marina ZarPar. We anchored just outside of the marina, although there were several mooring balls available. At the marina, we were able to fill our dive tanks and pick up diesel. It was Easter, so Boca Chica Beach was an extremely popular destination. We checked out the festivities comprised of booming music with countless booths selling delicious local food. In the sky above there was tremendous security, with military helicopters patrolling with armed guys in berets hanging out of the doors. We hopped aboard a local bus into town to explore the historic sites of Santa Domingo. This is a wonderful Spanish colonial city with a church on every corner. The Alcazar de Colón dates back to 1510 and was originally the home of Diego Colombus, the governor of the colony and Christopher Colombus’s son. In the Plaza de España is the famous Casa Diego Caballero and across the street is Christopher Colombus’s home. The palace was the center of the Spanish Court for almost 60 years; it was the headquarters for the Spanish conquests of Mexico, Puerto Rico, Cuba, Guatemala, Peru, Florida, Colombia and Jamaica. Today it is a museum and houses European medieval and Renaissance art. Some other must-sees are the Museum of the Royal Houses, the National Pantheon, the Museum of the Atarazana, Ozama Fort, and several art museums. There are lots of provisioning opportunities in Santo Domingo, too! By the way, in Santo Domingo we used an ATM, which we affectionately call a slot machine — sometimes you win and sometimes you do not! Bill was kneeling down before it, saying, “Please work, please work!” Well, luck was not on our side that day, and the machine was out of order. But soon after trying the ATM we heard loud