COASTAL ECHOES Domingo Marte
you find the Cerro del Burro, which if it represents an obstacle for walking, we scaled it without much difficulty. Led by the experienced Punta Cana Group, a real estate tourism project named Punta Arena has begun. Due to the natural attractions of the place and due to the possibility of having access to the neighboring resources, there is a big opportunity of carrying out an innovative and sustainable project that will benefit the zone. From Boca Canasta, Baní, the coast has not received the waters of any river. Until the footprints of the manifold onslaught and wildness of the Ocoa river appears. At normal times it moves famished through the mountain range, but in the rainy season it tears away everything in its path and discharges its fury into the sea through four mouths. The impacted areas of the beach remain divided in tongues of sand. The coast took us to Palmar de Ocoa’s main beach. The community, which has the same name, is privileged to have the immensely beautiful Ocoa bay in front of it. The seawater, shallow and clear transmits a feeling of peace, an invitation to submerge oneself in them. The area’s dry climate influences the countryside, which almost always boasts a blue sky, scattered cotton clouds, and the reliefs of distant mountains. The strip of sand remains grey, mixed with pebbles, but with a wide body, which facilitates its use as berth for boats. The view of the evening landscape competes in beauty with that of the day. The sun flirts with the sea, the clouds and the mountains, and in a demonstration of creativity and power, it dresses them at will in fascinating colors. After a stretch with more isolated homes, the lovely cove of Bayahondita, and the beach of the same name present themselves, bordered by a fringe of grey sand and white pebbles, perpetually reclined over a slope. The concentration of landing docks is greater than on the last stretch. The Palmar de Ocoa-Hatillo road runs along the border of the sea. We soon reached Playa Córbano, a 400 meters long, curved 50 meter wide beach. This one joins the beaches Playa Vaquerito and Playa Chiquita, with similar characteristics to its predecessors, but with fewer pebbles. The Ibiza hotel is found in the area, the first in this isolated region. Playa Chiquita beach delivers the coast to Playa Mía beach, strip sealed off with medium rocks and thick grey colored sand. In the first meters from the shore the seawater is heaving and murky. In those places the vegetation was highly decimated by the chopping of trees for coal. Today there is more respect, and on the coast certain regeneration of the vegetation cover is notable. A little further ahead the Ocoa Bay Haciendas ecotourism and property project has begun. The plantation of permanent species undertaken by the company, such as the vitis (Vitis vinifera), fig (Ficus carica) and key lime (Citrus aurantifolia), is a good sign, and it is hoped that the care of the beaches area improves through the sustainable practices of the aforementioned project. We arrived at the border of the road which reaches the city of Azua and to a cove which houses Playa Viyella beach, still with pebbles, but less numerous. The seawater is calm. The buckthorns and acacias accompany the stretch leading to Caracoles; the number of pebbles lessens as we move along. The Caracoles site stirs up with the presence of holiday home and fishing boats.
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We stopped in front of the dry bed of the river Los Quemados, evidence of the errors that are committed in the nearby sierra, which sadly exhibits the extensive nudity of its body. During periods of rainfall the river overflows and causes considerable losses. On a bend in the steep slope of buckthorn plant covered land, we found the place where the colonel Francisco Alberto Caamaño Deñó landed, together with eight other companions, on the February, 3rd 1973. From there he hid out on the hills of the Cordillera Central with the purpose of a revolt against the government of Joaquín Balaguer. Despite being a historical site, there is no material object to identify it, only the reflection of the visitor highlights the importance of the place. Further ahead a disheveled ground, with a sandy and bare slope, and fallen trees; unmistakable prints showing that the avenue of a furious river had ravaged it. In reference to the Grande or Francisco river, which only revives with copious amounts of rainfall. The wide and stony beach continues and reaches the east side of the Peñón de Tortuguero, a place appreciated by the fishermen of the zone. A short distance from the beach we found a brackish lagoon, surrounded by mangroves, some 500 meters long and nearly 150 wide of green colored waters. The foot of the Peñón de Tortuguero reaches to the water and closed off our path. We had to enter the sea or climb the ravine. To protect the photographic equipment, we opted to climb the crag. We felt the reality of the risk: we had to go slowly, praying that we wouldn’t lose our balance because of the wind. To the left, was the precipice with the sea in the background; and on all sides of the rocky crest that we were walking over, cylindropuntias and other spiny species, which anyone would regret touching. With a conquering sensation we descended over less abrupt places, and reached La Culata de Tortuguero, an almost rectangular cove, and beach covered by sandy slabs. The Dominican coast has been the scene of diverse battles, and perhaps forgotten, but in Puerto Tortuguero there is a monument built in 1994 to remember the first naval battle of the war for the Dominican independence, which took place on the April, 15th 1844. There, Dominican combatants under the command of Juan Bautista Cambiaso, and others, equipped with only four schooners, defeated the Haitians who were sent with ten war ships. After Tortuguero an extensive mangrove swamp begins which is reclined over the sinuous limestone mountain range, where wetlands and salty areas are formed. The most notable of these is the one called El Sumidero. Already in the area of the Monte River, we passed by the little Poza Rica beach, still sheltered by a fringe of mangroves, which are interrupted to give way to the Vía or Ajoga Pollo stream, which overflows in rainy periods. The beach at Monte Río is normally murky, impacted by the discharge of the stream and by the turbulence of the sea. It is covered in limestone pebbles and dark golden sand. The beach is used by fishermen and bathers, and counts on restaurants which are built simply. A short distance away, towards the west, a six-meter-high rocky cliff rises up to star against the agitated sea. The border houses two 50 meters long strips of loose stones mixed with golden sand separated by rocks: Playa Uva and Playa Guano.