El Último Viaje: Bayahibe

I arrived in Bayahibe late Sunday afternoon. The guagua dumped me in the middle of town and  I wondered around the winding streets (only mildly lost), until I found my hotel. 

Bayahibe really is quite small and it didn't take me long.
The hotel, much to my happiness,  is more like a set of apartments than it is a hotel (hence the name Aparta-Hotel Villa Baya), each room coming complete with a kitchenette, free wifi, cable tv, nice stone floors, and the cremé de la cremé? a beautiful balcony. By far the best hotel of my trip, and the most economical to boot at $30 USD a night. 

I ditched the suitcase and headed off to scout out the town and the beach as I like to get my bearings on a place right off the bat. 

After sufficient perusal (you can traipse through the whole town in less than 20 minutes) I stopped for a nice little treat of fresh lambí....

....and grabbed a Presidente to take back to my balcony. Might as well put it to good use after all!

Alarmed by the grumbling of my tummy later in the evening, I made my way back towards the beach in search of some dinner. 
There´s just something beautiful about anchored boats sleeping at night time. 
Dinner actually turned out to be quite the experience...but I´m not going to tell you what happened. Not yet anyways. I´ll save that surprise for next post.  

In the meantime, I´ll allay you with my adventures the following day. As always, I rolled out of bed with the sunshine and headed to the beach. Bayahibe is actually more of a bay than a beach, used primarily for anchoring fishing boats and launching katamarans full of tourists to the nearby islands of Saona and Catalina.

Turns out, mornings are all hustle and bustle on this beach, so my original plan of a nice long rung in the sand was thwarted. I don´t much like running when there are lots of people about. 

I just whipped out my book instead (never leave home without one!), and caught some rays as I enjoyed the goings on around me. 
I spent most of the day just taking it easy, but by mid afternoon I was jonesing for a new adventure. A quick google search of things to do in the area and I was off on the first motoconcho I could find for la cueva Padre Nuestro. 

A little background info here: La cueva Padre Nuestro is located in El Parque Nacional del Este. Before going there you have to get a wristband and entrance pass (200 pesos) from the park tourist center (a little building located where all the big tourist buses park near the beach). Then grab a motoconcho to take you to the park for 100 pesos. You could have him drop you off at the park entrance if you want (its about a half mile hike from the park entrance to the cave), or you can have him drop you off right at the cave entrance. 

The entrance of the cave is actually a bit intimidating, staring up at you lie a giant black mouth waiting to swallow you up. But it´s also a bit daring, promising adventures and hidden treasures. Maybe buried pirate gold or the Lost Ark of the Covenant, just  like something out of an Indiana Jones movie.

After carefully picking your way down steep stone steps into the dark pit.,  you will  hear strange squeaking sounds and catch glimpses of movement flapping rapidly in a blur past your eyes. Throw your arms up wildly and shield your head! You´re about to be attacked by a swarm (flock? pack?) of murderous vampire bats!
Wait. False alarm. 
It´s actually just swallows. You know, the bird. Turns out they like caves about as much as bats do and make their nests in the rocky crevices in the cave roof. 
Anyways, by now your eye sight should be adjusting, and what was once a dim black hole is slowly evolving into something beautiful. You probably aren´t going to find any pirate booty here, but what you will find is something just as precious: deep blue waters smooth as glass, reflecting the cave back up at you like a mirror. 

As the fuzzy black edges around the corners of your vision further clear away,  you´ll realize that this little underground pond is actually much bigger than you first imagined...extending far back into deep, shadowy corners and eerie bends. 

Once you´ve absorbed the silence for long enough , it´s time to head back to the light. 

I opted to walk back through the National Park and take in the naturaleza.

I made it out to the high way and bummed a bola (ride) off a kid on a moto heading back for Bayahibe. (only about a mile or so away)

In the evening I headed off to one of the beachfront bars to enjoy a drink and some free wifi. 

I didn´t realize I was going to get a light show as well....

Honestly. Just breathtaking. 

But I was one tired puppy and headed to bed shortly after the sun did.