It was supposed to be a wholistic weekend: A sleepy fishing village, long morning sunrise runs on the beach, drinking nothing but coconut milk straight from the coco, eating only freshly fallen mangos and grilled fish, soaking up the sun with waves lapping at my toes, catching up on my reading and my yoga.....
Instead, we ended up meeting two skinny afro-haired island boys with smiles that could break your heart, eating a montón de tostones and pizza, sleeping in late, drinking cerveza, and dancing bachata and merengue into the wee small hours of the morning.
Instead, we ended up meeting two skinny afro-haired island boys with smiles that could break your heart, eating a montón de tostones and pizza, sleeping in late, drinking cerveza, and dancing bachata and merengue into the wee small hours of the morning.
We arrived in Las Galeras on a Monday morning after a 3 hour bus trip to Sámana and an additional 1 hour miniguagua ride to the end of the peninsula where the quiet town of Las Galeras lays nestled between beaches and mountains.
We stayed in the lovely Villa La Plantacion. A colonial-style hotel with beautiful grounds and an amazing pool. The place is owned and managed by Remy, a friendly French ex-pat that was only all too happy to help us out with whatever we needed. The rooms were nothing to write home about, but they were clean and spacious with hot water, and for the price of 2000 pesos ($50) per night, they were more than sufficient. Being located a mere 3 minutes walk from the beach and right in the center of town, it was a great location and worth a recommendation.
After a lovely grilled fish lunch, we strolled down the beach and sneakily commandeered a few lounge chairs from the nearby all-inclusive resort. And there we lounged lazily for the rest of the day, reading our books and hiding our un-wrist banded arms from security whenever the passed by.
After a long snooze and hot shower, we headed back into town for the night to russle up some grub.
We decided on a crispy ham, mushroom, and olive pizza. And by olive, they meant "one" olive, haha. Oh well, it was still deelish.
Scuffilufigus came sniffing around for a slice too. He apparently belonged to the establishment, but looked like he had spent all day skipping along the beach and rolling around in the salt water and sand.
Amy and I kept trying to catch Scruffilufigus´s attention while we were eating, and likewise so did the two chicos that came in and ordered cerveza at the table nearby....and from there a friendship was formed. From the pizza joint we headed over to a nearby disco, ordered up a couple rounds of Presidente, and swayed the night away.
Amy and I kept trying to catch Scruffilufigus´s attention while we were eating, and likewise so did the two chicos that came in and ordered cerveza at the table nearby....and from there a friendship was formed. From the pizza joint we headed over to a nearby disco, ordered up a couple rounds of Presidente, and swayed the night away.
Conveniently, our new friends worked on the boats that carry tourists too and from the surrounding beaches on the rocky coast line. After walking us back to our hotel they agreed to meet up with us again in the morning for a trip to Playa El Rincón.
Still looking a little sleepy!
Playa Rincón is a long stretch of silky, golden-sanded beach bordered by a forest of palm trees. The waters are the purest color of turquoise you will ever lay eyes on and the waves are so gentle, they just lap at the edge of the sand begging you to come in and play. Being off season and still fairly early in the morning, we had the entire beach to ourselves for several hours.
I did squeeze in a run (finally!) down the length of the beach, and then it was back to catching rays and catching up on reading.
We had lunch at Rincón Rubi. The Mahi Mahi (Dorado en español) was fresh and the food was satisfying, but as a whole, overpriced. Although most Americans might be willing to shell out 450 pesos (almost $12) for this meal, it was definitely stretching my Dominican budget.
After lunch our friends led us to the adjoining beach. Here the waters were rough and the waves rolled in with impressive height and speed. We dove head long into the rush and tried our best at body surfing- swimming for shore with all our might in an attempt to catch the waves rolling in behind us. I´m not going to lie, a took a few pretty good tumbles and ended up being rolled around like a sack of potatoes under water and spit out a little banged up but none the worse for wear down the shoreline. So much fun :)
For dinner our friends came back to reclaim us on there motos and we took a rocky, starlit (literally starlit in my case since my moto was missing a front headlight) ride up the mountainside to El Cabito, a famous cliffside restaurant with a cozy Caribbean atmosphere, amazing views and spectacular food. (Anthoney Bordain ate here on his recent trip to the D.R.)
The owners are friendly German ex-pats, so its only appropriate our tables would be lit with beer stein candles.
More dancing after dinner!
If you´re ever in Las Galeras, definitely hit up El Cabito for dinner, and make the trip to Playa Rincón by boat- ask for Emiliano or Luis (Rambo) if you can. It´s a pretty sleepy town, but they´ll happily show you around and give you a fair price for the boat ride.
Finally Wednesday morning rolled around and it was time to stretch and yawn and head home, looking back one last time just to catch the gently swaying palm trees waving goodbye.
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