A solo adventure

About 3 weeks ago, I just wanted to get out of Las Terrenas for a bit. I´m a big city girl, don´t forget, and this is a small small town. So we had a Friday off school, and I got the guagua to El Limón. Then another one to Samaná, then another one to Las Galeras. Travelling by guagua is always interesting, and the last leg of the journey was the most so. It was long, maybe 45 minutes, sitting in the back of a pickup truck. People, usually men, strike up conversation, and one old man asked me what my faith was. I said I don´t have one, that I´m not religious. He asked what I meant by that, and I said I wasn´t a believer. He was incredulous. "HEY! This girl said she doesn´t believe in God!", he shouted to someone on the street who shook their head incredulously. I think that might have been his first contact with a heathen... 

Las Galeras is a sleepy town right at the end of the Samaná peninsula, more chilled than Las Terrenas. I got off and another friend from the guagua took me to his sister´s shack on the beach where I ate delicious grilled fish, salad and plantain, and drank coconut water. Then I hunted down the cheapo hotel my friends had stayed at. 700 pesos (€15) for a double room with a bathroom. It was clean, but there were cockroaches. But hey, it was a double bed all to myself and quiet. I went down to the beach for a sunset swim and a walk, and found a bar with kittens and free internet. 

Las Galeras beach,

Furby

Babies

Tiny tiny kitten asleep on my lap

I wanted to go to the famous Playa Rincón, but was being quoted 700 pesos for a motoconcho there and back. So I asked the people in this bar, and sure enough the guy there offered to take me for 500 pesos. His name was Ambioris, and he was my buddy for the next day. He was 21 years old and desperate to impress me. Instead of being sleazy, he was very sweet and utterly unaware of how young and earnest he seemed. We arranged to meet the next morning and I went on my way. I stopped by The Dive Academy dive school and bar/cafe because I saw THIS GUY:

<3 Bosun <3

This is Bosun, who is remarkably similar to my love, my child, my dog Lily. Turns out he is also a Brittany Spaniel cross who came from the South of Spain, but he made it a bit further than my Lilzer. His lovely owner, Diane, is an Englishwoman who lived in Spain for years running a scuba dive centre there. I stayed and chatted to her for ages, and vicariously pet my Lils through the lovely Bosun.

Coral. Spot the cockroach.

The next day Ambioris and I set out on our adventure. He took me to La Boca del Diablo, the Devil´s Mouth, which are blowholes on a rocky cliff. I´m scared of blowholes (thanks, Mom) so I stayed well back. At the right time of year, you can apparently see whales pass.

Ambioris at the Devil´s Mouth

 Playa Rincón was the most beautiful beach I have seen yet. It´s big, and curves around a beautiful bay with the most transparent water ever. It was pristine, with some parts busy and some parts utterly deserted. Heavenly. I got to spend about 2 hours there before Ambioris drove me back to Las Galeras. I got a burrito in Diane and Bosun´s and then hopped on the guagua home, feeling relaxed and utterly content.