Dominican Republic has a lot of great places to visit, if you choose to have your vacation in a country located in the tropical island of Hispaniola. But here I will tell you about one place I visited not long ago, one that is very interesting and less included in most touring expeditions: Sabana de La Mar (translation: "savannah of the sea"). First, let's get there...
Sabana de La Mar is located on the East side of the Dominican Republic, opposite to Samana, on the coast of Samana Bay. You can get there by bus or car; an all-terrain vehicle is ideal. You could also come by boat from Samana, crossing the Samana Bay. Either if you are coming from La Romana (East) or Santo Domingo (South-West), you'll need to get to San Pedro de Macoris, where the road towards Sabana de La Mar starts.
For my visit I took, along with my family and friends, a vacation of four days and three nights. We left Santo Domingo around 3:00 p.m. After half an hour of blue-green sea by our right side, we spotted for a moment our Main International Airport at Punta Caucedo. Right before it, we could see the turquoise waters over our Submarine National Park La Caleta. We continued to see more sea to our right, some beaches, and then we arrived to San Pedro de Macoris.
The road we chose took us behind San Pedro city, over Higuamo river through the new bridge, with a brief view of the factories nearby. Then, we started the long road towards Hato Mayor, surrounded side by side with huge sugar cane fields. Deep green vegetation was splashed wildly with more green, changing from one tone to another. The climate and geography took turns varying the colors according to a not so dry prairie vegetation, then dry, not so dry again, and then abruptly humid.
Crossing the picturesque city of Hato Mayor, we left with the promise of returning to a small cafeteria, famous for typical delicious desserts. A cloud of brown dust floating over the road marked our passing. Following the leading vehicle, occupied by the only ones in the party who knew the way to our destination, we turned corners, twisted, and went up or down the narrow streets out of Hato Mayor city. We had a hard time catching up with our leading friends, since they seemed not to care much about a slow progress on a road that turned rougher with every passing minute. My children didn't mind a bit the resulting jostling of the vehicle, their delighted shrieks testifying their enjoyment.
At one moment, we stopped for the second time(and could finally catch up with our guiding party!). One of the smallest people in the group had too much soda or juice to drink, again... With no restaurants of stores nearby, we followed the advise of one of the friendly and helpful farmers of the place, and took the wild surrounding vegetation as shield for private relieve. The first time we had stopped next to a huge plantation of exotic palm trees. We took a moment to admire how ferns and vines grew easily on the tops of the leafless trunks of the old trees. Butterflies and grass hoppers passed by, busy in their activities.
The third stop was required, again, by our leading company. This time, a ripe fruit from a cacao tree, from the hundreds along the road, was too irresistible for one of our guiding friends. She got out of the truck almost tip-toeing, and subtracted with great secrecy the beautiful price. I suppose the excitement of the possibility of being caught at it just added to the original lure. The indifferent faces of the people living nearby, clearly knowing what was going on, told me such possibility was just in my friend's imagination. But to her benefit, we all wisely refrained from informing her so.
The road continued, each step tougher than the last, wild as the involving green surroundings. Tall walls of greenery, covering our view of the sky sometimes with magnificent roofs of vines and branches, suggested magical possibilities in our minds. Then, we got to Sabana de La Mar.
Being this a fishermen town, great amounts of small stores selling fresh fish and sea food are very common. The abundant coconut trees that grow dense with each step towards the shore wouldn't let us forget the place we just had got to, anyway. Turning right, we headed to our final destination: a two story house sitting on a cliff looking over a virgin beach, from where all Samana Bay can be admired. We got there close to 7:00 p.m. After a long stretch of gorgeous coconut trees flanking our left side from Sabana de La Mar main town, imagine how it feels to come face to face with a breathtaking view of the sea from the top of a cliff. Add to that a fabulous sunset...
A party of twelve, including three kids and a small dog, we spent our vacation in the following fashion:
Waking up to a magnificent view of Samana Bay, sprinkled with small fishermen boats. These were out since very early, in their every day duty, watchful to protect their lucky catch from the cheeky pelicans and gulls. This feathered and unwanted company always kept escorting their boats with unashamed indifference, beady eyes and fast beaks at the ready.
During the day we took a bath in the beach below, surrounded by very tall coconut trees, and testified by a huge almond tree throwing cool shadow over a big old log. We sat there to rest, wet out toes in the foam of the incoming waves, and savour the delightful view of the Bay. Sometimes hundreds of tiny scallops would be washed ashore, held onto small branches and logs. Their bodies resembled white butterfly wings bordered in orange.
The nights were spent under the pool gazebo, after refreshing and splashing away our afternoons in the pool, of course. We took turns giving company and support to our friend in charge of preparing dinner, his specialty being barbeque. Eating finger-licking good food (minus a couple of steaks and sausages, thunderfast stolen by a gang of innocent looking cats from the neighborhood), we continued to sit and talk until late.
The fireflies dancing around added more light to the very starry nights of Sabana de La Mar. We watched the curious activities of other flying insects, such as beetles, which vehemently insisted on committing suicide in the pool, attracted by the bright lights in its inner walls. Don't worry, the children always united their efforts in successful rescuing missions that lasted the whole time we spent under the gazebo.
If for dinner we had terrific barbeques, for lunch our BBQ chef's fiance prepared delicious dishes. The first day it was a huge "sancocho". The next, a "paella" bursting with seafood. The official vacation-closing specialty was a Spanish "fabada". Breakfasts were another of her specialties, save some trouble we had one morning with two giant Spanish "tortillas" and a lack of a proper heating place to cook them (finding that out just after emptying the "tortilla" contents into the two huge "paella" pans we had, which were the only available containers appropriate for the task)... That is another story, but at least I can tell you that only the third "tortilla" (specially prepared for a very picky friend) made it with dignity to the table. This was the only one that could fit in a normal pan and on the stove top, thus, being thoroughly cooked with success.
The guardian in charge of keeping watch of the house when not in use, stayed around to give us a hand. A short, sturdy looking person wearing a hat, and a "machete" through his belt at all times, this man proved to be a great company. He knew perfectly the whole place and had no trouble sharing his knowledge with us, along with the town gossip. His picturesque speech and ideas made our conversations more interesting. He brought us piles of coconuts, their water and pulp sweet and irresistible. We drank and ate them under the gazebo, keeping an eye out for the visiting humpback whales that had made Samana Bay so famous around the world. Our friend the daytime chef, and owner of the house, told us to our mouth-gaping amazement that from the balcony around the pool and gazebo, these creatures where often spotted in the nearby waters without trouble. We didn't see any in our stay, but with the spectacular view, we thought that this might probably be true. We could see all the way to the other side of the Bay from where we were.
We planned a visit to the small fishermen village nearby, which gives its name to the surrounding area that includes the property where we were staying. La Cañita sounded very interesting, being a place where we could rent a boat and enjoy the Bay further. We didn't have the time to go, regretfully. Trying to convince the children to leave the beach or the pool for some time was a very tiresome business, so we quit at the first opportunity. We could not go to the village, but the villagers came to us. Or at least, some curious people visited us the last day, coming to say "Hi". Some children were included in the visiting party, and friendly as they were, ended in minutes running up and down the patio, playing with our children, happily catching bugs with them.
On our way back, we honored our promise for sweets in Hato Mayor city. We stopped at "La Bolita" cafeteria & restaurant. We could see how famous this spot is, because of the desserts they bring from El Seybo, a province to the East. El Seybo is well known in the whole country for the terrific pastes made with sweet milk or guava. They offer other fabulous desserts.
I didn't know about those other desserts. These were brought in large containers, and served directly in disposable plastic cups for eating right there, or jars, for taking home. We could sit there and eat spoonfuls of very sweet and soft pastes of coconut with milk, sweet potato, or plain milk. There were other flavors, but I remember only these... Umm!! They also offer little bread-cookies, which will crumble richly in your mouth and make you forget about everything else, as you probably won't be able to stop from eating them for a long time.
With our stomachs and hearts full, we continued our return, only to be surprised as we were about to reach San Pedro de Macoris. On a narrow road with just one lane for going, another one for coming, and sugar cane fields on both sides, what could we do with a very long line of cars in front? Yes, just wait. The reason for this sudden and unexpected dense traffic showed itself minutes later.
Amazed, we had the pleasure to enjoy in "first row" an authentic, real Guloya dance with "palos" and "atabales". People passing by couldn't avoid to move at least a bit with the primitive rhythms of their music. This is a common celebration during Holy week, which was the time we chose for our trip to Sabana de La Mar. The elections for Congress were just around the corner, in next May. It wasn't strange at all, then, to see those who accurately chose the moment for this parade to promote their candidates, obtaining lots of cheers, sweat and frenzy for free.
We may go back to Sabana de La Mar in the nearby future, to honor a promise made to our children at departure. If not for this reason, we will go anyway, to retrieve my sunglasses. Forgotten and probably hidden among hundreds of pebbles, sticks and almond leaves, they may be around still, I think... even if a bit battered by the fierce weather of this beautiful virgin beach.
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