A Touristy Day in the D.R.

Photo Credit: Cousin Anna

Anna scheduled a whale watching tour for our second day in Sabana De La Mar. We woke up early  to catch a "guagua" to town where the boat would leave. In the Dominican Republic a "guagua" is any form of transportation that will take multiple people. This could include anything from a minivan to a bus and doesn't have to be public transportation. In our case it was a small bus, only slightly bigger than a mini van.

We arrived early for the tour and waited at a very empty restaurant area. Luckily the people who helped Anna book the tour sent us with a woman named Reina to show us where we needed to go. Otherwise we would have been very confused. While waiting we were greeted by some shockingly friendly (and overfed) street puppies.

There are street dogs everywhere in the DR. Although against CDC recommendation Kathleen loves to pet them. If you approach slowly and respectfully and kneel down nearby they will often tentatively come up to be pet. In most places we went street dogs wouldn't approach you because they occasionally get things thrown at them if they are too forward. However the dogs in this area were VERY forward. They clearly were used to different treatment (which later became clear) and they ran up, jumping and mouthing.

Eventually tourists started streaming in by the bus load from the tourist town of Punta Cana where they were clearly staying in the big resorts. It was a rather shocking influx of white people. As people started arriving we were served ham and cheese sandwiches, coffee, juice and fresh fruit. Many tourists were taking their sandwiches directly out to feed to the puppies and then going back for more. It explained a lot about the puppies behavior.

Eventually we were all divided onto boats and taken out to see the whales. Whale season in the Dominican Republic is from January 14th to March 14th when the humpback whales come to hang out in the bay. People absolutely love these tours and have an amazing time. Unfortunately for us, the water was VERY rough the day we went. The ride to the viewing area was basically a roller coaster ride that was rather terrifying. By the time we made it to where the whales were, about 10% of the boat was already throwing up.  It got worse from there.

We did get to see whales, which was very cool, but the tour wasn't without a few challenges. Due to the big waves they were difficult to see. We were also all trying to concentrate on the horizon to make sure we didn't join the ranks of the sick and it was a difficult boat to see out of because the sides were high. Needless to say we didn't get great pics but here are a couple. The animals are spectacular and the tour was probably great on a calmer day. As it was, we were all ready to head back to shore by the time we left.

 

After seeing the whales our boat dropped us off on an island to spend the afternoon. The island is very touristy and is referred to as Bacardi Island. They served us lunch and then we hung out on the beach at Playa Cayo Levantado. It was a beautiful beach and it was fun to spend a day relaxing and seeing what the majority of people experience when they go to the Dominican Republic. They also gave us complementary rum and cokes, so we went all out on tropical beach vacation hour. 

 

The boat ride back to the main land (bigger island?) was also choppy but not nearly as sickening. We just ended up with tons of waves coming over the sides of the boat and drenching us. When we got back we looked like we had been swimming in our clothes. Everyone else on the boat loaded up into their tour bus and we went to flag down a guagua. Overall it was a very interesting experience, but probably not our favorite of the days we spent in the DR.