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	Cowes Arrived on 9th Sep 2012
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Blog updated: 24th Jan 2013

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Mous'le's Travels

5th Apr 2010 - 13th Apr 2010 - Caribbean Island Hopping 2010
Hiding in Haitises

Along with the Americans, Ned and Cathy from 'Journey', we hired a jeep to explore the Samana Peninsula. A beautiful mountainous hinterland showed the true mix of economies at work here. There are three main sectors - local peasantry, foreign resort based investment and government investment. It is difficult to see where these economies meet except in supplying construction jobs - most of the local people seem to continue their semi-marginal existence, more or less unaffected by the resort culture that has taken many of their more beautiful areas into private ownership.
The roads were in the process of being reinstated following the installation of a new water system. it does not seem that the mains water will be potable so their will be little benefit from a year of chaos on the local roads.
We lunched in Sanchez, at the head of the Bahia Samana and then tried to reach the Bahia Rincon, NW of Samana Town but the roads were too bad and we called it a day after taking an hour to travel 5M.
One of the problems living on a boat is that from time to time the floor moves beneath your feet and this depends on a number of factors - wind direction, wave direction and the whims of Neptune. Suffice it to say that after two very uncomfortable nights in Samana Harbour we decided to cross the Bahia to a sheltered lagoon that is part of the National Park Los Haitises created to protect the unique combination of mangrove lagoon and prehistoric caves. With the lagoon opening to the west it provides an excellent protected anchorage for weary sailors. Our friends on 'Journey' followed the next day after another bouncy night.
After the showers of the previous day Saturday dawned sunny and we set off in two inflatable tenders to find and explore the caves. We landed first at a jetty, only to find the offices unmanned and the main caves somewhere else. Hugging the steep tree covered cliffs we followed the coast until eventually, just after passing the remains of an old jetty, we followed a creek through the mangroves to another jetty from where we gained access to the main cave. Decorated with 5000 yr old drawings from the Carib/Arawak period, the cave is extensive, with four chambers and evidence of cooking.
Leaving the cave, Ned took us to a river through the mangroves which eventually led to an activity centre from where we were transported by motorcycle to the Park 'Welcome Centre' and enjoyed a well earned lunchbefore heading back to our yachts for a an evening on board Journey
The next morning we left early to return to Samana, as we needed to get a 'despacho', permission to leave Samana and travel to Luberon, further up the coast. This proved impossible to get and we had to remain until Monday. Now the weather is poor for the next week or so and our onward movements are uncertain.