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Published: January 18th 2011
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Santa Barbara Waterfront
Note cruise ship in the background. It comes once a week and probably provides most of the weekly income to the town, A few words about the Dominican Republic:
Though certainly better off than its Hispaniola neighber, Haiti, the DR is still a very impoverished place. We are safely in a slip at the Puerto Bahia which is a multimillion dollar development of marina, condos, golf course, etc. It is one of the most elegant properties that either of us has seen. Yet, just outside the secured gates of the property, as is typical in developing countries, is the most abject poverty that you would ever see. Not that the people are unhappy. They just get on with their lives day to day in conditions most of us could not imagine. Terry and I thought it would be interesting to visit a nearby national park which is said to be one of the most beautiful in the world. I includes a dramatic 700 foot waterfall and was where much of Jurassic Park was filmed. So, while Terry was dealing with the registration, etc. I accompanied Rafael into town to get a car for use the next day. He said we would take a taxi in and his friend would have the car ready. Little did I know that in the DR, the
most common form of taxi is a small motorcycle or motorbike. Two young men on these machines showed up and he motioned to me to hop on the back of one of them. As most of you know, i am not a small man, and I began to wonder if this relatively small contraption would handle my 230 pounds. (These bikes are a third of the weight and size of my 700 pound Harley Davidson Road King!)
Of course, the driver was extremely talented and had no problem dealing with a little extra weight. As we exited the property onto the main road, it was clear that I was entering some sort of bad dream! The road was under construction with large machines moving about. Gravel, mud, large rocks, etc. Adding to the mix was a swarm of other motorcyles, large and small trucks, cars, dogs and pedestrians. It turns out that gas is so expensive that these little bike taxis are very popular. Some are rigged with attached rickshaws to haul more passengers. I saw a man, woman and two small children on one bike! No helmets or other safety equipment.
It was an exhilarating ride to
say the least. When we arrived at the car rental place, the "really nice car" turned out to be a ten year old Chevy Tracker with a cracked rearview mirror and windsheild. (looks like someone's head made contact). But, it is all part of the adventure. It turns out that do to focus on prop repair and other issues, the car was returned at the end of the day and we did not get to the park.
Images:
Security guard at bank ATM with sawed off shotgun who looked like he was waiting for the next revolution.
Young girl on the waterfront having a great time with a pair of roller blades.
Lines of taxis, motorbike taxis, rickshaws on the water front awaiting the arrival of the cruise ship
American touristas from the cruise ship looking for bargains in the waterfront vendors plaza.
Everywhere people smiling, laughing and chatting and enjoying being alive.
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