I went to Samana in the Dominican Republic. The ship was anchored out so we tendered in to the small pier using lift rafts. Tendering is not the most fun thing in the world because guests are always complaining and expecting it to be easier when there is no way for it to be. This was a very long tender ride, about thirty minutes. It did give a great opportunity to see the coast line, with it’s many palm trees. It was like a forest of palm trees swaying in the wind. They were of a lime green color. Not very dark green like we have in the evergreen state. In fact, a great deal of yellow came through. The palm trees went all the way to water so there was not much beach along this area of the coast. Every once in a while a house would peek through the trees. I wondered if these houses were vacation homes of rich foreigners or just normal homes of the locals. What a view they must have and a joy to wake up to everyday. It was humid a fairly hot even though overcast. Even while still not ashore I got a sense of the relaxed lifestyle I imagine the locals enjoy.
When we finally arrived to the dock we were whisked into the speedboat for the tour I was going to take, Cave and Mangrove Exploration. This was a little sad for me because it meant I could not explore the mainland area, but from the looks of it there was not much around close to where we were. From what I was told it was essentially a place where you could get a beer and be bombarded by locals. In hindsight, I also really enjoyed my tour making up for the disappointment in not exploring the mainland much. The tour I took was phenomenal. We raced across the Samana harbor to Los Haitisis National Park. As we approached the land it looked as if there were all sorts of hills and mini mountains. As we got closer I realized they were actually little islands. That dotted all around the area. Our speed boat went around various islands and it was fascinating. Each one would be full of trees. There was one section they referred to as Isle of the Birds. There were so many birds of all various kinds: frigates, vultures, pelicans, and boobies. The male frigates, when wooing the female would puff up there chest and it would be an amazing bright red color. The brown boobies had amazing contrast in colors, very striking to say the least. The birds would sore over these islands in flocks it was a stunning sight with the blue sky back drop. Some of the birds would dive into the water to catch their prey. There were nesting baby pelicans as well that were stark white and super baby cute.
Many of the islands had caves of varying sizes. The guide told us that Los Haitises actually had 34 caves, but to protect them from vandals only four are available to tour. One could see many of these caves from the water and just imagine people seeking refuge there in storms or the amount of bats that must be contained therein. We were able to tour inside two of them. The first one was modest in size. It was funny because as the guide was explaining the relationship of the Dominican Republic and Haiti we started to hear reggae music coming closer from inside the cave. Then a man in camouflage emerged with a little radio. He was a park ranger. In one of the rooms of this cave there was an opening in the top and a trees root system was growing down through the top. It was actually a fairly small shrub with a huge root system. I wanted to climb it, but that was not allowed. Apparently the flowers from this shrub would be used to make some of the ink they used in their cave drawing that we would later see. The guide told us how the ancient Taino people would use these caves for ceremonial purposes. We then walked to where the exit of the cave was and the guide pointed out a carving that they believe to be about 1500 years old of a face that was in the a stone. It was a very playful face. Makes me think that these Taino people must have been playful and fairly joyous in life. We then reboarded our boat to explore in some mangroves and another cave.
The mangroves are amazing to me. They are fresh water plant that grows in salt water. There are three kinds Red, Black, and White. This area only had red and black and you can tell the difference by how the roots grew. Red ones the roots grow downward while the black ones grow upward. As I mentioned they need fresh water to survive, yet they live in some of the saltiest water on the planet. How they are able to this is through a sacrificial leaf system where they mangrove filters the water and directs all the salt into a few leaves that eventually turn yellow and die allowing the tree as a whole to survive. The root system of the red mangroves are amazing to see how they weave around in the water creating what in some instances becomes land like. On the roots many creatures live such as what they call oysters, but these are not the kind you eat, and many crabs. On the other side of where we were was a protected manatee habitat that unfortunately we could not see, but never the less the guide said the manatees are only out in the early morn. We then stopped at another island and explored another cave. This cave had numerous petroglyphs. Many ones depicting local animals like the humpback whale, sharks, and birds. Other depicted gods such as the rain god. Many were also of Shamans. Shamans in this tradition were people who had to be born with six fingers so in these cave drawings many people had six fingers. Then there were some cave drawings that elude to the Spanish explorers that came to the area. Because these people in the drawings had crosses associated with them. The Taino people did not have crosses. Crosses were first introduced to the area by Christopher Columbus. The drawings reminded me of something I might have drawn when I was little. The ink is made of a mixture of flower, root, and whale oil.
Then we were off on the speedboat directly back to the ship. These waters are where humpback whales come in the winter to have their babies in the warm water. I was on the lookout, but we did not see any. On the ship I then went to open deck to enjoy the sunset. It was a beautiful day.
