Bahia de las Aguilas!

Above are the final passengers unloading from the boat we took to Bahia de las Aguilas. Yes, I finally made it to this fabled beach on the Southwestern Caribbean coast! I left with a whole group of Dominican friends early Saturday morning in a privately chartered guagua. I knew the trip would involve a lot of waiting around for other people and that there would be difficult times. However, the opportunity to visit this famous 8km long beach, considered by many among the most beautiful in the world, outweighed my concerns. Below is the beach itself:

I arrived home with a sunburned face and shoulders, despite having applied lots of sunscreen. Yet what an extraordinary time I enjoyed swimming in the glorious Caribbean waters. It was a dream come true. Ordinarily there aren't the amount of people on the beach shown in this photo; we were there during a holiday weekend. Below we are on the boat on our way to the beach, and what a glorious ride we had!

Below is the boat launching facility at Cabo Rojo. And next is a photo of our hotel in Pedernales, which certainly wasn't anything stellar, but the hotel wasn't the point of our trip, so it was OK.

Above are members of our group in the morning as we prepare to depart for the day. And below is a photo taken at the border of the Dominican Republic and Haiti. Haiti is on the opposite side of the chain fence. Next are two Dominican border guards, sitting at their post.

Next are the market stalls of the Haitian Market, open on Mondays and Fridays. Since this photo was taken on a Sunday, there are no vendors.

You can bet the Haitians lively up these market stalls on their arrival! Below are photos taken of Hoyo de Pelempito, which afforded splendid vistas of the Dominican Parque Nacional Sierra Bahoruco. I'm glad the views were so magnificent, because the side trip to this location was lengthy. Others on the road all had four-wheel-drive vehicles. Our trusty little guaguas made the trip, which entailed a long haul up a bumpy dirt road. It was after 7 pm when we finally arrived at our hotel, and we had been on the road since 7 am. I wasn't the only one who was feeling grumpy by the day's end!

Below is a family who were along on the ride:

Below are photos taken of our drive along the Caribbean coast:

Below we are at Paraiso, enjoying the fresh water as it streams into the ocean:

Lastly, I'll include a photo of our guagua in the parking lot:

There were outbreaks of real anger on the trip due to the lack of good meals (participants felt they overpaid for the measly and ill served supper, breakfast and lunch offered) as well as the many delays (leading to finally arriving home at midnight on Sunday) involved. So, plenty of us had a hard time over the weekend, yet I also truly enjoyed myself during parts of our tour. The woman who organized the trip seemed to be doing her very best. I'd have to say the journey was a success, even with its flaws. After all, most of the Dominicans aboard had never been to Bahia de las Aguilas before, and they've lived here their whole lives.

Thank you for looking at the photos and reading this update! I look forward to more travel in the coming weeks, as a good friend is arriving on May 12 from California. My June post will include photos from our vacation together.