We went to the dock early in the morning and met the others at eight o'clock. While we were waiting for the van, we saw two men trundling wheelbarrows filled with raw meat down the dusty street! (Perhaps the dead horse?)
We rode to Puerto Plata in a rented van. Much of the road is unpaved and full of holes. We passed many shanties and a few nice little houses. Also passed acres and acres and acres of sugar cane. The Dominican Republic is very mountainous, and we could see range after range of mountains in the distance.
When we arrived at the outskirts of Puerto Plata, we rode the funicular to the top of Mount Isabella Torres, which is 2600 feet high. What a spectacular view! We could see all of Puerto Plata below us, and we could look way out over the beautiful blue ocean. There's an interesting botanical garden on the mountain top, with carefully paved trails winding through it. There is also a dome-shaped building, topped by a towering statue of Christ. A great deal of effort and expense went into creating that place. The funicular was built in 1975, but we don't know when the rest was built. We wandered through the garden for a while, and then ate reasonably-priced omelettes in the pleasant, clean restaurant. We were glad we had come up early, because clouds moved in and the view disappeared.
When we returned to sea level, we went into the town itself and ate lunch. Roy had the baked chicken, which looked delicious, but I kept thinking of the scrawny chickens we'd seen wandering around, pecking at the dirt, and the wheelbarrows of raw meat, so I ordered vegetable soup, which seemed like the safest thing on the menu. It turned out to be more noodles than vegetables, but that was okay.
After lunch, the group split up, agreeing to meet again at four. Roy and I walked over to the waterfront and enjoyed the cool breeze and beautiful view of the ocean and breakers. Unfortunately, the beach is littered with trash. If it were cleaned up, it would be lovely.
We stopped at a bank and exchanged $40. Then we went to an ice cream parlor. Roy had a strawberry malt, which wasn't very good. I had a cup of chocolate chip ice cream. The chocolate was in big chunks, instead of chips, but it was delicious. Since the inverter quit working, Roy hasn't been able to recharge the battery in his electric razor, so it was nearly dead. He had brought it with him, and while we were eating ice cream, he plugged it into an electrical outlet and recharged it. It looked sort of weird, but no one seemed to notice. At least, they didn't say anything.
We strolled around some more. Puerto Plata is the "Big City" of this part of the country, but it doesn't look prosperous. The city is conducting anti-litter and anti-noise campaigns, but neither appears to be successful.
We went by an old depot and then walked down to the waterfront again. Passed a sewer outfall with a big sign warning people of the contaminated water, but a bunch of kids were happily swimming nearby. They had miles of water they could have been playing in, but for some reason they all clustered near the sewer.
At four, we rejoined the group and rode the van to what was supposed to be a supermarket. It turned out to be a small grocery store with no fresh fruit or vegetables. Bought a quart of orange juice, a container of cocoa mix, and a couple of cans of Canadian sardines. Then we all returned to Luperon, very glad to get here. The round trip cost 77 pesos each, or about $6.
This dock is absolutely the worst place to get in and out of our Royaks I've ever seen. We can't pull up to the ladder, so we have to climb over mud-covered coral. The coral is sharp, and the mud is slippery. I barely touched a piece of the coral and cut my thumb. Even Roy cut his foot trying to launch his Royak. We hope we don't get infections from the filthy water.
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