Exploring Isla Hispaniola. Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic

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From the turn autopistas Las Americas, road sliding that much, just 25 kilometers, leads directly to Santo Domingo, but the wrong exit to the Colonial Zone. So we are meddling in the chaotic traffic Modelo del mercado. Move at walking pace in the middle of a confusion of frenzied pedestrians and street vendors. Motorcycles, cars and trucks that carry the sound of a horn, gua gua (collective taxi) who are putting on the road anywhere in the arm and helped dall'imprecare Controller of tickets. And tired after ten hours of flight is not exactly the highest being in the middle of congested traffic in Santo Domingo, however, in the end, we arrive at the Palacio, an old colonial dwelling now transformed into an elegant hotel.

The visit of the colonial district of the capital, declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO, it should be. Santo Domingo, the first capital of Latin America, was founded in 1496 by Bartholomew, the brother of Christopher Columbus and named in honor of his father Domenico. In parque de Colón is the statue of Admiral Columbus: impossible, for us Italians, not excited in front of the arms indicates that ideally the earth just sighted. The area between the fortress of Osama and the Iglesia de las Mercedes was true: one can breathe the air of those times and the light is still that of the colonial world. Front all'Alcazar imagine the powerful at the time that it took the decision to colonize the rest of the Americas. During the visit we meet shoeshine and hawkers, sellers of lottery tickets and naive painters, are everywhere, like the pseudo guides who offer continuous, tortured troublesome.
Let the historic district to see, no longer on foot but by car, the other Santo Domingo, one of the dictator Rafael Trujillo. Visit the lighthouse Columbus (Colon) prosopopea of the totalitarian regime of Generalissimo. The mausoleum dedicated to the great navigator is so kitsch and megalomaniac to have earned a place of honor among the monuments of the city. We see, then, the altar of the homeland, the presidential palace, the enormous statue of San Antonio and the entire walk to Avenida George Washington, the Malecon, which runs along the sea. Let's see, I believe, the largest gallery in the world on platforms other artists exhibit works by strong colors, warm and cheerful, so it is impossible not to buy at least one canvas.

We leave the capital by taking the 1 autopista, the only highway in the country, linking the south with the north. The walk for just eighty kilometers to Pietra Blanca, enough to put on their proverbial hands in the hair. On the main road network in the Dominican Republic we pass every means of locomotion and, in addition to trucks and cars of course expected, we see circular bicycles, wagons drawn by oxen, and even people indifferent to the danger that progress on the traffic island dividing the lanes of both directions of traffic. It seems enough until we see motorcycle racing on the emergency lane ... but in the opposite direction!
We continue the journey towards the peninsula of Samana. Cross-country campaign of quiet, sedentary, whose peace is broken by the volume shot up to the aging of boxes of bars and clubs that scan the notes of the entire repertoire of merengue. The people are friendly and smiling despite the poverty in which he lives. Groups of children playing "baseball", young people to "pool", the elderly a "domino", here are the favorite pastimes of the Dominicans. In every country, in addition, there is at least an arena, albeit small, for the fighting of cocks. Among the various scenes of daily life that we witness, affecting women in curlers and slippers that go by the wayside, for performing the duties of each day. The houses are pink, brown, red, yellow, blue hours, and now the bright light, and stop the green paddy fields, plantations of tobacco and bananas. How far from Santo Domingo ...
The north coast of the peninsula of Samana is a succession of nearly deserted sand mezzelune framed by thick stretches of palm trees and clear blue sea. In Las Galeras not have the sea and the sand to attract attention, but rather, the rustic tables of a spartan restaurant and the adjacent bar renowned for preparing excellent cocktails. We order a "cocoloco" and a "piñacolada. The next day we reach twenty kilometers to Playa Rincon. The road is a continuous rise in the Open, unpaved until the final five kilometers, but in very poor conditions. The sea is not seen, but it receives only look at the water, the waves and the sun on the horizon. The beach, it is said, among the ten most beautiful in the Caribbean, not only is equipped at both ends of the huts offer a meal. Until late in the morning we are the only beings to enjoy this slice of paradise. Then came the operators of dilapidated restaurants, a first group of tourists by sea, then a second, then some from our own quad road. Leave playa Rincon, in the afternoon we embark on Cayo Levantado, from a pier located a few kilometers before Samana. Sailing a small boat without life jackets, even though the sea is rough. The Cayo is a sort of Maldivian atoll in the heart of the Caribbean.
Early in the morning we visit the small characteristic market of Samana. At first, we wander among the stalls a little 'afraid they are the only tourists, then the apprehensions vanish between a fishmonger who calls us to show pride with the big fish he caught and a beautiful girl, smiling, selling fruit more beautiful. Before you go buy a nice couple from a CD containing the major successes of merengue that once got into the car fired at high volume. When we arrive at El Limon spaces seem fun to see two gringos listen to their music and so loud. Hence we arrive at the famous horse waterfall. The trail is to get muddy because of rain in previous days and literally surrounded by a dazzling nature. Along the trail, including a jungle of plants and fruits that do not know, it seems to ride in a timeless era. The waterfall is announced with a loud noise: the adventure that is your punishment!
Let's go back on the coast and we stop at the beach in El Portillo with a beautiful sea of green - blue. Approximately at the center of the beach, sea, there emerges a coral reef. Exactly on the opposite side, two "Kite Surf" looming in the sky color. We continue along the sea up to Las Terrenas is now no longer retains the authentic atmosphere settled on them. Tourism is way, way spreading. You can not say the same of the beaches in its immediate surroundings: Playa Bonita and Cosòn are deserted and wild, and without anything to envy to the most famous beach Rincon.
Back on bad dirt full of holes we encounter a woman in the head with a tray of donuts. We stop to take advantage and enjoy a typical local product: bread buns coconut.
We arrive in Rio San Juan is now dark when accompanied even to say from the usual evening drizzle. The last day to get back into the Jarabacoa famous for its many waterfalls, such as the Salto di Jamanoa. Along the way, from a plantation of sugar cane and another, men with machetes walking along the road. Haitians are going to work, like us after tomorrow.