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Luperon, DR is reputed to be the best hurricane hole in the Caribbean. The bay is tucked into surrounding hills on three sides with mangroves all around to snuggle into if the big winds blow. We arrived here after an overnight sail from Big Sand Cay in the Turks and Caicos. As we left with "the armada" - Opal, Kirian, Gravy Boat, and Lala - the wind was predicted to be no more than 9 knots and seas less than 1 foot. What we saw was winds up to 27 knots and 5-7 foot seas. Instead of the slow motorsail we screamed along at 6-7 knots and arrived off the entrance at 4 in the morning. We hove to and took a nap until sunrise - waiting for the morning fog to clear to see our way in through the reefs on either side of the entrance. Along the way we were joimed by Juan on Albita from the Domincan Republic. He graciously said he would lead us in to the harbor. We were just behind him as we entered when his engine died. We piloted past and came on into the harbor. As we were looking for a spot, a woman came out of her boat and warned us of a shoal just ahead. We backed up, found a place and dropped an anchor in the mud. We then put the dinghy down and waited for the "Navy" to come aboard and clear us for entry. They finally came at noon. We pulled out some cokes for them and chatted a bit while filling out paper work. When they left we went into town to clear customs and immigration and then on to lunch at Steve's Place. As we were eating, a distress call came on the VHF talking about a dragging boat - yep, it was us. We had drifted down onto another boat and snagged its mooring. Some folks had jumped onto Susurra and let out some chain but the anchor was entangled in the mooring. We called Papo, the local handyman and he got a diver to untangle us. Some entrance!
After that experience we have been really enjoying this place. The countryside is beautiful, the people are incredibly friendly, and the food is fantastic and cheap. One day we rented a motorcycle and drove out to a place called Isabella or Castillo depending on who you are talking to. On the way we saw a great place on a hill built like a boat. We stopped and met Ramon, the Haitian watchman who welcomed us into the restaurant/inn and guided us around. He first spoke Spanish but then tried French which we could speak slightly better. A very nice and "happy" guy. We drove on to Castillo and toured the ruins. Here Columbus, on his second trip to the New World in 1493, established a settlement. Seventeen boats and 1500 people landed here and built their homes, a church (the oldest European church in America) and a city hall. Columbus also built his house here - the grandest in town including a tower. We wandered about and looked at the ruins including a skeleton of one of the people that died of malaria. In the 1940's a replica of the church was built a little ways away and contains the 17 religious icons that Columbus brought with him. The watchman at the church proudly showed them to us and explained in rapid Spanish. They included statues and paintings of the Madonna, Jesus and the saints.
A few days later we rode the Guaguas (shared taxis) over to Imbert, the next largest town and wandered about. Feeling brave, we rented another motorcycle and, with our friend Marc on Opal, we drove to the waterfalls. This place, called Damajaguas, was like a set from Goonies. It was like being Gulliver in the Grand Canyon. We climbed up the falls with the help of our guide Berny and swam upstream in between the towering rock cliffs. On the way down we would slide through the chutes or jump off the cliffs into the deep pools. The rock walls were slick and gray as the water would trickle down the sides streaming past tiny frogs lodged in the crevices. What a place! Tomorrow we are renting a car and driving to Dajabon - a town on the border with Haiti. On Tuesdays and Fridays there is a market there where the Haitians come across the bridge and sell all kinds of things to the Dominicans. Then they use the money and buy food to take back to Haiti. Our friends Chris and Yani on Magus say that this is a world class experience - not to be missed. We are really having a good time here in the DR.
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