Road Trip

We have friends visiting us from Swan River, Elmer & Maryann Friesen, and we have been doing more of the tourist scene the last two weeks. We have done a lot of walking, beaching in Sosua, and a little shopping on the beach.
Together we rented a car and spent an overnighter down the north shore at Samana on the weekend. Travel is fairly slow because you must be cautious at all times of both cavernous potholes the car could break down in and the crazy driving habits of others on the road.
We saw beautiful white sand and blue ocean water, dense coconut palm groves and some rolling hilly terrain covered with lush growth. There were rice paddies with young plants emerging. We drove through centres like Cabarete, Rio San Juan, Nagua (an area that was devastated by floods last winter) and Samana. We found a quaint old hotel to stay in at $25/night per room. It was small but very adequate and in the evening we sat on the spacious balcony and played some hilarious card games. There was a beautiful historic looking church across the street and we heard the singing from their Sunday night service.
The boat ride to the island Cayo Levantado was an adventure because it seemed the boat was really too small for the rolling waves/troughs. The island was exotic with its white sand and gradual beach but somewhat disappointing because of its' strong tourist focus. We had hoped it would be less developed. But, you don't grumble when you are in paradise!
Samana has an amazing long footbridge from the mainland to a small island and makes for a lovely walk. We saw local young guys having fun diving/jumping off the bridge to the sea below. The water looked awfully shallow for that to be safe but they thought that comment was funny and offered to do it again. Maryann was queasy at that point and asked them not to.
Arriving back in Sosua we all agreed this location is as beautiful as any and we were glad to be back.