Friday, March 18, 2016

Boca Chica Walking Tour

To tell you the truth, Bruce and I had not even realized that we weren't seeing the real Boca Chica during our short walks up the street from the marina.  So when we took off on foot down the coast with Robert and Kathy the next morning and found it... we were a little embarrassed.











They made a little jacuzzi!
Our Harbormaster, Rigo, had sort of discouraged us from venturing too far down along the coast.  He made it sound like it was mainly a "locals" hangout and that it may not be really safe.  But with the added security of two additional bodies, we took off down the uneven sandy road.

So we took off walking down the waterfront with no idea where we were going...



Jazzercise  check out the guy leading the class in the Bam-Bam suit


We walked along, winding our way in and out amongst the crowds.  The "locals" area wasn't crowded this early in the day.  It is Easter week and it looked like they were cleaning things up in preparation for crowds later in the day.  This is the source of a lot of the loud music we've been hearing from the boat.

We started to see tourists and pass by small bars and restaurants with hawkers and guys who came right up and practically dragged us into their place...  The tourists were very cliche and a little creepy. Many of them were wearing tiny speedo suits and almost all had spent WAY too much time in the sun as is evidenced by their brown leather appearance.  It all seemed just a little... desperate... if that makes sense...  Most were European and white male.  I've heard that Boca Chica is a place where prostitution is big.  So I guess these guys are here looking for love...

We reached the end of the beach where there was a really nice resort with guards discouraging trespassers...  We turned back and took a table at one of the small bars we had passed that promised the BEST Pina Coladas.


We sat and cooled off with musical accompaniment.  The dedication of the local sellers was a little off-putting as we were hounded again and again by people selling things, including Viagra!


My favorite were the poised women wearing hats and little jackets who were winding around through the tourists selling massages.  They even offered free samples and gave me a mini-shoulder-rub until I convinced them I would not pay...

We realized that had found the real Boca Chica!  After one drink, we asked the price... Always ask the price BEFORE you are served the drink... we chose not to have our lunch here... thinking we could do better.  So we left the beach and entered the streets of town.



It was sort of a mix between the fancy city of Santo Domingo and the tiny fishing villages we've visited so far.  There was more going on with lots of stuff for sale... but still not quite upscale.  It's difficult to describe... And of course there were still the desperate men hanging out with local ladies... They didn't quite look like long term relationships to me...

We stopped in for lunch at Agua y Sal, recommended by one of our dock-mates as being a good place to eat.  While we lunched, we were treated to a slow moving drama on the street right at our feet.


There was a tour bus trying to get through this narrow and congested street.  The power lines were hanging too low for the bus to pass... so they had a guy on top of the bus who was using a mop to raise the lines enough for the bus to get through...

We wondered if this was the bus-driver's first day on the job...


They finally passed us but before long... we saw that the bus was now backing the way they had come... guy still up there moving lines...

Evidently he had reached an impasse and was trying to get back the way he had come.  What a Doofus... High drama in Boca Chica today!

We finished lunch and strolled down to the tiny local market to get a few things... The prices are pretty cheap here, even in this "touristy" area.
Boca Chica Food Court
The Locals have arrived...
We returned to the boat in the early afternoon and rested for a bit before heading out for a snorkeling adventure.  The restrictions on moving the boat here in the DR make it very difficult for us to enjoy the nearby waters.  To move the boat to go snorkeling would take requesting a despacho to a named anchorage and it just wasn't worth it.  Besides that, the winds were blowing and the waves outside of our protected little harbor were big... so we decided to try the water right around our anchorage.

Snorkel spot
We dinghied over to the mangroves and anchored.  There were small flocks of some kind of sea-bird that kept doing fly-bys while we snorkeled.





The snorkeling wasn't great, but it was cool and we had fun.

That ended our action packed day... we had sundowners and dinner on the boat.  Sometimes it's nice to just relax and talk over your day with friends from home...








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