Caves and Mangroves

Caves and Mangroves

Thursday 6th and Friday 7th March, 2025

Our destination, on Thursday, was only about ten miles away.  That turned out to be fortunate as checking out and getting our “despachio” from the navy took over an hour.  We departed the dock in a very stylish manner!  The wind was approximately non-existent so we motored across the bay of Samaná to the Los Haitises National Park.  After lunch (and some gnarly toilet repairs) we launched the dinghy to explore the mangrove river.  It was spectacular (see the photos)! We cruised upstream slowly looking for birds and enjoying the change of light on the water and the reflections of the improbable looking prop roots.  We got to what appeared to be the end and turned back. 

Back on Cotinga, it was time to relax with a cool drink and watch the sun go down.  As dusk approached, a kayak with two people paddled up to our boat.  They said that owning a sail boat is their dream for the future.  What could we do but invite them aboard?  They told us about a national park on the south coast where they work as guides.  Alex is from California and Daniella is Dominican.  We had a lively conversation on a range of topic before they had to hurry off, trying to avoid paddling in total darkness. 

We ate our dinner in the cockpit, enjoying the sense of being the only boat around.  As there is little development around our anchorage, we were expecting a spectacular array of stars.  However, some clouds were drifting over obscuring the display.  By about 9:30 pm we were all exhausted and on our way to bed.

Today, we had a slow start.  Mike (the superstar) made bread while Dave and I lazed about.  We decided to go visit the obvious beach on the north side of the Bahia de San Lorenzo.  We landed on the beach and were promptly told that we weren’t allowed to come to shore there.  Apparently, it’s actually part of a resort so we weren’t welcome.  Mike persuaded the chap to let us spend ten minutes looking around.  In crossing the spit of land to the north side, we came across an area with a mound of dead tarantulas.  It was horrifying. I started to think that if such a modest area was infested with that many tarantulas, how many were likely to exist in the extensive mangrove swamp we had explored yesterday?  Creepy in the extreme. 

After lunch, we set off to find the caves.  We landed the dinghy at a beach adjacent to what seemed like dock for the park.  After paying our park fee, we started along a board walk that led to the first cave.  A series of walkways revealed the way to several more caves in a sequence.  The limestone has been eroded to form the caves, many have openings out to the bay.  Many have water lapping at the sand.  I saw a few bats swooping around, perhaps disturbed by the flash photography.  From one of the early caves, we could spot a small island off shore that was obviously a rookery for great egrets.  I counted about twenty without trying very hard.  Closer inspection revealed that pelicans were also nesting higher up on the island.  Apparently being separated from the mainland was helping the birds to feel safe.  

Our next cave adventure took us back into an inlet with cliffs on the right side and mangroves on the left.  At the end was a dock where we tied up.  An obvious trail led to a massive cave with lots of indigenous paintings.  We could understand the signs that told us not to touch the paintings and not to use flash photography. Unfortunately, the signs that explained about the indigenous people and the “paint” they used, were way beyond our non-existent Spanish.  We’re hoping to visit a few more caves tomorrow and possibly take a hike, if we can ever figure where the path begins!   

Gloria

19 04.620 N, 69 27.047 W

Anchored in the Bahia de San Lorenzo. A thin strip of land separates us from the Bahia de Samana, and the mountains in the background are the far side of the Bahia de Samana. There is no other boat in site.

Looking northwards across the Bahia de Samana from the private resort that allowed us to wander around for ten minutes

The mangrove river

Ditto

Mangrove roots (B&W, positive vignette)

The amazing Arena Cave - Los Hiatises National Park

Ditto

A young girl with flashlight, touring the Arena Cave 

The view over to the great egret and pelican nesting colony

The narrow channel leading to the second set of caves that we visited

Impressive cavern, with many pictographs

Just one of many pictographs

Dave in silhouette