July 15, 2017
Grave Yard Beach July 2017
Since returning from our latest tour of the NW coast and neighboring inlands I finally caught up with all the necessary maintenance around the house and property. I had some extra time this morning so I reached out to my buddy to see if he was game for a coffee in town, so we met. When we get together the conversation is always interesting to say the least and this morning was no exception. We spoke of many things one of which had to do with being content about where we live. My buddy mentioned “for some reason it just feels right” and I concur.
It just feels right!
I thought about what was said during our conversation then paused for a moment and began thinking about all of the places I’ve been to in the DR. I began back tracking, remembering the many places the touring, the back roads, the mountains, the beaches and of course the 4 wheel excursions. Trust me when I say I’ve covered a lot of this country yet something still amazes me every time I return.
Upon returning from any excursion after a couple of days to settle down it dawns on me I still haven’t found a more suitable region than the region surrounding Cabrera. Of course this is only my thought pattern and will be subjective depending upon who’s being asked but for us, Liane and myself we haven’t found a more suitable region to call home. Once again it was confirmed by our latest touring venture the NW coast and neighboring inlands. We covered a little over 1000 Km’s in four days. It was fantastic and the DR Escapes YouTube channel has already begun releasing them so be sure and watch.
This last trip was by far the most diverse. It covered a little something to wet everyone’s tastes. From the towns to the off roads we filmed it all. We sipped on a couple of beers at one of the marinas in Luperón and the next day found ourselves tilting over 30 degrees on a narrow cliff road and the day after that almost 5000 feet above sea level on a mountain pass road! Honestly I never did so much filming. The new equipment has made a positive difference for sure.
Anyway back to my previous point. So here I am back in Cabrera a few days after returning from yet another long trip. I meet a buddy for a coffee and we chat for a bit. All the chores are done yet I still have some time to kill so I head out to Graveyard beach and park under the trees. That’s where I took these pics from. I just felt like watching the waves roll towards shore and listen as they found it. It was a calm day with winds hovering around 8 MPH.
I actually remained there for about an hour and a half before cranking up Yota yet another time. While Yota was chugging away as most diesels tend to do I adjusted my position, stretched and then the most peculiar feeling came over me.
I’ve had this feeling before. It stems from a prior experience. Somehow certain shards of wisdom remained behind and endured the test of time. The kind of wisdom I’m talking about only comes from personal experience. It’s these prior experiences that uncovered a second and even more valuable lesson. The wisdom of knowing. By hands on experience you now know as opposed to believing. What’s the difference? Lets just say they’re two completely different animals.
Perhaps a powerful example might be you now know there’s no feeling equal to the sense of belonging! as opposed to simply believing it. One provides surety the other merely belief. For Liane and I this region just feels right and perhaps that’s the most inspiring reason for us living here. Still! there’s no place that’s perfect or at least I haven’t found one yet but as far as the DR goes we haven’t found a place that suites our lifestyle better than Cabrera and surrounding areas. As previously mentioned There’s no feeling equal to the sense of belonging! It’s the knowing versus the believing that’s provided us the wisdom. Once you know you’ll never be satisfied with belief. Until next time this is Barry in DR.
Barry I want to comment on my 8 day vacation to Hawaii and what feels right or not. It was a chance to look at a totally Americanized tropical island and I looked forward to it. While eight days cannot even be considered scratching the surface of knowing a place, Maui is relatively small compared to visiting a country so I was able to gather some basic truths on my short stay. I also found it natural to compare it to other tropical places I have visited like of course the Dominican Republic but also parts of Mexico, Belize and Costa Rica. Except for a beach in the Hana area and the fascinating black sand beach in the same area I was really underwhelmed by the beaches over there in general and nothing to write home about. I’m not saying they weren’t pretty but I’ve seen beaches in the north coast of the DR just as nice and much less crowded. So for those who’s first time seeing tropical beaches and vegetation is Hawaii then I can understand the awe but for those of us who have visited the places that I mentioned above it wasn’t that special.
Why I mention Hawaii is the topic of your post about feeling right. As compared to Cabrera I just didn’t feel that right in Hawaii. Sure at the tourist resorts employees are very friendly (they’re supposed to be) and there are many nice and friendly people in Maui that we met there is a certain lack of cultural authenticity and warmth of the place unlike the DR and Cabrera especially. I think Hawaii, because it’s been occupied for so many years, is controlled and dominated by Anglo-Saxon culture with the best land, including what farmland they have and the coastal resort areas bought up by multinational corporations. There’s a certain fakeness I felt and even though all of the cities and streets are in the Hawaiian language and even though everyone says Aloha and Mahalo including whites, that’s about it. Sure there are authentic luau’s that you pay an arm and a leg at the hotels where you can see Hawaiians singing and dancing traditional songs but the place just lacks originality and authenticity unlike the DR where Spanish culture, warmth, food, etc. is the real deal and where you can see cows and steer walking in the street. And you know what I missed the most in Hawaii beaches and which I constantly bugged my family endlessly about: having cooked delicious fresh fish just caught a few minutes before with tostones, a salad and either a Coco Loco or a rum and coke right there at Playa Entrada in the north coast of the DR for a reasonable price. This is why I feel right when I visit Cabrera and not in Hawaii. Maybe I’ve become a Latino at heart.
Like I mention people should go back and begin trusting their internal GPS instead of the one mounted on their dash board. What ever success means to you properly used your internal GPS will land you on those shores.
B