News 10

14.03.02- 12.04.02
Dominican Republic

Sunset in Bahia Luperon

what a contrast: traditional fishermen among high tech yachts

Again those wonderful trades pushed us from Mayaguez (Puerto Rico) to Luperon (Dominican Republic), 300 nm in 48 hours. Not too bad for our little heavily loaded boat. The entrance to Luperon was a bit tricky, the sun was already low and the markers either in the wrong position or nonexistent. A fellow American cruiser, realizing that we were about to run into trouble (means aground), talked us in via the VHF.

Luperon

Large completely protected bay with numerous bights and creeks among mangroves (means mosquitoes). At the innermost end we found the government pier with a dinghy dock. The harbour has 24 h security equipped with pump guns (but, so they told us, no ammunition). Authorities directly behind the dock, very helpful and friendly. Town of Luperon(Port of Entry) a few minutes away. Bahia Luperon is the place to leave your boat, when you want to tour the island. Public transport is the cheapest way to do so. We found the highly developed system, ranging from motorbikes to taxis, minivans and air conditioned overland busses adventurous and fascinating. Don´t be surprised when they squeeze you into a nine seater together with up to 16 other people. The taxis look like they could fall apart any moment and sometimes they do. Luperon also has a small marina with a shower (very Dominican), laundrette and restaurant. A big surprise was Codetel in town, a place well frequented by all the cruisers. Here you can phone, fax, have Internet access via 3 high speed computers and even change money. You can also use them as a mail forwarding address. UPS and DHL seemed to be working well