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Cabarete and surroundings

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Hola amigos y família from Cabarete, Dominican Republic, home of many natural beauties, chocolate, coffee and very friendly people!

We’ve started the trip with a Clout family reunion spending a week in the mecca for kite & windsurfing. Cabarete used to be a fishing village but, with the eruption of kite surfing in 2001, it has become a touristic destination although not as exploited as other more calm beaches on the other side of the island.

Kite Beach - Cabarete

Family dinner at La Casita del Papi

After a few days enjoying time with the family and playing with Eloisa (my 2yo niece), we wanted to get out into the villages to get more of a feel for how the locals live, so we ventured inland to Sabaneta and then Jamao. We took a Guagua, which are minivans that can be hailed anywhere and is the main local transport between towns. They’re pretty chaotic, they usually pack in way too many people but are cheap and fun.

Motorbikes are also everywhere and typically they’re tuned with neon lights instead of break lights. The riders whistle at pedestrians, offering rides to and from town for 25 pesos (around 50c).

The moto-taxi gang waiting for clients at the supermarket

Expect to see up to 4 people riding a 150cc motorbike

Back to Sabaneta and Jamao… the thing that surprised us most was how friendly and welcoming the people were! In Sabaneta, Xavi was invited into a barbershop for a chat and to take pictures of the owner and his staff. They loved posing! Other than that, people spend most of their time outdoors playing domino and cards, having a chat and a drink, and kids are always around waving an “hola”.

Best cuts in DR - The Master Father Style in Sabaneta

Baseball/Beisbol is the national sport. Dominicans are really proud at the moment because the national team won the World Cup a few weeks ago beating Japan in the final, and they were unbeaten for the whole tournament! When we found the local field in Jamao, we were lucky enough to witness a softball game between Los Fuertes de Jamao and Ferreteria Linares de Cabarete. The local team (Los Fuertes) invited us to join them on their bench and even offered us beers for being so supportive.

Los Fuertes de Jamao

We have found that Dominicans are quite concerned about their image as the most predominant types of shops are barbers and beauty salons, followed by lottery outlets, motorbike garages and little grocery shops that prepare creole meals, sell fruit and, of course, the local Ron Brugal. You can also run into random places… like the vet in Jamao, which, suspiciously, also claims to be a food factory.

The Vet with very suspicious signage...

Exchange bank next to a bank exchange, complete with BBQ chicken!

No such thing chiringuitos in DR

Our last adventure in Jamao took place in “El Chorro”, a section of the Arroyo Frío river where most of the locals spend their Sundays. We were not planning to go there but all the locals recommended it. Imagine a concentration of tuned cars pumping loud reggaton, food stalls selling cheap rum and people chatting, swigging rum straight from their bottles and having a laugh in the river.