Sosúa

Actually, these beach pictures are Cabarete

This weekend I went to Sosúa for some beach time. Last weekend I went to Puerto Plata, but wasn't too impressed. Sosúa is just a bit farther, and I had heard great things about the beaches. There is a cool history too - the town was once populated by refugees fleeing from Nazi Germany (although none of that culture remains at all). The only thing about Sosúa ... well, I'll let my guidebook explain:

If there is a downside to Sosúa, it's prostitution. After reducing its notorious earlier reliance on the sex industry in the 1990s, Sosúa has seen it return with a vengeance as a result of the severe economic downturn since 2001. About the best you can say is that the sex market has not yet reached the visibility of that in Boca Chica on the Caribbean coast.

I haven't been to Boca Chica, but I cannot imagine it is worse that Sosúa. The puta scene here is out of control. It wasn't until I walked past the charming tourist shops that line Sosúa Bay and plopped down in a chair that I began to notice that things were a little...different. Lots of fat, old, white tourists sitting with stunning young chicas, signs for Viagra in store windows... Yikes. The Bay was great, though. Perfectly calm, crystalline, and cool. "OK." I thought to myself. "I'll do the beach then watch TV in my hotel room all night."

I luckily stumbled into the first decent (ie not dirty and prostitute infested) bar around my hotel, where I began chatting with the American owner, Rod. Rod and his wife Shira moved down two years ago to start a cafe/bar (like me, they were a little clueless about the Sosúa scene). It was Rod's birthday and he kindly invited me to return that night for some homemade cake and expat company. When I got there, I met Shira and the rest of their gang. (Also, a man tried to sell me a very very very cute puppy while we were sitting outside....) We ended up in the main bar in Sosúa and sat on a little landing (the girls were not allowed up there, Shira explained) and people watched. And what people watching. Shira and I were the only non-Dominican women there, and definitely the only ones not on duty. Yikes!

The scene was horrifying, but at least the company was great. Rod, Shira, and their friends Adam and Albert are amazing. It's a young, fun group with a great sense of humor about their surroundings. They generously invited me to the beach with them the next day. We went to Cabarete, which is much nicer and classier than Sosúa, and sat in the sun. They spend a lot of time outside Sosúa - I can see why.

A weird weekend, but at least I made some new friends!

Cabarete is kiteboarding central

Albert bought these little fruits on the beach and gave me some for the bus ride back to Santiago. I can't remember what they are called but they are SO GOOD. You pop them open and suck the slime off the pit.

Proper technique

Happy 4th of July! I almost forgot.