GypsySpirit Jovan and I were coming to the end of our time in the area of La Barbacoa, between El Limon and Las Terrenas. We’d been getting spoiled there for a week and a half but then I started getting a little cabin fever. I got a little grossed out with the pool after reading some news about a brain-eating amoeba in the states’ lakes. I know, far away from here but the article said it can be found in unclean pools so I got scared. Exactly what the media’s entire agenda, right?, but I mean, you can’t be too careful sometimes.
So I wasn’t doing my laps anymore and I can only spend so much time at the gym (barely any) and Jovan didn’t want to go to the beach again. He didn’t want walk in the heat until the guagua (bus in Spanish) passed by to pick us up and take us to the nearest beach. So I decided to go spend time with myself as I do when solo traveling. I couldn’t spend the same evening again and having dinner in the same restaurant again. I really, really dislike routine and even during vacation it makes me squirm.
I found a spot under a palm tree really close to the water that Jovan and I had seen during our last visit to this beach but other people were occupying it at the time. I’m still scarred from my severe face burn in Jamaica just last April so I decided to stay out of the sun. I was planning to get in the water as I always do but for some reason once I got there I didn’t feel like it even though I had the beach to myself for a while. I lied here for that while on the towel enjoying the wind (very wind- this is the area people learn how to wind surf) and the sound of the waves rolling on the shore. I could’ve fallen asleep if I wasn’t worried about keeping track of time.
The guagua had dropped me off in Playa Calolima but it was so small and I didn’t feel like going by myself to Playa Anclon which they told me is a cove so I headed west and go to Playa Punta Poppy in pictures below.
I had to walk through all the resorts to get from Playa Calolima to Playa Punta Poppy. The first 1/4 of a mile was isolated. No one in those resorts were using the beach or maybe not even the resorts. Some could have been private houses.
Then just around the corner there were a ton of people all of a sudden. Tons of people in the water and on the beach lounge chairs on the sand. So this is where most people are! Don’t know why I was so surprised. I’ve never understood vacationing in resorts. I might as well stay in the states if I’m going to stay in a resort. It’s not the same experience as if you stay with locals through AirBnBs or older little villas close to the town like I did this time. They had servers walking around serving drinks and catering to the guests. I smiled because it was hilarious to me how all these people were crowded into this one beach but to the left and the right the beaches were completely empty with the same turquoise waters. Even the public ones! Although at Playa Calolima there were a good amount of locals but like I said it was a really small beach.
I walked half hour on the beautiful sand. I talked to my friend on the phone for a bit.
It was close to dinner time and I needed to eat and bring Jovan some dinner or his only other choice was to eat alone at the restaurant in our ecolodge. So I started walking and looking at the map. I decided on going to Cafecito Del Mar. I had driven by so many times but only noticed it the 3rd week we were here. It was a cute spot on the sand by the shore next to where the public Playa Las Terrenas begins. It has chairs and a lot of people gather- both locals and foreigners. I got to walk during the sunset and it was amazingly beautiful. I enjoyed it knowing it would be my last time on these beaches. We were leaving in two days and we had one tour to do the next day as one last organized adventure in this area.
This area was like a mini park on Playa Las Terrenas right before you hit the popular and more crowded area with the chairs.s. This was really lovely because I saw for example a mom with her two daughters in school uniform hanging out. What a cool after school hang out I also saw a man and his dog playing on the shore and a couple of other people jogging or walking by. We didn’t get to hang out in this area because it’s easy to miss when you’re on the road just driving by. The same as Cafecito Del Mar. Easy to miss when driving by because of all the restaurants around.
I arrived at Cafecito Del Mar. Grabbed this table closest to the water and ordered mine and Jovan’s dinner and a beer. It was delicious and a very relaxing atmosphere. The music was very pleasant and soothing. Something you would hear at a white tablecloth restaurant in the US.
It was quiet on the street side for most of the time I was there. As it started getting darker you do start hearing the motoconchos (scooters) and foot traffic a lot more.
It was such a nice and relaxing day that started at 3pm and ended at 10pm when I had a motoconcho take me back to the ecolodge. It was so far and so dark that he charged me 1,000 dominican pesos. As of right now that’s $18.47. The guaguas stop at around 7:30 or 8pm (don’t quote me on that) and it was the last time I would catch one so whatever.
