Los Haitises

Headed out into Samana Bay as scheduled on the Monday destined for Los Haitises National Park. The park area is only about 12 NM from Samana but we took all day to get there because we spent the day sailing on the bay looking for whales.  It was a really fun day and the humpback whales are awesome.  Did not see lots and lots but we did see enough.  First you usually see a spout as they break the surface to breath.  When they are close to the boat the sound of the spout can be unnerving.  They then glide past in twos and threes and you see the arched backs break the surface first followed by a small dorsel fin and then if lucky the huge dripping tail comes out of the water before the whale dives.  Occasionally you see a big fin or head on the surface.  The whales were also breaching which is when they propel most of their body out of the water and then crash back down.  It is a pretty amazing spectacle.  On the way back from the park a few days later we did the same but did not see any whales.  We will try again when we leave Samana.

Hard to do this justice

Beth takes a turn at the helm

We anchored in Los Haitises that night and spent the next few days exploring.  General routine was school in the morning and exploring in the afternoon.  The whole area is very sheltered and peaceful.  The scenery comprises of short sheer cliffs covered with dense forest plunging into the water.  The rock formations make spectacular cliffs and the shore line is a series of jagged short inlets.  Where there is any flat shoreline mangrove trees have taken over.  Onshore there are some famous big cave systems with ancient native paintings in them. Further down the bay the land flattens out and the mangroves dominate.  I never realised how big these mangroves grow - they are trees not just bushes.  Some of them here were easily 15m high.  The forests around the bay support a huge amount of bird life - pelicans continuously dive into the water after fish, hawks float high above the land riding the thermals, and other smaller white birds nest in the foliage.  It is a really peaceful and tranquil spot.

One of the cave systems

Los Haistises shoreline

Beth and Sam at Los Haitises

We took it pretty easy and got a fair amount of schooling done whilst still seeing the sights.  On the last day we took a trip to an eco resort they have built a few kilometers from where we were anchored.  To get there we had to take the dingy up a small winding river lined with mangroves on each side for about 2 kms.  When the river got to narrow a small jetty appeared.  This was at the point where the mangroves gave way to flat land leading to foothills just beyond.  The eco resort had been built just where the foothills started.  We got a lift from the jetty to the resort on the back of a motorbike.

The Mangrove swamps

Not the safest means of transport but better than walking

The resort was very rustic but beautiful.  It is built on a hillside and the mountain streams are diverted around and through the resort forming a number of pools for swimming in.  The architecture is all open and the buildings built out of rough stone and timber.  The rooms all look over the shorts plains and the bay to the mountains on the other side.  We had lunch and the kids played in the pool and then just relaxed.

The Cano Hondo Eco Resort

View from the resort

There were a few things we still wanted to do in Samana before we left the DR so the following day we recovered the anchor and headed back across the bay to Puerto Bahia Marina.  Even though we did not see any whales the sailing was fantastic - probably one of the best sailing days we have had.  The wind was around 12 to 15kts and coming from the north allowing us to reach up and down the bay.  It was great to get the sails set and then get a turn of speed on.