Samaná

Whenever I ask people where the most beautiful part of the Dominican Republic is, they say Samaná. 

And now I know why. The above photo is the view from another intern's (her name is Lucy too!) host family's house. That's right, this is the view from your average everyday Dominican house in Samaná, not from some resort or after hiking deep into the middle of the jungle. This is normal.

This is Playa Rincón. Someone somewhere rated it as one of the best beaches in the world, so we (the interns) just had to go. Again, no resorts or development, few tourists, and a whole lot of beauty. When we got there initially the beach was practically empty, which is when I took this picture. To get there we braved a rather bumpy ride in the back of a pick-up truck on unpaved roads (my guide book recommends going by boat because driving there requires "patience and will" haha) but despite the bruises it was a fun ride with beautiful scenery along the way.

We spent all of last Saturday at the beach and then on Sunday walked around the more central area of the town. Saturday and Sunday nights were spent dancing Dominican style with Lucy's host brothers. As you may know, dancing is not really my thing, but maybe if enough Dominicans teach me I will suddenly become awesome at it. Maybe.

Long story short: if you plan on taking a vacation in the Dominican Republic, skip the random resorts on every other coast in the country and go straight for Samaná. The entire peninsula has awesome sights and from the two parts I saw I'd say it's well worth it!