Tag Archives: music

Marina ZarPar and Boca Chica

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It's Marina ZarPar in the Dominican Republic

It’s Marina ZarPar in the Dominican Republic

Eventually I did arrive at Marina ZarPar in Boca Chica. The marina is comfortable and offers all the usual yachting services (though at a premium), from laundry to WiFi. Even free transport to the local supermarket. But it suffers one large drawback (for me anyway).

View from the marina

View from the marina

A marina that does not allow me to bring visitors onto the premises, or to my boat, will inevitably get poor reviews. To be fair, it is possible. Just pay a fee and sign the person on as temporary crew. But frankly, I find this requirement both cumbersome and borderline insulting.

My boat is my house, and I feel I have the right to invite anyone I please to it. Locals with boats at the marina have no such restriction! So what gives?

Now that I have expressed my indignation, I’ll switch to the proverbial “good stuff”… and even allude to the reasons why I find the marina rules so restrictive… 😉

Marina ZarPar is well placed, beside a popular beach that extends all the way to Boca Chica, and this beach is where “it” all happens.

One continuous party extending for miles.

Pictures describe the scene better than any words so without further ado let me present:

Life is a beach in Boca Chica

Life is a beach in Boca Chica

The beach.

See if you can spot the tourist in this photo!

As you can see, if you want crowds…, no problem,

Waiter...., bring me a beer!

Waiter…., bring me a beer!

If you are more the 5 star beach resort type…

Lay down on your deck chair and order pina coladas to your hearts content.

I think I will go and chill out over here...

I think I will go and chill out over here…

Want to idle away a few hours in rustic solitude…

Pull up a chair!

Fantastic! But what makes the Dominican Republic a must see tourist destination in my book are the people. Why?

For a start nobody here is camera shy. What a joy to have someone smile at you when you take their photo instead of looking at you as if you had just committed a crime.

Now don't be camera shy...

Now don’t be camera shy…

See what I mean?

The only place I’ve visited that displayed a similarly positive reaction to my camera was the Cape Verde Islands.

I'll buy 10!

I’ll buy 12!

For a smile like that I’ll buy a dozen bags of peanuts!

Who's up for a banana ride?

Who’s up for a banana ride?

Over Easter everyone was out to have a good time.

Music please maestro!!

Music please maestro!!

To the accompaniment of bachata music to be sure, whether on the beach

Music in the streets!

Music in the streets!

or in the streets.

Hello sailor...

Hello sailor…

I even found a bar that catered exclusively to sailors! Sort of…

Not quite the usual fish & chips

Not quite the usual fish & chips

Hungry? Take your pick. Fine dining or the Dominican Republic’s version of fish and chips.

Splendid.

Would you like to see my boat?

Would you like to see my boat?

I could have stayed a month or a lifetime…! If the marina had allowed me visitors.

Keeping busy in Gijon

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Service with a smile at Gijon marina

The weather is consistently atrocious all over northern Europe so there is absolutely no point in trying to sail anywhere.

Every morning (or afternoon depending on how well I sleep), I make my way with my laptop to the Hotel Esteban’s cafeteria and check the forecasts on passageweather.com over coffee, an enormous slice of tortilla de patatas with bread, and orange juice, for the frugal sum of 2.10 Euro (I think we have already established that I’m one of the last of the big spenders). 😉

Traditional music

According to the weather reports I’ll be visiting Gijon for at least a week. Fine with me, It will give me time to prepare for my Biscay crossing and allow me to fight the entropy threatening to spread gear and clothes homogeneously throughout the cabin.

After digesting the bad news (with regards to the weather), I usually make my way to the marina where the girls at reception cheerfully assist me to overcome my innate resistance to pay for another night (12 Euro, and all payments must be in advance).

Administrative duties complete, I’m free to play “stupid tourist” (happened to hear that phrase en passant)!

In the spirit of La Coruna’s photographic ramblings, here is my collection of gems from Gijon:

Dancing in the streets, Gijon Spain

It’s Sunday, there is music in the streets and a festival atmosphere. This young fellow is having a ball as he is too young to realize that the audience is laughing at him rather than with him. Not to worry, he is sure to have the rhythm conditioned out of him by the time he is a teenager. Evidenced by my brief visit to a nightclub yesterday. 😉

Cheese anyone?

I make my way to the markets and can’t resist stocking up on fresh bread and cheese.

What are those children up to now?

Old ladies shout at the children running amok in the streets,

Feline disdain

while feline onlookers (this time of the fur covered variety), glance disdainfully at all the noise and merry making.

Children in conversation

I stumbled across these two engrossed in some deep and meaningful conversation,

Pizza and Chinotto

and finished the day on a high with the best pizza I’ve eaten since leaving Italy (at Vesuvio). The icing on the cake is that they sold chinotto! In my inflated opinion, the ultimate beverage accompaniment for pizza.

Yes, a few extra days marooned in Gijon will not be too burdensome.