Down on Byron's Farm

The police waved us over shortly after we left Byron's farm. Several cars lined the road, their drivers leaned out of their windows shuffling papers to officers. Byron, slowed, stopped, but didn't pull over. A police officer, looking 16 years old in his ill-fitting uniform, approached the car imperiously asking, I assumed, for identification papers. Byron stared at the young man a moment, then, in an unmistakable tone of authority informed the officer who he was and demanded to know why they had been stopped. The young man's manner changed immediately. Now it was “Si, Jefe. Lo siento mucho, Jefe.” He finally stammered that he and his compadres had been out in the sun all day without food or water...maybe, El Jefe could give them a little money to buy some water, 'si posible'. Byron handed him a few coins and we went on our way. The rapid fire Spanish, of course, made this pretty much a mystery to Pat and I until Bryon explained that the police were looking for unlicensed guns or other irregularities as a means of soliciting money. Byron's aggressive response made the young officer consider the risk of importuning an important man, a landowner who had connections at the nearby military base, and he rapidly backed down and meekly asked for a handout. I don't think Pat or I could have pulled it off and would have forked up the cash (I don't know about Pat but I certainly didn't have the cajones)!

Living in the DR most of his life, Byron's skill in dealing with this situation comes as second nature; assessing when to press and when to acquiesce, when to pay, when not to pay. This knowledge comes only with experience. The cultural subtleties can make the untutored nervous. Clearly, the language barrier makes picking up social cues difficult. Our practice, therefore, is to be extremely conservative in offering money to government officials. Bribery is illegal in every country and we would rather suffer the consequences of delays and inconvenience than risk prison. Proof of the wisdom of this policy can be seen in the fact that neither Pat nor I, nor any accompanying crew member or guest has done any serious jail time as a result of traveling with us.

Anyway, this minor police encounter, more amusing than stressful, added a little excitement to our tour of Byron's farm. Located a short distance east of Santo Domingo, the farm used to grow office and house plants for export. At one time, he was the largest exporter of braided fica trees (among other plants) to European nurseries, until a hurricane knocked him out of business about ten years ago. Over the past 9 years, however, Byron and Alvis have transformed this tree studded 250 acre farm into a beautiful ecological vacation development. With much of the land sold, the project is nearing completion as they wend their way through the bureaucratic jungle that typifies much of doing business in the Dominican Republic.


John & Pat at Byron's Farm

The next morning Byron dropped us off at the Caribe Tours Bus terminal. While the Caribe bus doesn't go directly to Luperon, it is several steps up in quality and comfort from Transporte de Cibao that brought us here. This clean, double decker, air conditioned bus offered a comfortable ride and great views, but no chickens! It stops in Imbert about 10 miles from Luperon before continuing on to Puerto Plata. We got off there and took a taxi to Luperon.

We can't thank Byron, Norma and Alvis enough for their warm welcome, shared insights into the culture and the time taken from their busy schedules. We really enjoyed our visit and look forward to our next visit when we can spend 3 or 4 months with them. :)

Back aboard, we had to start thinking about provisioning for our departure. Luperon offers little variety in terms of food choice. We wanted to buy enough supplies to last for quite awhile. That meant heading to Santiago, an hour's drive. Several phone calls and a little negotiation resulted our arranging for a car and driver for the day. Edgardo picked us up promptly at 7:30 am in his van. Our neighbor, Tom, and his friend were heading to Santo Domingo to buy a Land Rover. His friend and his wife cruise on a beautiful trawler and have come to like Luperon so much that they have decided to spend more time there (an old story). They decided that having a car at their disposal would make seeing the country easier. We offered them a ride to Santiago where they could catch a bus for the rest of their journey. Edgardo spoke no English but certainly knew his way around Santiago.

After dropping Tom and his friend off, we headed for the city's large open air, fruit and vegetable market. Shoulder to shoulder with other shoppers, we threaded our way between carts, pickups, and donkeys, wandering several square blocks offering a bewildering array of produce—all wonderfully fresh. Vendors calling “Americanos, aqui! Platanos, naranjas, sandia!” We soon filled bags with oranges, bananas, and watermelon, trudging back to the van then back to the market for more. Finally, we headed for a modern supermarket and filled two shopping carts with supplies, then back to Luperon.






With our larder refilled, we could now turn to planning the rest of our cruise. We had stayed in Luperon much longer than we intended, as usual, but weren't ready to leave. We had yet to receive our FedEx package from the States. Two weeks seemed a long time to wait for an overnight delivery. So, the inquiries began. The package included a prescription and so we really needed it before heading on. The cruising window, bounded by the beginning of hurricane season and insurance coverage exclusions, was closing fast. The forecasted weather didn't look promising for continuing east and we couldn't leave anyway due to the need to get our mail. So, we waited, agreeing to postpone deciding until we received our package. The options were clear: stay here, head to Trinidad as weather permitted, or return north to the States.

We needed to return to the United States in June for a family outing and doctors' appointments. Also, we wanted to haul the boat to work on and get it inspected in preparation for changing our insurance carrier. We could leave the boat in Luperon again, returning after meeting our commitments. Then,returning we could hole up in this very secure anchorage. The advantages were obvious. We were already here, we liked the area, it was safe, it was cheap. The disadvantages were that our insurance would be void, there was no means to haul the boat and any refitting would be difficult. Heading to Trinidad, south of the hurricane belt, would satisfy the insurance company, enable us to haul, refit and have the boat inspected, and met our original goal of cruising the East Caribbean. The downside would be that we would have to move quickly through the rest of the Eastern Caribbean with little opportunity to enjoy it, we would not have insurance coverage until after we reached Trinidad and refitting in Trinidad would be an unknown. Returning to the States most likely meant down wind sailing, less expensive and more convenient refitting, known hauling services and options and avoiding the hottest of the Caribbean summer. On the negative side, it would mean once again not getting where we intended, losing all the southing and easting we had gained, forcing us to retrace our steps next winter. As time passed and our mail failed to arrive, the option to continue on looked less and less attractive. The longer we stayed in Luperon, the easier it was to stay. The weather was wonderful, the living easy. Still, staying didn't seem to be the best alternative, particularly with so few support services available. On the other hand....Back and forth we went without resolving the dilemma. So, we did what has become a near art form for us, we procrastinated. Manana became our mantra. Besides, the forecast calls for a chance of severe squall activity.