On the evening of the third day, the rain finally stops. We hire a scooter and set off for the Cordillera Central. In Sabaneta de Yasica, a Swat team has just struck with pump guns and machine guns. The Dominican villagers stand around like relatives of recently snatched meerkats. The hinterland of Cabarete is mountainous. Palm trees, donkeys, rivers and petrol from rum bottles.
The next morning we drive through hell to paradise. It was bad four years ago. The roads had more holes than tar. That’s different now. But there are even more massive stinker trucks on the way to Puerto Plata. Last time I thought: “Shit, they drive like idiots”. Now I think they’re all angels. I rode 1000km on a motorbike in Vietnam.
We stop at the valley station of the cable car up Monte Isabel de Torres. The moto-concho drivers are almost unobtrusive, leaving after the third no. The cable car ride goes up quickly to just under 1000 metres. At the top is a rainforest that is actually mostly covered in cloud. Today the sun shines on thousands of wild mountain flowers and colour-changing geckos.
The fort of Puerto Plata is being raided by flat-rate terrorists. We don’t like the carnage, and the wind is blowing. I still had a diabolical plan for Sabine. We set off and head back to Cabarete…
Frank Woelky, born in 1973. Kitesurfer since 1998. Since 2006, I have been combining kitesurfing and web design on trips lasting several months off the beaten track.