ATLANTIC DRIVE

One Sunday, we decided to drive about 50 miles across the island to reach the Atlantic Ocean in the north. An old Chevy made our journey a real adventure.

We stopped briefly at Higuey. The cathedral is probably the largest building on this half of the island. We didn't go inside because of the large crowds.

In order to reach the Atlantic, we had to cross a long mountain range. The roads were steep and winding. Many times they were either not paved or filled with enormous potholes... and these were some of the better roads. Here the ferns grew as tall as the trees. After a while, we were rewarded with a view of the distant Atlantic Ocean from the crest of the mountain range.

Finally after several hours of driving... the Atlantic Ocean. It was much rougher than the Caribbean and not nearly so blue and clear. Coconuts littered the beach in true paradise island fashion.

We had a short visit at a brightly colored cafe on the coast (where they had to run across the street to get a cup of coffee to serve to us), then made our way home. Since much of this area was risky for us to be in, we didn't make many stops.

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