Reefs, manatees, mangroves, and the moon

There are manatees in the DR!

So a few months ago I was looking through a tourist brochure and I saw an article about a protected bay on the north side of the DR that is a safe haven for a population of manatees. I was instantly intrigued and started brainstorming ways to get up there and check it out. Of course, one of my ideas was to organize a trip for my high school students, so they could see this awesome part of their island. I had no idea what to expect and my expectations were low, but the trip turned out to be amazing.

After a 5 hour bus ride from the capital through the winding mountains we ended up near Punta Rucia.

Day one we hopped on a boat and headed straight for Cayo Arena, a spit of sand out in the middle of the ocean, surrounded by a reef. 

We had 28 students and 4 chaperones with us. When we arrived the sand bar was filled with tourists. 

I saw the most fish I've seen snorkeling on this island. The reefs are being protected and some areas are roped off, so it looks like things are a bit more healthy here. Good news.

After a few hours we headed back to Punta Rucia and prepared for a night of astronomical adventures! 

We're only 19 degrees north of the equator here so the sun sets around 6:15 and usually pretty fast. The air was filled with moisture and before the sun went all the way down I was able to get some sunset photos...

Sun's down... time for the night sky.

Not only was Jupiter and 4 of it's moon visible, but the Perseid Meteor shower was peaking.

One of my students took this photo of the moon by resting her camera on the eyepiece of the telescope.

Sleep time is always the worst part of any school trip... I'm a human so I can't just stay awake and watch all the kids all night.

The next morning we headed to Estero Hondo. Just a few minutes east of Punta Rucia, this is the location of the Mammal Sanctuary. A Belgium man and his Dominican wife live at the sanctuary and look after the manatees. 

When we hiked down the dirt road the kayaks were waiting for us and before we could give any instruction a group of students jumped in and started paddling away. The funny part about this is most of our students had never been in a kayak before, they were just so excited to be there that they couldn't contain themselves and left a group of us behind... I had been thinking about those manatees for so long there was no way I was NOT going to see them... The left behinds waited patiently and finally got our chance to paddle out into the bay. What awaited us was a million times better than I could have imagined. The calm, peaceful waters surrounding our kayaks while we patiently waited for the manatee faces to peek up out of the water for a deep breath of air. It was impossible to capture a photo of their face and I decided to put down my camera and just observe rather than obsess about a photo. So here's where we were...

If you decide to venture out to Estero Hondo it's better to take the kayaks out in the morning when the manatees are more active. In October/November they are mating so are more active. This is one of the awesomest places I've been in the DR!