Sand fleas and trash

There's this little spit of land just to the southwest of Bani in the Dominican Republic. It is known for it's piles of salt and is appropriately called Las Salinas. In the past two years I had been there three times and this weekend I decided to head out for one last jaunt before I leave the island. I packed up my stuff, which this time included little Pooch Face, or Fresa, as she is now named, and headed west in my rental car. The little spit of land divides the water into a windy side and a calm side. On the calm side you can walk for about 40 minutes to a nice little snorkeling spot that not too many people go to, so it's calm in terms of both waters and people.

I left early and arrived to an empty parking lot. Perfect. I hauled all my stuff out of the car and headed towards the corals. Over the spit to the calm waters here's what I see.

At first glance it looks pretty nice, huh? Well, can you focus your eyes a little better? Look at the white flecks floating out there. Yup, styrofoam, the environmental devil. My hopes of a peaceful day have been crushed by styrofoam. As I lifted my head and started walking to the secluded spot here's my view.

Don't get me wrong, this place was never pristine, but seriously? What has happened? The entire beach and shallow waters are littered in trash, literally. I found your typical plastics and styrofoam, but shoes?

Strewn up and down the beach were dozens of shoes. Did a container ship loose a load? This is disgusting and creepy. I feel like I'm in an episode of Law and Order and I'm about to find that desiccated washed up body in between some shoe remains.

I'm trying not to let the process of wallowing through garbage dampen my mood, but how couldn't it? You'd have to be blind to enjoy this trip.

But I drove all the way out there, so I'm going to keep going.

Oh good, my new pooch is playing with garbage.

"Everybody wake up, if your living with your eyes closed" - DMB

Needless to say I'm not going to miss this part of the island.

As I keep walking the trash gets thicker and thicker. I decide to find a semi clean spot and rest for a bit. Little did I know (I wouldn't realize this until the next day) not only is the beach filled with trash, but apparently sand fleas as well. Now I not only have the horrifying trash images burned in my brain, but the burning itching of sand flea bites to go along with it. Nope, I'm not going to miss this place.