Rain, Marine-life and Sun-burns

I can't believe I've been in Miches for five days! As I looked up today in Spanish, "el tiempo vuele cuando te diviertes." I've always wanted to start a blog and thought it would be easier than sending e-mails to everyone who wanted updates individually.

Yesterday was my favorite day so far. I went for a six hour walk with Adam out to the point and along the way we took pictures of the beautiful beaches. We hardly saw anyone except for some fishermen and a moto, which is basically a moped. The man riding the moto, Mitchell (I'm not sure how to spell his name but I'll go with the American version), gave us a ride all the way out to the second river. He was Haitain and worked at one of the houses that is on the beach. I didn't know you could fit three people on a moto! I was a little squished because I was in the middle, but it was really fun.

We walked past the point and found a beach that actually had waves! Playa arriba, the beach that is close to Miches, is very isolated because of the Samaná Peninsula shelters it. We body-surfed a bit and then went snorkeling. I was surprised how many fish there were! The corals were mostly dead though.

On the way back, there was a gigantic gray cloud that swallowed the town of Miches and the entire coast. It started pouring and there was thunder and lightning. The rain was actually kind of cool and refreshing and rinsed of some of the salt water and sand. On Playa Arriba, there was a star fish that was on the beach that was gigantic! It was a cushion sea star. We have also come across nine-armed starfish every time we have gone on the beach. The beaches are covered with interesting critters. There are crabs that bury themselves in the sand, sand dollars, and snails that have shells that are shaped like unicorn horns. Playa arriba has a significant amount of trash lining the beach but the farther east you go, the more deserted and pristine the beach becomes.

When we got back, we were exhausted and I noticed that I had a sun burn. The water had washed off all of my sun screen and I now look like the lobsters I´m studying. : ) Thank goodness for aloe vera.