shari blaukopf
Way beyond
If you walk beyond the big resorts of Punta Cana (some as vast as city states!), beyond the beach chairs, the volleyball nets, the kids digging holes in the sand, the vendors shouting "Larimar, larimar!", the banana boats, beyond the pina coladas, the banana mamas, the cervezas and the rum, past the aerobics class, the oiled tans and the pounding beach music, you may be in for a surprise. At first it seems like a mirage in the distance, a mere silhouette of shapes that don't resemble anything like the artificial village that you have been staying in for the past few days. This is a village of another sort, a type of ramshackle but far more delightful mall on the beach, a series of shacks whose colours become more vibrant as you approach and whose sounds of "hola, hola" become louder and more insistent as you get closer.
Way beyond
If you walk beyond the big resorts of Punta Cana (some as vast as city states!), beyond the beach chairs, the volleyball nets, the kids digging holes in the sand, the vendors shouting "Larimar, larimar!", the banana boats, beyond the pina coladas, the banana mamas, the cervezas and the rum, past the aerobics class, the oiled tans and the pounding beach music, you may be in for a surprise. At first it seems like a mirage in the distance, a mere silhouette of shapes that don't resemble anything like the artificial village that you have been staying in for the past few days. This is a village of another sort, a type of ramshackle but far more delightful mall on the beach, a series of shacks whose colours become more vibrant as you approach and whose sounds of "hola, hola" become louder and more insistent as you get closer.