Sabana de la Mar and Haitises

We were able to take a little two-day trip to a part of the country where we haven't been before with four other senior missionary couples which was fun.  We went to the little town of Sabana de la Mar which was founded in 1760 to visit a hospital with the Haws, the Church's humanitarian missionaries here.  After that visit we drove around the little town, visiting the wharf and then had kind of a fish stew dinner at a cute little restaurant.

Getting ready to leave

A hospital candidate for a humanitarian service project

Beds with blue ruffled spreads in the maternity ward

which also work in the deliver room

The hospital's ambulance needs a little work

Ships from days gone by tied up here

Fisherman's net

Boys will be boys

Girls just wanna have fun on their cell phones

A homemade hand truck near the wharf          

Our room in our $12 a night hotel

No toilet seat .is normal everywhere - notice
the wastebasket next to it to put our toilet tissue...

Note the electrical outlet above the fancy shower spout

We're going to have chicken for dinner - a chicken market
right outside our hotel.  They sell about 800 a day - mostly
bagged up for motorcyclists...

Our guide for the park was named Ramon.  The
next morning he wanted us to go by and
meet his family before we left for the park.

His other daughter's house next door
 

We traveled by land about 35 minutes until we boarded a boat to take us into Los Haitises which is a national park that was established to protect the mangrove trees and the many birds that live there.  It is also the home of several Taino Indian caves. Haitis (singular) means highland or mountain range in the Taíno language, but the hills there are only a little over 100 feet tall.

Here's the waterway that we traveled lined by
mangroves trees.

Barnacles on the tree roots

See how the water has cut into the rock.

a grey pelican See how the water has cut into the rock.

A couple of frigate birds

An interesting looking bird

These are nests for these little yellow birds that we
just couldn't capture on camera

The remains of a pier

Here are three different birds perched on the posts

These are just a few of the petrogliphs that we saw.  We wondered if it was just like little kids drawing on the walls.  They are drawn with charcoal mixed with manatee grease (yes, there are supposed to be manatees in the water in the bay, but we didn't see any...)

Birds

An insect

This looks like a man, but 8 fingers on each
 hand is a little scary!

Hmm - which one is better looking?        

A view onto the bay from one of the caves.

Here's our group 

Two men rowing a boat asked for a ride back

And we towed them home

Here's where we stopped for lunch.

Rob couldn't resist jumping in!

After a much-needed break in our busy schedule, this was a fun two days with some of our other missionary friends.