Bocas by bicicleta

I decided a nice way to see the island would be to rent a bicycle and ride up to Boca del Drago, a beach at the opposite end of the island. So after yoga class I negotiated a good price with a local rasta and I was off. In my mind for some reason I figured if the roads were flat in the town then they’d be flat all along the island. Well, surprise surprise, they weren’t! They weren’t too bad but it was an effort. The paving stopped half way along, just after the undulating bits thankfully. I didn’t see any other bike riders and afterwards when I read the guidebook it said that the 32km roundtrip was quite taxing, especially when the sun is beating down on you. Tick and tick. But it was a beautiful ride and very rewarding.

I only saw a few locals on the way and the odd car or van on the road. For a lot of it the road was through thick jungle, old trees hanging over the road with vines roping down from them. The air was so thick you could taste it, just gorgeous.

At one point I saw three children walking back from school and when I stopped to get out my camera they bolted towards me, so excited to have their photo taken. They were interested in what was in my bag but all I could offer them was the small amount of water I had left in my bottle. They each took a sip and passed it on and then the older boy turned into the director of this shoot and decided they should have their picture taken in front of the flowers and then took a photo of me with the other kids. After that they wanted to take me home with them but I thought it best to keep going, what would their mama think??

I arrived at Boca del Drago, an idyllic beach, for a well deserved lunch of whole red snapper with papas frites and ensalada and devoured most of it before I headed back with a very sore behind...