Las Galeras, Dominican Republic

Las Galeras is a blissfully quiet little town at the furthest tip of the northeastern Peninsula de Samaná, facing out toward the Atlantic. The tiny town has few services, but is voluptuously endowed with long stretches of soft beach sand, gracefully arching palms, and stunningly opalescent and azure waters. Here was also a launching point to Playa Fronton and Playa Rincon, both secluded, pristine beaches, which are most easily accessed by boat. The day we visited the seas were rough, however, making the sea route not so easy. Unfortunately, we did not discover this until we were underway. Still, though the journey was frightful, and I didn't stop trembling for twenty minutes after we arrived on land, lying in the shade of a palm, cooled by the ocean breeze, watching the colors of the sea glimmer and glint beneath the colors of the sky was one of the sweetest moments of the whole trip. It did strike me as a bit funny-sad, however, to think how much our vision of a Caribbean island is tied up with an image of swaying coconut palms, since these are not native but part of the Columbian Exchange.      [—Usha Alexander, March 2012]