herro.: Guide to Cabarete

If you should ever find yourself wandering the streets of Cabarete alone, use this simple guide to keep yourself out of trouble...

There are basically two streets you need to know. Street numero uno is the calle principal. If you are from Utah, you might compare it to a State St. of sorts. It is the main paved road that goes through all the nearby towns. This is the road where you find taxis, guaguas, and drunk drivers. There are basically no rules so don't be surprised to see a crashed motortaxi or a drunken 14-year-old driving a truck full of bananas. The calle principal is parallel to the beach, where you will find all the hot spots: restaurants, discotecas, surf lessons and if you're feeling wild, prostitutes. Seriously.

Street #2 is the callejon. Callejon de la loma I believe is the formal name. I wouldn't know as there are no formal street signs, addresses, etc. It's the street where most locals live and where all the local stuff goes down. Colmados, legit Dominican food and dead cows are just a few of the many delights within walking distance of any home on the callejon. The callejon is a dirt road littered with trash and pregnant, rabies-infested dogs. It's the best place in the world. Once again, I am serious.

The callejon leads you right up from the calle principal into the beautiful jungle of LA LOMA. The loma is where you can find real-life jungle children, caves full of water (Playboy mansion grotto style) and men headed off for a days work doing who-knows-what with a giant machete.

Here, a few common sights in Cabarete...

the aforementioned machete-wielding gentleman.