Happy 2016- January 1, 2016

Sunset leaving San Juan- last one for 2015

Last evening the sunset as we sailed from San Juan was colorful and the sun went down VERY quickly. We went to the Oceans Bar at about 6:15 and enjoyed the music of the Station Band. Most of the Christmas decorations were gone and had been replaced with New Year’s decorations.

We had accepted David and Marie’s invitation to join them for dinner at 7:30 so we met at the LaFontaine Dining Room. We couldn’t get a table with the server that we enjoy but we had a fun dinner with servers named Big Eddy and Little Eddy. Naturally the tables were decorated and hats were available for all- silly hats, which we chose not to bring back to the suite.

After dinner we went back to the Oceans Bar where the ship’s bigger band- The Band- played. The main party was in the theater but we decided to stay in the smaller venue. Champagne was poured, noisemakers were distributed and many wishes for a happy year ahed were shared.

Rainbow in the morning

This morning we as we sailed a lovely rainbow appeared. We dropped anchor at about 8:00 at the town of Samaná, originally spelled Xamaná, in full named Santa Bárbara de Samaná. It is a town and municipality in northeastern Dominican Republic and is the capital of Samaná Province. It is located on the northern coast of Samaná Bay. The town is an important tourism destination and is the main center for whale-watching tours in the Caribbean region.

Samaná is located in a small plain close to the coast but, now, most of the town is in the hills that enclose the plain.It is the largest municipality of the province. It has a total area of 240 square miles or almost 49% of the total area of the province, including the three municipal districts that are part of the municipality.

Most of the territory is occupied by the Sierra de Samaná, a short mountain range with steep slopes but no high mountains. The highest mountain is Monte Mesa which is 1975 feet tall.

The town of Santa Barbara of Samaná sits on the Samaná Peninsula which came into written history on 13 January 1493, when Christopher Columbus made his last stop of his first voyage to the New World. He landed on what today is known as the Rincon Beach, where he met the hostile Ciguayos who presented him with his only violent resistance during this visit to the Americas.

The Ciguayos had refused to trade their bows and arrows that Columbus' pathfinders desired. In the ensuing violence, two were stabbed to death. Because of this and because of the Ciguayos' use of arrows, he called the inlet where he met them the Bay of Arrows (or Gulf of Arrows). Today, the place is called the Bay of Rincón, in Samaná, the Dominican Republic. Columbus kidnapped about 10 to 25 natives and took them back with him. Only seven or eight of the native Indians arrived in Spain alive, but they made quite an impression on Seville.

The city was founded in 1756 as Santa Bárbara de Samaná during the colonial period by the Spanish governor Francisco Rubio y Peñaranda. Families from the Canary Islands were brought to live in this city and in nearby Sabana de la Mar.

It was named Santa Bárbara after the Queen Bárbara de Braganza, wife of King Ferdinand VI of Spain. In 1824, the Turtle Dove, a sailing vessel, was blown ashore at Samana. Dozens of American Slaves from the Freemen Sisters' underground railroad escaped to these shores. They settled in Samana, and today, their descendants still live on that island.

With the creation of the Samaná Maritime District (an old division similar to a province) in 1865, the city was elevated to the category of municipality.

The main economic activities of the municipality are tourism, agriculture and fishing. The largest boost to local economy takes place in Jan-March with the annual migration of thousands of North Atlantic humpback whales that come to the Samaná Bay to give birth. Samaná is the center of the country's tourism during these months.

For us on this first day in 2016 the air is warm, the breeze is fairly stiff and the tender ride to town rough. The town itself is about 20 minutes away by tender so we have decided to stay aboard the Prinsendam and not go bouncing over the white caps and waves.

Guess this will be a lazy, quiet beginning to this new year!