The article is about the Barahona peninsula (not Pedernales peninsula, as the author states). The foto with a caption Bah?a de Las Aguilas was not taken there...
The very last one of the beach? Looks just like it to me and I've been there 5 times.
It's cool that this was featured in the AA mag, but I wonder if the article will actually convince anyone to come.
A few comments about the article:
"Knowing it would be my last meal of significant substance as I drove into more remote areas the next day, I stuffed myself on an extraordinary organic artisanal baked cheese (from nearby Polo, the organic-coffee capital of the DR), followed by an organic-lemongrass filet of beef."
Whaaaaa? There is some delicious food to be had in those "remote areas". Have a fried fish with tostones or moro with an oceanfront view at any of the towns on the coast. Also some amazing queso de hoja around Juancho, and some famous dulce de leche from Oviedo. Not to mention some mangu with some of those superior Barahona platanos, jaja.
"When I pull up to the Lago Enriquillo visitor’s center, the parking lot is empty, and, despite the fact that it’s past opening hours, no members of the guide association that leads tours to Isla Cabritos are anywhere to be found. What are here, however, are the aforementioned iguanas, in such numbers that the whole place feels eerily prehistoric. Everywhere I look, massive iguanas are creeping about — not one of which seems the least bit afraid of me. Quite the contrary, I feel as though I’ve woken up in an episode of Land of the Lost, and unbeknownst to me, I’m what’s for dinner.
I find a phone number for English speakers to ring up the guide association, and when I call, I’m told that today is a holiday and that while things should still be running as usual, the guides had had a few too many Presidentes the night before and, as such, they wouldn’t be stumbling into work anytime soon. I return to my Chevy Spark with the idea of flamingos still dancing in my head but fully content with just the visions of Ricord’s iguanas. Isla Cabritos was meant to be a mere pit stop, anyway, on my way to paradise found."
I've heard other complaints about the service to be able to visit Isla Cabritos, especially about the guides (not being available, even not showing up when agreements were made). It's a real shame that reading this may deter people from going there to visit. But it is NOT a pitstop on the way to get to Pedernales, it's a 4 hour round trip up the lake. Bet they never thought that blowing off a lone gringo in a Chevy Spark could later bite them in the @ss.
"Eventually, I arrive in Las Cuevas; there’s nothing but a magnificent seafood restaurant called Rancho Tipico. On the menu, two things: mofongo (a DR staple of African origins, it’s a mishmashed concoction of fried green plantains, garlic, olive oil, pork cracklings and various seafood stuffings), and various transport prices to Bah?a de las ?guilas (which can only be reached by boat). I have a small chuckle between bites of my dreamy octopus mofongo with a view..."
Very surprised by this, the restaurants there always seem to have fresh lobster and fish. Also, Bahia can be reached by HIKING 4 km (no shade, not so fun trudging through hot sand in full sun with a pack).
