Last night tropical storm Katia was upgraded to a category 1 hurricane causing concern to residents to many the Northern coastal cities of the Dominican Republic. Having just cleaned up the mess caused by Hurricane Irene many are concerned about possible temporary affects to the tourism in the area.

While it does look like Katia will be continuing to gain strength over the next few days, possible even reaching the status of major hurricane by the weekend, (more…)

The national hurricane center announced in its 7am update that Irene is moving away from Puerto Rico. Over night tropical storm Irene increased in strength and was upgraded from storm to Hurricane. Maximum sustained winds were clocked at near 80 mph making it a category 1 hurricane as per Hurricane Irene Intermediate advisory # 7B at 9 am this morning.

Hurricane Irene is moving away from the North coast of Puerto Rico and is expected to reach the Northern Coast of the Dominican Republic later this afternoon to the evening. Hurrican fource winds are expected to extend out from the eye of the hurricane for 15 miles and tropical storm force winds extending about 150 miles from the eye mostly to the northwest and northeast of the center. As of 9 am Hurricane Irene is 75 miles ENE of Punta Cana moving at 14 miles per hour.

Haiti now has a hurricane watch for the north coast from Le Mole St. Nicholas east to the DR boarder. (more…)

Nestled among the lush mountains along the Northeast coast of the Dominican Republic, Samana Bay proffers the quietest untouched beaches and most radiant turquoise waters in the Caribbean. But, that’s not all the bay has to offer. Wildlife protection organizations estimate that approximately 3,000 Humpback Whales that migrate every year, 80 percent of which travel between 2000 to 4,000 miles to Samana Bay to court and give birth, making it one of the best places in the world for whale watching.

Despite the fact that I have lived here for more than a decade, had repeatedly heard about the whales, and had even recommended that people who came to visit go see them, it wasn’t until a few years ago that I went myself. When I did, it was well worth the trip. Instead of going with one of the travel companies that arrange trips, a friend that lives in Samana took myself, and the small group I had gone with, down to the docks where he used to work and we made arrangements for them to take us out for a few hours. It was amazing. About 20 minutes out the boat captain slowed the boat and we were surrounded by three large males, each of which proceeded to take turns, breaching the water, spouting, tail slapping, and showing off in other ways for whatever single lady whale was in the vicinity. When the wind died down a little, we could even hear them singing their hauntingly melancholy mating song.
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