Riding Further in RD!
Rode out of town.
Camped among some cacao!
Tasted amazing!
Eating fresh cacao is like eating cream, liquor, nuts!
Big thunderstorm last night. Soaking wet.
Another flat. Small one. Patched it, reusing a patch that had got wet the previous occasion. I let the patch, the bike, and my other stuff dry out in the morning sun first, before patching. Found a nearby puddle in which to test the tube for the hole!
Next probably ride into the town, Castillo, which boasts the best cacao on the planet!
Grab a bite to eat, then maybe ride around the countryside for a while.
The cacao tree is a somewhat ugly tree, unbefitting of its fruit. It has knobby bark, large leaves that don't smell much like chocolate, and wood that looks like it doesn't burn the nicely (although I may be wrong).
Now more thunderstorms, at least they're somewhat off in the distance for now. Unsure whether they're coming this way. Vulture overhead.
Yesterday, rode on.
Still more indigestion.
Stopped at several roadside groves to go to the bathroom. At one, right after going to the bathroom, I turned around, and there was a guy in Dominican military uniform, holding a handgun.
Kept riding. Found some oranges, cacao, etc.
Hungry, stopped in at a cafeteria. "Que hay a comer?" (What's to eat?) "No hay a comer. Hay chicas para sexo" (putting her finger through a finger and thumb on the other hand.
Kept riding. Those thunderstorms did come through. Ducked out of the rain at an old building. Camped out back.
Found another cataño. A fruit I've seen around. Everyone here seems to have their own word for it. Not sure if it's breadfruit? Planning to try cooking it.
Feeling sore and tired today. I think it's largely the cloudy weather. Hope I feel more alert later!
Yesterday, rode through small towns. Cooked cataño and onion on a fire. Super delicious!
Rode on a gorgeous trail, full of cacao and banana trees!
Tons of mud, mosquitoes.
Camped out in an old abandoned building.
While I wrote that cacao trees can be ugly, the leaves and pods are beautiful, and the trees do form beautiful canopies.
I feel much better in general nowadays when out in the quiet countryside. I'm tempted to take a while along my journeys and have another sedentary break, but in some small town.