What were the early days of pioneering Cabarete like?
Cabarete was a small fishing village where people lived from the land. Nobody used money and there was no power, telephones, running water or a sign of government services. There was a trading post where people bartered goods like eggs for rice or oil. Soap, shampoo, toothpaste and other things we take for granted were non-existent. The real luxury was a piece of salami or cheese. We would spearfish on the Kite Beach reef for our main meal. At that time, the whole gringo population was pretty poor and good friendships formed. I remember a Dominican merengue song that was called “The Fridge Ate my Salami” – it was so appropriate for our time. We only had one fridge for all of us, so a hard earned piece of cheese was often quickly eaten by the others. But it was a young man’s dream – we were totally free! Imagine, we were 20-something year old dudes that taught windsurfing lessons an hour or two a day, then spent the rest of the day riding and looking for food and women. It was pure surv
