A bird painted in charcoal grips tiny human figures on a cave wall at El Pomier, one of countless Taíno images in the hills north of town. Back in the center, the domed church of Nuestra Señora de la Consolación hides walls of murals by Vela Zanetti, and in February carnival devils parade in masks cut from plastic bottles.
Past the plazas, Madre Vieja spreads east of the Nigua River with shops and schools, and the road south ends at the pebbles of Najayo beach. It stays hot all year, with heavy rain from May to November. A Local Friend pulls up a chair for you at a family table where pasteles en hoja come out of their leaves.
