Playa Dorada -- Getting to Fun Tropicale
I've read on DR1: "Do not let them take your bags." Of course, *now* I understand it.
I had arranged for a taxi to pick us up at the airport and take us to our resort. I found Rafael Silva (r.silva@verizon.net.do) on the net and probably from right here at DR1. It was a $20 USD ride and he was to meet us "outside customs area" holding a sign with my wife's name on it.
So, off the plane and to the baggage claim area. Our flight in had been delayed and I was wondering if Mr. Silva waited around for us. So, I was gathering our luggage and looking for a man with a sign when this guy in an official uniform pushed me off the cart and started heading to a silver ramp type thing.
There's a whole line of silver ramp type things and all have an officially uniformed woman waving to you. My wife and I followed the man towards the woman. Someone grabbed our carry on bags and slid them up the ramp. The woman tossed the bags from the ramp onto the cart that the officially uniformed man was pushing. He turned, smiled at me and said, "Five dollars."
It was then that I started to realize what a rube I was going to be.
Anyway, we get out of the airport and there is this virtual throng of people behind a long metal post. One of the throng had a sign reading "Rafael Silva" on it. That's not my wife's name, but I was certainly glad he hung around.
I motioned to him and he motioned to us and we ended up following a different guy to a van. The guy we were following turned out to be the driver who spoke no English. The official guy loaded our luggage into the van and I paid him. Suddenly, the driver started walking back to the throng. That's when I found out he didn't speak English. In fact, when I realized the only reason I knew what "PARE" means is because it was on a red hexigonal sign, I cursed myself for not taking Spanish more seriously.
I had assumed that we were the only passengers who had signed up, but the driver had returned to the throng to look for another couple we were sharing the van with. They finally appeared (they were held up because American Airlines lost one of their bags) and we found that the guy holding the sign does speak English.
The ride from the airport to the resort was amazing. We past shacks and cows and this little gravel road that looked no bigger than a bike path. But when I looked up the path there was a whole village of tin shacks and wooden lean-tos.
During the flight in my wife noticed fires blazing in a field and now driving up a hill, the van had to stop. The road was immersed in smoke and ash rained down. The fires we saw from the airplane were now at the side of the road burning everything including a telephone pole.
The guide explained that they burn the sugar cane prior to chopping it down, it makes cutting it easier. (I heard the words but the meaning of them was lost on me until later in the trip.)
"What about the telephone pole?", the rube (me) asked. The guide said it would be fine and we left it at that.
Finally, the driver got impatient enough to press on and we were officially on vacation.
By the way, I would recommend Mr. Silva (809-330-1262) and his crew. The service was excellent and it was only my ignorance and assumptions that caused a little concern at the airport.
Also, let me add my voice to the many before me... When arriving at the airport: Do not let them take your bags!
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