Trip #9 to the D.R.
We have been back at home for one and a half week, but there hasn’t beet time to write a trip report before now. This trip didn’t turn out as we had expected it to. It was quite adventurous in a way that we never could have imagined. We were robbed at the hotel while we were sleeping. The robbery has been covered in a separate thread, so nothing more about it in this thread. Apart from that we had a wonderful vacation.
We arrived in the evening of March 8 (Wednesday). Upon the arrival a friend was waiting for us at the airport and took us to the hotel in Sosúa. The flight from Europe is quite exhausting so the first evening we didn’t do much. All we did was to go to Voodoo Lounge for a drink and then back to hotel to go to sleep.
As always it is really nice to meet old friends and acquaintances again. Sometimes it surprises me that people I have met only briefly still remembers me by my name.
The first morning we went to Morua Mai for breakfast. It felt good when the owner greeted us and said “Welcome home”. The food is good there, but a little pricy.
On Thursday morning we went to Gaspar Hernandez to do some shopping. Among other things we bought a couple of portable stereo players for the kids at Bergantin. They are from very poor families and their parents cannot afford to buy stuff like that for their kids. The kids were happy for their gifts and for the next two weeks they listened to their radios almost non-stop.
On Friday evening we went to Tipico Azucar in Montellano to watch Krisspy’s performance. The discotheque was packed with people.
On Sunday we had a relaxing day at Playa Bergantin. I like it when there are a lot of people at the beach on Sundays, my favourite beachday. I enjoy watching the locals as they make the most of their day off. In the evening we spent some time at the new Malecon in Puerto Plata. It looks beautiful now.
The next day we were invited to a friend’s house in Montellano for a BBQ. We had grilled chicken and homemade papitas (don’t know the correct name for fresh, warm potato chips) and of course some Brugal.
After a couple of days we went to Santo Domingo to apply for my new passport and also did some sightseeing at the same time. Well, all we had time to see was actually the Aquarium and of course the consul’s apartment. He lives in a huge luxury apartment with a spectacular view over Santo Domingo.
The following Friday we went on our traditional trip to Samana. This time we had a chance to watch the whales. It’s impossible to describe the feeling when you watch the whales swimming and jumping in the sea. It feels great and amazing. A real wonder of the nature. Afterwards we had lunch at Cayo Levantado. There had been a lot of changes done at the island since our last visit there in September. The old tables under the blue plastic roof were gone and the beach was filled with new sun lounges. In my opinion it was better before. On the way back to Puerto Plata we stopped at La Fuente to wash off the salt from the skin.
In the evening my husband and I went by ourselves to Sosúa Car Wash. Raulín Rodriguez was performing there. We had to wait a long time for him to show up. He didn’t start his performance before 2 o’clock in the morning. He is one of my favourite bachateros and he was worth waiting for.
On Saturday we moved out of the hotel in the middle of the night. The reason is described in another thread. We had nowhere to go, but our friends’ mother was willing to take us in with her. She lives in Montellano. To begin with I was reluctant to move in with her and at that hour, but couldn’t resist when we were told it wouldn’t be a problem and that she is “our mother”, too.
We stayed at her house for the rest of the vacation and it seemed that she liked to have us there. At least I loved every minute we stayed in her house. It didn’t even bother me, that there was running water only in the night. I especially liked the mornings when her children, neighbours and other friends stopped by to say hello and chat a little. My husband also found a new friend there, an old man in his eighties who lived across the street. The old man couldn’t speak any English and my husband doesn’t speak any Spanish, but still they looked like two old friends when they sat together outside the house. I don’t know how they communicated, but somehow they were able to do that without a common language.
One morning “Mum’s” nephew from Sweden came by. He and his wife had arrived the evening before and it seemed like he had been up drinking Brugal the whole night. At 9 o’clock in the morning he was “carousella” but it was obvious that he was very very happy to back in his home country.
Two weeks in the D.R. are over before you know it and it was time for us to say goodbye on March 22. “Mum” was sad when we left and couldn’t hold back her tears, same thing with me and a few other persons.
If everything goes as we have planned, we will come back some time in November-December this year and stay for 5-6 months. It will be our trial period to find out if we would like to stay permanently.
A few pics:
http://community.webshots.com/album/548894462qypsGr
Thanks for reading.
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Trip #9 to the D.R.
