Santo Domingo to Playa Palenque Take 2
I wrote a previous report on my trip from Santo Domingo to Playa Palenque but I went there again in September and will post a second report.You might want to read the first one before this...........----- This time I wanted to go dirrctly from the airport (SDQ) to Playa Palenque with all my baggage so after looking into it I decided that a taxi would be the easiest and best way to go. I got a price of $65 US for a direct taxi but after consulting with friends I was persuaded to offer that same amount to a friend of the family to drive us out to Playa Palenque. They were happy to do it and could use the money so it worked out for everyone. By doing this I would save the $30US cab ride to the capital and muscling my bags on and off of crowded guaguas. After dodging the new cambio with the higher rates in the airport I exchanged my money at the Banreserva booth in the airport for 35.25-1 and met my friends outside. After a quick stop in San Cristobal we proceeded out to Palenque. The Hotel Playa Palenque was just as I remembered it-quiet and peaceful. We spent the rest Sunday of the afternoon on the beach, which was only semi-crowded, sipping beer eating fish and watching the kids play in the waves. It was a short visit as my ride was anxcious to get home and off the road with the kids before dark. Back at the hotel we settled on some seafood soup which was proclaimed as a specialty of the house(Sopa Mariscoes de Hotel Playa Palenque). It was excellent and I made sure I complimented the cook(Indera). The restaurant in the hotel has won several awards according to thier website, but I don't know from whom as it is in german. We sat around the pool and I helped my friend with her english homework. The owners wife Marie and the girl working the bar seemed very interested in this as they both had studied some english. I spent some time trying to explain contractions to them (can't, don't, I'll, we'll etc).It was the lesson my friend was working on but I'm not sure it was sinking in, but we had some fun trying. We retreated to our room after the appearance of some mosquitos as my friend had two family members get very sick with dengue this summer and she had a healthy fear of mosquitos. She had to go to work in the morning so after I saw her off at 6 AM I was on my own for most of the day. I spent the day at the beach watching the snorklers off shore collecting shelfish. I sat on the pier for a while and had a long conversation with a local boy about baseball and the United States. Once he realized that his requests for money were in vain we had a long and interesting talk. He obviously was not attending school and did not know very much about his own country. He was very bright and curious about me and the United States. He had an uncle that lived there and he was firmly convinced that most people there were very rich. From where he was sitting I'm sure this was true. As we talked we watched a tugboat ferry parts and workers to a large ship that was anchored a few miles off shore and that passes for excitement in these parts. The conversation ended when an older boy appeared to inquire as to his progress with me. He told the older boy not to bother me and they went off together on another errand. If I had a chance I would have bought him a coke or something small to eat but I did not want to hand him money. My friend returned from work in the afternoon and we sat on the near deserted beach and watched the tugboat and the waves and sipped a few beers. Not much happens during the week out here and that is fine with me. We went back to the hotel to swim in the pool and work on her english lessons till again the mosquitos drove us in. There were not a lot of them, they are much worse where I live in the USA, but the fear of dengue is very potent. To be continued........
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