On Wednesday, I decided to stay in Cabarete and took in some of the kite surfing championships that were running for the week. These guys are absolutely amazing at what they can do!
Thursday morning I was off to Santo Domingo. This city is naturally much larger than Santiago and I didn’t like it as much, however there are some fantastic sites to see there.
Friday, being my last day, I took a walk into Cabarete and stopped at O’Shay’s for a couple of beers before heading back to the hotel.
On Saturday morning when I went to check-out, I discovered that the rental car had another flat tire caused by a slow leak. I drove the car across the street to a service station there but unfortunately their air pump wasn’t working. Then this guy on a scooter comes along, tells me to follow him and I end up about a mile down the road at some sort of tire shop. The guy there takes the tire off, patches it, puts it back on. All the while I’m thinking “this is probably going to cost a lot!” When I ask how much, he says $5. I was so taken by this, that I gave him $10 and also gave $5 to the guy on the scooter who had brought me there!
I’ve heard and read of many people being taken advantage of while in the DR. Maybe I’m just lucky! One could say, for example, that I was taken advantage of by the 4 shoeshine boys I met every morning outside the Aloha Sol in Santiago to whom I would give $1 each who were also there on my last day as I was being picked up by Dominican Transfer and who gave me a hug as I was leaving. It’s all in how you look at things - $4 a day was worth seeing the smile on their faces!
This picture sums up the enjoyment I had on this trip. In my two weeks there I met some wonderful people and characters that make the DR a unique place!
Robin
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My trip to the DR - Part Two
