Dominican Republic 1998

When it comes time to travel, you have to set down some requirements. When we decided to go somewhere sunny with our friends, there were some specific requirements; Somewhere we hadn't been before, Sun, Sand, All-Inclusive, and a Swim-up-bar. We found the place that met all those requirements, the Dominican Republic, a Caribbean island split with Haiti.

The Bahia Principe San Juan resort was part of a time-share that our friends had arranged. Located in the North beach area of Puerto Plata, it was an all-inclusive resort, complete with sun and sand... and it had a swim up bar. Perfect since beer, wine, and tropical drinks were included.

 

 

Much like other resorts we would check out in the future, everyone seems to prefer the pool area over the beach area... I'm not sure why. We always had a great spot at the beach.

 

There was always activities in the pool, aerobics, volleyball, or you could just put on some more sunscreen and lay back soaking up the rays. The music was always pumping in this area, by the later part of the week we knew all the songs off by heart... One-a, two-a...

 

On February 26th, we were sitting by the pool, when the light changed, everything took on a strange golden color, and it started getting darker and darker. Here we are sitting out in the tropical sun, and experiencing a Solar Eclipse. We check it out by looking through 2 pairs of sunglasses, and watch as the sun becomes just a dark shadow. Amazing experience.

The next day we decided to go horseback riding. Our guide was a funny little guy, he would ride side saddle in his gumboots, and get the horses to trot so he could watch our friends boobs bounce... he thought it was hilarious, she didn't. We trotted through the jungle and trotted along the beach, finishing up by trotting back to the stables.

 

Every evening at the resort there is some sort of activity, disco nights, broadway type shows like Cats... well when I say Broadway like, I mean they have some of the same songs as those shows. Since all of us Americans (they are surprised we are Canadian) are non-dancers, they have a staff of dancing girls and guys at the disco to try and get us on the dance floor, how do you refuse?

 

After a night at the casino and disco we were shocked by a huge frog sitting in front of our room, not because it was so big, but because it leaped in front of us out of the dark and surprised us. It had nothing to do with all the drinks we had been sipping. I wondered whether this was one of the famous hallucinogenic toads you licked, because we weren't tipsy enough yet.

Sosua

For a different excursion we took the bus into the nearby town of Sosua, a much busier city from where we were. The town was full of shops, local crafts and markets, and a wide variety of seafood restaurants where we could enjoy a lobster lunch at a very cheap price. People were upset that they didn't get lobster claws with their lunch... my snorkeling experience taught me that Caribbean lobsters don't have claws like our East Coast lobsters. I didn't have the heart to tell them.

 

As you will read about in my travel diaries, it is inevitable that I will receive some kind of injury when traveling, this trip would be no different. As we wandered the town, the sun was beaming, the humidity was high, and the beach in Sosua was quite beautiful. Since I already had beach shoes on, we just splashed into the water to cool down. A little body surfing, and suddenly my foot hits a rock or a piece of coral. It cuts right through the side of my shoe, and I am bleeding rather nicely on the side of my foot... good times. A large band-aid later and we continue our day.

The Dominican Republic is famous for it's cigars, much like the Cuban cigars, except these ones are allowed to be shipped to the US. Being our last big night at the resort, we all buy a big cigar, and move from a nice formal dinner to a drunken gray cloud of cigar smoke. Our table is puffing up a storm, and all of the other tables move further away, or leave... oh well it was our last night.

 

The next morning we had to get up early and head to the airport. We were paying the price for a night of cigars, and oh yeah a few drinks. As part of the trip they take us to the airport, but they make us do it about 4 hours before the flight. Bad enough that we had to leave so early, but the plane would stop in Santa Domingo, where we would sit on the runway and wait in the plane with no AC for over an hour. Whether it was from the heat, or side effects from our last night in D.R., we all passed out and woke up halfway home to Vancouver.

When traveling with friends, it's always easiest when you don't have to worry about costs in an all-inclusive tropical resort, as long as it has Sun, Sand, and a Swim up bar.