Back home again in the ratrace after spending 3 wonderful weeks in the D.R. This was our 8th vacation there and the 2nd one this year. ?and we like it more and more every time.
When we arrived the guys from the car rental were waiting for us at the airport together with our friend. They found each other there because of the car rental sign with my name on.
On this vacation we spent a lot of time with a Dominican couple, whom we know since many years. In their company we went a few times to the Patronales festival at La Union, Sosua. At the Patronales I was a little amazed to see little children dancing really sexy and doing sex moves in public. That is something you don?t see in Finland. I think if someone?s child did that here it wouldn?t take many days before the social authorities would pay you a visit?
Another evening we went to the beer festival in Puerto Plata to see El Chaval and Luis Vargas perform. When we were there I thought my husband and I were the only gringos at the festival, but after reading the blogs on DR1 I know that wasn?t the case. The fireworks at the end of the evening were spectacular.
As usual we spent many days at Bergant?n, which in our opinion is the best beach in Puerto Plata area. For one of the kids at Bergant?n we had brought a small radio from home. When the other kids saw his radio, everybody wanted a radio. When we went to Gaspar Hernandez to do some shopping, we bought several pocket radios so every kid on the beach got his own. Then they listened to these radios all day long, everyday. When you see a kid listening to his radio at Bergant?n, you know who they are from.
That beach is very quiet this time of the year and you can the beach almost for yourself in the weekdays. Only on Sundays there are more people when busloads after busloads with people from Santiago come. I like to watch the santiagueros enjoy their day off to the fullest (maybe sometimes a little too much), but it is obvious that they are having fun.
One day we also took two of the kids on day-trip to Playa Dorada and Sosua. They can see Playa Dorada from Bergant?n, but they had never been inside the hotel complex before. After that we took them to Sosua to see the apartment we were staying in and then to the beach in Sosua. They had not been to Sosua before and they were a little shocked to see how the vendors hassle tourists there, especially at the beach. Afterwards they felt like they don?t want to go to Sosua again. Not in the nearest future, at least.
It has become tradition to go to Samana on every trip. This time we went with the Dominican couple I mentioned before. They managed to take two days off from work and off we went at 7 o?clock one morning. On the first day we went to Cayo Levantado for a relaxing day and some good Dominican food. We always use the same tour guide and it was nice to meet him again. If I understood the tour guide correctly (my Spanish is limited) I got the impression that Cayo Levantado will be closed for the public in the future. This is due to the new hotels they are building there. Someone, please, correct me if I?m wrong. On the next day we went by boat to Los Haitises. That tour didn?t turn out quite like planned. Our friends? wife was scared to death for being in a boat as she is not used to the sea and it is quite a distance by boat from Samana to Los Haitises. When being somewhere in the middle of the bay she started crying and screaming because she was scared to death. I think the thing that scared her the most was that she couldn?t see land in any direction. We only got to see one cave and a few tiny islands, and then she insisted that we must go back to Samana.
After coming back to Sosua from Samana, we thought it would be appropriate give this couple some space for a few days and let them take care of things around the house. Normally people have a million things to do and take care of in the house. How wrong we were. After one and a half day they both started calling and wondered where we were and if everything were OK with us. So for the rest of the vacation we saw them every day.
Another day we went with two friends to Constanza. We took the Carretera Touristica to Santiago and from there to Jarabacoa where we made a short stop to buy some cheese, salt crackers and beverages, so we could have a ?picnic? at Salto de Jimenoa. When we got to Salto de Jimenoa it was my turn to get scared when I saw the hanging bridges. Those bridges don?t look safe at all and furthermore I am afraid of high places, but I overcame my fear and walked over those bridges without screaming. Afterwards I found out that I wasn?t the only one who was scared. The other one of our friends was as scared, although he acted as gentleman and carried by bag over the bridges. From Salto de Jimenoa we went to Constanza. I guess we didn?t find the right road, because we took a very small mountain road and it took forever to come to Constanza. Anyways it doesn?t matter because the views were stunning. Finally we got to Constanza and it was just as beautiful as people have described it. The nature and the scenery are totally different from the north coast.
On the way back to Puerto Plata, we saw one truck which had had a minor accident. One of the back wheels had slipped into the ditch and another truck was pulling it up. That operation didn?t look very safe. The road was jammed with other cars and the chain they used for pulling had several knots. Luckily they got the truck pulled from the ditch and nobody was hurt.
We have never spent been to the rivers before, but this time we found the rivers and they are actually better than beach. After a swim in the river you feel fresh, which you don?t feel after swimming in the sea. We spent many afternoons at Rio del Cam? in Los Ciruelos, Montellano. We always bought beverages in the same little bar by the acueducto. After being there several times the family which runs the bar invited us for dinner. What a nice gesture. Unfortunately, we couldn?t accept their invitation as we had already made plans with other people. Our friends also took as to the river in Bella Vista. The water in that river is really freezing cold. That is a place which no tourist can find unless somebody takes them there.
One afternoon at the bar in Los Ciruelos a beach buggy tour stopped there. The tourists bought several bags of boulons to give to the kids. After the tourists had left the kids had more boulons than they wanted, so they tried with us to trade boulons to Coca-Cola. I think it is not a bad thing to give candies to the local kids as most of them are from poor families, but too much is too much.
Unfortunately, it is not possible to stay in paradise forever and when the three weeks was up we had to fly back home. At the airport we were checked very thoroughly. I don?t know if everybody is checked that way or if it had something to with that we were accompanied with a Dominican and arrived in a big jeepeta right outside the check-in hall. They did not just check us; they also checked our friend and asked him lots of questions about who he is, where he lives, who we are, how he knows us and for how long etc. After the checking they told him that they were sure we had drugs. Well, we didn?t have any drugs; we stay far away from that stuff.
If you are still awake?.thank you for reading.
Pics here: http://community.webshots.com/user/saguna101 (album Domican Republic 2005_2)
When we arrived the guys from the car rental were waiting for us at the airport together with our friend. They found each other there because of the car rental sign with my name on.
On this vacation we spent a lot of time with a Dominican couple, whom we know since many years. In their company we went a few times to the Patronales festival at La Union, Sosua. At the Patronales I was a little amazed to see little children dancing really sexy and doing sex moves in public. That is something you don?t see in Finland. I think if someone?s child did that here it wouldn?t take many days before the social authorities would pay you a visit?
Another evening we went to the beer festival in Puerto Plata to see El Chaval and Luis Vargas perform. When we were there I thought my husband and I were the only gringos at the festival, but after reading the blogs on DR1 I know that wasn?t the case. The fireworks at the end of the evening were spectacular.
As usual we spent many days at Bergant?n, which in our opinion is the best beach in Puerto Plata area. For one of the kids at Bergant?n we had brought a small radio from home. When the other kids saw his radio, everybody wanted a radio. When we went to Gaspar Hernandez to do some shopping, we bought several pocket radios so every kid on the beach got his own. Then they listened to these radios all day long, everyday. When you see a kid listening to his radio at Bergant?n, you know who they are from.
That beach is very quiet this time of the year and you can the beach almost for yourself in the weekdays. Only on Sundays there are more people when busloads after busloads with people from Santiago come. I like to watch the santiagueros enjoy their day off to the fullest (maybe sometimes a little too much), but it is obvious that they are having fun.
One day we also took two of the kids on day-trip to Playa Dorada and Sosua. They can see Playa Dorada from Bergant?n, but they had never been inside the hotel complex before. After that we took them to Sosua to see the apartment we were staying in and then to the beach in Sosua. They had not been to Sosua before and they were a little shocked to see how the vendors hassle tourists there, especially at the beach. Afterwards they felt like they don?t want to go to Sosua again. Not in the nearest future, at least.
It has become tradition to go to Samana on every trip. This time we went with the Dominican couple I mentioned before. They managed to take two days off from work and off we went at 7 o?clock one morning. On the first day we went to Cayo Levantado for a relaxing day and some good Dominican food. We always use the same tour guide and it was nice to meet him again. If I understood the tour guide correctly (my Spanish is limited) I got the impression that Cayo Levantado will be closed for the public in the future. This is due to the new hotels they are building there. Someone, please, correct me if I?m wrong. On the next day we went by boat to Los Haitises. That tour didn?t turn out quite like planned. Our friends? wife was scared to death for being in a boat as she is not used to the sea and it is quite a distance by boat from Samana to Los Haitises. When being somewhere in the middle of the bay she started crying and screaming because she was scared to death. I think the thing that scared her the most was that she couldn?t see land in any direction. We only got to see one cave and a few tiny islands, and then she insisted that we must go back to Samana.
After coming back to Sosua from Samana, we thought it would be appropriate give this couple some space for a few days and let them take care of things around the house. Normally people have a million things to do and take care of in the house. How wrong we were. After one and a half day they both started calling and wondered where we were and if everything were OK with us. So for the rest of the vacation we saw them every day.
Another day we went with two friends to Constanza. We took the Carretera Touristica to Santiago and from there to Jarabacoa where we made a short stop to buy some cheese, salt crackers and beverages, so we could have a ?picnic? at Salto de Jimenoa. When we got to Salto de Jimenoa it was my turn to get scared when I saw the hanging bridges. Those bridges don?t look safe at all and furthermore I am afraid of high places, but I overcame my fear and walked over those bridges without screaming. Afterwards I found out that I wasn?t the only one who was scared. The other one of our friends was as scared, although he acted as gentleman and carried by bag over the bridges. From Salto de Jimenoa we went to Constanza. I guess we didn?t find the right road, because we took a very small mountain road and it took forever to come to Constanza. Anyways it doesn?t matter because the views were stunning. Finally we got to Constanza and it was just as beautiful as people have described it. The nature and the scenery are totally different from the north coast.
On the way back to Puerto Plata, we saw one truck which had had a minor accident. One of the back wheels had slipped into the ditch and another truck was pulling it up. That operation didn?t look very safe. The road was jammed with other cars and the chain they used for pulling had several knots. Luckily they got the truck pulled from the ditch and nobody was hurt.
We have never spent been to the rivers before, but this time we found the rivers and they are actually better than beach. After a swim in the river you feel fresh, which you don?t feel after swimming in the sea. We spent many afternoons at Rio del Cam? in Los Ciruelos, Montellano. We always bought beverages in the same little bar by the acueducto. After being there several times the family which runs the bar invited us for dinner. What a nice gesture. Unfortunately, we couldn?t accept their invitation as we had already made plans with other people. Our friends also took as to the river in Bella Vista. The water in that river is really freezing cold. That is a place which no tourist can find unless somebody takes them there.
One afternoon at the bar in Los Ciruelos a beach buggy tour stopped there. The tourists bought several bags of boulons to give to the kids. After the tourists had left the kids had more boulons than they wanted, so they tried with us to trade boulons to Coca-Cola. I think it is not a bad thing to give candies to the local kids as most of them are from poor families, but too much is too much.
Unfortunately, it is not possible to stay in paradise forever and when the three weeks was up we had to fly back home. At the airport we were checked very thoroughly. I don?t know if everybody is checked that way or if it had something to with that we were accompanied with a Dominican and arrived in a big jeepeta right outside the check-in hall. They did not just check us; they also checked our friend and asked him lots of questions about who he is, where he lives, who we are, how he knows us and for how long etc. After the checking they told him that they were sure we had drugs. Well, we didn?t have any drugs; we stay far away from that stuff.
If you are still awake?.thank you for reading.
Pics here: http://community.webshots.com/user/saguna101 (album Domican Republic 2005_2)
