I arrived and went to the Hotel Matum which I did not know has all the rooms over a casino or bar, that was a pain. The next day I found out I got bad directions from Orbitz. National/Alamo's office at the Gran Almirante has closed but Orbitz did not know this because Alamo had not updated it. So I had to pay for an extra taxi ride to the correct office. I rented a Nissan sedan. Over the rest of the day I visited HB and did several errands.
I also met a woman that I have been talking to for a year (and her friend) for dinner every night. Ironely is very nice and merits further visits I think. She is from a place called "El Memizo de Nagua", wherever that is.
The second day I took the women to the Hermanas Mirabal museum, which they had not been to before. It was pouring rain that day and the flowerbeds were flooded. I ran into a traffic jam caused by a funeral in Salcedo and got detoured by AMET over back roads where I had to do some careful driving not to break the suspension of the car. Then on the way back I missed the turn in Moca and ended up in Cerro Santo by accident. That wasn't a total waste since I wanted to see that place.
The third day I spent exploring the center of Santiago by myself. On the fourth day I did a loop out to the beaches with the women. I went there via road 21 past the coffee restaurant north of Moca (passing by WB's farm) and came back via the PP-Navarrette road. No one in Cabarete would tell me where Kite Beach is when I asked for directions! After getting back I found out by looking at Google Earth that I was going to go to the right place but some wanker has removed the sign. So on we went to the Charmicos side of of Playa Sosua where we swam and had lunch.
Swimming with a Dominican woman costs money because you need to pay to have her hair fixed to go out the next day! Returning to STI was uneventful except for a windshield washer crew I ran into in POP. Some guy stood in the road to try to get me to pay and very quickly chickened out when I hit the gas.
The next day was a wild goose chase. I tried to get to Mata Grande to go to the rivers. Even though my car could handle the road the women told me to turn around because as a small group of travelers arriving there it was too dangerous. We would be beaten, robbed and violated Ironely said. We ate lunch in San Jose de las Matas and went back to STI. I never got to visit Jarabacoa because Ironely said her family told her the road was too dangerous.
My last day Ironely had to go back to work so I drove to Monte Cristi by myself, which took two hours. I went to the beach in front of Isla de Cabritos near the mountain. I took photos of the clock tower and salt houses. The DR1 is in bad shape in Navarette but is being worked on.
Some negative things did happen. My car rental paper blew out the window in Monti Cristi. Because of this I didn't have the address of the place and it took me an hour of driving around to find it. This made me late for a job interview and I didn't have time to change from my beach clothes for it.
The interview was still a success though. My favorite restaurant Piccola Locanda served Ironely a plate of undercooked pasta and the staff didn't own up to it. I was told the owner was not there at the time. My bathing suit was stolen from my hotel room bathroom and my wake up call for my flight the next day was an hour late. I really liked the trip in total though.
I also met a woman that I have been talking to for a year (and her friend) for dinner every night. Ironely is very nice and merits further visits I think. She is from a place called "El Memizo de Nagua", wherever that is.
The second day I took the women to the Hermanas Mirabal museum, which they had not been to before. It was pouring rain that day and the flowerbeds were flooded. I ran into a traffic jam caused by a funeral in Salcedo and got detoured by AMET over back roads where I had to do some careful driving not to break the suspension of the car. Then on the way back I missed the turn in Moca and ended up in Cerro Santo by accident. That wasn't a total waste since I wanted to see that place.
The third day I spent exploring the center of Santiago by myself. On the fourth day I did a loop out to the beaches with the women. I went there via road 21 past the coffee restaurant north of Moca (passing by WB's farm) and came back via the PP-Navarrette road. No one in Cabarete would tell me where Kite Beach is when I asked for directions! After getting back I found out by looking at Google Earth that I was going to go to the right place but some wanker has removed the sign. So on we went to the Charmicos side of of Playa Sosua where we swam and had lunch.
Swimming with a Dominican woman costs money because you need to pay to have her hair fixed to go out the next day! Returning to STI was uneventful except for a windshield washer crew I ran into in POP. Some guy stood in the road to try to get me to pay and very quickly chickened out when I hit the gas.
The next day was a wild goose chase. I tried to get to Mata Grande to go to the rivers. Even though my car could handle the road the women told me to turn around because as a small group of travelers arriving there it was too dangerous. We would be beaten, robbed and violated Ironely said. We ate lunch in San Jose de las Matas and went back to STI. I never got to visit Jarabacoa because Ironely said her family told her the road was too dangerous.
My last day Ironely had to go back to work so I drove to Monte Cristi by myself, which took two hours. I went to the beach in front of Isla de Cabritos near the mountain. I took photos of the clock tower and salt houses. The DR1 is in bad shape in Navarette but is being worked on.
Some negative things did happen. My car rental paper blew out the window in Monti Cristi. Because of this I didn't have the address of the place and it took me an hour of driving around to find it. This made me late for a job interview and I didn't have time to change from my beach clothes for it.
The interview was still a success though. My favorite restaurant Piccola Locanda served Ironely a plate of undercooked pasta and the staff didn't own up to it. I was told the owner was not there at the time. My bathing suit was stolen from my hotel room bathroom and my wake up call for my flight the next day was an hour late. I really liked the trip in total though.
