Good day
And now for the next installment of our trip report...
The fourth day of our visit, we all decided to go to Sosua and do some snorkeling. We where kindly picked up by our Island Buddy in the morning and dropped of at North Coast Diving, which is located only a couple of blocks from the beach. We opted to take the three hour snorkeling tour and payed our 45 dollars each. Having some time to kill before our trip, we decided to walk to the beach, and enjoy the sights. We where not quite prepared for the vender's and small shop owner's. Although they where for quite friendly, you could hardly walk three steps without being approached by someone. At first this was rather amusing, but quickly got old and tiresome. We sat on a stone wall near the middle of the beach to have a smoke and get our bearings. No sooner had my wife lit up a smoke, a small shop owner presented her with a nice wooden ashtray. No cost he said, just please come into my store. My wife and girl's felt obligated, and did so. They bought a few souvenirs. He was Haitian, and a nice fellow, as where all of the Hatian's we met on our trip. We checked out a few of the ocean front stalls, but where not impressed with most of the mass produced junk they where selling. After making our way through the gauntlet, back to the dive shop, we got ready for our excursion. There was another couple with two children, from the States, who had signed up also. The boat that we used was not very large, but had a canopy for sun protection, at least. We went out to Three rocks. which was a short jaunt, and experienced the sights. Not bad, but the water was rather choppy, and the large catamarans that where anchored nearby, where full of noisy people.
After, maybe thirty minutes of snorkleing, we were ushered to the boat, and proceeded to take a long tour of the bay. I was confused! I thought we where going snorkeling, and had not paid for a bay cruise. Finally we made it to the reef, right in the middle of Sosua bay, and proceeded to snorkel once again. This time, there was a lot more fish to see. My daughter and I spent magical moments swimming hand in hand, and feeding the fish. I could not believe that she spotted an eel lurking in a hole in the coral, fairly near the surface. You could just barely see it's nose sticking out. Our trip was over after a few minutes of that dive, and we caught a taxi back to Cabarete. All in all a nice day, but we where disappointed in North Coast Diving. We decided that we would just swim out from the beach, next time.
Thursday arrived and we woke to a rainy day. This was the only rain we experienced on our whole trip, other than a couple of evening showers. The weather was sunny and hot every other day.
We had arranged a horse back riding trip, with Fun Tours, their office is right beside Iguana Mama in Cabarete. The owner is Joseph, who was a very friendly and personable fellow from Germany.
We waited for the bus to pick us up, but my daughter was devastated when a young man on a scooter arrived to tell us the trip had been canceled, for rain. A little bit of rain was not going to stop us, but oh well.
The day was salvaged when our Island Buddy arrived with her friend who is the director of a school in one of the near by villages. We enjoyed a few drinks in our condo, and where surprised when the property manager, stopped by for a visit.
She was quite a nice person, and you could tell that she enjoyed the company of English speaking mainlander's, for a change. I felt a little sorry for the school director, as he could only speak Spanish. Our Island Buddy translated for him, and we showed him the small package of school supplies we had brought with us for his school. Tears welled up his eyes as we showed him the two duffel bags of clothing we also had for the kids. We thought they where new, but we explained that we got them from a share shop for next to nothing, back in Canada.
After drinks, the wife and I, along with Our Island Buddy, and friend, made our way to Cabarete beach, for a late supper. It had quit raining and we enjoyed a nice seafood dinner, followed by a couple of shooters.(Man I love those coconut shrimp.)
There where some local children singing on a small stage that was set up on the beach. Part of the Dream Project, I do believe. Lovely!
Friday was a fairly uneventful day of sun soaking and shopping in Cabarete, other than discovering The Downwinder restaurant which is located right next to Janet's grocery. We really liked the air conditioning food, and American style coffee with refills! Best of all where the people we met there, especially the ex pat Americans and Canadians. Arsinio, who is a Dominican, runs the place, and was always glad to see us, and made us laugh. We ate there more than anywhere else for the rest of our vacation. Not the cheapest, but not to bad.
Saturday arrived, and we where off to the village school with our Island Buddy, who had arranged every thing. We where greeted by the director of the school , who unlocked the gate and gave us a tour, after which we presented some of the children with their cloths. Quite a few of them had arrived, when the word got out that there would be free clothing. This time tears welled in my eyes, as I watched the expressions on the faces of the children, my girls, and friends, as they handed out appropriate sized clothing. Unfortunately, one small bag of clothing for bigger kids, had been stolen at the POP airport. We noticed the bag had been opened when we picked up our baggage. To the chagrin of our guide we handed out a few dollars to those kids, so that they would not leave disappointed.
This was one of the highlights of our trip, and if we ever come back, we will bring much more.
But the day was not over yet! That night our Island Buddy and the school director , came by the condo to take us dancing. I opted to stay home, because I had caught a dreaded air conditioning cold. The girls went to two different La Bambas at a couple of villages east of town. I can't tell you much, because I wasn't there, but they really enjoyed themselves, and my wife came back rather smashed. Our Island Buddy was buying the drinks
Week one of our vacation was over. Stay tuned for part 3!
<a href="http://picasaweb.google.ca/Fragmiester/CabaretePrivate/photo#5235525799106718530"><img src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/Fragmiester/SKhS-awmK0I/AAAAAAAAB-4/hS9xqEqMeFU/s144/IMG_1940.jpg" /></a>
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And now for the next installment of our trip report...
The fourth day of our visit, we all decided to go to Sosua and do some snorkeling. We where kindly picked up by our Island Buddy in the morning and dropped of at North Coast Diving, which is located only a couple of blocks from the beach. We opted to take the three hour snorkeling tour and payed our 45 dollars each. Having some time to kill before our trip, we decided to walk to the beach, and enjoy the sights. We where not quite prepared for the vender's and small shop owner's. Although they where for quite friendly, you could hardly walk three steps without being approached by someone. At first this was rather amusing, but quickly got old and tiresome. We sat on a stone wall near the middle of the beach to have a smoke and get our bearings. No sooner had my wife lit up a smoke, a small shop owner presented her with a nice wooden ashtray. No cost he said, just please come into my store. My wife and girl's felt obligated, and did so. They bought a few souvenirs. He was Haitian, and a nice fellow, as where all of the Hatian's we met on our trip. We checked out a few of the ocean front stalls, but where not impressed with most of the mass produced junk they where selling. After making our way through the gauntlet, back to the dive shop, we got ready for our excursion. There was another couple with two children, from the States, who had signed up also. The boat that we used was not very large, but had a canopy for sun protection, at least. We went out to Three rocks. which was a short jaunt, and experienced the sights. Not bad, but the water was rather choppy, and the large catamarans that where anchored nearby, where full of noisy people.
After, maybe thirty minutes of snorkleing, we were ushered to the boat, and proceeded to take a long tour of the bay. I was confused! I thought we where going snorkeling, and had not paid for a bay cruise. Finally we made it to the reef, right in the middle of Sosua bay, and proceeded to snorkel once again. This time, there was a lot more fish to see. My daughter and I spent magical moments swimming hand in hand, and feeding the fish. I could not believe that she spotted an eel lurking in a hole in the coral, fairly near the surface. You could just barely see it's nose sticking out. Our trip was over after a few minutes of that dive, and we caught a taxi back to Cabarete. All in all a nice day, but we where disappointed in North Coast Diving. We decided that we would just swim out from the beach, next time.
Thursday arrived and we woke to a rainy day. This was the only rain we experienced on our whole trip, other than a couple of evening showers. The weather was sunny and hot every other day.
We had arranged a horse back riding trip, with Fun Tours, their office is right beside Iguana Mama in Cabarete. The owner is Joseph, who was a very friendly and personable fellow from Germany.
We waited for the bus to pick us up, but my daughter was devastated when a young man on a scooter arrived to tell us the trip had been canceled, for rain. A little bit of rain was not going to stop us, but oh well.
The day was salvaged when our Island Buddy arrived with her friend who is the director of a school in one of the near by villages. We enjoyed a few drinks in our condo, and where surprised when the property manager, stopped by for a visit.
She was quite a nice person, and you could tell that she enjoyed the company of English speaking mainlander's, for a change. I felt a little sorry for the school director, as he could only speak Spanish. Our Island Buddy translated for him, and we showed him the small package of school supplies we had brought with us for his school. Tears welled up his eyes as we showed him the two duffel bags of clothing we also had for the kids. We thought they where new, but we explained that we got them from a share shop for next to nothing, back in Canada.
After drinks, the wife and I, along with Our Island Buddy, and friend, made our way to Cabarete beach, for a late supper. It had quit raining and we enjoyed a nice seafood dinner, followed by a couple of shooters.(Man I love those coconut shrimp.)
There where some local children singing on a small stage that was set up on the beach. Part of the Dream Project, I do believe. Lovely!
Friday was a fairly uneventful day of sun soaking and shopping in Cabarete, other than discovering The Downwinder restaurant which is located right next to Janet's grocery. We really liked the air conditioning food, and American style coffee with refills! Best of all where the people we met there, especially the ex pat Americans and Canadians. Arsinio, who is a Dominican, runs the place, and was always glad to see us, and made us laugh. We ate there more than anywhere else for the rest of our vacation. Not the cheapest, but not to bad.
Saturday arrived, and we where off to the village school with our Island Buddy, who had arranged every thing. We where greeted by the director of the school , who unlocked the gate and gave us a tour, after which we presented some of the children with their cloths. Quite a few of them had arrived, when the word got out that there would be free clothing. This time tears welled in my eyes, as I watched the expressions on the faces of the children, my girls, and friends, as they handed out appropriate sized clothing. Unfortunately, one small bag of clothing for bigger kids, had been stolen at the POP airport. We noticed the bag had been opened when we picked up our baggage. To the chagrin of our guide we handed out a few dollars to those kids, so that they would not leave disappointed.
This was one of the highlights of our trip, and if we ever come back, we will bring much more.
But the day was not over yet! That night our Island Buddy and the school director , came by the condo to take us dancing. I opted to stay home, because I had caught a dreaded air conditioning cold. The girls went to two different La Bambas at a couple of villages east of town. I can't tell you much, because I wasn't there, but they really enjoyed themselves, and my wife came back rather smashed. Our Island Buddy was buying the drinks
Week one of our vacation was over. Stay tuned for part 3!
<a href="http://picasaweb.google.ca/Fragmiester/CabaretePrivate/photo#5235525799106718530"><img src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/Fragmiester/SKhS-awmK0I/AAAAAAAAB-4/hS9xqEqMeFU/s144/IMG_1940.jpg" /></a>
<a href="http://picasaweb.google.ca/Fragmiester/CabaretePrivate/photo#5235668457793846610"><img src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/Fragmiester/SKjUuPyE_VI/AAAAAAAACAs/Ycm5zMSNOXE/s144/IMG_1961.jpg" /></a>
<a href="http://picasaweb.google.ca/Fragmiester/CabaretePrivate/photo#5235525859375718658"><img src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/Fragmiester/SKhTB7R2IQI/AAAAAAAAB_A/jq23GPNqo-M/s144/IMG_1941.jpg" /></a>
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