OK, here goes.
In La Romana I stayed at a small family hotel called Hotel Frano. Frano and his wife, Marie, were wonderful. While staying with them I managed to get a severe case of food poisoning or other bacterial infection of the digestive system. Never did figure out where I got it. The tap water there is totally unsafe, even for the locals, so it could have come from showering and accidentally getting water in my mouth. I don't like to think about it. Anyway, I was in agonizing pain and after about an hour of things getting worse by the minute (vomitting and the other - the big D) I struggled downstairs to ask Marie if she could go to the pharmacy and get some relief for me. She suggested that she should drive me to the hospital emergency. Apparently I was several shades of green/yellow/blue with big black circles and bags under my eyes.
So a short drive and we were at the emergency. The doctor, a very capable woman who spoke no english, recognized the systems immediately (kidney pain, cramping, every digestive organ threatening to burst into flame) and had a nurse start an IV so she could pump in drugs. An hour or so later I was feeling much better, the pain was subsiding and I was extremely drowsy. The doctor had pumped in B1, B2, B12, muscle relaxants and antibacterial drugs. She gave me a prescription for an antibacterial liquid and handed me a packette of 10 muscle relaxant pain killers. Marie picked me up and we returned to the hotel where I went to bed and slept for 24 hours. Frano called me about 10:00 that evening to check on me and make sure I was OK. They were like having dear old friends around to watch over me.
My last night in LaRomana I took myself out for a nice dinner out at Don Quihote Restaurant which is in a couple of Europen tourist guidebooks as the best kitchen in LaRomana. It was a lovely restaurant, good service and all but the food was uninspired, the rice was plain white rice and the veggies overcooked (probably to kill bacteria). But the biggest disappointment was the fish... it was undercooked dolphinfish that tasted "fishy" in a garlic sauce that was not very good (the garlic tasted green) so I did not eat it. I sent it back and the cook did a grilled seabass for me which was much better. The waiter brought me a second glass of wine "on the house". The bill had no charge for my desert either (a saving of 80pesos on the 370peso bill).
When I left La Romana I was scheduled on the 9:55am flight to San Juan and told to be at the airport no later than 7:55 which I was. When I got there they told me I'd have to wait until 9:00 to check in... Yes, I protested and a good thing too. The manager came out to check me in only to find the flight had been cancelled. He offered me a free taxi ride to Punta Cana to catch the 10:15 flight from there to San Juan. An American Air employee also bumped wanted to share the taxi which I was happy to do. She was a young woman from Hawaii who came with 3 other friends just for the weekend on the beach... it rained all weekend.
We arrived at Punta Cana Airport at 9:50. The flight manager ran us through check-in and had security send a person down to check our luggage. The bimbo took her time to slowly and carefully pull all my luggage apart before it could be checked. I could not believe that such a busy international airport has not got luggage Xray equipment. Said bimbo also lost my luggage lock keys. When I got to my digs in Barbados I had to break into my luggage. We ran passed all the line-ups with the flight manager leading the way, handed our boarding passes to the stewards and got on the plane. We were almost last on but only because we raced ahead of a few old folks moving slowly. The plane was lifting off the runway less than 10 minutes later. Phew!!
Arrived in San Juan where I had lunch during the 2 hour wait. When I went to the check-in desk at the gate I was told all was running on time. About 15 minutes later an announcement was made that due to heavy weather on the island we were dropping passengers at the weight of the plane had to be reduced and they were looking for volunteers to take $350 and a later flight. No way Jose says I. I was on that flight.
I am leaving Barbados heading for 2 days and 3 nights in San Juan, Puerto Rico.
Gotta run, my taxi is here.
Howdy everyone.
I promised more details in my last update and here they are.
First... Casa de Campo: This is a world renowned vacation playground of the rich and famous. It covers several hundred acres of land on the south coast of the Dominican Republic just east of La Ramana which is an industrial city. Thousands of Dominicans work ar the resort which has a village at the Marina that houses shopping and services for the entire resort. Throughout the grounds are thinly scattered large vacation villas. Each villa owned by somebody that has more money than they know what to do with. There is a canal system off the marina so that the condo owners can tie up right at the front door.
At the marina are docking facilities for about 150 yachts and they can accommodate draughts of up to 30+feet easily. I may conservative on that estimate, Marco told me all this during our conversations but my memory is only that I could not picture the pleasure cruiser that would require such a deep draught. The yachts that were in the 2 days I went are, according to Marco, docked there pretty much year-round. The owners just buy them to show off how big a boat they can afford but when they come ashore, they stay in a villa, condo or other accommodation on the grounds of the resort and only take the boat out to sea for about 2 or 3 weeks a year. Marco and I agreed that it seemed like a wasteful excess... why own a boat if you don't like boats???? Like myself, Marco leans towards sailing and has his own sailboat.
The shops in the marina complex are likewise excessive. Much of what they have is not terribly attractive... a lot of glitter and flash without a lot of style and class. Of course there were shops with some nice pieces and I was tempted by a few things but the prices were way over the top. I know I could get the same stuff back home for much less. The other thing is that you could drive back into La Ramana just 15 minutes down the road and buy much of the same stuff there for 1/100th the price. I got the impression that the people vacationing at Casa de Campo never leave the grounds of the resort and do not realize how cheap it in the Dominican Republic. This is good for the resort but I guarantee that the workers at the resort never benefit with higher wages.
I will finish this later. Right now I have a pedicure appointment to get to.
Love to all.
Wow, I just realized that I have not updated for a long time... 10 days. Sorry.
OK, now the latest batch of photos are posted so go to the photos link at the bottom or bottom right of this page to see them. There are lots so sit back and enjoy the slide show.
Since my last update, in Las Galeras, I have travelled lots. So I will do a brief update. This is too expensive an internet connection for lots of detail.
So I travelled to La Romana from Las Galleras by guagua. I hauled my luggage to the beach at the end of the street about 40 feet down from the hotel entrance. Got in the next guagua (pronounced as spelled - think guava) heading for the town Samana. The sliding door of the rusting ancient minivan was missing so the luggage had to be tied into bus to prevent it from flying out. I was the only passenger leaving Las Galeras but we swiftly filled up with locals and one other traveller, a young woman from Belgium. Quite the adventure.
In Samana I got on the commuter boat leaving at 9:00 for Sabana de la Mar on the south side of Samana Bay. There was a fleury of taxi drivers to get past to get to the guagua bus but I made it unscathed and even helped a young man from the Netherlands to figure out what to do next. We rode together in the back of the bus with our luggage all the way to La Ramana. There were 2 guagua changes to get through and a rest stop. I hope he survived the food from the rest stop. Foreigners are adviced not to eat it but he was hungry. I just get water to keep the hunger pains at bay.
In La Ramana we wished each other well and he hopped another guagua to Bayahibe for a 2 day rest before his flight home left Punta Cana. I stopped in La Ramana for 3 nights. I was hunting for a boat to Barbados but had no luck. I was pleased at how many people were pleased, even anxious, to help. The office manager at one marina even enlisted the services of another dock employee to make inquiries on another phone and on VHF while she was calling around to the other marinas for me.
Casa de Campo was a real interesting place. This place is more popular with the rich and famous than Lyford Cay on New Providence in the Bahamas. The yachts dwarfed High Cotton in many cases. The Capitana de Puerto, Marco, was a very handsome and charming man who gave me much good advice and lots of help. He was also an interesting man to meet as he is in charge of running this marina for the upper classes. More about Casa de Campo later.
I was going to go to Punta Cana until I realized I was trying to get accommodation there at the same time as all the travelling public in the Dominican were taking a 4 day vacation for the Easter holiday but staying close to home. So on a plane I got for Barbados. Another American Airways disaster. More on that later too.
I have now been in Barbados for 5 days. I arrived last Friday afternoon.
Details with my next entry. I am meeting up with the chiropractor that I've seen twice this week to go see an apartment he has for rent on the beach.
It is 32C here today.
... but have moved on to Las Galeras, the last outpost of the peninsula. I arrived here via gua gua (a small local bus that resembles a minibus) on Saturday afternoon. Quite the ride too. We took the same route as the ride to Samana for the day trip on Samabna Bay last week. The ride from Samana to Las Galeras was all new territory to me though and it was all so beautiful. Again up into high mountains and over them to the other side. This is trtruly one of the worlds most beautiful places. This time though, I sat in the front seat for the whole ride getting lots of photos and taking some MPEGs. I don't know how it will work putting MPEGs in the gallery but we'll find out soon. Tom is working on it this week. Everybody say "thank you Tom for all your hard work on our behalf" for he deserves a metal for his patience and for being such a big help to me. This is one of the many reasons I love that man so.
Checked into my hotel, Club Bonita, on Playa Las Galeras. My room is quite nice, overlooking the beach, pool, bar and front gardens. The prices here are so cheap by North American standards but the locals think I must be rich to be staying in such an expensive place. For 3 nights accommodation I will pay more than most people here make in a month.
When walking down the streets the motos go by honking horns and offering lifts. Sometimes I take a ride just to save a few steps but I am usually out for a walk (not normal around here) so decline the offer.
I went for a dive yesterday morning, last minute. Due to the cold I developed just as I was leaving Las Terrenas, I had a minor equalization problem with my left ear but it was manageable. It was a shallow dive of only 14 metres max. depth. I did another dive today that went to about 25 metres and had similar problems but I was ready for it this time and knew better how to adjust for it. All went well.
The dives were good:
Yesterday we went to the northeastern tip of the peninsula to dive an unusual reef. It is a pair of concentric circular reefs, the outer ring about 1km across. The canyon between them is 20-30 feet across and up to 15 metres deep. The reefs themselves are out of the water at the high points and at the low points are no more than 10 feet below surface. It made for an interesting dive with some strong current action. The surface here is extremely choppy. There were alot of sand and other particles in the water so the photos look a little 'milky'. There were almost no fish here and what was there were small or juvenile. Several juvenile parrotfish especially.
Today we went to the point of the peninsula further west and slight further north. Las Galeras is nestled in the large bay between the two points. Here the dive is on the wall. The shoreline is all sheer cliff here and that sheer drop runs down into the ocean. The reef here is gorgeous and there is next to no floating sand. The water is so clear in this leeward bay that as we rolled over the side off the boat and looked through our masks into the 20 metres of water I was shocked to see bottom. Details on the bottom too! I decided at the last minute to leave my camera on the boat so I could concentrtate on the ear equalization. BIG mistake. There was a marvelous Spotted Pufferfish about 24-30 inches long, the 'box' of his body wa about 10 inches across his back. He let me swim to within about 5 feet of him before lazily swimming away to a little cave like hiding place. I could see his big eyes watching me as I came down towards him for a better look. When he got a frightened 'look' I backed off and swam away. I also saw a nice big High Hat. He was in his little nook close to the bottom swimming in the characteristic figure 8 pattern that defines his world for his entire life. He was at least 12 inches long so had been living in this place for quite a long time. The coral here was out of this world. In one 'cave'there was a massive amount of purples, mauves, pinks and lavenders covering everything. The colours here were all very strong and well defined. Again though, there were not a lot of fish.
BTW, to get from my hotel to the resort where the dive centre is, I must (oh woe is me... not) walk along a dirt 'road' which is more of a path tramped through the woods by jeeps, motorbikes and feet and horses hooves. These woods are a palm 'forrest' that runs along the beach coastline. The walk takes 15-20 minutes depending on how fast you walk and what you're carrying. Some people, myself included, have spent over 2 hours doing the walk up and back. Of course if you get tired just listen for the sound of a moto heading your way and raise your hand. They always stop even if fully loaded with people and stuff. If they can't take you right away, they'll come back for you.
Horses roam freely in these woods, grazing on the grassy undergrowth. No power mowers needed here. Dogs and cats run wild too. It really is a different world.
Must go now. It looks like it may rain again soon and I want to get some souvenirs across the strtreet. Found a fab little shop there.
Next stop... leave here tomorrow to Samana, boat across the Bay to the other side then gua gua (3 different I think) to El Romana on the south coast.
Had a great day today following a great night's sleep.
I did not mention in my last update a problem with my original choice of hotel. I had booked a hotel from Santo Domingo that was listed in a Tourist's Guide from France. It sounded good in the guide, the owner, Jose (Jusie) sounded nice on the phone and she assured me it was a quiet hotel on the beach. Well it was also a disappointment, not as nice as it sounded. But I decided that I had slept worse places on this trip with less comfort... at least there was lots of hot water and everything seemed clean if not nice. The noise from the road between the hotel and the beach was horrid. The motors were roaring past until 1:00am and started up again at 5:00am. Then there were the nieghbours up talking until 1:00am and the music bar next door that was open until 1:00am. I hardly slept.
The next day I asked to be moved to a garden room as far from the road as possible and Jose complied. I went to the town to do some looking around for a couple hours and when I returned my floor was covered with water, one of my bags was in a buddle of water on a small desk, the seat cushion of the desk chair was soaking as was everthing I had stacked on it. When I went to Jose her solution was to mop the floor (but leave the buddle on the desk) and change the sheets on the dampened bed. Not good enough. I needed to calm down and think.
I ate lunch then went down the road looking for the PADI dive centre. There it was, at the front gate of the Aligio Beach Resort. So after checking out the dive centre, I went and booked a room at this lovely, all-inclusive resort for 2 nights. Today I extended that to a third. So back to the Hotel Papagaya to get my stuff and pay my bill.
So today I did the all-day excursion to Samana Bay and the Haitises National Park. A wonderful day. After a quick breakfast I gathered my stuff and went out to the road to meet the guagua that was to pick us up. It was on time but 2 other guests were late. We drove through and over mountain roads to Samana. There we met a speed boat that took our little group of about 12 across the Samana Bay to Haitises National Park. We walked through two different cave networks at two different locations. These were the homes of the Taino aboriginals who were the only people here when Columbus arrived.
Columbus had believed that he was in the gold rich East and thought that the natives were trying to hide their gold from him. So he worked them to death, quite literally. He whipped them and took them as slaves, starving them and chaining them so they could not run and hide. The women were regularly raped and the children put to work as soon as they could walk and carry tools. The Taino people decided to do something about. They believed that their only salvation was to go join the gods. They made a tincture of an extremely poisonous plant and everyone drank it. The entire Taino population was wiped out by this act. This also meant that the Taino Art and Culture was also destroyed.
The loss of the Taino slaves sent Columbus and his fellows to Africa in search of slaves that were transported to the West Indies in ships where they were stacked by the thousands like cargo, shackled together at wrists, ankles and necks. They were given no food or water and many died enroute. The dead were left to rot where they laid. The living, no doubt, wished they were dead too.
Dominican Republic history lesson is now over. This subject tends to cause my blood to boil. The greed of man has always caused so much suffering for the innocent.
Back to the excursion. We boated through and walked in Red Mangrove "swamps" with the biggest Mangroves I´ve ever seem. Red Mangrove is the one that lives in salt water near freshwater streams where the freshwater and salt water meet. They don't mix but the mangrove takes the salt water and filters it so it can use it and thus curbs the flow of salt to freshwater. I may not have that exactly right. The guide spoke in french and some such details escaped me. Though he could speak at least 5 languages (Spanish, French, English, German and Italian), when he began repeating lots of stuff in English that he had just said in French I told him not to because I was able to understand him. His French is extremely good and everyone else in the group was French or Italian.
We took a couple of short beach breaks to stretch our legs and have a drink. They were always trying to get us to consume alcohol. I did my best to comply but the rum and coke was too much... I hate cola drinks... so I had straight rum or ron as the Dominicans say. I normally hate the stuff but this Dominican stuff is fabulous, especially the coconut ron which is made with the real thing. I think the DR must be one of if not the world's largest coconut producers.
We visited a large archipalago of islands that are part of the park. It is somewhat similar to the thousand islands in that the islands are quite small in area. The difference is that these are totally untouched, uninhabited islands that are, typically 3-10 times taller than they are wide. One of these is home to 21 species of birds along with iguanas. There are 2 types of pelicans, hawks, turns, gulls, 3 types of herons and several exotic birds whose names I can't recall.
In one cave we saw a centipede that was about 15 inches long and about a half inch in diameter. When I spotted it I said "hey, look at the snake" then I realized it was a centipede and everyone came to look. The guide was shocked. He'd never seen one that big either.
We were back in the boat to cross back over to the peninsula where there was a typical Dominican lunch waiting for us on a beach in a farming village. Crawfish, clams and chicken fried up with rice, peppers and tomato in giant fryers similar to a wok. There was Presidente beer, white sangria with banana, pineapple and coconut, cacao rum and rum to drink. There was coleslaw Dominican style and, for desert, coconut shredded and sweetened with fresh liquid cane sugar. Getting hungry??
After eating we were back onto the bus, alas, to take the hour long drive through villages and over the mountain back to Las Terrenas. I nodded off to sleep twice. Some of the group actually slept through most of the drive.
Now I´ve showered, had a couple of beers, written in the other travel journal, had supper and am about ready for bed. It's 9:20 pm. Bedtime for this weary traveller. And the no-see-ems are starting to break through my citronella oil which must be weakening.
Good night to all.
Hello all. Much has transpired since my last update. For those of you who are not already in the know, US$1.00 0 $23RD (pesos) at this time.
After the dive cancelled again and the rain refused to stop I decided to go to Santo Domingo. It was a last minute decision on Saturday morning. I packed up, checked out, got in a taxi to the Estacion de Autobus de Caribe Tours. By 10:20 am this air-conditioned chariot whisked me away to Santo Domingo in just 4 hours for a meer $130RD (pesos).
I arrived at the bus station only to discover that very few tourists ever use the buses so nobody at the bus station speaks english, not even the taxi drivers. A German woman who overheard my dilemma came to my aid. Turns out she had just completed a 2-week Spanish training course in Sosua and was on her way home. She suggested we share a taxi to her hotel in the middle of the Colonial City where I may be interested in getting a room. It was a perfect location, clean and comfortable room (except somebody should tell the Dominicans that a pillow's comfort level must be high, it is the absolute lowest here) at a reasonable price. I took it for 3 nights.
Santo Domingo is the centre of this country`s history. It is the site of many firsts in the Americas. The first cathedral in the Americas, the first seat of European government in the Americas, the first Catholic Monestry, the first Convent, The first University which started life as the first collegiate, etc. Most of these places were built from 1498 to 1527. So my visit to this city full of atmosphere was spent touring the fortress, museums and historic landmarks. It was a great change of pace and gave me a much needed hit of cultural pursuit that I have been craving for weeks.
I left Santo Domingo on Tuesday afternoon by bus but this time I took Metro Tours bus. It took 4 hours to get to Sanchez on the Samana Peninsula (Samana province) for $120RD. Then I had to take a taxi (the guaguas were done for the day when I got there) to make the 25 minute trip over the mountain to Las Terrenas. The taxi climbed to 1547 feet in about 15 minutes and decended 1547 feet in less than 10 minutes.
This was the highlight of this trip. It is so hard to describe this drive in words. This is the lushest, greenest, richest land I have ever seen. Tropical forrests of 100 ft tall coconut palms, swift mountain streams flowing over cliffs to create 100 ft pencil thin waterfalls of cool clear mountain water. Shades of green that I have never imagined and the soil the colour of wet red cedar. Prince Edward Island's red clay pales in comparison. Then ther`'s the view. The Atlantic Ocean. I swear I could almost see Africa from up there. The deep indigo blue expanse of water stretching out to the universe. Clouds hovering like they were suspended from heavenly wires. And all that framed by the lush, green tropical forrests. I thought I had died and gone to heaven. Like I say though, even the photos I took will never give the feeling of actually being there. Totally breathtaking. My gasps were so strong that the taxi driver could here me over the meringua blasting over the stereo.
Las Terrenes is a bit of a disappointment though. It is a tourist town filled to the brim with scooters, motors (motorcycles) and cars, trucks and busses (guaguas). The people just keep driving up and down the road offering rides to walkers, any walkers whether tourist or local. They honk their horns to say hello, to say goodbye, to show appreciation for a woman´s physique, to let people into and out of traffic, to let other vehicles know they are passing, to ask is you need a ride, to tell the world they're alive. The noise of motors and horns, the stench of exhausts (diesel and leaded gas - unleaded costs too much) and the annoyance of having to say "no, gracias" every 30 seconds. I hate this place. But tomorrow I am booked on a day trip to the National Park, its beach for lunch and a set of small islans called Los Haitises. Then Friday I want to try a single tank dive here. I may book the room for another night and change my onward booking to a day later and a day longer.
Next stop Las Galeras at the peninsulas eastern most tip. Then onto the Punta Cana area in search of a boat (ride or job) going to Barbados or somewhere nearer to it.
Gotta go. The no-see-ems are eating my legs to death. I´ve actually started bleeding from several bites.
I have been wet since my arrival in the D.R. Yesterday my dive trip was cancelled due to rough seas and the same again today. But yesterday I wanted some activity to do so the dive shop arranged for me to take a mountain bike tour with a company called Iguana Mama in Cabarette about a 10 minute drive east of Sosua. Cabarette is the surfing centre of the island it seems. Wind surfing, para-surfing, surfing, para-sailing... you name it.
Well the mountain bike tour was just me and a guide. Orlando is a native Dominican and he lives next to his brother and across from his mother.
The rain started about 30 minutes into the 4 hour, 40 Km ride. Mostly uphill for 2 1/2 hours on rough, washed out dirt roads in the rain. I loved it even when it was hurting. My guide, Orlando, was very patient and encouraged me not to quit when I wanted to continue. Although he did make the offer to turn back he was very proud of me when I did not. The trip back was much easier as it was downhill all the way but still very rough, muddy, slippering dirt road. We passed through native farmland, sugar cane farms, coffee groves, pineapple and coconut groves. We stopped a few times to look at the view, talk with the children begging for candy or just to rest. The last 5 Km were along the paved highway in a driving rain storm.
When we returned to the shop, we both doused ourselves in fresh water to clean off. I was already soaked to the bone so I couldn't get any wetter. I bought Orlando a hot lunch as his tip at the beach cafe next door. He left me to finish my chocolate fondue while he went to get his scooter. He drove me back to my hotel in Sosua. What a riot. It poured rain, hard, all the way. We had to stop twice to take shelter under trees.
Everyone has a scooter here because they can't afford a car. No helmets, no enforced rules on the road. Scooters ride far to the right to let large vehicles pass. The rain has been pretty constant all week with only occassional sunny breaks in the heavy cloud cover. This is the first rain they've seen here since early February.
Orlando has built a house in the Dominican style of salvage recycling. He is very proud of his accomplishment as most young men must marry a woman who also has a good job in order to afford to build a house. Most people here can't afford to buy or build a home until they are in their mid to late forties. He is. He had been married once to a woman in Philladelphia but that only lasted 1 1/2 years. He also lived in London, England for 3 years.
I got wet again on the scooter ride from his place back to Cabarette where I got a taxi back to my hotel. I still feel damp today.
Photos not coming yet. Can't find a place with real computer access. Most places have totally closed computers where you can't even empty the cache or delete history files. There's no staff who knows anything about computers to override that either. I won't be doing any computer banking from here.
The dive trip got cancelled for to day again. The sea is still much too rough and showing no signs of calming. Everyday the weather forcast is for sunny a day tomorrow but tomorrow never comes. After the dust bowl of Providenciales and the other Turks and Caicos Islands, this rain is welcome. It's making everything very lush. All the plants are in full bloom. Gorgeous.
Today, I go to the post office and in search of a laundromat. Yes it is still pouring rain but I can't hide in my room all day. Caio from the Dom. Rep.
I'm having a great time. In spite of the rough, rainy weather that blew in here from the northwest Sunday night while we slept. I was so glad that I had not paid for a 2-tank dive yesterday. The conditions were horrid for climbing back on the boat.
Today I did an all day "Jeep Safari" tour (depart 8:20am-return 4:00pm) that took us first on a long drive up into the mountains. There we hiked about 20-25 minutes along and through a swift stream to a step waterfall. There are 28 steps and we climbed/swam/scampered up the first 7. That took us about 200 feet. The return was much faster. We slid or jumped off all the fall's steps coming back. The last jump was about 25 feet off a cliff into a pool (which we swam across to get started up) below. Then another 30 minute hike back along a slightly different trail through sugar cane fields. Back on the truck we drove through picturesque mountain countryside to a BBQ cabana for lunch and beers. Then to a community where we could handle parrots and snakes. WAY COOL!! We shopped in the village's souvenir cabana where I bought a silver reversing ring... one side Dominican Turquoise, the other side Dominican Amber... for only 350 pesos (US$1 = 23pesos) and I could have talked him down but I saw that the village is dependant on this trade for food and other basics. Then we stopped at the crest of a hill by another village to get photos of the majestic scenery. On the way back the other 9 guests were all from the same hotel so all got off there. I had another 30 minutes ride back in the back of the truck with the tour guides. A couple of very fun and interesting local guys.
It was an awesome and educational trip. I loved it. When I was alone with the guides I was able to ask questions about the true lifestyles of the locals. The jobs here pay nothing. The average is about 2500 pesos a month per person. I met a woman who works at a luxury hotel as a reception clerk and makes 3500 pesos a month. A chamber maid in that hotel earns 1500-1800 pesos per month. The hotel charges minimum US$200/night for the cheapest single room. It's a travesty... rich business men, probably American or European, getting stinking rich off the back-breaking labours of the Dominican people. The average phone bill per household (no extras, long distance or internet) costs about 800 pesos per month. Rents run high relative to income too. Most single people live with parents or 4-6 per apartment or shack-like house.
Tomorrow I'm booked on an all-day diving excursion. Should be fun. Tonight I'm going across the street for a quick supper. I'm exhausted and will hit the mattress early.
Ciao from the Dominican Republic.
OK. Now that the previous entry is saved I can continue.
Just as I got back from diving this morning, the storm that had been creeping in all morning hit hard and the rain came down in sheets for about 20 minutes. It has been blowing hard all afternoon but the temp is a comfortable 68-70 deg F. So I ate lunch outside at the bar overlooking the ocean where I could watch the 20 ft waves crashing on the rocks and beach. A magnificent sight. The weather was not keeping many off the beach either, even though the winds are 25-30 knots gusting to 35-40 knots. I'm even sitting here in an open air office overlooking a lush green garden courtyard. The rain just came down in another torrent for about 5 minutes and now it is drizzling again.
I am glad that I only did a single tank dive. The second group of divers after me must have had a hell of a rough ride as the seas rose.
Tomorrow I am booked onto a Jeep Safari into the interior and the mountains.
I will update again tomorrow evening. Ciao.
Last I wrote was from Grand Turk. Well things are always getting better it seems though the diving in Grand Turk will be hard to beat. On Thursday I was diving all day (except for about 3 hours in the afternoon. We did a 2-tank dive to 2 sites: Tunnels, exactly as it sounds. This is an area of coral where you pass through 'tunnels' in the coral mounds which tower 20 feet overhead; and MacDonald's, so called because of a double arches formed by the coral mounds, through which we swam, that resemble a giant 30 ft. high M.
After an afternoon of napping and other activities I was back at the dive shop by 5:45 for a night dive. This was my first and I loved every moment. Apparently many people find it a bit clostrophobic or oppressive the first time. Not me. I was just too excited about seeing the sea creatures that only come out at night. We saw a baby octopus, giant red crabs, huge spiny lobsters and erd shrimp everywhere. There were dozens of eels: spotted moray, snake moray, and others. The sleeping parrotfish were so neat... they actually create a bubble-like protective cacoon around themselves and then take turns at guard duty. I am now totally addicted to diving and to night diving especially.
I left Grand Turk Friday afternoon to erturn to Provo. Stayed overnight on Provo at the Airport Inn. Got on a Global flight to Middle Caicos (current population recently dropped from 275 to 271) on Saturday morning with a group of 7 other people. There was a Middle Caicos Cultural Awareness Event that we were all heading over to enjoy. It was a great weekend We were treated to breakfast at the Middle Caicos Co-op in Danny's Cafe by our hostess Sara upon arrival. Sara is an expatriot Canadian from Kitchener, Ontario. She has lived in the Turks and Caicos for about 8 or 9 years and is the cultural awareness leader on the island. Then we headed off to our accommodation... a two apartment cottage on a lonely stretch of beach. Sara arrived with lunch and while she prepared it a group of local ladies gave us basket weaving/making lessons and taught us the different platting techniques unique to the Caicos Islands. I was given several 'gold star' compliments by one of my teachers, Elizabeth, who is the wife of one of the island's 2 or 3 taxi drivers, Ernest. Ernest was our chariot driver all weekend.
After lunch we were taken to meet a fellow who is considered the island's leading authority on Bush Medicine. He took us on a hike through the bush along the inland river system. We learned much about bus medicine and the island's history from him and visited his 'uniquely' decorated home and property. Very reminiscent of northern Quebec lawn/folk art and at least as colourful.
Sara treated us to a lobster supper back at Danny's Cafe, the only restaurant on Middle Caicos. I don't like lobster so had to eat just the peas and rice (native Bahamian/Caribbean fare) and veggies. Of course I was polite and had wine with dinner and a G&T before dinner to make up for not eating a lobster tail.
Sunday morning we got gussied up and went to church. Singing is required as it is the ultimate 'praise to the lord' and I joined in. A lady sitting behind me insisted I borrow her bible so I could follow along with the minister during the scripture ading. Maybe she thought I needed scripture. Or maybe she was just being friendly and showing her good will in the way she thought as a high expression of kindness to a visiting stranger. After church we returned to our cottage where we set about sailing the model sail boats made locally. Then a couple of the island's champion boat buiolders came to show us how to build model boats for the sailing races. Then we dropped in to the caves for a quick waslk through. Quite impressive. Bats and everything. Even an archeological site. Then it was the end of a too short weekend as we hopped on the plane back to Provo.
I stayed at the Airport Inn again. Went to the Banana Boat Bar and Grill for supper. I had hoped to go over to John's boat (Quo Vadis) to asy goodbye. I also wanted to see if Danny and Susan on Freelancer were still in the marina. But, alas, I got caught up in the Sunday night BINGO and just enjoyed myself with a few old acquaintances from the past few weeks.
Left Provo yesterday, Monday, morning and arrived here in Puerto Plata in the Dominican Republic about 11:30 am. Found a hotel here in Sosua just about 10-15 minutes east. The hotel is inexpensive, right on the beach, clean, quiet, nice and has all the amenities. I have already met many nice people here.
Went diving this morning.
OOPS!! gotta run the power is failing here.