My Vacation/mon vacances/mi vacaciones in the Dominican Republic

I finally used my passport for something other than renewing my driver's license.  Obviously, by the title of my blog you know just how I used it...my family vacation in the Dominican Republic.  Some people have asked why we chose that spot.  Well, it's in the Carribean for one and who doesn't want to vacation there? And two, it was cheaper than going to Puerto Rico, Virgin Islands, etc... We also had spoken to some friends who had been there and they really like it, so we chose the DR and more importantly the Iberostar Hacienda Dominicus all-inclusive resort.

For an even better rate, we ditched the usual airlines like Delta and American for the more reasonably priced and not so common jetBlue.  In addition, we flew into Santo Domingo instead of La Romana, even though the latter was much closer to our resort in Bayahibe.  The reason being (once again) was the cost.  While planning this trip, we checked every flight from every city into every city we could think of to get the best rate.  We also wanted the most hassle-free transportation and ended up flying out of Ft. Lauderdale (straight flight) into Santo Domingo. Then onto an exciting 2 hour cab ride to the resort.  But more about that later.  

Yes, we live in Tallahassee and the drive to Ft. Lauderdale sounds long, but it wasn't so bad.  We stopped off in Jupiter (just an hour north ) and had dinner with some friends.  We also made the trip to Jupiter in 5 1/2 hours. Flying out this way actually proved to be easier than flying out of  Tallahassee, Atlanta, Orlando, or Tampa which would have resulted in higher prices and would have added a layover somewhere in middle to south Florida.  

So, we flew out Saturday August 6 (drove down there on the 5th) around noon. Our flight to the DR arrived on time and our trek through customs was pretty painless, even though we didn't speak the language.  Walking out of the airport was a little unnerving, though.  There were gates (those used to line the path of a parade) lining our path out of the building and scores of locals standing behind them on both sides.  It was kind of like walking the red carpet  minus the celebrities which in this case would have been us since we were on display as we made our way to the next form of transportation. Tourists trickled out of the airport, so it wasn't like a hoard of us braved the walk together.  As we made our way out to find a cab. Yes, find.  We did not set up transportation beforehand - David thought we'd have no problems finding a cab and that it would be cheaper than hiring a service. So, as we walked the plank, David turned to me and said, "put our passports away, I don't want them knowing we're tourists".  To which I replied, "I think its obvious just by looking at us."  I was the keeper of the passports by choice, since David tends to lose just about everything he puts his hands on and I certainly didn't want to take that chance.  I also wanted to save him from a severe tongue lashing that would certainly have come if he had lost our passports.

Despite my best effort to blend in with the locals, apparently the "tourist" (or confused) look on our faces, quickly cued a cab company rep to walk directly to us reciting the word "taxi".  Which, of course, being fluent in English, I quickly picked up on.  I yelled at David and pointed to the guy.  We explained where we were headed and the rep and a couple of other cab drivers looked at each other.  The city for the Iberostar where we were staying was La Romana (sort of), but I had also seen the location as Bayahibe.  When I heard one of the men say Bayahibe, I quickly jumped in with "yes".  I may have thrown out "si" as well.   (Ahhh...linguistic success yet again).  We were quoted a price of $100 U.S. and I could see David's hesitation. Since I had researched transportation services, I knew this was a little cheaper and we needed to just go and not try to find another company.  I had also read online that you should chose a cab company that is part of an association, so when I saw that all the drivers were wearing a yellow shirt and black pants, I felt comfortable that we'd be safe despite the rough appearance of the vehicles.  David, of course, was still focused on the price.  He thought (or better yet, I should say read) that you could get a cab for $50.   I reminded him that it was a 2 hour drive. 

The cab was maroon and an 80's something Ford Escort, I think (or that is what it looked like).  A rather dented and dusty vehicle.  David took a seat in the front, Ella and I in the back.  I had been told that van's were safer and I tried to ignore that bit of information as I struggled to fasten my seatbelt, only to find out that it was broken. Well, for whatever reason it would not click into the holder.  At least Ella's worked, as did David's.  Two out of 3 isn't bad...I guess, and so I was comforted in the fact that at least they'd make it home alive if we were to get into an accident.

Our cab driver was actually very nice and could speak some English (I wish I could remember his name, but David lost the guy's business card... Surprise. Surprise.). David would throw out some Spanish words occasionally (a language I never took in school, but living in Florida, well, you do tend to pick up on it), so the conversation was pleasant and we were able to learn a little about the man and the culture and what the big billboards with a black background and the word Orange in large print meant (an advertisement for a local cellular company) and they were every where.  As were billboards for Presidente beer and a man running for President).

Not far from the airport, we stopped for gas.  David decided to use this opportunity to take a bathroom break.  I was a little leery of him doing so, but what can you do when nature calls?  Come to find out, I had no reason to worry, even though the surrounding area looked like a very rough neighborhood in the U.S. When he got back in the car, he told me that it was the cleanest gas station he had ever been in and the bathroom was spotless, had marble floors and a candle burning.  He, of course, used that opportunity to also sample a local beer and had bought a Presidente Light.  I have to admit it was rather tasty.  Kind of like a Bud Light.

I won't get too much into the cab ride, since there isn't much to talk about, except for the fact that they are crazy drivers - pass in no passing zones when semis are headed your way, use a two lane road as a four lane road, and the number of people who use scooters as transportation is probably about half of what live in the country.  People stand all in the street and on the side walks, walk up to the car and try to sell local food, and appear to really like bagged ice. And to top it all off, the air conditioning in the automobiles blow cool air the equivalent of a very strong oscillating fan.  However, it was still better than riding with the windows down, so I digress.

Finally, we made it to the resort, which by now the time was approximately 5:30 (not bad for departing the U.S. around 12:30), and we were on Eastern time so I didn't have to reset my watch. Amazing how the scenery changes as you enter the resort gate. Like going from the desert into a beautiful mirage.  As we drove onto the property, I could feel my body begin to relax (I also felt relieved that the place was as beautiful as the pictures).   

   

I took the pictures above, by the way.  This is what you walked into from the outside world and where you checked in.   After checking in, (which was also painless), the very friendly staff greeted you with a virgin strawberry daiquiri which became my daughter's favorite drink while we were there.  It was delicious and I'm not a daiquiri person (as you may know, I'm not much of a sugar person). 



By the time we finished checking in, it was around 6:15 p.m. and we were getting hungry.  We were told which restaurant to go to for dinner that night, but it didn't open until 6:30.  Which was fine.  That would give us enough time to go to our room, unpack a little, change, and walk over to the restaurant.

Our room was on the third floor and from where this picture was taken, it was on the right side, last archway on the far right. This picture was taken the next morning on our way to breakfast.  My camera lens was a little foggy because we had just walked outside but it's still a good view of the inside of our courtyard in building #1 where we were staying.  The ground below was a checker board of grass and coral tiles. As you can see, the sun hit our door in the morning and our sliding glass door in the afternoon. Each bathroom had four glass blocks for a window (high enough up that passers by couldn't see inside).  When the sun rose in the morning, it would shine through the glass blocks and light up the entire bathroom.  The first morning we were there, I thought we had left the bathroom light on all night.  I do have some pictures of the inside of the room but, they didn't come out as well.  It was nice, nothing overly fancy but extremely clean (which made me very happy). 

However, this was the view off our balcony...

Back to our first night there...

Dinner was served in a restaurant called La Hacienda (I think.  I can picture the sign out front).  This is also where breakfast was served every morning, buffet style.  And a huge buffet it was.  This was the one restaurant you didn't have to make reservations for dinner and we ate there 3 times for dinner (more or less because we had no other choice).  I don't have a picture but there is one on the internet and it does the place justice because it looks exactly like the picture.  The buffet area itself is enormous.

At night the tables are set for dinner and you have your wine glasses and water glasses and several utensils to eat with as well as a cloth napkin. The eating area surrounds the buffet but they are technically two different rooms. The eating area is open, it is also un-airconditioned but it's not as hot in there as you'd think.  It's covered kind of like a fancy porch, so during the day the sun is not beating down on you and there are plenty of ceiling fans.  In addition, there is usually a nice breeze flowing through the dining area. I also think we had an advantage being from Florida and being use to the heat.  At night, however, it would cool off and temperatures would dip down into the 70s, so evenings there were cooler than Florida or at least Tallahassee, which made dining in this restaurant and the steakhouse very pleasant.

You name it, it was on the buffet...meats (beef, pork, fish, chicken), salads, cheeses, veggies, bread (numerous kinds),  and desserts.  Some meats you could special order and others were already cooked for you to take.  The buffet was always well stocked and as for drinks, you could either get it yourself or the wait staff would get it for you.  Beer, wine, and liquor drinks were included in the "all-inclusive" as well as coffee, tea, sodas, juice, etc...  More expensive wines were available for a price but we stuck with the cheap stuff, if and when, we drank wine.  Coke (or should I say Coca-Cola) was available in regular form or what they called Coke Light (I think it was spelled Coke Lite).  No Coke Zero, which is my choice or diet for that matter.  However, I did not want to drink the regular stuff, so I tried the "light", which actually tasted better than Diet Coke and still had no calories. We couldn't quite figure out what the difference was, however, this became my drink of choice during the day and sometimes at night if I didn't feel like a liquor drink.  That and water.

Ahhh, the water.  Yes, we drank the water, bottled and from the tap, which we believe was filtered through the soda dispenser filter, so....  I know, people always say, don't drink the water, but it looked very clean, tasted like bottled water, and didn't have any weird smells.  Which is more than I can say for the water in Ft. Lauderdale.  We stayed at the Hilton near the airport in Ft. Lauderdale the night before our flight and the sink and shower water smelled and tasted chlorinated. I'm talking a strong chlorine smell.  Like the kind you smell when at a indoor pool. So I was more than willing to take my chances with the water in the DR.  I will say this, I did not get sick, but my stomach did feel a little upset a few times...

Since we're on the subject, I'd also like to add that I ate well, but didn't over-indulge, I wasn't all that hungry most of the time.  I did have dessert when I felt like it but didn't over do it.  I did occasionally have pancakes, but didn't over do that either.  There was plenty of food and drinks available, but I didn't binge just because I could nor did I want to (nor did I exercise that week - I was there to relax and dammit that's exactly what I was going to do). Although there was a gym and I brought my workout clothes, I did not use it.  The only exercise I got was from walking and swimming.  I took full advantage of my opportunity to relax.

I don't remember what I ate that night but I enjoyed it.  Afterward, we walked around the resort some but ultimately ended up in the bar near the lobby.  

In the middle of the resort was a wading pool that was the home to 2 swans, many ducks, 1 flamingo and some other type of bird.  There was also at least 1 turtle.  A gazebo was on one end, which is where weddings are held and the reception dinners are held on the beach.  Every morning and every night, Ella would take bread from the buffet and feed the birds...as did several other people.



After dinner our first night, Ella found a statue of a horse and had to get on it.  For those of you who don't know, Ella takes riding lessons and loves horses.  Ella took the picture of David and I on the right, as she did quite a bit during our vacation, but most of those won't be posted here. We are pictured in the bar near lobby which we frequented.  If you look closely at David's beer you will see "sin" on it, which we quickly discovered means nonalcoholic. (Kind of ironic). Needless to say that was the last one he ordered and Presidente was our beer of choice from that night on...when, of course, we weren't ordering the liquor drinks, which David loves much  more than I do. When I say liquor drinks, I'm referring to frufru drinks like daiquiris, margaritas, and the like.  That night, I drank a bloody mary, which I do love, especially when it's a little spicy.  However, my drink of choice is usually beer.  I can't handle my liquor and I'm not afraid to admit it.  So, yes, I'm the beer (light beer) drinker and David is the mixed drink drinker and he will mix just about anything together (some drinks are not so tasty).  He especially enjoys appletinis. Strong ones that he makes himself.  I usually put a disclaimer on the ones he makes for my friends (Drink at your own risk, one will usually knock you on your ass).  He is also the one ordering salads while I'm ordering burgers. 

Most of our days were filled with swimming in the pool and ocean and laying in the sun.  As you will see from the photos of our second night there, our first day was spent getting a little too much sun.  And, with our pasty white skin (despite being residents of Florida) we ended up sporting a bright reddish/pink hue that night.

I do not care for the picture of me below, however, I felt before and after pictures were in order.  Our glowing white skin the morning of our first full day... 

Our glowing red skin that night.  Yes, we did wear sunscreen but didn't reapply as often as we should have. Ella was made to wear one of my tank tops under her bathing suit shirt which was worn over her bikini top...in addition to sunscreen, from that day forward.

 

Yes, Ella and I are drinking daiquiris, however, mine is a bit stronger than hers.  This night we ate at the steakhouse, which we agreed was our least favorite meal.  Although Ella and I ordered the same cut of meat, David ordered a different kind.( I think Ella and I ordered the fillet and David the prime rib). Unfortunately, we couldn't tell the difference between the three.  As for the way they were cooked, well... mine was medium as I had ordered it, and Ella's was medium rare as David had ordered his and David's was medium well as Ella had ordered hers. We could have complained but we're hungry and eh, we were on vacation, so we didn't.  We just swapped meats and never ate there again...at least not for dinner.  That restaurant was also the lunch restaurant (and only place that served lunch) and proved to be better for our middle of the day meals.  

Like I said, most of our days were filled with laying by the pool or the beach and swimming, but we did do other things such as shoot pool (which Ella really liked to do), archery (which Ella won and in fact beat everyone, including the adults in points), sailing, I got a Swedish massage, and shopping (well, more like browsing the local stores - no pictures of that, but I will say the stores were extremely clean).  As in Jamaica, everyone wanted to braid my and Ella's hair and because of that you could tell who walked to the local village (by the braids in their hair) with the exception of Ella and I.  I do not find that look attractive and neither does Ella, so we passed on the new do.     



David and Ella

We awoke early every morning (or should I say, I did, as I usually do), and unfortunately for them, once I got up they didn't stand a chance of peace and quiet, so they would get up as well. I didn't want to waste the day laying around in our room (if I was going to lay around, I might as well get some sun).  So, we'd walk around the resort soon after getting up or just headed straight for breakfast.  Breakfast was always good and mine usually consisted of an omelet with bacon or sausage and of course coffee.  I usually drink decaf, but on my first morning there, they brought me a jar of Sanka or Tasters Choice instant coffee.  I wasn't sure what to do.  I'd never drank instant coffee before and wasn't sure how to fix it.  I quickly figured it out, though, and even though it tasted better than I had anticipated, I ordered regular for the remainder of our stay. 

The resort staff, for the most part, spoke three languages, Spanish, French, and English, in that order, and some spoke English rather well. And, some spoke English about as well as I speak Spanish (which I don't).  However, we managed to communicate with a combination of the three.  I took French for several years and wish I had brushed up on it before the trip, but I was surprised how much I remembered and was able to decipher what people were saying although I don't speak it as well as I seem to translate it. Oddly enough, by the end of our vacation I kept wanting to speak with an accent.



Restaurant where we ate breakfast every morning.


There were a lot of French at the resort and foreigners in general.  The whole time we were there I didn't meet one American.  Ok, I take that back, we met a family from Miami as we were waiting for the cab to take us to the airport on the day we left and David had met some Americans who were actually staying at our resort when he went to the casino (off the resort) our last night there.  The casino was about a five minute walk from our resort.  Needless to say, I was a bit worried about him while he was gone (not knowing the area and all), but he returned safely, and if memory serves, he returned a winner. 

One morning after breakfast and before walking to a local shopping area to peruse the merchandise.

We did meet a family or two from Great Britain, so we could speak to them without difficulty (you know, me being fluent in English and all) and sat next to a nice British family the night we ate at the Japanese restaurant. As in America, it was hibachi style.  The British were on the right, the French were on the left and us Americans in the middle.



Ella and I at the Japanese Restaurant - delicious food but they gave you too much.  The blue hue is from David messing with the settings on my camera.

At night there were shows and bingo and the bar near the lobby had a piano player that also sang. We played bingo maybe twice and attended one show, The Lion King, that they did a good job on, although not a Vegas show but still entertaining.  As I mentioned, we frequented the bar near the lobby (with the piano player) after dinner usually, sometimes before, and on our last night there David wanted a new concoction to drink. Since he couldn't make it himself, he asked the bartender to whip something up.  That something resembled a bushwacker.  For those of you who don't know what a bushwacker is, it is something like a coffee milkshake with rum and a 151 bushwacker, well, has an extra shot of 151 rum.  David explained how to make it the best he could remember and the guy did his best to recreate this drink - allowing us to taste it and tweak it here and there until it turned into a good drink (although not exactly like the bushwacker us northwestern Floridians are used to), but good just the same.  I did have one myself then went back to my usual...

As you can see, I'm still as shiny and red as a red delicious apple...and Ella is still drinking virgin strawberry daiquiris.

We didn't do any excursions on this trip because you had to go so far from the resort and they were pricey and took all day long.  With a child in tow, that can be grueling. I did consider one, however, and really wanted to take Ella to swim with the dolphins and would have if the price had been right. However, the child's price was the same as an adults which was something like $175 per person regardless of whether or not that person actually swam with the dolphins. It was also a 6-8 hour trip.  So we passed on that one too and since we were going to surprise Ella with it, she didn't know we had considered it and therefore wasn't upset when we decided against it.   Besides, we can take her to Gulf World in Panama City and pay for her to swim with the dolphins there and it wouldn't cost as much, nor would we have to pay for an adult ticket or spend 6-8 hours there.

 

We did get to swim with one creature though...

 

Yes, that is a live starfish that we found in the ocean and yes, we threw it back it so it could live another day.  The ocean was beautiful and toward the shore consisted of a lot of coral that could be difficult to walk on but once you got past it, the sand was soft (more so than usual or maybe it just felt that way after walking across the rough coral), and the sand as white as beaches along the gulf coast of Florida. There was a sandbar about 50 yards off shore and yep, Ella and I swam out to it every day despite my fear of sharks (which I didn't let Ella know I had), and needless to say and I kept an eye out, but not a one was spotted.  We did see some interesting things though, like several topless women, which made Ella laugh and the situation was a bit awkward when she'd say loudly that she could see "that ladies boobs", especially when we were in the ocean and a plump woman floated by on a raft bouncing freely in the sun. I just explained that in other countries its common for women to go topless on the beach. Ella accepted that and moved on (thank God), however, she made sure to tell her father when we got back to shore (unbeknownst to her, he was fully aware of the bare-breasted women).  And no, I don't have pictures of that.   

This was my favorite view...

    

The lighthouse was a beach bar and the ocean was several beautiful shades of blue every day.  The blueish hue of the picture, however, was still David's doing from playing around with my camera settings (which I eventually fixed).  By looking at these photos, you wouldn't know that the week before our vacation, Haiti and the DR were pounded by a hurricane, just as they were the week after we left.  

As you can see, coral all over the shore



No, that's not panties sticking out from my bathing suit, that, my friends, is my tan line from another bathing suit. Told you I got burnt.

 
Our fourth night there we dined in the colonial restaurant, which was the fanciest and best food on our trip.  (With one exception, the restaurant we ate at in Jupiter the night we returned to the states - Hog Snappers).  The colonial restaurant only allows children one night a week, so if you go to this resort (and bring the kids) be sure to book a reservation the first day so that you can get in.  For the life of me, I can't remember what I ate there but I remember it was delicious (I'm finishing this blog 6 months after my trip, so what do you expect?). 

There are plenty of glasses on our table and as you can see, I actually drank wine that night.  I'm not a big wine drinker because it goes straight to my head, but I do like a glass once in awhile and beer just didn't seem to fit this occasion.   The following night we ate a mexican restaurant, which was exceptionally good.  Better than I expected and not your typical mexican restaurant.  

The pool area was also very nice and large.  You had to walk through this area to get to the beach. As with most all inclusive resorts, this one sported a swim up bar that Ella kept wanting to swim to and a jacuzzi on an island in the middle of the pool. But, it wasn't like your typical jacuzzi, in that, it held cool water that was colder than the pool water. We didn't get in, however, when you're used to a hot tub and jacuzzi (filled with steaming hot water), it's not an easy adjustment despite the sun and hot weather. 

Toward the end of the trip, Ella got up the courage to join in one of the many activities they hosted pool side.  She had to run across a mat in the pool. She fell on her first attempt and then ran all the way to the end on her second. She didn't win anything tangible but had fun trying. Her favorite pool spot (the bar) is on the left and I believe we swam to it afterward so she could get yet another virgin strawberry daiquiri.

And the activity I participated in...

I didn't need to muster anything (let alone courage) to participate in this grueling activity.  This was one of the three pools the resort had and I think it was suppose to be just for adults (no shallow end), but it was also  surrounded by fewer people and I had no problems finding a lounge chair next to this pool that was also flanked by enormous tree like umbrellas.  After being in the sun as much as we were, shade was a hot commodity.   Even if it was the adult pool...

No one said a word. 

As for the pool side area, the bathrooms were strategically located between the pool and the beach (as was the lunch time restaurant) and regardless of the time of day or how often you used the bathroom, they were spotless...meaning no sand from the beach, no toilet paper on the floors and no water on the floors or sink area.  If only public restrooms in the U.S. could be so clean?  The bathroom below is not the pool side bathroom but it is one of the public restrooms at the resort and a good example of all the bathrooms.

If cleanliness is truly next to godliness, than these people are going to heaven on the back of an angel.  All in all our vacation was exactly what we needed...relaxing.  It was also an interesting experience.  Next time, however, if there is another trip to the DR, I would probably choose a different Iberostar in a more populated area of the island so that we could experience some of the excursions without driving a few hours to the locations and spending the entire day there.  I would also find one that has a better child care facility.  Ella never went to the one at this resort mainly because the hours were not convenient and the place never seemed to be open, especially when we would have liked her to attend.  Unlike a Disney cruise, it was difficult for a couple to have a little bit of alone time.  But, it was a great experience and not only one that I thoroughly enjoyed, but one that I would recommend.