BootsnAll Travel Network



Articles Tagged ‘1’

More articles about ‘1’
« Home

Dominican Republic Part I

Wednesday, May 7th, 2008

I´m traveling again.  Ah, how I missed the frantic search for a hotel in the midafternoon sun, the itchy ankles from all the bug bites, the slow as hell internet connections and funky keyboard layouts.  I had to remind myself my first couple of days, of why I actually put myself through this.  I really should have brushed up on my Spanish a little bit more before coming down here.

What is it about the first 24 hours of travel that always end up being the most frustrating?  I arrived at the airport in Santo Domingo around 1030p and held up a small cardboard cut out sign with my name on it.  I thought there would be a handful of people at the exit of the airport but I was surprised to find there were in fact, hundreds.  With no luck locating my ride I decided to find a taxi and head into town to search for a place to stay. 

Welcome to the Dominican Republic… where everything costs twice as much as it should for some ungodly reason.  After overpaying for my taxi ride to an overpriced ´´budget´´ hotel I went off to sleep.  The next morning I immediately checked out of my hotel with my bag over my shoulder and walked around the Zona Colonial (Colonial Zone obviously)  I made my way to Caribe Tours which offers the only regular buses out of Santo Domingo.  I bought my bolita for 300 pesos and endured a 5 hour air conditioned bus ride to Samana.  (thanks Lonely Planet for telling me this trip would take half of that time)

I arrived in Samana, a small coastal town on the Peninsula de Samana, around 3 in the afternoon.  I walked around a bit looking for an affordable hotel and I was damn near giving up when I came across a budget hotel by the name of Docia. I checked in and paid 600 pesos ($16).  I was excited to not have to pay $40 for a place to sleep.  I wondered around town some more aimlessly since there isn´t much to do other than stare out into the bay along the walkway.  From anywhere in town you can hear the speakers set up by the marina blasting merengue and reggaetone all day.  I was a bit frustrated at the noisiness of the Dominican Republic but I would find out later that there was a specific reason for it this week. 

I have come to realize that I really enjoy the evening while traveling way more than the middle of the day.  There just isn´t as much to do and the socializing is a little more difficult.  When night came I headed down to the bay and purchased a delicious grande Presidente (very good Pilsner) and sipped on it.  The music continued on and crowds gathered around the speakers, some people danced and some people held flags with the face of Manuel Vargas, the presidential hopeful in the upcoming elections on May 16th.  The scene was energetic and electric, the reggaetone was full blast and a parade began.  I was smack in the middle of a pro.Vargas political rally.  I always remember reading travel warnings about avoiding political gatherings but there wasn´t a moment that I felt unsafe.  People clapped and danced and screamed out his name, drivers honked their horns, sirens were on car roof tops.  It was all around very festive and a lot of fun to watch. 

A little later in the evening I had overheard some serious English being spoken so I decided to get a closer look.  Turns out I meet a Dominican-American woman named Nancy from the Bronx who brings her 4 daughters to the Dominican Republic all the time.  It was nice to chat with them and they were really friendly.  Her entire family was beautiful. Nancy hooked me up with her cousin who works in the next town I was visiting who would take me by moto the next morning. 

Manuel, or Bomba as everyone calls him picked me up from my hotel around 9am and we headed to La Galeras.  It was a quick 40 minute ride along the coast.  There was some amazing scenery along the way.  When I arrived at La Galeras I dropped my bags off at a bungalow about 100 meters from the beach.  La Galeras was very small and very quiet. Also, extremely hot.  I didn´t mention it yet but I realized in Samana that I had brought the wrong charger for my I’pod so I was limited on when I could use it.  I know I shouldn´t concern myself with my Ipod so much but I was really looking forward to watching a ton of movies I put on it and just being lazy for 2 days.  It turns out I was lazy.  I slept in my bungalow most of the daytime because it was scortching hot. It wasn´t till around 4pm that I was able to stroll the beach.  I had a lobster meal at the kitchen right by the water and then took a small bottle of rum, my ipod and a blanket and found a spot on the beach away from the main stretch inbetween a couple of palm trees and an old wooden boat.  This was what I was looking for.  The only thing I didn´t get was my hammock but that is OK.

There isn´t much to do at night in La Galaras so afterwards I strolled up and down the main street and had a couple beers before heading to bed.  The next day I slept a lot and performed the same beach and rum ritual from the night before during sunset.  I know it is crazy that I don´t like being on the beach during the middle of the day but it just isn´t my thing to lay there and get beat down by the sun.  I prefer breezy and dusky, even if it means fighting off mozzies.

Last night I decided to walk a little further from my hotel in search of a good night spot.  I ended up at a bar named VIP.  I saw and heard a TV playing the NBA playoffs so I propped myself at the bar and ordered a beer.  A few minutes later after reacting to a few shots made by the Celtics, the bar tender asked me in Spanish if I was European or American.  Turns out he is another Dominican American, this time from Boston.  We talked for awhile during the game.  He explained to me that his father owns the bar and he left his 9 to 5 job in Boston to come live here.  He said he misses some of the comforts of home but living in the Dominican Republic is far better.  As a shot in the dark I asked him if he by chance had an Ipod.  He pulls out his Iphone and told me I could use his charger this morning.  I woke up this morning and met him at the bar and let it charge for 45 minutes.

I took a gua’gua (mini bus) from La Galeras, back to Samana where I am currently. I went and visited Nancy again asked her where the internet cafe was.  She told me to get on a moto’taxi with her daughter and she would show me. My treat, because she wanted to use the internet as well.  Here I am now, writing and writing… I haven´t blogged in awhile.  I´m not sure what I´m doing the rest of the day.  I will probably head back to the hotel and rest until nightfall and then meet up with Nancy and her family for some drinks.  She said she would wash a few articles of clothing for me as well, which is really nice of her.

I decided to go back to Santo Domingo tomorrow instead of Friday.  There isn´t a lot to do around here during the day and in Santo Domingo I can visit a lot of the churches, parks and memorials to Christopher Columbus. 

I will update the rest of my trip when I return home.

Dominican Republic!

Monday, March 3rd, 2008

Well, this time a year ago I was somewhere in South East Asia backpacking around.  Now I’m back home and itching to get back out again.  I decided to take a week off from work and school to enjoy the splendors of the Dominican Republic.  I’m real excited to be able to travel again even if it is only a short hop down into the Caribbean.  I plan to have a book and a hammock and do a little bit of relaxing.

Details coming!