Riu Merengue Puerto Plata - Reviews - Puerto Plata

This is a review in a diary style.

9th January 2004
Arriving at Dominican Republic

We left the snow and after a 10 hour plus flight, we landed in the afternoon around 5pm. First thing we noticed was how hot it was. We had already completed our tourist cards handed out on the plane,
showed them and got our passports stamped. S managed not to pay his tax of 10 dollars, or perhaps I mistakenly paid 10US Dollars to the counter staff who maybe thought it was a rather generous tip.

Either way, we got through the airport quickly, picked up our bags and met the tour rep. A porter claimed our bags and carried them to our bus, lucky we had a few 1USD bills handy - everyone must make a living. The bus took us on the journey to our hotel, the five star Riu Merengue. Through the windows we saw Puerto Plata pass us by. Sugarcane fields, banana plantations, run down houses, lots of mopeds some laden with as many as four people, traffic constantly tooting and people seemingly just hanging around the streets.

We checked in quickly, there weren't too many other arrivals at the same time thankfully. We were handed a nice welcome drink and wandered off to find our room. It took a while, even though we had some kind of map, but it would have been nice to have been shown to the room, as it was no longer daylight, but we found it. As soon as we got through the doors we poured ourselves a drink from the drinks dispenser. Cuba Libre (rum with coke) of course, since it's the national drink. We checked out the room, it seemed like everything was in order, complete with all the usuals you'd expect in a hotel room. We studied the drinks dispenser more fully. A litre bottle each of Whiskey, Brandy, Gin and of course the Rum. The sign stated that it was refilled every two days, so a generous allowance of one litre each per day seemed more than adequate. Underneath was a fridge with Beers, a gallon of water, tonics, sodas, and cokes. Soon our bags arrived and we tipped the carrier 1 US Dollar. We got dressed up for dinner at 8.30pm but before dinner we couldn't resist the bar, so we had a few drinks at "La Rumba". At first it seems odd not having to use money at the bars, but you soon get the hang of it.

At dinner in the La Roca restaurant we are allocated one of the nicest tables in the corner of the spacious dining room with a window letting in a gentle evening breeze, as well as the sound of the wildlife
outside. We thought we got this really romantic table after showing some friendliness to Frank who took our reservation. We realised how friendly everyone was. The waiter, Tavares also made sure we were happy with everything, and he had to tell us he's not working this weekend. The food was really nice, they had so many different courses and there's no way we could try them all. They had also carved out figures like animals from fruit. Realising we had dinner at 1.30am Swedish time made it all a
bit fun, but we didn't feel tired, we were too excited. After dinner we explored Caribbean Street, although the shops were closed. We found a pool hall, free of course, and decided to have a game.

Found the beach on the way back and filled our shoes with sand. Tried to find our way back to the room, which proved difficult due to our unfamiliarity with the area, the drinks and tiredness but at last
we managed, and sank ourselves into the giant beds of the hotel room.

10th January 2004
Exploring the area

Woke up at 8.15 local time and headed off for breakfast which also contained all sorts of goodies, although we decided not to go for the wine. Whatever nationality you were, you'd be sure to find
something to eat. Five or six different types of yoghurt, various cereals, cold meats and cheeses, bread, croissants and pastries of all types, hot breakfast including bacon, eggs anyway you want, sausages, beans, roast banana etc. There was obviously a choice of fruits too, fruit juices, thick shakes, hot drinks of every sort...and so on. We changed for going to the beach. Mmmm. Warm nice sand, warm nice water, hot sun and ice cold drinks!

After relaxing we once again explored the Caribbean Street, now with the shops open. S bought a pair of flip-flop shoes and a nice necklace
which he got for a lower price after a little haggling. Went to lunch at 2pm. Yummy! Best food so far, and S had his first Presidente (the local beer). Was good. The beach was tempting us back again as we sat
at a new bar, so we changed clothes again and went beaching together with our friends the lizards.

They are everywhere, there are 21 species of lizard on the island. At times they would blow up their throats at us, a sign that they felt threatened. We also saw 2 woodpeckers in the tree above us on the
beach, the island contains no less than 200 species of bird. The water was mad, waves washed in and we had so much fun. Lied in the sunbeds for more sun and drinks. I lost one of my earrings somewhere.

Went to the pool after that, watched a game of water-volley ball and the people walking around. Many different nationalities. Another quick trip to Caribbean Street to purchase some flip-flops for me, then we returned our towels in, and went back to the room once again, to make ourselves ready to explore the beach further on. Here we are attacked by this woman who desperately wants to braid our hair. We didn't have enough money on us, but S ran back to the hotel room to get more while 3
women braided my hair. We paid 20USD, about 140Kr. The women wanted desperately to braid S´s hair too, and kept removing his hat to look and feel, but the offers were flatly refused.

S then got pounced on by a man who wanted to sell him cigars..."costs nothing to look", and "I give you good price" of course. Another 20USD gone, but a nice box of Cuban Robustos and some extras in the bargain! Bargaining is the name of the game, he originally started the bidding at 35US just for the one box. Of course it's the story of him having sold nothing all day and not being able to pay his rent that really got the sale....do they think we were born yesterday? He did have a nice shop though, absolutely brimming with things, including cigars about a metre in length that'd take at least a week to smoke.

We decided not to think about the money so much on this trip, after all these prices are nothing compared to the real world. Went back to our room, a bit tired. Opened the balcony door to listen to the sound of tree frogs which sound like grasshoppers! Went to dinner after a couple of drinks in the bar. Yummy as always. Afterwards we watched some entertainers dance on stage. In this area, there are bars either side, so no matter where you sit, it's not far for a top up. As soon as the glass is empty, along comes
someone to take it away. After a while we headed off to the "Pacha" disco, just a few minutes walk. It was early, 10.30 or so, and we were the only ones there, but we sat down, drank and chatted to Algeni the barman. Some more people dropped in. The air-conditioning made it
really cold in there, so after some dancing to strange music (Kriss Kross, Fresh Prince in Bel Air song and New Kids on the Block)hmmm.., we went outside to warm up (yes, we went outside to warm up), before
returning to the hotel-room at around 11.30. We hadn't quite worked out the air-conditioning, so I went to get another blanket.

11th January 2004
Getting more colour

We woke up about 8.20 and had a shower and then off to breakfast again. Beach after that. I tried the yummy alcohol free drink "Mai Tai", made out of bananas, pineapple juice and passion fruit juice. Went
over to the Bachata hotel for a look around. Went up to the Gazebo first, situated right on the coastline with a stunning view, and also checked out the sports beach. Rested a bit in the room, and then back to
the beach again but not for too long. We spent 1/2 hour in the Internet Café to check emails. Eager to try one of the paddle boats we had seen earlier, we rushed back to the sports beach. The boat ride was fun and gave us wet bums, so we changed clothes and went to lunch. It surprised us with even more nice courses and I had to try the ice cream, while S tried some cake. There really was something about the ice cream....that just made you go mmmmmmmm! Went looking in the shops again after lunch and bought a necklace. Then we just couldn't stay away from the beach! Stayed for quite some time, then we decided to try what we thought was the Jacuzzi at the Bachata hotel, the water was quite cold, and there weren't actually too many bubbles so we didn't stay too long.

We watched a Merengue dance class by the side of the pool, then headed back to the hotel room. We checked if the snack bar was still open, but it had just closed. so we went to another bar called La Plaza for drinks and popcorn. We were quite tired at this point, so went back to the hotel room for an hours lie down before dinner. After dinner we danced to a band playing very nice songs, then headed to the Casino at the Bachata hotel. The casino was not at all big, with just a couple of roulette tables, one in Spanish, the other English. There
were also two blackjack tables and various slot machines. There was a bar in the corner, for which you had to pay for drinks, however there was no problem taking your drink in from the bar just outside the door which of course is free. There were no photos allowed, as with most casinos. S tried his luck at the roulette table, changing up 20USD for a handful of chips. There was no particular strategy, but betting 5 dollars on 1st 12, 2nd 12 and 3rd 12, altertately with the occasional gamble of 1 or 2 dollars on a single number or block seemed to slowly build up the chips. When it came to count up and cash up, he was 76 dollars the richer! I didn't have such good luck on the slot machines. Decided to leave happy, and in the black, and went to the bar just outside the casino. I ordered Leche (milk), and the barman didn't even know it was on the menu, obviously not a common order. S was buzzy for winning but we had to sleep.

12th January 2004
It's a rainy day

Woke up to rain. Nice warm summer rain though (although it's actually winter in Dominican Republic).

Went for breakfast. Afterwards, still raining so what do we do? We jump into the pool for a swim. Water was warm and so nice. S called the tour rep to arrange a meeting to collect tickets. We went back to change clothes before lunch, and watched some TV too. Lunch was great as always and next to us sat Richard Gere (OK not the real one). After lunch we sat by the pool again, watching the world go by, and the rain continue to pour down. Met Kristen from Coco-tours in the hotel lobby at 3.00, after some initial confusion in identifying one another. We'd already decided on which tours, and reserved dates in advance by email, so we received a 10% disount. We paid for all the tours and chatted a bit.

She's from Norway originally but has lived in the Dominican Republic for 11 years. She commented on the rain today and mentioned that she'd never seen a winter like it since she'd been on the island. Even though
it's been raining all day the temperature is still a respectable 25degrees C. We had a snack in the snack bar, spent some time lazing at the Hotel Mambo bar, then went for our tennis booking at 5pm. Tennis
was interesting, the rain poured down, and we aren't any Björn Borgs. The balls were so waterlogged they almost didn't bounce at all. Haha. We noticed that the court opposite was empty, obviously someone had sense and didn't bother turning up for their booking. We laughed so much, then came even worse rain, it was hard and heavy, so we stood under the shelter on a bench. When it calmed down and we'd had enough exercise we returned the raquets and balls to the reception.

I bought another necklace in the shape of a turtle. We then headed back to the room, where we watched the pool tournament on the TV. Went for dinner, where we met Tavares again who was back from his short break. Afterwards, we watched the entertainment and had a few drinks. It was
great. The two tallest men did a parody of Dirty Dancing, and there was some more dancing and a devil/angel sketch which put a smile on everyones face. We danced alone on stage before anyone else. We went to bed quite early because we had an early start for the trip in the morning.

13th January 2004
S´s horse sucked

Today we woke up to rain, typical as we were about to go to Jarabacoa, but after an early breakfast as we waited for the bus, the sun came out! Our guide was called "Jerry" and the driver "Paco". At first
Jerry began talking only in Spanish, leading us to believe that he spoke no English, but of course he

was joking and actually spoke fluent English. Jerry seemed to have a great sense of humour and made

us smile all the way. He also told us a lot about all the places we passed on the way and about the
Dominican Republic in general. Paco drove like mad even though Jerry said he was the best driver in the company. After seeing how the others drive, it could actually be true. We got to know a Canadian
couple on the way who were really friendly. First stop was the "La Aurora" cigar factory, which recently celebrated it's 100th anniversary. We saw people making cigars while smoking them, as they could
smoke as much as they wanted for free. Each workers target is to make 150 cigars per day, even with the distractions by hoards of visiting tourists. After some interesting facts about cigars, S bought a box
of Leon Jimenes No.3 in the shop, perhaps because he was now expert in cigars, but perhaps because they were one of the cheaper boxes. We had a free glass of Presidente beer. We then continued to the
next stop which was the "Monumento a los Heroes de la Restauracion", a huge 67 metre high marble monument in Santiago. This was erected in the 1940s under the dictator Trujillo as a monument to himself. Originally it was known as the "Trujillo peace monument". This was a brief stop for picture taking. From here we could also see a lot of the city of Santiago and the Cibao valley.

We continued on to our next destination, the waterfalls at Jarabacoa. When we arrived, there was a row of little boys, some as young as 8 or 9 perhaps, and each with a horse most of which did looked a bit tired. We all got a horse each (except the chickens who decided to go by jeep). We could have "helpers" if we wanted. I, who's never ridden before decided to have one, a little boy named Memos. This gave me the opportunity to try my basic Spanish I´d learnt especially for this trip. S on the other hand has ridden before (like once, 100 years ago) therefor didn't want a helper. This is probably why he ended up furthest back with a horse which either went to fast or too slow. To begin with it just didn't move, then once it woke up and saw the others in the distance, it began a gallop to catch up.

The horse ride lasted for about 20 minutes (S´s ride was longer), through countryside and over a river,it was then a short walk to the falls, being careful not to fall down the sheer drops along the way. The falls themselves were perhaps a little disappointing, and were very brown due to the huge amount of rain recently. A brave boy was hanging over the waterfall on some steel wires, doing acrobatics and stuff...they'll do anything for a tip here. After picture taking, we took the horses back along the same route, although more people decided to take the jeep back instead, sore bums maybe. I tipped Memos, and waited for S to arrive with his horse which had decided to take lunch and siesta on the way back. We had lunch at "Rancho Baiguate", which wasn't too bad although the selection was limited. We relaxed in the grounds spotting various wildlife and bought a few things (covered in spider webs) at the very reasonably priced gift shop. I bought lime-flavoured crisps made in the locally, turned out to be one of my
favourites after that. Also tried a red ice-lolly with raspberry flavour. Yum.

The next stop was the Ceramics factory where people didn't really seem to like tourists. We were guided around the various processes and learnt that the workers earn an extremely low amount of money per piece completed. Felt a little uneasy taking photos of people at work, but they didn't seem to mind too much. Bought some nice things in their giftshop, and then made the trip back to the hotel. We had good luck with the weather all the way, not even a hint of rain. Back at the hotel, I couldn't wait to jump in the pool, but I did at least change into swimming attire first. Later we changed into eveningwear, had a few drinks and watched the entertainment before going in for dinner. Tonight they gave every lady a rose on the way in. More drinks afterwards, Cecilio remembered my name, and S´s Spanish is improving around the bar. The rain started and we went to sleep.

14th January 2004
Brrrr....ain!

Yup, raining again. Went for breakfast. Frank greeted us at the door as always with a handshake. Went back to our room and phoned J. (My daughter) Miss her so much. Went to Caribbean Street to buy postcards and little thingies, and made another visit to the internet café, while the rain continued to poor down. The gardeners are still out even in weather like this, although they are wearing big waterproof cloaks. The hotels grounds are beautifully maintained, and each morning you see palms being relieved of loose nuts and leaves, so they don't fall onto peoples heads. The gardeners all carry large machetes around with them, and will cut the top off a coconut for you if you ask.

The staff are always busy, with maids cleaning rooms all day long, the drinks men speeding around on trucks delivering fresh stocks for the mini-bars, luggage porters giving rides to kids on their trolleys and so
on! Everyone you walk past says "Hola!", and of course you say "Hola!" back. The short minute or two walk from the room to the beach could result in 3 or 4 Holas!, each accompanied by a wonderful
Dominican smile. Today for lunch we chose the snack bar located by the swimming pool, called the Macumba, for a change. What could be more different than burgers?

After lunch we wanted to play pool again but the place was too busy. I changed up some more US money to Pesos while S "waited the queue" for pool. In the few days we've been here the Peso has dived further against the US dollar, meaning for us more spending money. For the locals however the continued depreciation of it's currency means even everyday purchases are sometimes out of their price range. It stopped raining
for a while. The pool hall was still busy so we went back to the room to write postcards. The evening arrived so we went for dinner then watched the entertainment again, where there was a "Cat theme".

We are starting to get a feel for the entertainment and the staff, they do work hard, and perform well although we long for a bit more variety sometimes. Went bed early again as we had another trip booked for the morning.

15th January 2004
Rest in peace Curtis

Today we were excited about our Outback Safari tour. Right after breakfast at around 8.30, our guide Ernie and Scooby (Driver) picked us up. We found out that all the other people on this tour were from Canada except us - well it made us seem more interesting perhaps. The weather was great and Ernie was a fun bloke, also very knowledgable showing us different plants along the way and talking about the area. We first got to visit a house of a Dominican family. This family weren't the poorest, nor did they have many luxuries. They are paid by the tour companies to have hoards of tourists march through their kitchen and living room for an hour each day. Hard to believe that 12 people shared this
house, although they seemed happy enough.

Dominican coffee was served to those who wanted it, then it was time to move on. After more alcoholic stimulant of course - the recommended drink being "Scooby Special". Basically this was a bottle of 7up, top off, pour out a bit, add some rum, mix it up a bit - very good though. The journey continued. Some of the roads we navigated could hardly be described as actual roads, they were downright ridiculous and had us falling about the truck at times, well we would have if it wasn't for the seat belts. God knows how the "barman", Ernie perched on the back
serving us drinks actually managed not to fall off. My hat blew off and Curtis, another passenger managed to catch it in the air for me, luckily! The school was next. Words can't describe how far from a western world school this was. Three classrooms, barely furnished, as well as an "open air" classroom, everything tatty and old, although as usual lots of happy smiling faces. This was a brief stop, so as not to cause major disruption to lesson time, but just enough time to take a few photos and say a few words to the children. We had brought some school supplies from home as we knew how desperate they are for them, simple things we take for granted, pencils and paper are very much
valued. I however felt very bad as it felt like a trip to the zoo, like "look at the poor children", and made me a little sick.

We move on to the next stop which is a local rum shack. After all the scooby specials, many are desperate for a toilet, and there are two here of sorts. It could have been worse, the doors might have had locks on them. The rum store sells Rum of course, and at a price one simply cannot resist - we buy a couple of bottles of Bermudez, produced locally in Santiago. It's not the "best" rum on the island, although it is apparently the oldest and it does make a good cuba libre. Oh, the price - just 90Pesos a bottle - less than 2US Dollars at the current exchange rate. For exactly the same price, you can also buy (and we did) 25 locally made cigars or a kilo of Dominican coffee. We also picked up a bottle of 75.5% Bermudez white rum too, referred to locally as Dominican Gasoline.

We move on again for lunch at a place full of wildlife. We meet a crocodile, turtles, iguanas, exotic birds etc. Lunch here is buffet style again, and we sit with the tour guides and have a bit of a chat and more drinks of course. We then walk through the gardens down to a river where we climb aboard a small boat. We wind through beautiful countryside while the guide explains in a humourous style all we see. We hand over our camera for him to take a photo, and it drops onto the bottom of the boat with a thud....fortunately it survives and he takes our picture. The river flows out into the Atlantic ocean and we end up on a beach where we got on the jeep for a short ride to the next beach for boogie boarding. Just then though, the man in the jeep, Curtis fell over next to me. At first we just thought he had fainted due to the heat and drink, we really weren't sure what was happening. When it became apparent it was not just fainting, the jeep rushed off to the hospital with him while we waited on the beach. All our belongings were on the jeep so we couldn't do much. An hour or so later, when it was time to leave, the guides announced that he had suffered a heart attack and passed away. We felt very sorry for his wife and their children and cried a bit. The trip back was very quiet, all of us thinking about what had happened.

16th January 2004
Laze around day

Today we didn't do much. Well some stuff. It was cloudy all day long, but luckily no rain (except for one shower). After breakfast we went picking sea shells on the sports beach, and found quite a few interesting ones. This beach seems to be the best for shells, with hardly any good ones to be found on our own hotel beach. Did quite a lot of shopping, both in the sports beach vendors shacks and in Caribbean Street. Shopping in the vendors shacks can be a very stressful experience. Everyone wants you to go into their shop, which would be fine if they'd just let you browse. However, as soon as you look at something, they'll pick it up and almost force it down your throat. Take the fish we looked at first, it was a bit tatty, we didn't really want it, but the shop owner just couldn't get the message. Another
ish we looked at we did end up buyng, but only after 5 minutes of haggling the price, threatening to leave the shop we got it for less than half the starting price. At one point we were told that the price we
suggested was less than he had paid for it - but the final price was even less than that. I think I did really well at haggling for some jewellery, normally I´m really chicken, again threatening not to buy
anything unless the shop owner agreed with my price.

Lunch today was Barbeque style by the pool. Yum! and huge Sangria! Frank sat down with us for a while and chatted a bit. Later we went over to the Bachata and we sat at the swim up bar for a while and had a drink, as well as trying the real jacuzzi which we found - more bubbles but still quite cold compared with the ocean. Later we took a paddle on one of the boats again, enjoying it a lot until it started raining, making us paddle to the shore again. The evening was similar to the previous evenings, with dressing up, dinner and watching the entertainment. We left early to be energetic for tomorrows Catamaran tour. We got stuck on the TV channel BBC America though, showing "The Office" plus numerous house, garden and antique programs.

17th January 2004
Catamaran Tour!!

Up early, breakfast first then off on the bus at 8.00 which was to take us to the Catamarans. Stopped by the Occidental Allegro hotels beach and there were 2 catamaran boats waiting for us, playing loud music. Going aboard the boat meant walking up to your hips in the sea, then climbing the ladder. The crew were very nice and helpful, although the water-fights later which came as a surprise meant we had to dive to cover our cameras. Some people were sick, and the crew ran around with buckets - nice job. We managed to keep our food to ourselves however.

The weather was sunny and beautiful all day, and we did a good deal of just lazing around while the gentle sea lapped around us. We arrived at Sosua, and it was now time for snorkelling. We could already see the colourful fish from the boat. The staff handed out the equipment and we were given a very quick demonstration and explanation, then off we went. We were a bit scared, but it was lovely warm water, about 10 feet deep and there were coloured fish everwhere.

Decided to have a photo taken of us two under the water feeding the fish with bananas. There was already a photographer in the water waiting for us. It took 4 or 5 attempts to get a photo of us as my mask kept filling with water, once it was adjusted though all was well. The photographer got a bit impatient with us, as he needed to photograph the other snorkellers too. The photos cost 15 dollars. or 530 pesos which worked out cheaper. We also had our underwater camera with us and we took some
photos. After a time, quite out of breath we swam back to the boat. Lunch was served buffet style, and they played 90's music such as "Mr Vain", "I like to move it", and some 70's stuff like "I will Survive"
and "It's raining men", as well as some reggae too. S had to try the rum punches which were free flowing, as well as a few beers, although didn't overdo it. The bar woman was rewinding tapes using a pencil.

Got more colour on the way back, and when we were going off we first had to take a smaller boat into the shore which almost tipped over a few times. The photographer was waiting for us with a handful of photos, we found ours and had a laugh at it. I look like I´m threatening the fish wwith the banana.

We took the bus back to the hotel, went back to the room and then to the snack bar for some pizza. We sat by the pool for a while, then back to the room. S helped me by taking out my beads and hair braids. It took absolutely ages, but the situation was eased with a few rum and cokes. We changed for dinner and off we went. Today Tavares wasn't working, and a "new" woman was in his place. The service was not comparable, plates were piling up on tables and refilling of our water glasses didn't happen. This was probably the only time service wasn't 5 star.

Afterwards we went to the bar and had a couple of drinks, while listening to the Merengue band which was nice, but we long for a
bit more variety at this point. Both tired, it's again time to sleep.

18th January 2004
Sunshine!

Lovely day today! Went to breakfast then straight down to the beach. The red flag was out, so not safe to swim though. Lazed and lazed around for some time but after a while we were both eager to do something else. We took our cameras with us and took a walk around the hotel Bachata and up to the Gazebo. We filmed a little and took some photos. This is an ideal place for photos, and the best place in the resort for sunsets, which we should have realised earlier in the holiday. The huge cacti of all shapes provide a wonderful foreground silhouette. We also explored the Merengue grounds a bit more, and found the wedding gazebo set in it's beautiful surroundings. As well as the numerous palm trees of all sorts, we also saw banana trees growing next to some of the hotel rooms. My camera card got full so we headed back to the room, but the cleaning lady was there so we took a longer walk.

The cleaners certainly spend a lot of time over cleaning each room. Quite often we'd come back to a towel sculpture in the shape of a swan, freshly picked flowers and all our toiletries neatly organized. We thought it was a bit much though when they neatly folded used underwear. We didn't meet one cleaner that spoke a word of English, which was a challenge when we tried to tell them not to bother with the room today. Some of the cleaners also looked extremely young, possibly school age, either that or they were just very small.

We decided to have lunch at the Bachata today, where we could sit outside. The dining room was brighter although the food on offer was very similar. I phoned my mum and then we went down to the beach again, looking for more interesting shells and corals. I wanted to swim but
the waves almost made it impossible. After dinner we played a couple of games of pool until "Donkey" came and closed the pool hall.

19th January 2004
Fluffy Things

Went to breakfast, lazed around on the beach. I bought another fluffy thingy (bathing ring) and we played a lot with them in the water, and also took some more underwater photos with the camera. We both had a massage on the beach, each costing 20USD for 30 minutes. The girls massaged from toes to ears and head, whilst you smelt fresh flowers and listened to tranquil music, very relaxing. We went up to the gazebo on the coast to take sunset pictures taking some food from the snack bar and a couple of drinks for a kind of picnic, and it was really beautiful. As their is much vegetation around, this area is also great for spotting butterflies, many really large and with beautiful colours, unlike anything we'd seen before. There are more than 150 species of butterfly on the island, including more than 40 which cannot be seen anywhere else in the world.

Went to dinner. We were expecting by now to have been offered goat, which is a common dish in the Dominican Republic, but didn't see any. We did however have rabbit today. Everything comes with rice and beans, something that the Dominicans eat each and every day.

Later in the evening we watched BBC America channel again, and of course went to the bar before retiring once more!

20th January 2004
Beach!

We were just on the beach the whole day! Looked for some sea-shells, saw cash in the attic. At this point in the holiday, S has probably drunk everything on the bar menu. Favourites include Sosua Cocktail, Dr Funk, Strawberry or Mango Daiquiri, but more often than not a Cuba Libre or Cerveza (beer) would be ordered. I needed to be a little more selective due to my allergies with just about every fruit under the sun. The Dominican Republic only exports 5% of the Rum that it produced, meaning they drink an awful lot of the stuff. There are three main Rum distilleries on the island; Brugal located in Puerto Plata itself, Bermudez, mentioned earlier and Barceló in the capital city Santo Domingo in the South of the island.

Tonight is also Karaoke night, we decide not to take part, but relax and "enjoy" this ancient Japanese tradition. Highlights were a very good Elvis soundalike, and a girl that couldn't really sing despite the neat vodkas she was downing in quick succession before each performance. Before toddling off to bed we asked reception for wake up call at 4.00am. Went to sleep really early tonight for going to Samana tomorrow.

21st January 2004
Humpback whales!

Woke up early! Reception telephonist did a wake up call for 4.00. Just time enough to get washed and dressed, before heading to reception to await bus pickup at 4.30. We tried to sleep on the bus but it wasn't easy as the roads were so bumpy and the driver was mad. Haha. The tour guide was picked up a little further in Sosua, where he lives. He was called Julio and kept talking all the way. He sounded very much like the Belgium tour guide in Trigger Happy TV who constantly describes "the windoze..." (apologies if you've not seen it - and if you haven´t, you must!). we had breakfast on the way in a remote restuarant. It was nothing compared with the hotel breakfast, but the coffee served as a good wakener up. Whilst we were there, the power went off twice. We passed fields of rice, cocoa, banana and coconut plantations and many half built houses. The houses are built as and when the land owners have spare money, so this can take literally years. We got to Samana at around 9am, the bus dropped us at the harbour where the Victoria II was waiting for us. On board was a crew, and Kim the onboard whale expert.

Off we went and it didn't take long before we saw whales tails and splashes from their backs. Now this is an experience! Saw travelling humpback whales too. We were a bit early in the season but still saw plenty. After a few hours we stopped off at the island of "Cayo Levantado". There we had lunch which was again buffet style, chicken, rice, fish and veg, plus a couple of drinks. We stuck to alcohol free ones.

After lunch we had about an hour to explore the island and it's beautiful beaches named "Bounty Beach" and "Bacardi Beach". Obviously adverts for these products were filmed here. Unfortunately the beauty of the island is somewhat spoilt by all the rubbish everywhere...and all the mad sellers who just jumped on you as soon as you set foot on the beach. They offer to climb a tree for you to take a photo of them - at a price, rent you a chair for a couple of dollars or sell you a huge sea-shell or weaved hat. There is a hotel on the island but it looked derelict and run-down. The boat returned to pick us up at 3.15, and we headed back to Samana harbour.

After glorious sunshine all day the heavens opened and everyone on the boat rushed to cover. Saw the most beautiful rainbow ever, and the end of it! Walked through puddles and onto the awaiting bus. We made a stop at a local shop on the way back to the hotel, where we stocked up on more rum, and other products. We were back at the hotel at around 8pm. We got ourselves ready for dinner, played pool again and got drunk..hehe. We participated in the Merengue show dance on stage which was really funny, before dragging ourselves off to bed.

22nd January 2004
Last full day!

OK, this was our last full day on this beautiful island, so what did we do? We slept in til 11am! Well it was a long day yesterday. Too late for breakfast, we had brunch in the snack bar instead. I got my hair braided again, this time with pink beads and in direct sunlight. Just so nice not having to care about my hair from beach to dinner - and mornings... Meanwhile S headed over to the sports beach in the hope of some more nice photos, but got slightly sidetracked by the "La Vieja" beach bar. We did some "last minute" shopping in the Caribbean Street, and lazed around on the beach some more. We walked up to the coastal gazebo later on to see the sunset before making ourselves ready for dinner for the last time of this holiday.

At dinner we met Frank and Tavares again. We tipped them both well as they had looked after us more than well during our stay. The local photographer took our photo. I thought I had lost an earring S had given her for Christmas, and went back to the restaurant and all over looking for it, turning the place upside down. Staff and guests looked without success. We played pool again, then went to the casino. I had my first go at roulette, S played too, but we both lost 20USD. I managed to last longer though after having some initial good luck earlier on. We headed back to the room, and found the "lost" earing.

23rd January 2004
Going home again

The day came when it was time to leave. S was up at sunrise, 7ish to take a final look along the beach for interesting finds. There were quite a few nice shells to be had, just before the staff started to rake up the beach. After breakfast, we did all the necessary bits like packing and stuff. Dropped off bags of things for the woman who did my hair. The bags were full of drinks, pencils, erasers and soap etc. We went to the photographers shop and found our photo that the photographer had taken the night before, it was quite nice so we bought it at a cost of 6 USD.

Back at reception we left our cases with them, and handed in the keys, paid the bill for telephone and laundry etc, thankfully not as much as S thought it would be. We saw a note instructing us that our plane would be delayed, so the bus would collect us 90 minutes later than planned. So we had some extra time on our hands! We decided the beach would be a good place to spend our last hours. Took some pictures. The weather was cooler and we had a last game of pool, and some final shopping, as well as a snack in the snack bar, a few last drinks in the bar and some last photo taking. The bus picked us up at 16.15, the planning was very good and we were informed about everything. The trip to the airport didn't take longer than 30 minutes with just a single stop at another hotel on the way. This time we had a more luxurious and larger bus, and the driver seemed extremely careful compared with any of the others.

At the airport we had plenty of time....about 3 hours. Couldn't quite understand the logic getting there so early, but it meant we had time to shop of course. Once our cases were checked in and we were through security we looked around the shops. The shop owners jumped on you here too, although not as much as the beach sellers. We bought a 1.75litre bottle of Absolut vodka for 20USD. It's strange as this is a Swedish made product. It gets exported to the Dominican Republic, and bought by Swedes who take it back again, and at the fraction of the price available in Sweden - silly really. We ate a few Dominican pasty type things, and drunk a beer brought from the hotel room mini-bar, but it wasn't nearly so nice being slightly warm.

With still plenty of time, and a further delay boarding the plane, we had a couple of Presidente beers at the airport bar, paying 3USD each for the pleasure, still they were cold. Shame the all inclusive doesn't
stretch as far as the airport. We were a little confused about departure tax. It should have been 20USD each, but saw no-one paying it and no-where to pay. Finally we board the plane, this time we have seats
next to each other.

The flight is overnight and very uncomfortable, and we managed to get no sleep at all. A evening meal was served being very salty, possibly a ploy to make you buy drinks which weren't included (except tea/coffee a bit later). Breakfast also came very quickly due to the time difference.
Films were Piglets big movie, How to Dump a guy in 10 days and Bruce Almighty. My mum and dad picked us up from the airport when we arrived, which was great particularly not having to worry about taking a further bus or train to get home. We were exhausted but happy to have made such
fascinating trip, and going there again soon, 4 years later!

Funny how I come across in this review as a bit of an alcoholic, but the truth is I hardly drink anything at home, vacation is vacation. :)