Home Dominican Republic 2/17/2008
To start with: We LOVE the Dominican Republic. Its much
different from anything weve seen so far.
We sailed from Ambergris Cay in the Turks and Caicos directly to
Luperon in roughly 24 hours with moderate sea conditions. Along the way,
we joined back up with 7 other boats all crossing from South Caicos. We
talked via VHF about whale sightings, collision courses with cruise ships, and
pictures we snapped of each other during the trip. As the sun rose in the
morning of our landfall in the DR we were very happy to see the majestic
mountains and misty bay of Luperon. The night was sleepless, and the
pre-dawn hours were squally making us wet and cold. After dropping anchor
we went right to sleep until being awakened by the Commondante!
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| After finishing a lengthy immigration process and catching some
shut eye, it was time to meet up for Presidente at a local hang out in Luperon.
Friends: Rick and Sue from Allergic to Cities, Jake and Carol from Offline
and Richard and Laila from Nebula. |
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Windfreak safely at anchor in Luperon harbour. |
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David's new job, a rum taster at the Brugal distillery in Puerto Plata.
David: "I have been to the top of the mountain. And it is good." |
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Picture perfect from fort San Felipe in Puerta Plata. It is the oldest
European fort in the New World. |
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During our visit to Puerto Plata, we visited an Amber museum, which was also
a cigar factory. Here Vicky tried her first and last cigar!! Yuk! |
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What a bunch of crazy gringos!!! |
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| The picture speaks for itself! :) |
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Hiking up the river on the "Waterfall Tour" which had shoots, jumps, and
swimming. |
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Most of the group that sailed together from the Caicos. Not a frown
seen here! We had a blast. |
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| We climbed to the top of the 7th waterfall here. What goes
up, must come down. Here David gives Vicky a kiss just in case the rapids
are too rough. ;) |
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David gets back to his roots of swimming at the creek and swinging on the
rope-swing at Wildcat in Aubrey, Texas. |
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Vicky daring to conquer the mountain. |
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Vicky on the bucking Brahma bull. The "Waterfall Tour" included a trip
to see the bull which is on a ranch owned by the Brugal family. We have
grown to enjoy drinking Brugal Anejo, which sells here for about $7 for a 1
liter bottle. |
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A cock fight with boxing gloves. No chickens were hurt in the filming
of this cock fight. But there is a real cock fight, to the death, every
Friday evening in Luperon at the arena. |
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| The Botanical Garden tour was just too much for David. :)
David: "Now I have reached my full potential." |
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On the way to catch the bus from Imbert to Santo Domingo, our 8 seater guagua
got a flat tire. Either the driver had been pit crew at the Indy 500 or a flat
tire is a frequent event around here... Before we knew it, the tire was changed
and we were back on our way to Imbert. However, before we made it to Imbert,
the 8 seater guagua turned into an 18 seater guagua. Getting to know the locals
up close and personal!! :) |
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David was a bad boy and had to sit on the floor all the way from Santiago to
Santo Domingo. :) |
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