On the flight home

Caro was up early and went for a run on the streets of the area.

After another nice breakfast we lazed around at the beach for a short while (well actually Roger was on the beach and Caro was enjoying the ocean one more time).

We had our stuff all packed and were ready for pickup at 11:40 AM. It must have driven Caro nuts to miss the Zumba class!

As I write this we are half way between Puerto Plata and Toronto. Sitting beside me is a retired teacher. She and her husband have just finished 5 months in Dominican Republic (near Cabarete) utilizing a rented condo they found on VRBO. We picked her brain for information on staying away from Canada for that length of time (away from family, cost of living etc.) It was interesting to hear her thoughts ( and I double checked my spelling just in case she reads the blog )

Our last night at the Gran Ventana

Last night we enjoyed a buffet meal followed by enjoying the beach area at night. Very nice.

Today we spent ALL day on the beach. Caro and several beach vendors selling pedicures overwhelmed me with negative comments about my toenails (who knew slightly long, straight cut nails were not in style?). I succumbed to this negativity by paying a lady to cut my nails "the right way"-see photo below

We both feel that is time to head home. We have enjoyed the resort (the food is awesome) but there isn't enough to do close by like in Playa del Carmen or Puerto Vallarta.

The resort is very busy and everyone is really enjoying themselves. A great place!

She who must be obeyed😁

Test

Having troubles with cell phone camera. This is a photo from last night. 

Sosua

On the taxi ride

An interesting taxi ride

Last night's supper was a bust. We went to our last "a la carte" restaurant which had a seafood menu. The menu which was quite short on seafood items looked like it had some awesome fish which were ordered. The first bite of my fish told me it had been cooked in a TON of butter. YUCK!!!!  The staff graciously cooked me another fish using oil so that was very nice of them. The service was wonderful but this turned out to be our least favourite (and that includes Caro ). My favourite restaurant was the Italian and Caro's was the Caribbean.

Today we decided to take a cab to the town of Sosua and because the taxi drivers here at the hotel seemed too pushy we went down the street to the next hotel and met Romeo who would take us in his cab.

The ride got interesting when we hit a traffic jam caused by construction in a small town. We were on a 2 lane road with meter wide shoulders. At one point we were three cars wide in our direction (and not moving) with a very tiny lane reserved for the opposite direction IF they used their shoulder and sometimes dropped a tire into the ditch. That didn't stop some people driving in our direction in using  the opposites direction ditch.(seriously). Motorbikes (and there are many) drove where ever they wanted to including the ditches. We went maybe 1 kilometre in that hour. After making it through that mess we toured Sousa ,stopped at their well known beach, continued driving around seeing sights and getting information from Romeo. All in all it turned out to be great but a bit more expensive than I thought it would be but I thought worth the money as compared to taking an organized tour.

This afternoon is cloudy and as usual we are on the beach under a palapa.

Monday afternoon

Last night we had a great supper at the Italian restaurant. Unfortunately we could only get an 8:30 PM reservation so we found the meal sat heavy in our stomachs in the night. The food was great. I had penne and Caro had kind of fancy pork (done in Italian style of course!).

This morning we went for a walk around the Playa Dorado gated community ( which includes our hotel). The golf course was wonderfully manicured (with practically no one using it).The walk was nice until we got outside the gates at the highway where the traffic noise was too loud for us to have much of a  conversation. The photo posted earlier was taken while on the walk.

Back to the hotel we went and at the beach  I found beach loungers available and I placed them under some awesome shade trees while​ Caro did pool Zumba!

We spend most of the afternoon at the beach but have now come up to the pool because of the high winds beside the ocean.

The temperatures are perfect for us; 25-26 degrees and partly cloudy. Gorgeous! The rain appears to be gone and the beach has been cleaned. The drunk obnoxious students went home this morning (oops I accidentally had BOLD on) so perhaps things will be a bit nicer now. As always we are having a great time.

On a monday morning walk

Sunday afternoon

Last night we had a great Caribbean food supper at the "Octopus" restaurant. We were stuffed when we left and because we had had a late supper time (8:30 PM) there was not much time left in the evening before we were asleep. Note to self. I "may" be a bit fatter by the time I get home.

This morning Caro was up at the crack of 8 and immediately went out for a 5 k run. I did not! Upon her return we had another scrumptious breakie and then a long walk on the beaches here. By now it was time for beach zumba which Caro immediately "had" to join. I choose instead to reposition our beach loungers under the palapa and went to get Caro an icy drink which I knew she would be love when she got back. While I was getting her the drink (I am such a thoughtful guy) I decided to get one (two) for me. Shortly after her return to the beach lounger she mentioned her legs were a little sore.  Hmmm; I'm not sure why!

Most of the afternoon was spent at the beach. We have just moved to the swimming pool area. Our supper tonight is at the ltalian restaurant but is a late reservation gain. Oh well,we will just have to kill time at the pool. Tough life!

A great day again!

Where we were yesterday

I want to sail on these

What the pool looks like in sunshine

Our courtyard

Saturday photo

Photo of beach on Saturday

Saturday

After a crappy night listening to drunken 20 year olds swear and scream until after 1:30 it finally quieted down.

After a wonderful breakfast we decided to head into town. The taxis were very expensive ($15US each way) so we decided to get a gua-gua bus ( these VW style vans travel with side door open and people pile in until no room is available;but they are cheap: about $1 each)
As we walked out of the gated community  to the highway an official tour guide saw us so we hired him to give us a city tour. Julien was great! We hopped on a gua-gua with him and went downtown where he gave us a walking tour. Neat place with a long history (Columbus came here). Afterwards we walked several kilometres to the cable car. For $10 Can we went up the mountain and Julien gave us a tour of the botanical gardens. Extremely pretty. As we were leaving the cable car Julien got us a deal on a taxi ride back to the hotel(about $7 US). We gave Julien about $40Can for his wonderful service and are now at the beach enjoying sunshine! Tonight we are eating at the Caribbean restaurant a la carte. Should be good!

Friday night

A very rainy day in paradise.

This morning we went to the beach. A short time later I noticed that there were only two people swimming in the ocean for about a kilometre in each direction; me and "she who must be obeyed". Yes my darling wanted to go swimming when "nobody else" even considered it. Sigh...the things I have to do!

Between numerous heavy downpours we managed to walk to a nearby tourist mall, enjoy a drink or two in the swimming pool swim up bar, book our "al la carte" restaurants for the next few days and go back to the beach to sit under a palapa. I fell asleep there for a while.Nice!! I have also enjoyed catching up on the latest news via my upgraded internet (again, thank you kids for the gift  money I bought this with).

I hadn't noticed last night but the pillows and duvet stunk. We asked for new ones and are very pleased with the quick efficient response.

Great food in the buffet restaurant again today.

Friday night

A very rainy day in paradise.

This morning we went to the beach. A short time later I noticed that there were only two people swimming in the ocean for about a kilometre in each direction; me and "she who must be obeyed". Yes my darling wanted to go swimming when "nobody else" even considered it. Sigh...the things I have to do!

Between numerous heavy downpours we managed to walk to a nearby tourist mall, enjoy a drink or two in the swimming pool swim up bar, book our "al la carte" restaurants for the next few days and go back to the beach to sit under a palapa. I fell asleep there for a while.Nice!! I have also enjoyed catching up on the latest news via my upgraded internet (again, thank you kids for the gift  money I bought this with).

I hadn't noticed last night but the pillows and duvet stunk. We asked for new ones and are very pleased with the quick efficient response.

Great food in the buffet restaurant again today.

A photo from room

Just behind the wedding gazebo is a white fence that defines the edge of the beach

The area where the restaurant is

...Just to the left of the previous photo

A photo upload attempt

Internet issues!Arggh!!

I had a long post I wrote last night that I made the mistake of trying to add a photo to. It wouldn't upload even though I paid $US 35 for premium internet (thanks kids-this is using some of the money you have given me for travel) and I couldn't delete the photo from the post so this is a partial rewrite.

Last night I was so tired after only about 2 hours of sleep that I couldn't stay awake past 8 P M local time (6 at home) so i crashed heavy.

The resort is nice and the people are friendly. The food has been awesome so far. The room is perfect for us. 

There are lots of nationalities here but so far I think Canadians dominate. There were 2 other Canadian planes at the airport when we landed and only 1 American.

The weather (except for a few hours yesterday) has been gross with pouring rain however on a good note it is warm!

Caro is at the gym and I am in the entertainment theatre ( with a couple hundred people all using internet) as there isn't much else to do right now.

We are having a good time even though mother nature has decided to "bless us" with less than ideal weather.

First morning

Now last night was a good sleep!  Eleven hours of bliss! It  was raining all night and is pouring this morning. Caro is getting occasional internet on her iPad but I haven't been able to connect to send out any updates.

We are sitting in the buffet room enjoying breakfast watching people scurry back and forth through the monsoon. Too funny!

Dominican Republic

Another adventure has begun. We are presently at Toronto International after the red eye from Edmonton. We both slept extremely poorly on our full WestJet flight. Next stop Puerto Plata and the VH Gran Ventana  hotel for an all inclusive week. Country number 31!