Thanks to Tanya, Bob and our new friend Ray, we won at trivia night! Our next drink is on the house! Great end to a great day!
Waterfall
Trip to the waterfall.
Today, several of us hired a van to go to the waterfall. We had an amazing time hiking to the top and sliding down the falls. There are 27 falls and you choose whether to climb and go down all 27 or you can just do 12 or seven. Tanya, me and one other member of the group did all 27. The hike up was about 45 minutes to an hour and the trip down was about two hours. Our tour guide, Felix, did an excellent job narrating important details the entire way up and down! After you reach the bottom, they have a wonderful buffet lunch! All these pictures were taken with my gopro so they’re not that good. You can click on the pictures for a larger view.
After you pay, they fit you in a life jacket and helmet:
Then you start the trek up:
Up to and across the suspension bridge:
It has rained off and on for a couple of days so the hike was very muddy:
Up the stairs:
Across the stream:
More stairs:
Until you reach the top!
Beautiful view through the canopy:
Getting ready for the first jump:
I’m ready:
Maybe I’m not ready:
No turning back:
Next:
Shower down the rock face:
Next fall:
River:
Tanya ready to launch again:
Launch:
Sun through the trees:
What a great time!
Trivia night at JR’s tonight. We have to redeem ourselves.
Puerto Plata
Trip to Puerto Plata.
We had a decent trip to Puerto Plata yesterday in spite of the rain. Our first stop was the Brugal Rum factory where they do not allow pictures…something about national security. Then on to an amber museum which turned out to be a tour through a gift shop and not really the official amber museum. Still pretty nice. Then on to the city center where we ate a questionable meal, moved down to an ice cream shop and had an excellent “postre” (dessert). Then we just walked around the city center dodging everyone with their hand out, walked through a church and several shops. On the way home we stopped at a small roadside cheese store and bought some awesome cheese. Dinner back on the boat was cheese fried in olive oil and garlic with sliced fresh tomato and bread! Oh, and Presidente and wine also! Mmmmm.
The only place your allowed to take pictures at the rum factory:
Amber museum:
Cutting and polishing:
Puerto Plata:
City Hall:
Independence Square:
Llego’
We’re still here in the Dominican Republic.
Yesterday we hired a car to go pick up Tanya’s father at the airport in Puerto Plata. Despite our insistence that we had plenty of time, the driver raced across the countryside getting us to the airport in what we believe maybe record time. Once we arrived we had two hours to kill so we went upstairs to the café, had cheeseburgers and papas fritas, used the free wifi, got more pesos, and waited in the air conditioning. Once Bob arrived we jumped back into the car and raced back to Luperon…setting another land speed record. Despacio, Despacio!
Off to Puerto Plata:
Random shots of the DR countryside. Can we stop? “No No.” I’m surprised they came out considering how fast we were going:
Puerto Plata Airport, very clean and very open-air. On our way to the café I had to take a picture of these ceiling fans, they are at least 30 feet across and wow, they can move some air!
After lunch we went to “Llegadas” and waited for Tanya’s father:
Bob llego’:
Back through Puerto Plata:
DR countryside:
Bob brought some goodies including a new VHF antenna and our mail! Thanks for the Christmas cards!!!
Today was kind of rainy so we just walked around town. We had a really nice lunch at D’ La France where we ate pizza, salads and chicken, very French! After a great lunch we headed to the market for some fresh carrots and bananas, then stopped at “Wendy’s” to see what is playing for movie tonight, then headed back to Dea Latis for siesta!
I think we’re going in to watch True Grit, have some Presidentes and eat a hot dog or two!
Categories: Cruising, Destinations, General
Comments Off on Llego’
TCI to DR
Turks and Caicos to the Dominican Republic.
We are here in Luperon DR having a fantastic time! The DR is a developing country, it’s still inexpensive, and it is really beautiful. We have barely scratched the surface, next week we will venture out past the town of Luperon and see the country. We will take pictures this stop! Sunday we are heading to Puerto Plata to pick up Tanya’s Father. In the mean time we are slowly learning Spanish, fixing up the boat, and taking life easy. The people in Luperon are really friendly, everyone smiles, and many people have gone out of their way to help us and they ask nothing in return. Genuinely nice people!
To continue the journey… We left Provo, Turks and Caicos, crossed the banks and anchored between Ambergris Cays for the night. The next morning we pulled up anchor, headed north then east across the Turks Channel to Big Sand Cay, our staging point for the trip south to DR. Big Sand is a wildlife preserve. We wanted to go ashore but there were five to six foot swells that ran all the way to the shore making a dinghy landing impossible. Pretty though:
Caught a Mahi, it did NOT get away:
After a very nice crossing the sun came up, giving us our first sight of the North coast of Hispaniola!! The place is breathtaking, very different from The Bahamas!
We came in, plowed into a sandbar, backed off, and dropped anchor in Luperon Harbor:
“Papo” came along side us in his panga, gave us an introduction, and 45 minutes later came back with all the Dominican officials. They climbed aboard Dea Latis, asked if they should remove their shoes, had us fill out a few forms, searched the boat and gave us instructions for completing the arrival process. The Navy Comandante looked very squared away so I chatted him up about my time in the Marine Corps. It was nice to have a little connection and break the ice. After I showed him a picture of us at a Marine Corps Ball he looked at me very seriously and asked if I had guns on board! NOPE! After they left we replace the Q flag with the flag of the Dominican Republic:
There has been very little wind lately, and it’s hot! Not complaining!
Later we took the dinghy in to complete our check in. Government dock:
Dinghy dock down there somewhere:
Walked in to the government offices:
Then being tired, hot and un-thrilled about cooking, we found “Wendy’s” which is the cruiser hangout. We looked at the map, Wendy’s? They have a Wendy’s in Luperon…? No they don’t, it’s just Wendy’s. Always a good starting point:
I hate for this topic to be the focal point but I like beer. The beer is very good pilsner and they’re huge, 650ml or a bit smaller than a bottle of wine. In the store they are $1.75, in a restaurant they are two bucks, either way it’s awesome! We have also found some great wine here too!
After a delicious loaded pizza and a couple of frosty Presidentes we headed back to Dea Latis to watch the sunset over the mountains:
We are knocking out some boat chores while we wait for Tanya’s father to arrive. We have been without a boarding ladder…forever. I tried numerous times to get our welding done in the states and elsewhere but it was always delayed or too expensive. One of the first shops in town is a welding shop! Cuanto Cuesta weld these together for me? Ten minutes and 500 pesos (about $11) later our welding was done! They did a beautiful job, PERFECTO!!
Now we have a boarding ladder!
Hair, it has been months and it’s driving me crazy:
Found a beauty salon. This nice lady cut my hair for just over three dollars::
Went to the market. Everything is field-to-market fresh here. Head of lettuce, two tomatoes, and a huge cucumber for 68 pesos or about a buck fifty. In order to keep bugs out we wash them in a light bleach solution:
We went to Puerto Blanco Marina the next night for a great meal of chicken, rice, and salad. Muy delicioso!
Karaoke night at “Wendy’s”:
One of the local fishermen landed this billfish, in that little boat at the dock:
It went straight to the fish market up the street:
It is hot here so we put up our sun shade, it makes a big difference down below:
That’s it for now. Once Tanya’s father gets here we will break out and see the countryside. Pictures to follow.