We left San Juan around 9am on Sunday and caught our flight to Santo Domingo, the capital of the Dominican Republic. Once we landed we jumped in our van and drove three and half hours to a little surf town on the north side of the island called Cabarete.
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| All aboard... |
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| Jet-setter Garrett |
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| Our driver Joselito |
The drive to Cabarete took us right through the middle of
the island so we saw a lot of the forest areas as well as a lot of their agricultural lands - they
grow rice and coconuts. We also witnessed
numerous villages and towns, which we must say, were so third world it was
tough to look at. There were shacks
along the street, trash littered everywhere, kids running around without shoes and a lot of the would-be business
structures looked abandoned. Scooters
and motorcycles are the main mode of transportation in the DR and in some cases
they get three or four people including infants on a scooter.
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| It was a three-hour tour... |
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| We passed a few palm tree fields with the frawns chopped off |
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| Rice fields in the middle of the Dominican |
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| There were plenty of beautiful scenic views along the drive |
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| Although a few of the towns were rough, the landscape was gorgeous |
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| We stopped for lunch at Cafe de Paris in Rio San Juan |
We arrived in Cabarete around 6pm and our assumption after
seeing some of the other towns was that we were in for a rough couple of days. To our surprise, Cabarete is a lot more
developed and has a large tourist business.
Unlike the other locations where we stayed in hotels, in Cabarete we
rented a condo on the beach so we had prime real estate.
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| Our Cabarete condo, walking distance to the beach, restaurants and bars |
After we unpacked, we headed out to get something to eat and
check out the scene. The town is one main road with restaurants,
shops, hotels and condo complexes all with entrances on both the street side
and beach side. Walking along the beach
side was fantastic because there’s about 10 restaurants all side-by-side with
gorgeous ocean views and fun, comfortable beach-side dining.
We started with a drink at LAX and then moved onto dinner at
LA CASITA DE DON ALFREDO, aka Chez Papy, because it was the most packed of the bunch. Since it’s the offseason and we got into town
on a Sunday, the town was pretty quiet.
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| We started with a few appetizers and drinks at LAX |
Chez Papy did not disappoint. We had delicious ceviche to start followed by massive platters of langostina (mini lobsters) and camrones (shrimp) smothered in their special "Papi" sauce, delicious!
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| Bebidas at La Casita de Don Alfredo |
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| "Me gusta tocar la guitarra, me gusta tomar el sol" |
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| Langostinas a la papi |
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| Boom! |
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| After the massive feast, it was time for a siesta |
For after dinner drinks we settled on
JOSE O’SHEA’S – great name
– and hung there for the evening meeting the locals and making friends.
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| Matt and Mery sitting in a tree... |
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| What should we order next... |
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| By the end of the night we were all close friends |
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| Mas amigas - Summer, Mery and Cherish |
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| Lauren enjoyed her coconut juice |
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| Lauren making friends with stray dogs - we had four or five dogs following us by the end of the night |
We closed O’shea’s down around 2am and headed back down the
beach to our condo. Day 12 is another
beach day, our final one of the trip because Santo Domingo is mostly site
seeing and city life.
I know I've said it before, but "thank you so much for letting us feel like we are experiencing your vacation with you. Once again, it has been tons of fun!"
ReplyDeleteGreg's 91 year old grandmother is having the best time reading your posts. Also, she was an English major and often criticizes people's writing ability. She is sooooo impressed with these.
ReplyDeleteThat mo guy and that Garrett guy obviously are lovers why hide it in the open like this. Just be open. I promise no one in your lives will be surprised. I'm sure they all know it if it's this clear on a blog.
ReplyDelete