So, today is our last full day in the Dominican Republic. Yes, it is a sad day, but we plan to take full advantage of it. Becky and I wake up feeling refreshed after a wonderful evening with our friends Wendy and Pedro. We stay at Wendy's house in the apartment downstairs that she occasionally rents out. We wake up to the most amazing view that is off the private deck of our apartment. The view alone was worth staying at Wendy's place. At the same time I hope I don't miss an epic session today.
click for full panoramic view
Wendy's backyard is almost as impressive as the front!
Wendy's backyard
After joining Wendy for a fresh fruit breakfast (watermelon, papaya, mango and grapes all covered in a light sweet yogurt...amazing taste and very refreshing and re hydrating) we head downtown to pick up Pedro, so that he can help us wheel and deal for jewelry at the local pawn shop.
Wendy has been telling us about the pawn shop and how it is her new secret place to get jewelry at massive discounts. Needless to say Becky and I go hog wild. We end up spending about $100, and I imagine that US value would be somewhere around $500 or more for everything we purchased. So yes, an amazing deal.
After buying our jewelry, we make a quick stop and refuel Wendy's car for her as a thank you for driving us all around for two days. Becky gets some video out the car window of Puerto Plata on our way to the gas station.
Then, after gassing up, we head to Sosua where we plan to buy all the traditional Dominican items for gifts and for our own souvenirs. We plan to get some wood carvings and other handmade gifts there. Wendy knows a vendor who will not treat us like tourists, but instead give us the local price. We are stoked...and man isn't it so great to have local friends when in a foreign country!
We park in Sosua, which quite a cute little town nestled in the hills over looking Sosua beach and the bay. When we park we pay a street guy, which Wendy lets us know is a good thing, as he will sort of "watch over the car" while we are gone so that it doesn't get broken into or stolen. When we get out of the car we are visited by a family of locals.
local Sosua family greets us when we park
We decide that rather than rush to the Sosua market near the waterfront, that first we wanted to eat lunch and Wendy says she knows just the place to take us. When we get there we are welcomed by the most amazing view!!!!
click to enlarge view of Sosua bay and beach
Here is another picture of the same view only looking a bit more down towards the crystal clear, sky blue water.
Sosua bay has water that is unbelievably clear, it is also one of the top scuba and snorkeling destinations in the Caribbean.
We definitely did not miss the opportunity to get our picture taken with Wendy, who has acted the last two days as our awesome tour guide ;) She just plain and simple kicks ass! The food we have here is delicious, but the view makes it taste all that much better. Becky and I both know that we can not tell Sean about last night and today, because he will be sooo bummed that he didn't push himself last night and come with us even though he was spent!
Wendy, Becky and I smile for the camera overlooking Sosua bay
We take a little video of the view, water gleaming in the sun as if a thousand diamonds are sprinkled throughout the bay.
be sure to watch this in 720p HD quality for best view
After finishing our fantastic lunch, we decide to walk off our lunch by footing it over to Wendy's Sosua vendor friend. In the group picture above, the shop would be just inside the trees slightly over my left shoulder....so yeah, a decent little walk. I didn't get near as many pictures as I should have, as the market in Sosua is quite unique. Just 25 meters from the beach, underneath the trees in the shade. Very cool. Very touristy. Both Becky and I are very glad we have a local friend to help us get the good deals!
Becky and I do buy quite a few things from Wendy's friend. We get a few things for friends, as well as a Buddha mask for our kitchen wall, to go along with the current theme since Blaze brought us back a Hindi Buddha from her travels to St Thomas.
After shopping we head back to F10, were we say good bye to Wendy. Like I said, her and Pedro are such great people. We will miss them...although it is a small world...hopefully we will see them again someday. We do keep in touch through email, so that is one small thing that makes saying good bye to our good friend much easier.
When we get there Sean is just getting out of the pool. He let's us know he had a pretty uneventful evening and morning...lots of sleeping and resting up after such a long day at Playa Grande. He is bummed too when we tell him about getting to pick my own fish out the night before...even though he does agree that it was for the best that he stayed at F10 and slept.
While we are sitting there ,the boys that normally help Becky with her gear and assist her walking her kite back up wind, show up carrying a turtle they just caught across the street near a pond/slew. Poor guy...not only do they mess with him, getting him to bite sticks and things, but little does he know that tonight he will most likely end up as dinner for one of the kids family, after which they will polish the turtle shell and try to sell it for a tourist. (no, this is not an endangered sea turtle).
Sean changes his clothes and gets ready. There is no wind today, as it is slightly overcast, so instead we all decide to run into Cabarete one last time.
We catch the moto-taxis into town. Becky takes some video from behind the driver...I am piled on behind her. So, yes, there are 3 adults riding this one scooter.
Sean wants to get some souvenirs since he was not with us when we went to Sosua earlier today. Also, I had my eyes on a wood carving to bring back to my friend Bobby. I score it for about $20....which is great because they were asking for $100 for pieces like this all around Cabarete....but I can drive a hard bargain and had been working on this guy all week. I told him sell it to me for what I offer, or I go home without it in the morning and he won;t make the sale. He agrees but definitely keeps it on the down-low so no other potential customer hears what kind of deal I talked him into.
We then walk around a bit. Sean and I stage a shot for Becky of us standing in front of a cigar shop, which several times a week has someone rolling cigars by hand in the front window.
We decide to walk down to the beach to have ourselves one last meal and some drinks in Cabarete. We end up running into the two Boston brothers staying at F10, Jon and Steven Pasquino. They both arrived yesterday and are getting IKO certified. They work at Air Support on Cape Cod. I definitely want to go visit them and ride around Plymouth Rock!
We take a few pictures of the sunset and some group shots during our last evening in paradise.
Cabarete sunset...last night here
Sean, Becky, and I
Steven and Jon Pasquino from Air Support in Cape Cod
After getting a few pics, the five of us take a walk down the beach to find a good place to get some grub.
Cabarete water front filled with restaurants
We finally decide on a place that looks to have some decent food. All of us are hungry. Sean has his eyes on some pasta and Steven is crazing a decent burger. We all enjoyed ourselves chatting up about kiting, Cabarete, and the kiting conditions back home....we also down quite a few Cuba Libres, which always makes for some good pics!
After dinner we negotiate a moto ride back to F10, with a quick stop at the gas station to buy several pints of Ron Barcelo run....I think we brought back 5 pints and diet coke. Needless to say we get trashed, go swimming in the ocean in the dark, body surf in the shore break, and then swim in the pool. I end up being super smart in my drunken state and try to dive off the pool ladder. Yeah, real smart-like I almost put my face into the concrete side of the pool, narrowly missing the edge...I do however bang my knee. That is going to hurt in the morning.
Sean and I also have a cool hang session with Joseph, the Haitian caretaker of F10. It is so cool, because obviously I do not speak Creole, Joseph does not speak English.....and all of us speak only little bits of Spanish....yet we hang and have a wicked good time together. We slowly chat and are able to communicate. It is a magical evening....of which Sean agrees, the vacation was fun but it is experiences like this, sharing time with someone who we struggle to communicate with and yet somehow find a way to do just that.....that makes this trip super cool and memorable..... and yes, magical too!
Needless to say, I go to bed very drunk with plans to get up at 7am in order to pack and get to the airport by 11am.
To be continued..... tomorrow we leave but it isn't over yet!
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment