Anyone on Facebook probably knows we, the Panetti family, were just in the Dominican Republic. What a relief it was to get out of Haiti! I didn't realize just how desperate I was to leave until we were on the plane. As we flew over the border between Haiti and the DR, the difference was astounding. In Haiti, the deforestation is so extensive that from the plane we could see the dry brown skin on the earth. As we crossed to the other side of the island, there was a sudden explosion of green (not a literal explosion). We were in this little plane that sat about 20 people, and the whole time there was a horrific whining noise coming from the propellers. That combined with the turbulence had me clutching the seat in front of me with white knuckles.
We landed and took a cab to the other airport in Santo Domingo, where we got our rental car and drove to the hotel. It was so strange to drive around and not have to worry about losing a tire to a pothole or something.
My brother had flown into the other airport. He was already at the hotel and it was absolutely wonderful to see him. He was on his spring break from Gustavus, and we haven't seen him since Christmas, so you can imagine how excited we were.
Our first night in Santo Domingo, we walked around a bit outside (such a treat, since we can't do that here in Haiti!). The street we were on had some sort of fair going on, and later we discovered that embassy employees in the DR aren't supposed to walk on that particular street at night.
Whoops.
Tommy and I both had some Spanish training in high school, and it was odd to be able to finally use Spanish on purpose, when the last three months I've been using it accidentally. The next day as we walked about two miles to the colonial area, Tommy and I were both reviewing phrases and vocabulary words. At one point we stopped to admire a huge group of motorcyclists that were in the area for a rally. There must have been about a hundred leather clad men and women in one small parking lot, and the noise was unbelievable.
Here's some pictures of the colonial area:
The next day (or maybe it was the same day, I don't really remember), we met up with some other friends, the Bs. They're our neighbors in Haiti and happened to be in Santo Domingo at the same time we were. We went back to the colonial area at night, which was amazing. I love cities best at night, when everything is lit up.
On Monday morning, we piled in our rental car and set off for Punta Cana! It's more of a tourist area, and right on the water. We stayed in a condo that opened right onto the beach. Absolutely beautiful.
It was not to be.
When we returned to the mall the next day, we were driven in a golf cart to the hotel and given our free breakfast. Okay, we thought, this won't take too long. And then we were dragged on a tour that lasted a few hours, our guide showing us all the perks of the resort without telling us the actual price of the different "packages". Finally when we got to the actual presentation, it was about one o'clock and we were completely fed up. They did not take no for an answer, so finally we had to get kind of stern with the workers. It wasn't enough to tell them we wanted time to consider the deal (which involved a lot of money for several years worth of hotel usage), no, they wanted an answer RIGHTNOW.
For some reason, I found this whole situation absurdly stressful, and was so glad to get out of there. As a result of our cooperation (well, sort of), we were given "free" tickets to swim with dolphins at a park that afternoon (I say "free" because they weren't exactly free but that's beside the point). Tommy and I did in fact get to swim with two dolphins in a small pool, which was way cooler than I expected. I've never done anything like that before, and it was so amazing.
The next day was even cooler. We got picked up earlier in the morning by a truck that looked suspiciously like a tap-tap (only cleaner and a lot safer) and, along with about 15 other people, drove more than an hour up into the mountains to go horseback riding and zip lining. I used to ride English (jumping and dressage) so this was super exciting for me. At this particular place we rode Western style (longer stirrups and a horn on the saddle) but it was still wonderful. We were assigned horses by skill level, so I got one of the employee's horses, Gregorio (that was the horse, not the employee). We rode through acres of property to a tobacco plantation where we got to see cigars being rolled as well as other crops growing. After riding back, the people leading the ride asked if any of us wanted to gallop so of course I took them up on that. It was so wonderful to be able to ride again, I can't even tell you. They even had a "cattle run" which basically meant we drove the cows in a gigantic circle so we could see what it was like. Still amazing.
After we finished the ride, we were served lunch and then onto the zip lining! I've only done that a handful of times in my life and I adore it.
The next day (Friday) was not so perfect, but still passable. There was a guy who worked for our hotel/condo place, who wanted to set up a snorkeling trip for us. Sounds pretty legitimate, right? However, he assured us that there was a snorkeling trip open on Friday and that it was to a beautiful area that was great for snorkeling. We were a little hesitant to pay this guy in advance due to the extreme lack of reviews on the website (i.e. there were none), but we did anyway, so that was that. We were to be picked up at 6:30 Friday morning for a splendid snorkeling trip complete with lunch and drinks and dancing.
At 6:30 we trundled out of our room with our bags of towels and books and sunscreen. We waited for maybe half an hour before a white van (yes, Martin family, another sketchy white van story- for anyone else, see posts from last year in Paris!).
The driver told us that in fact, there was no snorkeling trip that day (to which we responded with various exclamations of dismay such as "what!" and "are you kidding me" or the ever useful "Damn that guy!"). The driver assured us that they were trying to "fit us in" with another group that was going snorkeling in a different area. Well, fine, we said and hopped in the white van. We drove. And drove. And drove. Finally, when I figured we were probably back in Haiti, he pulled off to the side of the road and directed us down a little alleyway that opened up on a harbor.
Exchanging suspicious looks, we went down to the harbor and sat on a wall while we waited. What were we waiting for? We had no clue. We just sat and sat and sat for about 45 minutes while our driver went off and - I'm not kidding - had a snack. We were all irritated to no end and about to give up when our driver returned with a bunch of other people and waved us onto a boat. It was not a very nice boat, but it held a lot of people and it stayed afloat, so I guess I can't complain about that.
The day went uphill from there. The boat ride out to the island was really nice, and the water was the most incredible navy blue.
We stopped in a shallower area to snorkel. This bit was difficult because it was windy, so the waves prevented us from keeping our faces in the water for too long, but it was still amazing. I saw some absolutely beautiful fish swimming close to the surface, almost close enough to touch. Black and white with yellow fins, silvery blue, green and black.
After snorkeling, the boat took us to the island where we were to have lunch etc. That part was okay- mostly we just lounged around on the beach and read until it started raining. We were taken back to our boat but then had to endure the hour long ride back to the harbor. My brother and I sat on the top of the boat in the rain, and watched the rather intoxicated Russian guy go up and down the stairs between levels of the boat.
We decided to head back to Santo Domingo Saturday afternoon, so we spent Saturday morning lounging around on the beach, which I am really good at. It took us about three hours to get back to Santo Domingo, so we were tired and ready to spend the rest of the night watching movies in our hotel room (Skyfall was just as good the fourth time around).
Sunday morning, we dropped Tommy off at one airport and then got transportation to the other. There we hit a snag. The airline my parents and I were taking back to Haiti didn't have any way to check in before getting to the airport, so when we arrived there, Dad went to the desk.
"We have three tickets for the 4:00 flight back to Port-au-Prince."
The guy at the counter just blinked.
"That flight is full."
Ugh. Eventually, after much hedging and hemming and hawing by The Guy At The Counter, we discovered that there was one seat left on the flight we were supposed to be on. Frustrated and on the verge of tears (me) Mom and I elected to stay in Santo Domingo one more night so Dad could get home to work. We were all pissed off at the airline, but there was nothing we could do. Mom and I got a taxi back and stayed in a nice-ish hotel room. It ended up being okay, since she and I had a nice girl's night, complete with pedicures and movies. Luckily the next day, we got home without too much trouble.
So here I am again, back in Haiti. I never thought I would be glad to be back here but I am! This is my third home in a year and while it's not perfect, it does the trick.
Well that's all for now. S'laters! Thanks for reading.
Nice post Sophie,
ReplyDeleteThere is a song for everything you know. And I think for your overbooked return flight...Jimmy Buffett's classic island story "No Plane on Sunday"