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The Dominican Republic – Part 1

A post from Mark

Hi all,

Greetings from sunny Puerto Rico. As the girls and Julie have written, we had a great time in the Dominican Republic. Over the next few posts, I’ll do my best to give my impression of this great place, its people, the culture, the cuisine, and our adventures.
In this post, I’ll focus on the people…
We’ve met some really friendly people on this trip – many, many more genuinely nice people than not so friendly ones. That being said, I can say without a doubt that the Dominicans are the nicest, most genuine, and truly friendly people I have ever met. Every storekeeper, restaurant owner, and person walking down the street was smiling, greeted us with a ‘hola, hola’, helped us with our broken Spanish, and seemed to be in a good mood. Now, I’m aware that some of the ‘niceness’ may be attributed to the fact that the cruising community is a major contributor to the Luperon economy – but this is different. The folks we met weren’t just nice to us and other gringos – they were nice to everybody. It was great – and really put a smile on my face when I walked around town. It’s easy to understand why many people come to Luperon planning to spend a few weeks and end up staying for years (seriously… we met several people who did just that).
One example was Jose – our tour guide for our ventures around the island. Again – being a tour-guide and local politician, I’d expect Jose to be a ‘nice guy’ – but he is more than just a ‘nice guy’. Wherever we went, everybody loved Jose – and it was because that he wasn’t just a nice guy, but because we would take the time listen to everybody, and (as we later found out), speds a lot of time and money helping out the less fortunate folks in and around town.

Jose and the girls out toothbrushes that the girls collected before leaving the US (thank you to all who donated)
We also made friends with Isaac – the owner of the marina where we did some work on our boat- and his family.

We ended up having dinner with him one night and went to his house the following day so that Sally and his daughter Elena could make brownies.

Sally and Elena
I enjoyed getting to know Pedro – the guy with the best English at the hardware store who helped me find a a screw extractor and a few other things not in my Spanish / English dictionary. I even felt a bit of a connection with the owner / chef of the chicken shack where we had 2 fantastic lunches (more on that in my ‘food’ post). In Luperon, even the most transactional relationships like buying tools or a plate of fried chicken became personal – and that was great.
Other than locals, we ran in to a lot of cruisers. Unlike the Dominicans – who were universally awesome – the cruisers are a mixed bunch…. Most are great – lots of interesting folks who have chosen for one reason or another to leave the comfort of ‘normal’ life and take to the seas. Too many stories to tell – but many are pretty similar to ours– especially the ‘younger folks (and in this crowd, we’re still young)’.  There is a definatetheme of ‘life’s too short to not follow your dreams NOW’.  We’ve made lots of great friends along the way – and Luperon was no exception.
While most of the cruisers were great – a handful were downright grumpy – and while they didn’t ‘ruin’ the place, they sure did take a bit of the ’shine’ off it. Just about all of the grumpy folks were people who had stayed there for too long – and were all Americans (read into that whatever you want…). Seems as if they brought a sense of entitlement south with them – its not very attractive…. Oh well – it made leaving a bit easier (but still difficult – as I really enjoyed Luperon).
I really hope that some of the genuine niceness of the Dominican people has rubbed off on me.
Until next time,
Mark
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A Tale of Two Cities

 

A post by Mark

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.  I think that was from a Tale of Two Cities (at least that’s what the Cliffs Notes say- which I’m pretty sure is the only way I muddled through that one in high school).

Anyway – it is a good way to describe our time in Staniel Cay – which was close to 2  month ago – but I’m just now able to write about it.  While we had some great experiences there, we also had our worst experience of our trip (no need to worry – we’re good and were never in any danger or anything like that).  So – here’s a summary of our Staniel Cay experience:

We arrived on a beautiful afternoon where we sailed (mostly motored) on the ‘outside’  – on the Atlantic Ocean side of the Exuma islands (vs the shallow Exuma sound side).  Most of the time, we traveled on the Sound side – as it was always calmer weather – both wind and waves, but that day, we decided to go outside – as that is where you can catch fish as you sail.  If you listen to the stories that most of the other boats were telling us, you would think that the fish would just be waiting to hop into our boat and all but filet themselves wanting to become dinner.  That has not been our experience, and as per usual, the catch of the day that night was rice and beans.  Oh well.  It was a pretty sailin the ocean, and while there was a ton of current in the cut and around some small reefs and islands leading to the anchorage, everything went smoothly.  The anchorage was a bit crowded, but we were able to find a spot, get settled, and had a good night.

Staniel Cay is known for two main things – the swimming pigs and the Thunderball Grotto.

The next morning, we decided to see the swimming pigs. Here’s the deal… As the story goes, a handful of pigs got loose on Big Major Cay (right next door from Staniel Cay) and have been living there ever since.  They have now been conditioned to swim out to tourists to get food / snacks.  Here are some pics of swimming pigs.


We went early – before the ‘tourists’ – and had a good time.  We pet some of the piglets, and had fun hanging out with them.

So – to the bad part…. There are multiple signs that warn folks who want to feed the pigs to either do it in the water or to put the food in the troughs for the pigs to eat – but not to feed them by hand on land.  A group of folks either ignored, couldn’t understand (as they were only written in English), or didn’t see the warnings and started to feed the pigs on the beach.  This started a stampede of pigs of all sizes – and at the end, a baby piglet (probably less than a week old) gottrampled by a huge hog. Without going into a lot of details, it was really hard to witness this little pig die.  It hit us all really hard – harder than I would have thought it would.  The next few hours were awful.  While we all pretended that we were OK – we weren’t.  We had the worst series of arguments, shouting matches, and yelling at each other we’ve ever had. It was truly awful. After about 3 or 4 hours of this, we finally had a breakthrough.  We finally realized that we were not just sad, but really mad that somebody’s carelessness caused this senseless suffering.  Once we got it out in the open – we started to feel a bit better.

About 1 o’clock, we were mostly better, and decided to go to the Thunderball Grotto.  As the name implies, the Thunderball Grotto is the grotto where parts of the James Bond film Thunderball was filmed (I’m going to re-watch that when we get home – as I only vaguely remember the grotto scenes).  Anyway, the grotto is a real place – and pretty cool.  It would be truly phenomenal – if it weren’t for the crowds. You see, the best time to go to the grotto is near low-tide and near noon – so, when we got there at 1:00, it was pretty crowded.  Now – our notion of crowded has definitely shifted over the past few months – as we are getting used to anchorages with one or two boats and only a handful of people.  We’re also used to hanging out mainly with local folks (who have been some of the nicest people we’ve ever met) or other cruisers – who are typically low-key, laid back people. The Thunderball Grotto (and Staniel Cay, in general) was swamped with folks from megayachts and vacationers from nearby resorts.  Compared to what we have become accustomed to, it felt crowded – and that took a bit away from the experience (but it was still phenomenal).   OK – sorry for the rant…. Back to the story…

To get into the grotto, you swim under a low ledge and into a bigger inner-cavern.  Once inside, there is light from an overhead opening and a few underwater holes and a bunch of fish.  Pretty cool.  Here are some pics.

On the outside of the grotto, there are even more cool fish, coral, and general awesomeness.

The next day was Sunday – one of the coolest (and still most memorable) days on our trip.  Being Sunday – we went to church.  Note – this is not a normal thing for us – but we had heard from several people that church in the Bahamas was an experience not to be  missed.  “They” were absolutely right.   We went to the Staniel Cay Baptist Church – a ‘medium-sized’ church overlooking the water on a beautiful point of land.  We got there a few minutes early – and were among less than 10 other people in the building – and all of those folks were somehow ‘formally’ involved in the service (the 3-person choir, the reverend and his wife, the passage-readers, and other church leaders).  Needless to say – we stuck out a bit.  The service got started with a bang!  Singing and dancing right out of the gate.  It was – dare I say – fun!  After a few minutes, the pews more or less filled in – just as the second song began.  After a few readings, another catchy tune, the addition of a drummer to the ensemble (another cruiser who just ‘joined in’), we got to the part of the service where we greet the other parishioners.  Now – growing up Catholic, I’m expecting the usual ‘handshake and mumbled greeting.’  Not at the Staniel Cay Baptist Church!  We all got up and circulated through the church – with everybody giving each other a full-fledged hug and exclaiming our love for one another.  The really cool thing was that it really seemed as though each person truly loved each other person there.  It was a really uplifting experience.  After that came the ‘fire and brimstone’ portion of the service – and while it was a bit hard to follow at times – the passion of the pastor was quite impressive.  The service ended with a last song – and we were on our way.  It was a really great experience.  We are still singing the songs from the service – with all of the respect that they deserve.

So – in a place known for some pretty unique tourist attractions, our best experience was spent with group of truly genuine Bahamians who kindly invited us into their lives for a few hours.

Until next time…

Mark

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Luperon, Dominican Republic to Puerto Rico—the Dreaded Mona Passage

After enjoying and exploring the areas near Luperon for almost 3 weeks, it was time to start looking for the next weather window. Our weather guru, Chris Parker, suggested that it was immediately time to go straight to Boqueron Puerto Rico, as ‘now’ is a great opportunity and could be the best time for a few weeks or even a few months. The timing wasn’t perfect for us—we had hoped to visit some friends on vacation in Punta Cana as well as check out the city of Samana and a really cool looking national park, Los Haitises, before leaving the Dominican Republic. Knowing there are lots of other amazing ports ahead of us, and having a healthy respect for this passage, we decided to make the jump through the dreaded Mona Passage to Puerto Rico.

Since I started researching our trip and route, the Mona Passage has been the most daunting part of it all for me. This passage is located between the eastern end of the Dominican Republic and the western end of Puerto Rico. It is a water passage that goes very close to the Puerto Rican Trench—the deepest part of the Atlantic Ocean at about 26,800 feet. Just off the eastern shores of the Dominican Republic, there are the hourglass shoals—very shallow water dropping very quickly. So, I kind of imagined the ocean here being like an underwater waterfall with crazy currents, water that appears to be boiling, and waves crashing upon themselves in all directions. Then, you add in the wind and heat from the island which creates its own weather—generally a series of thunderstorms off of both the Dominican Republic coast and the Puerto Rican coast that form each evening as the land cools off. These can build into raging storms or trickle out—but it’s hard to predict…There are lots of sailing stories of really rough rides through this area. But, there are also ways to avoid the chaos—mainly waiting for the right weather (light winds and small waves from the right direction), avoiding the areas where the depth changes dramatically, and always having a bailout plan. Thank you, Bruce Van Sant for sharing this wisdom with us in your book and at your talk. So, given the chance to cross at a great opportunity was not to be missed. We had an easy uneventful sail—which we didn’t mention until we were safely anchored 47 hours after departing Luperon. I should also mention that I did pray to Poseidon and the gods of the wind as we were sailing under the stars that night!

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Tour of the countryside – by Lucy

If you asked me what I learned yesterday, you would get a very long answer. I learned so much, from where coco beans grow and more importantly other ways of life. I learned to be more happy and be thankful for what I have. Some people have a lot less than me and they are equally nice, kind, and happy.  Even in hard times many people smile. They know that is something that is worth the while. I learned what I learned, and I hope I can teach you, to be thankful and happy no matter what you have to do.

Bright and early the day started a little before 8. We motored on in to the government dock and we grabbed our toothbrushes to donate. Our tour guide Jose was there soon and we went right into the big van. It was super nice and air conditioned. We rode around Luperon and decided where to go.

On our way out, we saw a cow community. These are very common in the DR and  Cows were here, cows were there, basically cows were everywhere. We saw the man milk them, which was very cool. He used a bucket and that was about it. The milk was then delivered to the store or cheese factory by their truck or even cooler a donkey. It was a fun stop, that is for sure, we got tons of pictures.

The next stop was corn plantations. Corn is good for the locals cause they use it to eat, for feeding the animals and they also export it to lots of countries.  Well, corn is corn. By living in Wisconsin over the summer we saw lots of corn, corn isn’t the most abstract thing for us!

Then we stopped at the place where cruisers go and it was very pretty.it had lots of little tiki hut and has lots of stairways leading to the water! It was beautiful and festive. A great place to hang out at. You could hang out there and bring lunch and buy a drink or something from the place. We all thought it would be a really good place to go with a few friends or family.

Then we went to Isabella where Christopher Columbus came to. There where lots of beautiful murals as well as a cool museum. The museum was in Spanish so I couldn’t understand it but Jose translated some of it. The water was very azure there not at all like the bay. The sight was beautiful with lots of flowing greenery and tropical flowers. On our way to the car, a guy that works at a wood carving store, called us to look at his stuff. There where lots of cool carvings and Heidi got a necklace and Sally got earrings. We where going back again and then another person called us. We went into that store and Mom got a wood turtle and I got a beaded necklace with a carved coconut shell on it. Very pretty. We beelined, (not really) to the car before we where brought into another store.  The van set off and we were now on our way.

After a while we decided to get some lunch. And like always, it was very good, and also big servings. I had rice, beans, fried chicken, pasta salad, and a sprite. It was good and we had leftovers today!

 

We headed on to a cool coco plantation with full stomachs. It was very cool to look around and see where and how all of the coco, coffee, fruits, lots of spice herbs, and veggies grow. It felt very magical in the gardens. There where lots of animals and a baby goat that Sally held. They had the funniest looking ostriches too. There where lots of kittens as well. Super. Cute. We went on little hikes around there. There were trees everywhere and we tried some cherries from one. They were very good. We also saw a coco bean plant broken on the ground so we looked at it. After a fun and beautiful filled hour we started back on the road.

We where going down the highway and there where lots of fruit stands. We wanted to stop at one so, we did. We got a WHOLE STOCK of bananas and a bag of tangerines. We also got a big tomato can full of mangoes. We also got 2 papayas and 3 very cold and refreshening coconuts. They had like a gallon of coconut water in them and came cold from the fridge. Once we drank the coconut we ate some of the meat inside. “The island gives us what we need.” The coconut water was muy muy delicioso! The bananas are very delicious and super good and sweet. We continued our way to Cambiuouso.  The car ride up the mountains where very bumpy and since it has rained the past few days, some places on the rood where flooded about 6 inches if not a foot.

When we got to Cambiuouso we got out and brought our toothbrushes with us. Jose helped us tell them and soon all the kids that weren’t at school came running out to meet us. They were very super cute and were all happy to get toothbrushes. It was really neat to see the kids be so happy about them. Despite the kids and families hardships they were very kind and happy to everyone. I hope more can learn to be more happy no matter how much money you have. Seeing all the families as one community and all working together was very touching scene. In one home a we went to there were lots of kids  and they were all overjoyed to be getting a toothbrush and paste. A little girl in the house, probably about 4,  was given a kids toothbrush that was purple and pink. The look on her face when she received it made my day. A few brushes and paste made many of kids happy. Small things really do have big impacts.

We stopped at multiple houses and down the streets where kids were coming home from school. They were all overjoyed to be getting toothbrushes and toothpaste as well.  Past the houses, donkeys and beaches, we made our way out of  Cambiuouso and back to Luperon.

When we got back, we put all of our fruit away. Then we went oven to the marina where we got our boat pulled to see what time we where going to have dinner at. Issac’s family owns the restaurant Casa Blanca and he invited us to dinner. It was in an hour so we had some time. After an hour we went to dinner which started at 7 and we ate a very good dinner. Heidi, Sally, and I shared 2 pasta bowls and chicken, and very good potato fries. We had fun and Elena.

If you asked me what I learned yesterday, you would get a very long answer. I learned so much, from where coco beans grow and more importantly other ways of life. I learned to be more happy and be thankful for what I have. Some people have a lot less than me and they are equally nice, kind, and happy.  Even in hard times many people smile. They know that is something that is worth the while. I learned what I learned, and I hope I can teach you, to be thankful and happy no matter what you have to do.

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4~4~18

The fourth of April, two thousand eighteen. Big big big fun filled day starting at eight in the morning and ending at ten forty-five at night. The biggest thing I learned on that day was life. Not the type of tree cocoa grows on, how loud geese can be, Christopher Columbus’ landing, but life. How we live, how others live. How much we have, how little some have. How big a difference we can all make. But rewind a lil bit. Back to eight in the morning.

We arraigned the tour with José several days prior to the actual date. He’s an incredibly kind guy that knows three languages. One of which is English. Everyone in town knows him and as we saw it, everyone likes him. He picked us up at the government dock in a big AIR CONDITIONED van with his driver Billy. In Dominican Republic, driving is a scary task even for those who haven’t traveled more than 10mph in a while. With motorcycles, potholes, donkeys, chickens, dogs, cats, goats, horses, and lots and lots of cows, driving in a car is a lil challenging. Aaaand on top of all that, after all the rain we’ve been getting, many of the dirt roads are flooded and slick. Billy and José however, know these towns like the back of their hand so we didn’t have any troubles. We all piled in and almost automatically went to grab our seatbelts. Well, there were no seatbelts. Or speed limits. Or stop signs. With all of the animals too! We went along a short but very bumpy, ride and stopped at a cow community. No I’m not making that up. We stopped at a cow community. We walked right into a large {pile of yuck and…} number of cows and the bull and watched them hand milk a cow. Pretty neat stuff.

After a twenty minute drive, mostly on paved roads (yayayayay), we stopped at a so called beautiful gathering spot, resort, and beach club. We were told that they take the Carnival cruise passengers to this spot, but it is open to anyone. Anyone can bring food and drink and hangout at this spot. We were let inside and beautiful, gorgeous, magnificent, they are all understatements. It had a beach, many cute tables and huts, stairs right into the ocean, showers, restaurant. It was great. I told Mom I could see myself getting married there. So if that says anything…haha.

Back into the car we went, after checking again for seatbelt, seriously though every time we got into the car. Like we know they aren’t there but our arm just automatically reaches up and haha we looked pretty silly but hey! Safety first kids! We drove for a while and ended up in the city of Isabella, where Columbus set up the first settlement in the new world. But okay let’s hold up for a second here. In my social studies class in so called America, we were taught that Christopher Columbus discovered America in 1492. And this is all true. But what they don’t tell us is that the Domican Republic and Haiti are the America he landed on. I’ve always assumed he washed up in Boston?!?!?! Maybe I’m stupid or wasn’t paying attention or I missed something entirely but seriously did they ever teach us about Columbus in the DR? I don’t think so. So until yesterday I don’t exactly know what I thought but I definitely didn’t think that Columbus discovered the island of Dominican and Haiti. Anyway, the museum was really interesting. It took a lil brain power seeing as it was all in Spanish. Thankfully, José was an amazing tour guide and explained everything in excellent English. We walked around the ruins of the first settlement. It made everything really real to see the very last bits of the house Columbus lived in, see the small cemeteries, and the church. Apparently, the settlement was still up and had more than an outline of large rocks but a lil miscommunication a little while ago ended that. What I understood was the government ordered the space to be cleared, meaning some trees and greenery, but the entire city ended up in the ocean. So I learned a lot a lot of history, the real history.

In Isabella, we also stopped at two very, very, small shops that had hand carved wood animal figures. They were absolutely amazing and really cool to see. We also stopped at the first church that is still up and running. We looked around for a lil bit, there were lots of gorgeous plants and VERY VERY VERY LOUD GEESE. Along with some turkeys, doggos, kitties, were the security geese. Now typically we’ve seen security dogs. Big ferocious sounding mean dogs. And they definitely know how to keep unwanted visitors away. Well, here at this church, the geese are the alarm system. Now you’re probably thinking ‘well duh heidi geese can be loud.’ No guys these birds are screaming, honking, crowing, squawking, like I’ve never seen before. That was definitely a new one for us. Security geese.

We headed back to Luperon {our starting spot} for lunch. We had a fantastic rice and beans and chicken and salad at a small local restaurant. All the food we had in Luperon and the DR was awesome. So so good. After we finished we got back into the car and headed for a cocoa plantation. In all honesty, I wasn’t too too excited for this stop but I was pleasantly surprised. It had allllll the trees there. Mangoes, avocados, cocoa, bananas, plantains, paprika, coffee, sopadillo, and many more I can’t either spell or remember. They had magnificent flowers that I loved photographing. And then, probably my favorite part of the plantation, the animals! I automatically was drawn to an adorable kitty that let my pick her up and snuggle and aaah so sososososos cute. They also had geese. Very very loud geese. Haha they had some cows, sheep, goats, they had a baby goat that Sally got to hold for a while. Also adorable. But my favorite animal there, and my favorite animal in general were the ostriches. They are so so funny looking and smile at you and hahaha makes me laugh just thinking about those goofballs. It was overall, a really interesting spot.

After the plantation, we headed off to a poorer section of the Dominican. We brought with us our collection of toothbrushes that so many of you kindly donated to help children in need. I can tell you now that the kids were ecstatic. Beyond happy to receive these small but special gifts. It was a tricky ride there. Many of the streets were flooded which made for a slow, bumpy ride. It was quite the hike to Cambiasso, the town we stopped in. I don’t know if I’d even want to call it a town, more like a community. It was on a white sand, turquoise water beach. Really really pretty. The houses looked like what many of us would call a shack, or shed. The van that we were in was bigger than most of these shelters. Families live together in one room spots. Some kids didn’t have clothes. No one had shoes on their feet. Bathrooms were the middle of the street for some. They depend on people passing by for business. It was real life. I’ve heard about all this stuff before, seen photos, read papers. But I don’t think any of it can really describe what it is like to walk around and see it. Most of the kids were at school when we arrived so we handed out toothbrushes to the younger kiddos. They were speechless. It really meant so so so incredibly much to them. I don’t think I can ever describe the look on these lil guys faces. It’s something you have to experience, you had to be there kinda thing. Something that really struck me hard was when we asked José if we should give the mothers and/or fathers the toothbrushes for the kids that were at school, he said no. They would never get to the kids. Parents would sell them and buy something for themselves instead of give it to their own children. I can’t start to explain how grateful I am for everything that I have. I really do appreciate my toothbrush more now. I don’t know how many kids my age get to see people living like this. I would guess not that many. It was really the greatest learning moment I think I’ve had. Ever. You can go to the best college in the world but what they can’t teach you is life. Real life. It’s out there. It’s really real now. I met a mother of five children. I’m guessing she was no more than two years older than me. It’s really hard for me to imagine having five kids and one room to live in depending on passing by visitors for money. What I also don’t think always comes across is that these people are the smiliest, and friendliest people we’ve met. They were really truly grateful for us coming. They appreciated our company. These aren’t bad people. I can’t say with 100 percent certainty for everyone but these people didn’t do something wrong that put them where they are. They were born with the wrong last name, the wrong storm hit them hard, it is what it is. And they are willing to look past that and make the best out of what they have. And things like this keep me going. I encourage you to tonight, when you go to brush your teeth, with a toothbrush, toothpaste, safe drinking water, take a minute to think about how much you have to be grateful for. There are a lot of things that remind me how truly lucky I am. And all in all, I’ve really been shown that we are all one big family. We’re all human.

By the time we got back to the dock after the ride from Cambiasso it was nearly six in the pm. We quickly got dressed into nicer clothes, regained some of our energy, and met our friends that we met at the marina for dinner. The man who owns the marina that we stayed at also owns the restaurant so it was all really nice. It was so fun to watch Ellana, six years old, Spanish speaking, and sally, ten years old, English speaking become great friends. We ended up spending the next day with them too which was also a blast. By the time we got back home it was way late and after a day full of excitement we fell asleep real quick.

It was truly an incredible experience. The biggest thing I learned on that day was life. Not the type of tree cocoa grows on, how loud geese can be, Christopher Columbus’ landing, but life. How we live, how others live. How much we have, how little some have. How big a difference we can all make. How thankful I am to be where I am. How grateful I am to be sharing this message and story with you. Thank you.

Till next time,
Heidi

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A tour of the DR – by Sally

Yesterday, we had a fun filled day of touring: Christopher Columbus’s first house in the Americas, a humongous fruit and animal plantation, beautiful beaches and friendly people, ending with a spectacular dinner with new friends. All of this fit into one amazing day.
We woke up at 7:00 am and met our tour guide, José, at 8:00 am and started our amazing day. Our first stop was at a “cow community” where we watched the cows getting hand milked. As we got in the car, a parade of cows came by followed by the farmer riding on a horse.
We continued on our adventure and stopped at the museum of Christopher Columbus in La Isabella. There was a ton of information— but of course we’re in the Dominican Republic and they speak Spanish— so all the writing was in Spanish! Luckily José knows Spanish and English so he translated for us. We then went to see Christopher Columbus’s house (or what was left of it)! We also went to a couple of cute little gift stores, where we bought a necklace, earrings, and a cool hand carved wood turtle. Everything there was homemade from local items.
We then hopped in the car and went back to Luperón to grab a quick lunch. We got the local plate of the day morro y pollo (rice and beans and chicken) delicious! We finished lunch, tearing Heidi away from a playful cat. José thought we would enjoy the next stop—the plantations! When we arrived, my mind was blown. There were thousands of coffee, cocoa, cherry, avocado, zappidillo, mango, sour sap, bread fruit, papaya, banana, plantain, paprika, cilantro, tobacco, and many more exotic plants and trees. As we neared the end, we came to the farm area where we were greeted by the honking geese! There is a cow that decided to lick me and Lucys entire arm! Then we neared the corner and saw ostriches, except Heidi who found another adorable little kitten to play with. José picked up a baby goat and handed it to me. It cuddled its head in my arm and nibbled my finger! I also finally got to hold the little kitten! We fed the ostriches some leaves from the nearby tree. We finally got Heidi away from the kitten and hopped back into the van.
Our next stop was Cambioso where there was a truly amazing view of the ocean. However, the road to get there was very bumpy, rocky, full of potholes, and at many points covered in water. You would never know how poor the people of Cambioso are if you didn’t turn the corner after arriving at the beach. Once you turn the corner, the peoples houses reminded me of an old shed in not very good shape. Some of the doors were boarded up. All of the people were outside sitting in chairs in the shade with little bits of drying laundry all around. We started giving toothbrushes out but soon realized that most of the kids were at school, so we only handed them out to the little guys. We were thinking of giving the toothbrushes to the parents, but José told us the toothbrushes wouldn’t get to the kids, and the parents would sell them and buy something for themselves. I felt horrible and instead of giving them to the parents we gave them to the kids as they walked home from school. We saw so many little kids ages 3 or 4, running home with the biggest smile on his/her face and hugging us. It made me feel so lucky to be where I am in this world. It only takes one little gift like a toothbrush to make someone’s day a whole lot brighter.
When we got home, back to our boat, I took a quick nap. In half an hour we headed up to meet the marina owner at his restaurant to have dinner together. When we got there, his family pulled up. Elena was 6 so we played together a lot. Although I speak English and she speaks Spanish, we both had a great time and we became great friends! In fact, we planned a get together of brownie making for the next day…
In one day, I learned a lot about Christopher Columbus, local plants and animals, met a lot more Dominican Republic people, and saw the beautiful Dominican Republic countryside and beaches. What an amazing experience!

Bye till I write again,
💕Sally💕