Two weeks to fill - or not!

You guys must be down to counting the hours...

Bob K

Last load of laundry in and then a day at the beach with friends.  Should take our minds off of it!

Today's the day!  Woo Hoo!!!!!  Thanks to everyone here who has taken the time to answer all my questions.  Looking forward to a new adventure.

Wooooo hoooooooooo  enjoy the trip, see you Saturday!

Hope you had a great trip (flight) and looking forward to talking to you Tomorrow or Thursday

Bob K

A couple more questions please.

Is there an airport departure tax?

If we were to hire a driver to show us around areas outside Cabarete and Sosua, where should we go?

Having a wonderful time.  Although I got the worst ever manicure this morning 

Sorry about the manicure.

As to departure tax if  you are flying with a US airline then it is included. If not you probably will be on the hook for $20 each. Check your ticket and if included it will say under taxes $20 exit tax

Where to go?  Depends on what you want are you sight seeing or fact finding?

Bob

Thanks!  We're on Insel Air, so I'll check the ticket.

Fact finding, of course.  With no car, we've been quite isolated.  But almost bought a house today! 

Why almost ??????

BobK

Take your time, no rash decisions.   Look at a bunch. before choosing one.  If that is the one ,you will come back to it. Have fun with your new adventure.

I agree with Gypsy that house is going nowhere fast.............take your time.............

Oh, we're nowhere ready to buy a home yet, we haven't even explored the area.  Not even sure how to do that without a car.  Bigger decision - is the DR the right place for us?

But we do know there are some lovely places to live.  So one box checked!

Yayyyyyyyy

You will check more boxes as you go.

You might call Elias about a tour.

Bob K

Morning everyone!  Bet you all thought I fell of the face of the earth.. well, nearly.

First of all, let me thank  everyone here for their assistance in planning for our trip.  There is a wealth of information here and you are all so kind in taking the time to share your experiences.  Special thanks to Bob for meeting with us and sharing his expertise.  And to Planner - for trying! LOL

Our thoughts about DR after our trip?  Not really sure.  It is certainly a beautiful country and the people we met were wonderful.  Smiling, helpful and caring.  No matter their nationality.  Our little resort was staffed 100% by Dominican folks, and they made our trip memorable.  Even if much of our conversation was like playing charades!

On arrival in SD, we took the taxi to the bus to the taxi to the hotel.  Total travel time from leaving our house was about 10 hours.  The best part of the trip was the bus ride - saw some amazing scenery and a beautiful sunset into the mountains.  The first week was spent utilizing the resort shuttle to get to Cabarete for groceries at Janet's, sim purchase at Claro, banking at ScotiaBank.  Also spend a few afternoons on the beach with lunches at some of the restaurants.  Also took a taxi to Sosua to check out the beach there one day.  And a final day looking at properties in the Sosua area.

The next day I was sick in bed and spent the second week of our trip there.  We never left the resort.  Now, a week after our return home, my stomach is still rumbly but at least I can eat.

Was our trip a success?  Not sure.  As you know I was concerned about the inability to rent a car and explore on our own and we DID find that to be a real PITA.  All we saw (except for our trips to and from the airport) were a couple of beaches that were not very impressive and a handful of restaurants that had mediocre food at best.  And one of them nearly put me in the hospital.  Our only really good meals were from a local place just up the road from the resort where we had incredible fresh fish, shrimp and crab.  And they delivered, so Bill was able to eat while I could not. We had planned to do a taxi tour of Sosua and the area the second week, but alas.....

So, do we come back and try again, perhaps in a different area for a longer period of time?  Without a car?  Still not sure.

So sorry to hear you got sick. That sucks!!!!!   It can be a challenge to find the good places, but when you do........... wooo hooooooooo.

here in La Romana I found the best cheeseburger in the whole country. And awesome fresh Tuna and, and, and.......well now I am hungry.

But it took time to find the places that worked for me.  Glad you found one at least!!!!

Next trip -  yup a different place to stay and lets see if we cannot set you up with a driver ahead of time!!!!

Sorry the second week was such a bust.  Yes do come back and explore some other areas.  You might find "your place"

Keep us posted

Bob K

Thank you both once again.  Next trip is to Connecticut for my Dad's 90th birthday and daughter-in-law's baby shower next month.  After that ??????????????

Enjoy the trip to the north east. 90...what a milestone.

Bob K

And Bill's 70th next week!  Cheers!

WOW, lots of milestones!!!!  Congrats.

I haven't gotten there yet, guys, but I can help you out with the pronunciations!   Cah-bah-REH-Teh and So - SU- ah.  Make sense?  Hope it helps.  Gosh I really love reading this blog!  I'm totally addicted any more.