It’s been almost three weeks since the last blog – and a lot has happened! We had a great time with our wonderful friends, Dave and Sharon, last week. It was so good to see them – and we had fun showing them around our new stomping grounds. On the way home from he airport, we started them off by picking up what we affectionately refer to as “roadkill” for lunch. This is actually roasted chicken with yucca that we get from one of the roadside stands. We’ve had it many times and we really like it – and I think they did too!Dusty and Sierra were quite funny when we got home. Dave and Sharon were standing behind us as we opened the front door. They both started to run out to greet us as usual, then they realized there were other people behind us. Dusty did an about-face and started barking…until Dave and Sharon spoke to him and he knew who it was. Both he and Sierra went CRAZY – they were SO excited to see their “Aunt” Sharon and “Uncle” Dave. I think it took a good 20 minutes for them to finally settle down!
We spent the rest of their arrival day hanging around the casa – catching up, getting them settled, relaxing and unpacking the suitcase full of goodies they brought down for us. Have I mentioned that you cannot buy green chilies here? That was a mainstay in our pantry (and/or freezer) when we were in Colorado. It’s been quite an adjustment without them. I’m not sure if I was more excited about the cans of green chilies or the Mexican vanilla they brought! It will be nice to be able to cook some of our “old” favorites – like Green Chili Chicken Enchiladas – which we couldn’t do before. Yummy!!! Dusty and Sierra were thrilled at the super large package of bully bones that they got as well. They have been enjoying those and their special dog cookies.
On Sunday, we went into Puerto Plata. Since it’s a little less chaotic on Sundays, we figured that would be a good time to go. We showed Dave and Sharon “their” store – Casa Nelson, had breakfast on the Malecon, walked around the monument and showed them the infamous La Sirena. Later, we came back to the casa and relaxed around the pool.
We headed for the beach on Monday to do a little boogie boarding. We had planned to go to a place called Hideaway beach, then have lunch at Arsenio’s – only to find that Arsenio’s isn’t open on Mondays. So we headed to the same area where Steve surfs since Max and I had found a place up the beach a little way that has less coral and more sand. We played for a couple of hours, then left to get lunch. We decided to try a little restaurant that sits on the beach – near where we’ve picnicked with Max & Richard – called Mendy’s. We were a little concerned when the first thing they told us was that they only had the items on the bottom half of the menu. But we were hungry and decided we’d give it a go. All four of us ordered the fried chicken. When I asked how much food there was (thinking perhaps Steve and I would just split it), the waitress said “es no mucho”. So we each ordered our own.
It did take quite some time for the food to come out – and the first plates she brought each had one or two pieces of chicken and 4 small slices of pepper. We were all thinking “wow – she wasn’t kidding!” THEN she brought the sides – a plate full of fried plantains, a plate of French fries, a plate of salad, a bowl of rice and a dish of beans. And that wasn’t all! A bit later, she brought out a plate of sliced fruit and a bowl of oranges. Needless to say, we didn’t go hungry! The food was decent – not sure that I’d make it a regular haunt – but it was definitely worth the experience!!
After we ate, we headed to Max & Richard’s house. We had stopped in earlier to borrow their boards and they asked us to come by so Dave and Sharon could meet Ziggy and Simon. As we were sitting on the patio visiting and petting the dogs, one of us noticed a bump on Simon. Upon further examination, we determined it was a tick. So we got it off and looked to see if he had any more…and he did – LOTS more! Poor little guy. I think we ended up getting close to 12 or 15 off of him. Ziggy had some too.
Once we were done with the tick harvest, us girls went up to the villa where the dogs live to see if they had anything we could put on them to repel the ticks. (We knew there were ticks here and we have been diligent in using a flea and tick medicine on our dogs. Fortunately, it seems to have worked – knock on wood!) The only thing we could find was some shampoo, so we took it down and gave the boys a bath. Sharon and Max had to drag Ziggy out from under the bed to give him his. He had seen us take Simon into the shower and promptly ran and hid!
We gave them each another review – finding a few more of those nasty little bugs. Max also gave Chris, their owner’s friend who watches after them, a call to let him know what we’d found so he could get them some of the same stuff we’ve been using. Poor Max and Richard – they felt horrible that our afternoon had turned into a tick harvest! With all of us being dog lovers & pet owners ourselves, we didn’t mind. We were just happy to get them off the dogs before they made them sick.
We came home and had a nice dinner. And just when we thought our day had already been jam-packed with fun and adventure, guess what happened next? Tony came to the door. He had just driven in and saw the cows at the far end of the neighborhood – heading our way! So we all headed out in the dark, with flashlights, to herd the cows back out. Tony joined in as did the guard who watches the house that’s under construction a few doors down.
Sharon and I went up to open the gate so when the guys got them moving up the road, they would just go out on the main street. We waited…and waited…and waited some more. We could see their flashlights dancing in the dark and heard an occasional whoop or holler, but it was pretty apparent that the cows were winning this game!
After a while we decided to head back down to see what was going on – hoping the cows didn’t decide to come running our way right then. Thankfully they didn’t! Turns out that even with the guard venturing out into the empty lots (overgrown fields) to help chase the cows, they were circling back around and refused to head up the road like we wanted them to. We checked the entire fence in the back, but could not determine where they’d come through. We think that the farmer unhooks the wire, lets the cows in, then hooks the wire back up!
So we gave up on trying to herd them out. Tony suggested that perhaps if we paid the guard a little bit, he could make sure they didn’t come up too far and make a meal out of our shrubs and flowers. So we each gave him 100 pesos ($3) and from what we could tell the next morning, he had done a good job. It’s always amazing to me how 25-30 head of cows can seemingly disappear before we all get up the next day. Houdini would be impressed!! Needless to say, our week with the Nelsons started off with a bang – and they quickly got confirmation that the stories we’ve told in the blogs are really true!
Unfortunately Dave wasn’t feeling well the next day, so we stayed close to home. As the day went on, his sinuses got worse and worse. Fortunately, you can buy antibiotics here without a prescription, so Sharon and I headed down to the farmacia to get him some. By the next morning he looked better and said he felt much better too.
We decided to go into Sosua that day and show them around the town. We walked on the beach & Sharon helped me pick out some “art work” for our dining room wall. Negotiating prices is expected here, so after a little bit of haggling, I settled on two pictures. The guy asked me if I wanted them wrapped to take back on the plane & I told him I lived here. He said “oh, then you get the ‘locals’ discount” and knocked off another $6! Who knew there was a local’s discount?! I may have to go back and see if there are any others that I like!!
That evening we met Al and Glenda for dinner at a place called Ocean Village. We sat in one of the two cabanas at the edge of the infinity pool and right on the ocean (we’re in the one on the left in this picture) – what a great place to watch the sunset!
Thursday was 27 Charcos – 27 waterfalls. Tony and Linda had done this when their nieces came to visit and had a blast (ok, full disclosure, Linda did have fun but she said it was harder than she expected and was pretty tired when they got back). Basically you walk/swim and climb up the waterfalls – then slide back down. You have your choice of 7, 12, or all 27 – we decided to start small – figuring we could always go again next time they came.
Well - we also had a blast – it was very fun! First you walk about 20 minutes – crossing a river and some streams – to get to the bottom of the waterfalls. Here we are on the way up to the falls. Once you get to the bottom of the falls, you then wade into a crystal-clear pool of water to the bottom of the first fall…and begin the climb. 
We had two great guides – Wellington (left) and Berto (right). Berto spoke very good English and took lots of pictures and videos using Dave’s camera. In a couple of places, the guides had to literally pull us up from the top.
Before we knew it, we were at the 7th fall. Then it was time to start back down!
The first slide down was a little scary – but after that, it was really fun. Then we got to the last one…what? No slide? Nope – we had to jump off the rocks into the pool below. I have to admit I was a little hesitant (ok, very hesitant) but once I took the leap, there was no turning back! It was my turn then to cheer on the others – who also weren’t exactly excited about making that jump. But they all did and we started our hike back down to where we started.
There was a little restaurant there, serving a traditional Dominican lunch - arroz, frijoles, pollo y ensalda (rice, beans, chicken and salad) and pasta. So we had lunch there then headed back home. The drive to the falls is on the same route we take going into Santiago, so Dave and Sharon got to see some of the mountainous part of the island as well. It was a very fun day – and we’re looking forward to going again and tackling 12 falls next time, right Sharon?!
On Friday – yikes – it was already Friday – we headed into Cabarete. We walked on the beach and had drinks and a snack at one of the many restaurants along the way. How could we resist with this cute sign to encourage us? I need to find one for my backyard!!
Friday night we had dinner at El Choco – where they were celebrating Oktoberfest. We met Pam and Dennis there and Tony and Linda joined us as well. It was so loud where we were sitting that you could hardly talk to each other, so after dinner, we headed back to Tony and Linda’s house. It was much easier to chat then and Max and Richard joined us a little later. It was a nice way to wrap up the Nelson’s visit to our island and neighborhood.
It was very hard to say goodbye the next day when we dropped Dave and Sharon off at the airport. We truly enjoyed their visit and hope they can come back again very soon! Fortunately we don’t have long to wait for our next visitors. Steve’s folks are coming down in early December. We’re looking forward to seeing them as well – but I think we’ll skip the falls! : )
Since then, we’ve been busy as usual. And on Thursday, we got our Dominican driver’s licenses – yet another “official” step taken! After going through that process, we now understand why everyone here drives like a lunatic!!!
It is possible, as is true with all things here, to do this by yourself, but we had heard stories from people whose command on Spanish is much better than ours, and they had a very difficult time. So we decided to go a different route – pay someone to help us. Fortunately Pam knew someone and made arrangements for us.
We arrived in Puerto Plata at the Departmente de Transport (or something like that) at 10 to meet T-Paul, a Haitian guy who was going to guide us through the process. Tony and Linda went too, since they hadn’t gotten their DLs yet either. We all hand over our cedulas (Dominican IDs) and some money and T-Paul tells us to take a seat. Then he heads out the door to go to the Justice Center to get our letters of good conduct (didn’t know we had those here?). Pam and Dennis had some errands to do so they headed out. And we waited and watched as people came in, sat, left – and hoped that Pam and Dennis would get back before T-Paul since Pam speaks much more Spanish than any of us.
Fortunately they did because when T-Paul returned, he told us that he wasn’t able to get the letters for Steve and me because our cedulas were too new (we’ve had them since July??). He was going to have to go to Santiago to get what was needed and we’d have to go back on Monday. Pam asked how much it would cost for the extra work – 1000 pesos (a little less than $30), so we paid him and resigned ourselves to returning on Monday. We figured we’d at least have the advantage of watching what Tony & Linda had to do so we’d know more then. A short time later, T-Paul came out of a room and motioned for Steve and me to follow him. We’re not sure who he paid or how much, but lo and behold, we were going to be able to get our licenses after all!
So after getting our blood typed (why??) and providing our fingerprints, we waited some more. Then each of us was called, individually, into a very small room where we had to take “the test”. It was a video test where you were shown a scenario, then asked something in Spanish and you had to answer si o no (yes or no) by pushing the correct answer on the screen. Fortunately, we didn’t REALLY have to take the test – the “proctor” who was in the room with us helped us by answering all of the questions for us. Good thing too because in many cases what she put as the right answer was not the one we would have guessed based on the video! Finally after 3 hours, we were all proud owners of our temporary Dominican driver’s licenses…we have to go back in 45 days to get the permanent ones. From what we understand, that is much less time consuming! We wrapped up the afternoon by having lunch on the malecon.
Last night we had a very nice dinner at Tony and Linda’s. They invited us and Max and Richard to join them for Chinese! They fixed 5 different dishes, plus fried rice – it was really good! Steve and I brought desert – a flourless chocolate cake and vanilla ice cream made with the Mexican vanilla that Dave and Sharon brought us. It is amazing how different the vanilla flavors are – and I have to say, I do prefer the Mexican over the Dominican.
Those are the highlights from here. We’re doing well and enjoying life. Hope you are too!! Buenos noches!
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