I hurriedly showered, got dressed and headed down there. The Indy couple was on this trip. We all piled into the tour bus, wondering what we got ourselves into. The bus, made 3 more stops to pick up more people.
Finally, we had a full bus and were on our way to Saona Island off the coast of the DR. My resort is on the east side of the island and Saona Island is on the west. Little did we know that our excursion included a 2 hour transit through some very rough areas of the DR. I saw dilapidated homes, sugar cane fields, and bare country with cattle grazing in the pasture. It was quite interesting to say the least. I met one “couple” from West Virginia. They were just friends but traveling together which was awesome. They were very nice. There were these four girls from the Bronx traveling together. It was nice to single people around, as I am in couple land down here. I’ve found more newlyweds that other here. They were a blast and very nice people all the way around. Somewhere on my camera are pictures of them.
We get to the “port”. We are immediately accosted by people selling their wares. I ended up buying a beach towel for 20 bucks, as I left mine in the room. I thought they would be provided. I was wrong.
A few pics from the road.
A picture of the catamaran.
We board a small boat to get to the Catamaran. On the boat, we get all of our passengers the catamaran. Soon we pull away from shore and I look around. The catamaran was packed with tourists and an army of 5 people with video cameras and digital cameras. The local music started playing over the loud speaker and the workers started getting people to dance, pulling them up to dance. Naturally, I danced as I love attention. I attempted to swivel my hips to the music. It was a lot of fun. The rum and coke was being served in a plastic cup as they walked by. I forgot to eat breakfast so I got a couple of sprites in me and then hit the rum and coke. The cervezas were chilled and ready, so I switch to that. The trip to the island was about 2 hours. So basically for 4 hours I was on a bus and then on a catamaran and not even on the island. One of the girls that was taking photographs helped me with the suntan lotion. As of this writing that worked wonders, i.e. 70SPF.
This is me on the catamaran.
We got to the island, dropped off by small boat from the catamaran. I park my things, find the restroom and get the particulars on what is going on. I have no watch, no cell phone, nothing to tell me what time it is.
Naturally, I head to the water almost immediately. It was so freaking beautiful there. It was an amazing place to visit. Lunch was finally served buffet style. It was so good!! It was way better than the resort food. The pork chops were amazing!!! I have not tasted pork chops that good. I tried everything, even this tuna wrapped in aluminum foil. It was good and I don’t like fish. It was all good and needless to say, for once, my eyes were not bigger than my stomach. I ate tons of food. I wish I could describe how delicious it was. I was literally full afterwards.
More water time and picture taking was in store after my lunch. I found all the couples from the tour bus and took pictures for a lot of them. There was a couple from Spain, one from Greece, West Virginia, the Bronx girls and Indy. Quite the eclectic group I should say.
Around 2 we were all getting anxious to get back to the hotel. Little did we know what was in store for us. We had this hour pit stop in a natural water pool. I was thinking, OK, let’s get this over with so I can get back to the resort. I am SO glad we stopped there. That made the whole trip worthwhile. It was amazing!!! I cannot explain what it was like to stand in water that was waist high, clear and barely any land around. I did not want to leave. We were all tired by the time we were heading there and everyone’s energy perked up 100%.
A few pictures from the natural swimming pool.
The Bronx girls eluded to the fact that legend has it, if you pick up a starfish, you will get pregnant, or something like that. I thought that was hilarious!! Anyway, we stopped at this place there were starfish around for all the boats that stopped there to have a starfish to pass around. I wonder what the starfish thought of all that. Later, one of the Bronx girls was allowing our tour guide’s son to float in the waster. We all joked that the star fish was really fertile. Anyway, of course, more rum and coke was served. We were all wandering in the water with plastic cups of rum and coke. That hour pit stop made it all worthwhile. I was so happy after that. All the things on my mind melted away after that. I was genuinely happy at that moment. The forthcoming pictures will show how magnificent it was!!
To get back to the “port”, we took a speed boat instead of the catamaran. I thought I would be scared of it, but it was quite relaxing. We ended up racing 2 other speed boats back to the port. I kept thinking how happy I was to be where I was. I have a saying that goes back awhile. I was “right where I wanted to be”.
We eventually made it back to port and to our bus. Of course, there were people selling their wares, from hats to boxes of cigars. I bought nothing except ice cream bars for the Bronx girls and myself. We made one last stop on the way back to the resort to do some shopping at a single store. I ended up getting some things there to take home.
Another “pit” stop was a view of a cock fighting ring. I was not impressed. Large sums of money are bet there from what we were told.
Needless to say, we were back at the resort by 7. One couple was freaked out being dropped off at intersection in the middle of nowhere. Finally, their pick up bus showed so they exited. The dude was inebriated and making a scene. He and his wife were sweet.
Our next stop was to drop off another contingent of people. Amongst those were the Bronx girls. They were so much fun.
I got back to the resort, took a shower, cleaned up and found that the resort buffet was closed. I called room service and the phone rang and rang and rang. Finally someone picked up. Needless to say I was perturbed. I got a burger and fries and of course the complimentary cervezas in the fridge. I was “satisfied”. I am off to see what is going on.
I land at one of the bars for my beer. I found four women from Boston that I chatted up. I left them for the sports bar to see how Cleveland and LeBron would far in Orlando. It was not good as the end result dictated.
I stopped by the casino and put down 20 bucks. I bet 11 as I always do. The first couple of times it did not land. Finally it hit. Again, it hit back to back. I then put 2 bucks on 4 for April, my dad’s birth month. That hit. I stopped as I was $100 bucks up, cashed in. I was over $100 bucks up, so that was nice.
I went back to find the boston girls. They were still there and we ended up going to the disco. We danced the night away, having a blast.
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