Volunteering in the Dominican Republic

Monday, July 16

Santo Domingo

Our Hotel in Santo Domingo, Hostal Nadir. Each room has 2 double beds. We squeezed 9 people into 2 rooms quite comfortably for the low low price of $180 Dollars a night (Divided by nine its not so much, eh?). For our accomodation in Cabarete we are getting a discount at the windsurf resort because our ISV tour leader happened to live in Cabarete and knows the owner (Thanks Adolfo) $60 dollars a night for a room that sleeps 4.

A Funny sign in santo Domingo. Dr Manuel Labour.

"These bags fit in here, no problem!" We had a crampt ride to the Caribe tours bus depot. Caribe tours is one of the best ways to get around the Dominican Republic. They drive massive coaches to most places and it only cost RD$250 (GBP 3.78) for the 5 hour drive from Santo Domingo to Cabarete.

We stayed in hostal nadir for 2 nights as we didn't want to travel all the way up to cabarete on the same day. (we were in bahoruco, 4 hours away from santo domingo). The merengue festival has been moved so now we are just going to be spending our time in cabarete, the windsurf capitol of the carribean. Lots of fun. Santo Domingo was a laugh and a good place to buy all our souvenirs. While bartering in a foreign country can be a hassle and despite tourist traps being everywhere we managed to get good deals. It did take all day but it was worth it.

Just found out about the import restrictions from spirits from outside the E.U. Aparently the 5 litre keg of rum is over the 1 litre import limit. I dont really want to pay tax so my import plans may have to be revised. :(

Things are going well and we're having a lot of fun. The weather is sunny and we're spending this relaxing time to top up the tans and have a blast on the beach. The bars all have to shut at 12pm on weekdays due to the new licencing laws but all this means is that going out starts in the early evening and the party can carry on later at our hotel.

Thursday, July 12

End Of the adventure tour

Well the adventure tour has now ended and we´re going at it alone. Its been great fun and i´m sure i´ll write more about it when i get home as I´m tired and dont have the energy right now. We´re staying in santo domingo for a few days and then going up to cabarete. Going to spend a lot of time on the beach. possibly windsurf again.

Just a side note budget accomodation does exist in the DR, you just have to find it.

Friday, July 6

"Canyon Endurance"

ben balances on an over-water log

Isla dangerwalks over an underwater log

Canyoning should be called "canyon indurance". Or perhaps danger walking. Or valley hiking. All these names convey the arduous task that is canyoning better than its original name. Man we were shattered after the activity today. Still i enjoyed parts of it and we had the guides we all now know and love from white water rafting and rappelling. The 30 minute hike up the side of the canyon was a killer though. Isla didnt enjoy it too much but it was apparently different today. Usually theres more water in the bottom of the canyon but today there was hardly any. This is because it hasnt rained heavily in ages.

Later we're going to book our accomodation in cabarete for when we leave ISV behind. We'll be staying in the same place and our adventure tour leader, Adolfo, reckons he can get us a deal on the price.

Tomorrow we're going wind surfing. Looking forward to this one a lot and the way my hand is healing I should even be able to hold up the sail fore more than 3 seconds. In the afternoon we're heading down to Sosua to go snorkeling. I'll get to see loads of local fish and we get told about the coral reef conservation projects.

Tuesday, July 3

The Adventure Contuinues

Yesterday we all went white water rafting. It was great fun and the guides were mental. We didn't topple over on the rapids but at one point the guide tipped the boat over on purpose. It was great fun. The hotel we're staying at is really fantastic and every night they put on a buffet for all 22 of us. Compared to the first 2 weeks the food is amazing and the luxury, although not much, makes it comparably very comfortable.

Today we went waterfall rappelling. We went down 2 cliff faces next to a waterfall and the views were stunning. The first drop wasn't that big but the second one was supposed to be 65 meters. I managed to get rope burn on my hand from going down too fast though and I'm currently covered in plasters. Everything is ok though and we are all having fun.

We've managed to pick up some Americans to stay the extra week with us and the plan is to go to Cabarete and then Santo Domingo for the meringue festival.

Saturday, June 30

End Of Volunteering Part

The volunteering part of my trip has ended now. We did loads. On the school we managed to get the walls a good 4 feet high and we cleaned and sorted most of the other classrooms so all the broken furniture was out the back. With the kids we managed to teach them a few things but they were greatful that we had come from afar to amuse them. One could say it has been incredibly fulfilling. Either way it has been a lot of fun and it has been one of the best experiences of a foreign country i´ve ever had.

Now comes the fun part, though. The adventure tour lasts for 2 weeks and is going to be fun. Today we went horseback riding to a waterfall. The waterfall was quite high and was cool but i couldnt help thinking of the plitvice lakes and how it compared. Even so here you can swim in it and there was a small cave behind the fall to explore. My underwater camera is going strong and it takes good pictures.

The hotel we are at now (thank god to be in a hotel) is called tropic bananna and is owned by a french man. The hotel is fairly nice, has a pool, and the rooms have AC. It has all the basics and the food is pretty good, although all the food would seem good after Fusimana where lunch each day was crappy sandwiches. I think the volunteering part makes you appreciate this part more fully.

Tomorrow we´re going to a small island called cayo levantado off the coast of Samana. It should be great fun. Hopefully i can update the blog more often on the tour as there will be mnore net cafes.