So when we arrived in the Dominican Republic about 3 weeks ago (yes, I know we are a bit behind), we left from the Turks and Caicos and did an overnight passage to the Dominican Republic where we planned to arrive in Luperon in the morning. I woke up in the morning and saw large clouds on the horizon, I commented to mom, "Those are big clouds!" She laughed and said that they were mountains. For the next hour we watched the 'clouds' become tall, broad mountains. We came into the harbor of Luperon and were very surprised. All the guidebooks had said, that Luperon harbor was dirty, loud, and a place to be avoided. Well, the birds were chirping in the trees (not cawing, but really, truly chirping. "chirp chirp"). It is a very dirty harbor because the sewage from the city of Luperon drains into the harbor. We have to be very careful not to get splashed by the water, when we're in the dinghy (if you get splashed, you have to wash it off with soap). After we had picked up a mooring and the customs came by and cleared us in, we raised the the clearance flag, and then fell asleep for about 4 hours. When we woke up we hitched a ride into shore with some friends to explore the town. We found a pizza place and ordered 2 large pizzas, 2 large cokes, 3 beers, for about 12 dollars (for 5 people). After more exploring, we headed back to the boat for the night. In the morning we decided to do the waterfalls "27 Charcos" look them up on google to find great you tube video and pictures. We literally rode down the waterfalls. There was one spot where you could either ride down the waterfall or jump 25 feet into the water. I chose to jump. When it was my turn to jump I asked the tour guide, "How deep is the water?" He said "I don't know." I said "I really would like to know!" He shrugged and then told me to jump. I jumped only because I figured the other 10 people that had gone in front of me hadn't died, so i probably wouldn't either. It wasn't until I was halfway down, that I started screaming, because that was when I realized what I was doing. I landed on my butt and it HURT...
When we got back to the boat, you'd think I would've been tired. But I wasn't (OK, maybe a little, instead, i brushed my hair, threw some clothes on over my swimsuit and hitched a ride with some other kids into town. We walked around town for about an hour, exploring the quaint town and trying to not get lost. We found an ice cream truck and of course, (after all, we are kids!) we had to have ice cream. It took awhile to figure out how much the ice cream was, because they spoke no English, and we, very limited Spanish, ( OK, I'll admit i don't know any Spanish, since I am learning French in school.) In the end we showed them what money we had and they showed us what we could afford to get. The currency here is Pesos and its 44 pesos to a U.S. dollar. So alot of stuff is really cheap.
After a couple of days in Luperon a window came to go to Samana, (a jumping point for Puerto Rico) and we lift with the other kid boats, but had to turn around due to Mom's high blood pressure. So we have been in Luperon for three weeks. There are no other kids, and it is very BORING.
So on two Mondays ago now, we decided to travel from Luperon (northern cost of Hispaniola near Puerto Plata, if u look at a map) to Santo Domingo, the capital of the Dominican Republic. We got a ride into Santo Domingo with a friend of a friend.
Santo Domingo was founded by Christopher Columbus in 1496. St. Augustine in FL was founded in 1565. So Santo Domingo is the oldest european founded city in the New World. (And me being a history buff, I was in my element.) When we got to our hotel (Hotel el Conde), we quickly freshened up, then went downstairs to the hotel restaurant to eat dinner. We had friends we planned to meet up with in Santo Domingo, and the streets of Santo Domingoare very winding, and confusing, and hectic. (there are very crazy drivers here) I arranged my chair so I was looking at the street so I would see them if they drove by, in their rental car. We had made plans to meet up with them at the hotel. So i was facing the street, so i could spot them if they went past us. Sure enough, they were driving right past us when I saw them, I jumped out of my seat and shouted "UNO!" (which is the name of their boat), and the first thing that came to mind. I got some strange looks, 'cuz uno means one in Spanish . So the way everyone else saw it, was me jumping out of my seat and screaming "ONE!". But I didn't care, I was so happy to see our friends. They are a kid boat with 2 boys 13 and 11, They got a hotel room in the same hotel as us. . We went sight-seeing together in Santo Domingo the next day. We went to the fort. We went to a really cool museum, (that i do not remember the name of) that was housed in what was the first government building of the city/country. And the actual rooms, where the house of representatives met and made their decisions and stuff. I thought it was cool that it wasn't a representation of that room. But it was the actual room where those people met and made the government decisions. We also went to the house that Christopher Columbus built for his son, Diego Columbus. Which was very pretty and right on the water. After the freezing bus ride home, we started prepping for the voyage to Samana (a jumping point for Puerto Rico). Next stop, Samana!
When we got back to the boat, you'd think I would've been tired. But I wasn't (OK, maybe a little, instead, i brushed my hair, threw some clothes on over my swimsuit and hitched a ride with some other kids into town. We walked around town for about an hour, exploring the quaint town and trying to not get lost. We found an ice cream truck and of course, (after all, we are kids!) we had to have ice cream. It took awhile to figure out how much the ice cream was, because they spoke no English, and we, very limited Spanish, ( OK, I'll admit i don't know any Spanish, since I am learning French in school.) In the end we showed them what money we had and they showed us what we could afford to get. The currency here is Pesos and its 44 pesos to a U.S. dollar. So alot of stuff is really cheap.
After a couple of days in Luperon a window came to go to Samana, (a jumping point for Puerto Rico) and we lift with the other kid boats, but had to turn around due to Mom's high blood pressure. So we have been in Luperon for three weeks. There are no other kids, and it is very BORING.
So on two Mondays ago now, we decided to travel from Luperon (northern cost of Hispaniola near Puerto Plata, if u look at a map) to Santo Domingo, the capital of the Dominican Republic. We got a ride into Santo Domingo with a friend of a friend.
Santo Domingo was founded by Christopher Columbus in 1496. St. Augustine in FL was founded in 1565. So Santo Domingo is the oldest european founded city in the New World. (And me being a history buff, I was in my element.) When we got to our hotel (Hotel el Conde), we quickly freshened up, then went downstairs to the hotel restaurant to eat dinner. We had friends we planned to meet up with in Santo Domingo, and the streets of Santo Domingoare very winding, and confusing, and hectic. (there are very crazy drivers here) I arranged my chair so I was looking at the street so I would see them if they drove by, in their rental car. We had made plans to meet up with them at the hotel. So i was facing the street, so i could spot them if they went past us. Sure enough, they were driving right past us when I saw them, I jumped out of my seat and shouted "UNO!" (which is the name of their boat), and the first thing that came to mind. I got some strange looks, 'cuz uno means one in Spanish . So the way everyone else saw it, was me jumping out of my seat and screaming "ONE!". But I didn't care, I was so happy to see our friends. They are a kid boat with 2 boys 13 and 11, They got a hotel room in the same hotel as us. . We went sight-seeing together in Santo Domingo the next day. We went to the fort. We went to a really cool museum, (that i do not remember the name of) that was housed in what was the first government building of the city/country. And the actual rooms, where the house of representatives met and made their decisions and stuff. I thought it was cool that it wasn't a representation of that room. But it was the actual room where those people met and made the government decisions. We also went to the house that Christopher Columbus built for his son, Diego Columbus. Which was very pretty and right on the water. After the freezing bus ride home, we started prepping for the voyage to Samana (a jumping point for Puerto Rico). Next stop, Samana!