The story of the farting motoconcho, and other things of that nature.....

El Limon waterfall on the Samana Peninsula

Ahh, the Dominican Republic, what can I say?  It's different, it's nice, it's unusual.  We have now become somewhat locals of the country after now being here for 23 days with another 11 still to go.  Our week in Santo Domingo was eye opening.  We had no idea how little english anyone spoke, nor the amount of harrassment you would receive from various vendors while walking down the street.  We weren't ready for the poverty that we saw, nor the happy, party-go-lucky people we would meet.

Our first day involved walking around the Colonial Zone, which history shows, was the first established European settlement of the Americas.  Columbus arrived here in 1492 and there are still several ruins and buildings in this area that prove it.

The reason we ended up in the DR in the first place was so I could make an appointment at the US embassy to get a US travel Visa.  This was an experience.  My cabdriver didn't speak a word of english and took me to the wrong place before I ended up at the consulate.  I walked through the door after being searched several times, and after walking through a throng of people begging outside.  Once inside, I had to make my way through a sea of about 300 Dominicans.  I'm not sure what they were all doing there at 8am as I'm pretty sure they weren't US citizens.  I guess there must be a lottery of some sort to obtain admission to the US, or something along those lines.  I had an 8:30am appointment that ended up starting at 12:30 and lasted a whole 2 minutes in duration.  But my visa was approved and my passport arrived safe and sound 5 days later.

Santo Domingo is full of culture, history and party people, but 1 week was enough and Rick and I jumped on a local bus up to the north coast to a place called Cabarete.  The scene here is more touristy with many all inclusive hotels, lots of europeans and beautiful beaches.  One of the ways to get around this town is on a motoconcho.  These extremely diligent motorbike drivers will usually scream "moto" at you as you walk down the street.  We usually submit because a) it costs about $1 to go about 3km, b) it's pretty fun and they are actually very good drivers, and c) you just want them to shut up and leave you alone so you can enjoy your holiday!  And the bonus?? the two of you might be on the back of a motoconcho, enjoying a lovely ride home in the pouring rain, not understanding a word the driver is saying, and then he farts.  He doesn't hide it, he's not embarrassed.  In fact, he's quite proud and mutters something in spanish along the lines of "take that gringos", and laughs.  But it's okay, at the end of the ride he gave me his card to make sure we could have the pleasure again.

So we are enjoying our time here.  The people don't have much but they are happy.  We've met some great ex-pats and other fellow travellers.  Right now, we are trying to cleanse our livers while we take in some action sports and improve our spanish.

Adios for now, amigos!

English, anyone?

It has been a couple of weeks since I last updated this blog and since I first went live with the website.  Thanks to everyone who sent me messages, I really appreciated it and will get back to you all individually when I can find an internet connection that lasts more than 3 minutes, or I learn to speak Spanish.

So, que pasa?  The last week on the yacht saw us end up in St Christopher, otherwise known as St Kitts.  We arrived there after a very early 5am start out of Saba Island. The sea was angry that day and resulted in some sorry stomachs by the crew onboard.  We had a new crewmember on board, Marissa, whose stomach had less legs than the rest of us after sailing for only 1 day, and in the biggest seas we had seen on the trip so far.  Lucky green is her colour.  I seemed to have finally got my sea legs which allowed me to sleep through the whole experience. 

On the way to the Marina at St Kitts we blew our screecher sail out and the boys had to act quick so as not to lose it completely.  This nasty surprise came just after the fantastic surprise of a family of dolphins who came to swim alongside us for about 15 minutes.  It was totally surreal.

St Kitts is tourist central with a different cruiseship due there everyday from now until Feb next year.  We decided to get away from all the chubby whitehairs and park the boat around the corner in a protected bay called Frigate Bay.  There were a few nice restaurants and bars on the beach which suited us just fine.  A security parking lot may have been more appropriate though because the car we hired for 2 days ended up getting its battery stolen.  We had to pay for the replacement but it wasn't too expensive.

Rick and I left the boat on Thursday and headed for the Dominican Republic.  Our day started at 4am with a dinghy ride in the dark in a dinghy that has two speeds - doesn't work and flat out.  After counting our blessings that the hire car was intact (and that I didn't drop my backpack in the ocean) we worked our way to the airport.  We had heard a story that a tourist had hired a car and parked it in front of his hotel, and when he came out the next morning, the car was up on blocks and stripped of its tyres!

Two flights and 8 hours later we were sitting in our small but very comfortable hotel room in Santo Domingo, Domincan Republic (it has a shower and a tv!!!)  I didn't know what to expect from this country.  All I really knew was that they were next door to Haiti.  Turns out, they are lovely, lively proud people WHO DON'T SPEAK ONE WORLD OF ENGLISH.  I have been floored the last couple of days that we can't actually do anything without knowing Spanish.  It's fun and forcing me to brush up on my espanol, but it's a struggle at times.  Rick and I ordered dinner the other night expecting a burrito and a cheeseburger and we got tacos.  Then we asked the hotel for a chair for our room and we ended up with a whole office!  Classic.

Well, that's probably enough for now.  I will elaborate more on Santo Domingo in my next post as this place is truly unique.



Glitz & Glam in the French West Indies

Where in the world am I today.  As I write this blog, I am sitting on the boat in the St Barts Marina.  Directly opposite my cabin window I see Hermes, Louis Vuitton, & Cartier shops, just to namedrop a few.  Yes, St Barthelemy, or St Barts as it is more commonly know, is a very la-di-da kinda place.  But not in that, I'm too good, I'll turn my nose up at you, kinda way.  This island and its people just like to enjoy the finer things in life.  It is a beautiful island with sharp volcanic hills set against a backdrop of the clearest bluest water you are likely to ever see.  The people are very friendly, especially when compared to the attitude you receive when you are actually in France.  I think it must have to do with the weather here which has been perfect blue skies with very very little rain, warm through the day while cooling off enough at night where you can get a good night's rest.

We hired some scooters to shoot around the island on and are having too much fun.  They're priced pretty well at 40 Euro a day.  If you're a jetski enthusiast however, things are a little different.  A 1/2 hour jetski rental will cost you 90-150 Euro. Yowsers ! 

Prior to docking at St Barts we had a lunchstop at a small island called Ile Fourche.  Here I found a snorkelling paradise. An underwater world that was just insane.  There were underwater caves and archways and the water colour and visibility were like nothing I'd ever seen.

Earlier in the day we had set sail from St Martin.  While in St Martin we anchored off Marigot Bay and Grand Case Beach.  Grand Case has a very french influence and is known as the gastronomical capital of the caribbean.  The restaurants and bars were both elegant and casual and most nights we ate first rate food shoeless with our toes in the sand.

Anegada, British Virgin Islands

Cow Wreck Beach, Anegada, BVI

Now, I have been to a lot of beaches: Australia, Fiji, Thailand, Greece, France, Vanuatu.  I have to say, this is definitely up there as one of the best.  There was crystal clear azure coloured water, coral reefs with amazing snorkelling and a thousand different fish to see, and a serve yourself beach bar right on the water's edge.  What more could anyone want?

Where it all began

Hiking in the wilderness is tough.  Everything matters.  It took a long time to plan our 800km trek through the sierra nevada mountains in California, USA.  Basically, our lives over those 35 days was broken down to weight, calories and walking.  Always the walking.

Our meals consisted of various dry foods but our cooking utensils came down to one bowl (which doubled as our fry pan and pot) and one plastic spoon.  Between the two of us, we were able to cook and eat all our meals with just these two things, weighing 3 ounces.

But what happens when you camp at 13,000 feet and you wake up in the morning and your Nutella is frozen?  Whatever you do, don't use that plastic spoon to eat your nutella breakfast.  Because that spoon is going to break, and then your whole world will come crashing down because you now have broken the only thing that helps give you energy to walk your 35 kilometres a day.  But once the tears and frustrations have subsided, you realise it's not that big of a deal.  You still have your fingers afterall, plus a little help from your friend Mr Duct Tape.

Another day in Paradise

Tropical Storm Otto has reared it's ugly head.