Our trip to Sosua, which is 25 KM away from our condo cost 70.00 USD and was way way way overpriced and I was sure scammed by the tour guide office. . First I ask for a certain tour guide that we had before and that they had to speak English. The guy we had did not speak any English. I fully intended to go back and rip a stripe off the Bastard who sold me the tour but I ran out of time but I told everyone else in the condo about it. So it is what it is; so I will consider it "Lesson Learned".
The town of Sosua is a nice tourist town located in a quite bay where many sail boats anchor overnight when sailing past this Islands. I'm sure it is the Beach and the Bars that attracts the visitors. I met a Guy from Drumheller , who spends 6 weeks in Nov/Dec and another 6 weeks in Mar/Apr ( he owns a Condo ) and he says he sees many returnees each year to get their Winter Fix.
There are many ( probably a 100 ) Shops and Restaurants setback about 200 feet from the beach area and if you stop at a shop it becomes high pressure to buy. I actually intended to but a cap but I wanted to check with a few shops to get a feel of the lowest price. The first shop wanted 20.00 USD so I told him where he could shove it but he then ask what I wanted to pay. I said ,so 20.00 is not your real price so give me your best price and he kept said how much you give me; I said no , I'm not buying you and left.
The next shop owners was funny and in fact lived in Canada at one time. He even said he would take Canadian Tire money and he spoke good English. I just argued with and let Carroll bargain with him and he agreed to sell me a Cap for 10.00. Then Carroll wanted a painting so her and him bargained back forth and finally she got it for 10.00.
We sat around the beach for awhile then had an excellent lunch at a reasonable price. In the early afternoon the tour guide said our tour was over and went home. If we go to Puerto Plata again I think we would stay in Sosua for a couple of days just to see the sites and sounds of the town.
We seen two interesting sites. A young lady was carrying two flats of eggs on her head with weaving in and out among the visitors at the beach. Another guy was carrying a huge basket of fruit on his head selling them to those basking in the sun along the beach. Can you imagine one of us trying balance that on our head. I have a hard enough time just keeping my cap on. Cheers
Friday, 1 January 2016
Tuesday, 29 December 2015
Book our Trip to Sosua
Sosua is a small tourist , beach town , with miles of sandy beach front, located in a very quite bay 25 KM from our condo. It can be easily reach by flagging down a overcrowded local bus but that is not our cup of tea. Therefore we went to the Mall to have tour company get us a much more expensive taxi for tomorrow morning and hopefully tour us around the town and to stay with us until the afternoon.
This cost us 90.00 Cdn which I will probably regret because it does sound overpriced. Then, our beach was calling so we ventured down there for a few hours, soaking up the Sun and reading my 4 th book. As I am keeping a close eye on the WJH I returned to the pool to check the scores on the computer.
We had planned to go for supper at the Golf course which is about a city block from our condo and we where hoping to have an couple join us but there were no takers so we went alone. I guess Monday night is not Supper night at the Golf course as we were the only ones there , however the supper was good.
Tonight is poker night at the pool area, ( Texas Holdem ) with our crew so the men played poker ( excluding me ) and drank while the ladies sit around and swap stories. I , on the other hand did my Blog and checked the hockey scores. I was watching one poker hand and the winner had a Straight and a Flush. When he showed his cards he says I got a Straight and everyone hollered, No , you got a Flush. So much for the " Gambler".
The ladies must have been comparing their Condo layout and facilities . Since our is available for next year, Carroll invited everyone to view ours, as two of the ladies do not like their Condos and want a better one for next year. Two of the ladies want our condo for next year. cheers
This cost us 90.00 Cdn which I will probably regret because it does sound overpriced. Then, our beach was calling so we ventured down there for a few hours, soaking up the Sun and reading my 4 th book. As I am keeping a close eye on the WJH I returned to the pool to check the scores on the computer.
We had planned to go for supper at the Golf course which is about a city block from our condo and we where hoping to have an couple join us but there were no takers so we went alone. I guess Monday night is not Supper night at the Golf course as we were the only ones there , however the supper was good.
Tonight is poker night at the pool area, ( Texas Holdem ) with our crew so the men played poker ( excluding me ) and drank while the ladies sit around and swap stories. I , on the other hand did my Blog and checked the hockey scores. I was watching one poker hand and the winner had a Straight and a Flush. When he showed his cards he says I got a Straight and everyone hollered, No , you got a Flush. So much for the " Gambler".
The ladies must have been comparing their Condo layout and facilities . Since our is available for next year, Carroll invited everyone to view ours, as two of the ladies do not like their Condos and want a better one for next year. Two of the ladies want our condo for next year. cheers
The Gangs All Here
It rained a little during the night and again in the morning, hence the reason the entire Island is a lush green. Even with the windows open the rain seldom comes in the Condo due to the gable overhang.
The Sun soon " Euchred" the rain clouds so by noon it was a bright sunny day so we headed for the beach. We got to the beach just in time to join Peter and Judy ( Christmas Dinner Host ) and Jack and Gwen as they were heading down the beach for lunch at their Special restaurant that they visit every Sunday for lunch. We had never been there for 2 reason; first we did not know about until they came about 2 weeks ago and second reason is that is a 1/2 KM walk ( Carroll says it was a mile one way ) which is the Maximum for Carroll to walk especially on the sand. We were joined by a family friend of Peter and Judy's and their own son, who flew in to visit his parents because his " Skidoo" vacation in the Montreal mountains had been cancelled due to the lack of snow.
This restaurant is actually a two story " Bricks and Mortar " structure that serves fabulous meal in the evening. But during the day it has a huge tent set up outside to serve us old Beach Bums and even those who own as little as a halter top and a thong. Not all those wearing a thong are young. Oh mercy!!!!!The restaurant is called François's and one specially is Poutine , better known as a Heart Attack on a plate. Carroll and I shared a Heart Attack and an Empanada.
Of course there were drinks all around before the food order but I can not drink since I am on Antibiotic so it was water for Carroll and I. Judy ordered a glass with Ice and a Mickey of Rum for her and Peter. I said, surely your are not going to drink all that and she said "probably" not but two drinks of rum is the same price as the Mickey so I'll take the rest home. Incidentally there was nothing to take home.
After lunch we went back to our beach where we had reserved our lounge chairs and burnt up the rest of the day. cheers
The Sun soon " Euchred" the rain clouds so by noon it was a bright sunny day so we headed for the beach. We got to the beach just in time to join Peter and Judy ( Christmas Dinner Host ) and Jack and Gwen as they were heading down the beach for lunch at their Special restaurant that they visit every Sunday for lunch. We had never been there for 2 reason; first we did not know about until they came about 2 weeks ago and second reason is that is a 1/2 KM walk ( Carroll says it was a mile one way ) which is the Maximum for Carroll to walk especially on the sand. We were joined by a family friend of Peter and Judy's and their own son, who flew in to visit his parents because his " Skidoo" vacation in the Montreal mountains had been cancelled due to the lack of snow.
This restaurant is actually a two story " Bricks and Mortar " structure that serves fabulous meal in the evening. But during the day it has a huge tent set up outside to serve us old Beach Bums and even those who own as little as a halter top and a thong. Not all those wearing a thong are young. Oh mercy!!!!!The restaurant is called François's and one specially is Poutine , better known as a Heart Attack on a plate. Carroll and I shared a Heart Attack and an Empanada.
Of course there were drinks all around before the food order but I can not drink since I am on Antibiotic so it was water for Carroll and I. Judy ordered a glass with Ice and a Mickey of Rum for her and Peter. I said, surely your are not going to drink all that and she said "probably" not but two drinks of rum is the same price as the Mickey so I'll take the rest home. Incidentally there was nothing to take home.
After lunch we went back to our beach where we had reserved our lounge chairs and burnt up the rest of the day. cheers
Sunday, 27 December 2015
Boxing Day.
Today is just another work day for the local Dominicans. It also is the day that the "Whiteys " fly in after they got Christmas with the families out of the way. Tomorrow the beaches will be wall to wall "Whiteys" with the older ladies prancing along the beach in their all to Skippy bathing suits they got for Christmas but will never wear again until next year when they go some place that nobody knows them. Hey.. It's true. However, the bars in our area will be full of Canadians watching the USA/ Canada game.
Since the game doesn't start until 2 PM, it was time for us to start checking off the things we have to do before we leave. Since Carroll doesn't want to take any dirty laundry home I went to the office to pay for and have the laundry done today. Whatever gets dirty after today goes home in a sealed bag.
I still had a bout of diarrhea so we went to the Pharmacy . The pharmacist question me reference my illness and assured me that I had a bacteria and recommended pills to "kill " it, which I have to take every 8 hours for 7 days. Since we still had time to kill before the game was to start, we hung around the pool talking with our group.
When it was game time I went to Ron's bar ( a Cdn I met when we first arrived ) as he has every sports channel know to man. However, his TV was " Freeze Framing " which is no way to watch hockey game so he sent me to another bar in the Mall. This bar was full of ONLY Cdns and I found a chair at the bar so I squeezed in. At intermission , I drummed up a conversation and a guy who was an instructor at Red River College in Winnipeg and another guy who was from Lodgepole, which I think is in AB. It was so loud I could only talk to the guy from Winnipeg. At the 2 nd intermission his wife came along and I thought I had her chair so I was prepared to move but she just advise him that she would be at Ron's bar after the game doing her emailing, because Ron has free WiFi and the All Inclusive hotel charges 4.00 and hour to use theirs. Can you imagine???
After the game I headed home before some American found be to say the USA just kick our Ass. cheers
Since the game doesn't start until 2 PM, it was time for us to start checking off the things we have to do before we leave. Since Carroll doesn't want to take any dirty laundry home I went to the office to pay for and have the laundry done today. Whatever gets dirty after today goes home in a sealed bag.
I still had a bout of diarrhea so we went to the Pharmacy . The pharmacist question me reference my illness and assured me that I had a bacteria and recommended pills to "kill " it, which I have to take every 8 hours for 7 days. Since we still had time to kill before the game was to start, we hung around the pool talking with our group.
When it was game time I went to Ron's bar ( a Cdn I met when we first arrived ) as he has every sports channel know to man. However, his TV was " Freeze Framing " which is no way to watch hockey game so he sent me to another bar in the Mall. This bar was full of ONLY Cdns and I found a chair at the bar so I squeezed in. At intermission , I drummed up a conversation and a guy who was an instructor at Red River College in Winnipeg and another guy who was from Lodgepole, which I think is in AB. It was so loud I could only talk to the guy from Winnipeg. At the 2 nd intermission his wife came along and I thought I had her chair so I was prepared to move but she just advise him that she would be at Ron's bar after the game doing her emailing, because Ron has free WiFi and the All Inclusive hotel charges 4.00 and hour to use theirs. Can you imagine???
After the game I headed home before some American found be to say the USA just kick our Ass. cheers
Christmas Day
On Christmas day most people are getting excited about having family or friends in for dinner or going to family or friends. We too were looking forward to our party ; however about 3 PM Christmas morning, I woke up sick and I ( tom ) mean sick. I was weak and had diarrhea. Although I survived the night I could not eat and did not want to get out of bed. I tried to sit up a few times but I could do it. We had some Peptobismo and some Imodium which I took. During the day I managed to drink a cup of tea and eat 1/2 a slice of toast. By 3 PM it was determined that I might live and with a couple more hours of sleep I might just feel good enough to make the 6 PM cocktail hour at our friends place.
By 5 PM I decided that I could make the party but I only drank water and no food until the supper was served. The cocktail hour , which started at 6 PM , lasted until about 8 and by that time the hostess had made a marvelous meal. It was the whole meal deal; mash potatoes, squash, beans , carrots, turkey, stuffing and gravy. Since I had barely eaten all day my stomach could barely wait for the food to get there.
By 9:30 I was starting to feel tired so we begged off the party and headed home. The next day we ask how long the party lasted and they said until midnight. Thank you, but I would never had lasted that long. However, it was a great Christmas dinner with our new found friends. cheers
By 5 PM I decided that I could make the party but I only drank water and no food until the supper was served. The cocktail hour , which started at 6 PM , lasted until about 8 and by that time the hostess had made a marvelous meal. It was the whole meal deal; mash potatoes, squash, beans , carrots, turkey, stuffing and gravy. Since I had barely eaten all day my stomach could barely wait for the food to get there.
By 9:30 I was starting to feel tired so we begged off the party and headed home. The next day we ask how long the party lasted and they said until midnight. Thank you, but I would never had lasted that long. However, it was a great Christmas dinner with our new found friends. cheers
Saturday, 26 December 2015
Slow Day... DR Style
The first order of the day was to go to the local Mall to pick up some beer, enough to last me another 5 days. I also pick up a bottle of wine for the host of the Christmas Dinner. We thought we could get a box of chocolates for the hostess in the Mall but no stores sell chocolates which we found surprising. However, our Landlord was going into Puerto Plato so he was kind enough to pick up a box for us.
Then we headed for the Beach, were we spent about 3 hours. The water was beautiful so we spent about 1/2 hour riding the waves and talking to others. The rest of the time was spent reading and shaking my head " NO " when the Hawkers came along.
We, along with our friends who come here ever year at this time are amazed that it is not "wall to wall" people. I guess part of the reason could be our Dollar. cheers
Then we headed for the Beach, were we spent about 3 hours. The water was beautiful so we spent about 1/2 hour riding the waves and talking to others. The rest of the time was spent reading and shaking my head " NO " when the Hawkers came along.
We, along with our friends who come here ever year at this time are amazed that it is not "wall to wall" people. I guess part of the reason could be our Dollar. cheers
Wednesday, 23 December 2015
Christmas Dinner
I think our time here is going fast but we seem to be slowing down. We went to the beach in the early afternoon and our new found friends were already , holding down a beach chair. This normal entails reading or falling asleep followed by a swim.
I usually read for about 1/2 an hour and then we go for a swim ( mostly riding the waves ). The water is so beautiful it is nice to float around.
Judy, the lady who t invited us for Christmas Dinner lives next to our Condo Complex in another complex. Once I looked at the complex I knew I would never find her place. However, Judy was on the beach so she directed us to her place. It would be great to get an invite for Christmas and then be late hunting for the dam place.
The beach is lined with Condos and Hotels. cheers
I usually read for about 1/2 an hour and then we go for a swim ( mostly riding the waves ). The water is so beautiful it is nice to float around.
Judy, the lady who t invited us for Christmas Dinner lives next to our Condo Complex in another complex. Once I looked at the complex I knew I would never find her place. However, Judy was on the beach so she directed us to her place. It would be great to get an invite for Christmas and then be late hunting for the dam place.
The beach is lined with Condos and Hotels. cheers
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