Dominican Republic

Wow. After the oddness of Tortola, it was amazing to go to the Dominican Republic…

First of all, there’s no real port so we had to get a tender to shore, which was fun – interesting being on such a small boat – suddenly you feel every single wave.

As we settled into our seats, and other passengers moved to theirs around us, we were just getting ready to see this beautiful island when suddenly the back of my neck was showered with something wet. Crap. The chap behind us had thrown up all over us!

Luckily we soon realised that wasn’t true. He’d merely spat on us.

Also luckily, we then realised it wasn’t malicious; he was just taking a swig of water when his wife made him laugh. It was a novel way to be introduced, but we’ve now become friends…

When we got ashore, Jo and I had no plans. This was our first destination that we hadn’t booked an excursion for, so we thought we’d just try and find a deserted beach and see what happened… There were tourist guides hanging about where we docked, so we asked for recommendations and we’re quickly pointed at a couple of ladies from our boat who wanted the same thing and were about to get in a taxi. So we all went in together to make it cheaper and this turned out to be one of the best decisions we’ve made so far…

The taxi we got in was actually a pick-up truck, and we all sat outside on some makeshift seats at the back. The driver then zoomed off at (what felt like) high speed and we tried to get comfortable for the 20 minute journey he’d promised.

After 30 minutes we started to get worried he might take us to the middle of nowhere and then demand more money to get us back, but that fear was naïve and actually, by this time I don’t think any of us would have cared if it was the case – the journey was incredible. We passed through tiny villages, hundreds of people going about their lives in what to us was extreme poverty, but they all looked so happy. The views were staggeringly, bewilderingly, majestically wonderful – pristine beaches, vast swathes of forest, donkeys everywhere, pigs snuffling under trees, children walking to or from school (all of whom waved at us like we were the ultimate celebrities). The roads were in a terrible state, in some places the pot holes stretched the whole width of the road and we thought we might be thrown from the truck, but luckily our driver knew the roads well and spotted all the trenches… (If you ever go there, I would seriously reconsider any plans to hire a car… I can see little hire cars getting written off in droves…). Most of the locals use motorbikes instead of cars, and they appear to try and squeeze as many on a bike as possible. Loads had 3 riders – the most we saw was 4, but 6 on board wouldn’t surprise me!

Finally, after about 45 minutes, we ended up at a beach. And what a beach. It was a little slice of heaven – fine white sand, clear blue waters, massive palm trees, a beach bar/shack, and hardly any people – although among the people already there were Jerry the chocolatier & his wife, a couple from Bolton we’ve met on board and one of the guest lecturers – Rod Taylor.

Oh my god. I cannot describe to you how much we love this beach. The water’s so warm, the Pina Coladas come in Pineapples, the people there so friendly and the sun so, so warm…

We had a nice bit of lunch (chicken for me, lobster for Jo) which was delicious and cheap, did a little snorkelling as one of the ladies from the taxi had hired a set (lovely water, but very few fish), sun bathed, explored along the beach, and generally soaked up the sun with massive smiles on our faces.

All too soon, it was time to go back. Our driver had waited for us, so we just had to gather our bits and hop in the back. This drive was much like the first – the wind whipping through our hair; the people we saw smiling and waving; the views making the hairs on the back of our necks stand up with their impressive beauty...

And then we were back, ready to get the last tender back… only… We’d spent all our money and needed to get a little more to pay the taxi… I ran to the cash machine and queued up, all too aware of time ticking away… the queue was long and slow, but eventually with a few minutes to spare I got to the machine.

Out of service.

ARGH!

I got back in the queue for the other machine and did a very good job of not panicking. Honest.

Finally I was there – I got out what we needed, and sprinted back to the truck – where Jo told me one of the ladies had paid and we owed her. She was already on board, so we headed to the jetty to get on, running up to the gate just in time to see the boat cast off, laughter and cat-calls coming from those on board that we knew.

We had missed the boat.

Thankfully, a few crew had remained ashore with their own boat – waiting for any stragglers. We got on with them and then waited some more – apparently there were 2 more passengers unaccounted for.

We waited.

And waited.

And waited.

Until the Security Officer radioed the ship to see if the 2 passengers we were all waiting for were, by any chance, us.

They were.

Oh well! I don’t think we delayed the ship by too much…

We motored back, having a giggle with the crew, then took the last of the crew off the tender we’d missed so that could be hauled up to its berth about 20 meters above the water. Then we headed out to the gangway and climbed aboard at last.

That night, we won the quiz (that’s another polo shirt in the bag), and then had some cocktails outside in the Lido bar with Rufino – one of the best cocktailists aboard, who also did some magic for us – transforming little foam balls into bigger foam squares and back into balls and then into a massive penis. As you do.