The Dominican Republic con Fuerza

The DR was sweet! I have wanted to go there for a while and when Lauren found this deal for an all-inclusive resort for $20 a night, we had to go. The deal was through cheapcaribbean and we stayed at the lifestyle resort in Puerto Plata. We flew into Santiago and took a caro publico into into the city. The public transportation there is locals driving around old cars but they actually follow routes. The PA route goes back and forth from the airport, and our driver had a 1990 civic. We paid a dollar for our ride from the airport, and by the time we got out there was 7 passengers, plus the car was a 5 speed, he had to shift! Being a part of that was worth so much more than $1! To get to Puerto Plata we took a Caribe tours bus for about an hour and a half but you could take a guagua and it would have been just as easy, both are about $3. Then once in Puerto Plata we decided to take a Motoconcho (3 people and bags, 1 motorcycle) to the resort. It made me want to buy a motorcycle.

Our first day, we wandered around town towards the beach. We were walking through the slums and eventually made it to the dirtiest beach ever. We were just reading a little and these kids cam up and sat really close to us. So I started talking to them and I told them to get a baseball which they were pretty excited about. So after playing catch for a minute they showed us their field they had built out of trash. We split up and played ball for about an hour right on the beach, it made my day. These are the kids we played with, they gave me the ball to keep.

Once at the resort we laid around, swam, and played games but mostly just relaxed. Jon and Melissa Kidd came, it was really fun having them there. On Sunday we went to the Mormon church there. The first chapel we went to started later so the second counselor took the girls on his motorcycle and me and Jon shared one over to the other chapel. Everyone in the DR is really cool.

The Kidds went to Damajagua (27 waterfalls) one day during the week and we went our last day. It is this awesome national park that has a bunch of waterfalls to climb up and jump in. You gotta check out this link to see the promotional video! 27 Charcos. You have to pay for a guide/entrance fee but its pretty cheap and definitely worth it.

The trip was great, it was easy to get around without taking taxis, speaking better spanish would have helped but we were fine. The people were super cool and helpful, and they had some good food, especially the Pico Pollo. And the resort was nice! The VIP beach with the beds was hard to resist.
The Cost = Resort $200 + Total Transportation $30 + Hotel last night $18 + Breakfast in town $3 + Papaye and Pina $.80 + AntiDiarheal $15 = $266.80