Our next day in the Dominican Republic started with this breakfast for me. Nothing too exotic, but the passion fruit was new for me. After that first taste I made sure to get some every morning. If you've never tried it- it's a very interesting taste. Really tart and slimy, but also really yummy. The donut, on the other hand, was below average.
We took an excursion that day, which meant getting on a van for about a 45 minute ride away from the resort. This is the only photo I have of the little shopping area set up just outside of our resort. I actually wish we had visited there more than the one short time that we did. It was a more authentic experience than the shopping excursion we took the next day. Anyway- you can sort of see that this is just a little line of shops. The people knew what they were doing. They would first ask your name and/or where you were from. Then they'd give you a tour of everything in their shop, maybe offer you a free cheap little beaded bracelet "because I like you". They'd tell you that you would be their first sale of the day and that your sale would bless their shop. Then, if you did agree to buy something, you had to be prepared to deal with them. The only thing I bought was a small coconut shell coin purse for Clara. The guy asked for $15 first. I ended up paying him $6, which was still probably too much.
Anyway....our trip that day was called Reef Explorer (see the sign?) We started out with a boat ride out into the ocean. I don't know how far...we could still see the shore.
We landed at an 'island' of docks, which had 'pools' of semi-enclosed sea. I'm not certain I'm describing it very well. In any case it was a good place for my first snorkeling experience.
Here you can sort of get an idea of what it looked like, from the water....also my yellow water shoes.
For Christmas, Pete got me a waterproof case for our point-and-shoot camera. It worked really well, which was good because we didn't properly test it before jumping right in with it.
It's a true fact that nobody looks good in a snorkel mask.
They had these little jet-propulsion deals that we could try out. That was kind of fun. I have an especially hilarious video of Pete's first go at it.
We also did get a chance to go outside of the enclosed areas and did about a 45 minute snorkel-swim around the 'island'. The guy leading our group had some oatmeal, which attracted a bunch of fish as we swam around. It is my understanding, and not surprising, that the coral here was not in great shape. The water was a bit rough, and not crystal blue clear, since we were in the Atlantic and not the Caribbean, but we still enjoyed it and saw a nice variety of fishes.
Here you can see what the dock area was like. You can also tell what a lovely day it was for weather. Off on the right you can see the little cabana areas where you could get a short massage, which was included in the trip. We also had access to snacks and non-alcoholic drinks.
The reason for the enclosed areas were to provide a place for people to interact with stingrays and nurse sharks. Pete and I had, apparently, been snorkeling around in the shark 'pool' for quite a while before we finally asked the people "where do we go to see the sharks?" and were told that they were in that same pool. So we scooted ourselves off to the corner where the sharks were hanging out. They were quite docile and had no interest in being near us, but they did warn us that they still had their teeth. I kept my distance a bit.
Some of the stingrays were awfully big. They creeped me out a bit too. But it was very cool to watch them swim and settle themselves back into the sand.
This sign cracked me up. It says "This could be you!" One of the first things we were encouraged to do was to try to hold a stingray. You can probably imagine just how good Pete and I were at that activity. The guys kept saying "My friend! Lady! Put your hands like this!" But we were jumpy and awkward and worried about hurting the poor stingray. They just really wanted to get our picture so they could sell it to us. And they did manage to get a decent one that somehow masks the fact that we were so goofy about the whole thing. I'll have to scan it to share in another post.
Here we are on the way back to shore.
Pete, with a big, rusty anchor.
We both napped on the ride back to the resort. After showering, I made a phone call to the kids to check in and tell them that we weren't eaten by a shark. Actually- when I first told them that Dad and I spent the morning swimming with stingrays and sharks, Clara's first question was "did they bite you?" Carrie commented about the headboard decoration...Carrie- it was just a design printed on some sort of acrylic piece. But all of the walls and hallways had a similar geometric and origami-style design. I didn't get any specific photos of them, but in my final post I'll share another photo of our room and you can see the accompanying wall decor there.
That night we went to dinner at the Italian restaurant. Again, we had a drink at the "Wink" bar while we waited. There was a cheesy singer who seemed to have a small repertoire- as we heard her do a few of the same songs on consecutive nights.
Are you tired, yet, of photos like this? There will probably be a few more before I'm finished sharing about our trip... But I guess that's it for now. I miss how nice my hair was in the Dominican. And my suntan is already starting to fade.... I guess that means it's time to go back to work.
