Dominican Recap

Once again, our trip to Cabarete, Dominican Republic wasn't what I expected.  Is travel ever fully what you expect?  We stayed at the Coconut Palms Resort.  It was a five to 10 minute walk to Playa Encuentro, and a five minute cab ride into Cabarete.  

This was the view from our balcony.  You can see the beach!

The resort had a lot going for it.  The price was very reasonable.  The rooms had kitchens including microwaves, stoves, ovens, and refrigerators.  Some of my normal conveniences were missing, however.  We did not have air conditioning, and the water pressure in the shower was so low I had to stand in the (unheated) water for an eternity to even get my hair wet.  Some others in our group had better luck with the water pressure and temperature.

Lucky for me I have a reptilian enjoyment of heat, so the lack of A/C wasn't too much of a problem even though the temperature was in the high 80s to low 90s.  Others in our group had it worse.  I just had to tough it out with the shower though.  I'll have to take extra hot showers for the next month to make up for it.

The vacation ended up being a lot more laid back than our normal vacation.  The beach closest to our hotel is more suited to surfing than swimming or snorkeling, so we went elsewhere to swim one day and snorkel another.  Usually I'm the type of gal who could spend all day in the ocean swimming and snorkeling.

Snorkeling self-portriat.

This fish mush be camera shy because it
promptly bit me.

 I read four Terry Brooks books from start to finish during the trip, mostly while relaxing by the pool.

• Armageddon's Children
• The Elves of Cintra
• The Gypsy Morph
• Magic Kingdom for Sale... Sold!

Obviously I've been getting my fantasy geek on.  I have to read something until the next Song of Ice and Fire book comes out.  I checked out the books through the Georgia Download Destination on the Over Drive ebook lending system.  It was great to get to fill my Kindle for free, just like I'm used to checking out printed library books.  I love the library, and I don't think ebooks will ever fully take the place of printed books in my life, but it was great to carry so many books with me so easily.  Check the Over Drive system for a library near you!

As usual on vacation, I dropped the ball on outfit photos.

This is a cover up and running tights/leggings ensemble.  You can tell by the look on my face that it had been a long day of walking around and the Bohemia is strictly for re-hydration purposes.

This is one of my scandalous dresses.  It is originally from Victoria's Secret (Moda International), but I got it at Goodwill.  It has great flow and it's very comfortable, but it is very low cut.

This is what I wore on our last night there.  I paired the low-cut dress (which also has a large key hole in the back) with an athletic top for additional coverage and support.  Win-win.

Sunset, our last night in Cabarete.

I may or may not return to the Dominican Republic.  The snorkeling is a lot better in Cozumel, Mexico, and there are other places that are much higher on my travel list than a return trip to DR.  That being said, I loved the trip in large part because of the great company. We went with a group of friends, and Stephen and I are the only ones in the group who don't SCUBA dive.  Stephen and I spent the days doing our own thing and the evenings laughing with the group. We all cried when it was time to say goodbye.  At times like that it doesn't matter if you have air conditioning or hot water.  Friends like the ones we have are more than enough.