Las Terrenas

Las Terrenas, Dominican Republic. Sitting on our patio outside our bungalow, listening to the birds singing in the tropical trees as a bright green gecko watches me watch him.... Lovely.

So we have quite fallen in love with Las Terrenas, a local town at the end of a winding and pot-holed filled road on the northern coast. A mixture of locals, expats and the more adventurous tourists. There's plenty of local color that is tempered by, but not overrun by, the fairly minimal presence of westerners - but enough that there are amenities that we would need (such as wifi!), but no huge resorts and throngs of westerners. We have spent the last couple of days walking the long long stretches of beaches, sitting under palm trees and getting a bit silly on the cheap rum and cokes. We like it here so much we actually cancelled the next stop on our tour (Caberete)as we don't think we need to see anymore (and had enough of the driving too).

Today we have been plotting and scheming, and if it all turns out (as it usually does), there are some ch-ch-ch-changes coming down the pipe pretty soon ... not that we're quite ready to set up shop (figurativly and literally), but we are ready to get on now with the next phase in our life-evolution. Time, we say, for some more adventure before we start again. Visiting the Caribbean and experiencing it, we are now finally able to put the final piece into the puzzle and set off to begin the next four years ...

The full details to follow, plus some pictures, once we are home.

Curious What We're Up To?

Well, it's been quite the adventure thus far. The first night we arrived late and drove a rental car in a downpour trying to find our hotel... which we did but couldn't find the exit from the freeway to get there. After alot of trying, we did get there. So glad we sprung for the more expensive hotel near the airport for the first night!

Next we were off to Bayahibe. It was lovely, but didn't seem a good fit for our project. Too mellow, really. The tourist presence is nil except for those in huge entourages from the nearby resort... and they pretty much just parade through town on their way to excursions... no stopping by local vendors. Big adventure here with our tire going flat and loads of ahrgy bargy to get a new car. Ended up having to phone the credit card company to make use of our travel emergency benefit to get an interpreter to help sort it out (yes; our Spanish needs a lot of work if we are to make the project happen!)... ended up putting on the spare and driving to the nearest Europcar office about half an hour away. Got it sorted, though.We did visit a couple of local bars/cafes that gave us some good ideas for what we might do if in the DR.

Today we drove for about 4 hours to reach the beautiful town of Las Terrenas. Looks promising so far, but we've only just arrived. If we do like what we see the next day or so, we may well just finish out our DR time here.... we shall see.

Lots of driving has meant seeing lots of the country in a short amount of time. This gives us a fairly good overview in and of itself. Andy has done all except that first night (Evan was put off with getting lost and all). It is challenging, but not impossible, and it really is letting us see the county more freely.

We'll sign off for now. More later.

Tulips, movies, and DR dreaming

With now only a week to go to our trip to Dominican Republic, we have been busy preparing. We have chosen to focus our research on three main regions – the south coast (includes Boca Chica and Bayahibe); the east coast (Bavaro and Playa Uvero Alta – avoiding the stretches of all-inclusive resorts around Punta Cana); and the north coast (Las Terenas, Cabarete and Santa Barbara). We are staying in local B and B’s with the hope to make connections and build bridges with other small businesses and organizations. Other areas sound great, but we need to focus our energies on tourist areas that have the ‘right kind’ of tourists – i.e. ones who are out and about in the local communities and who are likely to stop and shop at a charity business. Although many tourists go to the Dominican Republic, the majority of them stay on the infamous all-inclusive resorts, rarely straying out of the safety and confines of their created paradise…. So while we are heading of to a Caribbean island, there is not a lot of emphasis on vacationing and sitting around drinking mai-tais (maybe one!)

Life continues in all other areas. This afternoon, when we have completed yet another garden project, we are off to visit the tulip fields of Washington – it is the annual tulip festival where there are acres and acres of tulips being grown across the fields of Skagit County – and now is flowering time – quite a sight!
Our treat has been to buy two more of our favorite movies of all time (used copies of course!) – Big Fish and Up, to add to our small but powerfully inspirational collection, which includes Love Actually, Magnolia, Beautiful Thing and American Beauty!

We have also been getting to know one of bird neighbors very well – a young robin is intent on getting in the house and spends several hours a day tapping on the window or sitting on the sill and looking in. In Native American symbology, the robin is an animal totem that represents springtime and new life. We have tried telling him we’ve got the message, but he’s still there – tapping away as I type!
We’re off next Tuesday early morning, so look for our next post from the Dominican Republic.
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“Following you dreams may be hard, but ignoring them is disastrous” (Ingrid Collins)