Carolina Punta Cana

My first full day in the Dominican Republic just so happens to be a national holiday: El Día de Restauración (Restoration Day). Pretty much Independence Day #2 for Dominicans. The first Independence Day is in February when the DR gained independence from Haitian rule. The second (Aug 16) is Independence from Spain which occupied the country for two years after their first Independence from Haiti. Anyway, enough with the history. Let me now explain to you ...

... as much as I did. Then they slide you through a line to pay $10 USD for a "tourist" tax. After which a very bored looking woman stamps your passport and takes your Customs slip and voila! You're livin la vida loca in the DR.

So I grab my bag and find myself hustled by one of literally 40 guys waiting to carry tourists to their hotels. Thank god I had set up for a driver from the airport through the Ecological Foundation ...

... the service was not so great and that could be due to the size of it and having to deal with so many people. I wrote a review on the hotel on trip advisor, as its my review it's my opinion on the hotel, some people like it, others not so much, that's the way life goes! Overall we had a fabulous vacation, the weather was great for the most part (it rained the night before and day of my brother's wedding ...

... The ancient rhythms of the earth have insinuated themselves into the rhythms of the human heart.  The is not outside us, it is within:  the clay from where the tree of the body grows.  When we emerge from our offices, rooms and houses, we enter our natural element.  We are children of the earth: people to whom the outdoors is home.  Nothing can separate us from the vigour and vibrancy of this inheritance.  In contrast to our frenetic ...

... are 7 a la cartes which do not require advance booking and you can go any amount of times you wish! We never had to wait for another time, just waited in line at the opening time and got right in. The entertainment was very well done too. The grounds were lush and constantly attended to. The selection of food is incredible and the wine flows constantly. if anyone would like to see some pictures or ask any questions, please feel free to ask.

... or the nap we had that helped us later on. That evening we went to a really nice Japanese restaurant with a personal chef! Yummy sushi, great soup and fried everything! After dinner we went to a Michael Jackson show, and if I didn't know it was an impersonator show I would have thought it was the real deal! It was awesome!!! That guy could dance!!! It was a great, great show. We had a few more drinks and headed to our room for bed for a good day at the beach. We ...

Just a few weeks after we got back from Europe, we took another drip down to the Dominican Republic. We stayed in Punta Cana for a few days and, in a complete departure from our Europe trip, did essentially nothing. We went scuba diving, enjoyed the beautiful beaches, and ...

As I mentioned before, I didn't do my homework. And the too good to be true price we paid for the week turned out that obviously there was a reason. May is the rainy season in DR. The day started out well - we hit up the beach and did some kayaking and swimming in the ocean and then headed to the pool where we planned to remain the rest of the day. But come later in the ...

On our first full day at the resort the weather was gorgeous - our soul intentions for this trip was to sit pool side and not move...utter relaxation...we managed to do a full day of this!

The pool was nice and it was the off season so it wasn't very crowded at all. Overall it was a great day and we enjoyed it very much.

We had dinner at the restaurant and this is ...

... of the country. It was actually the same quoted price whether we booked together or separate so we booked separately to make our lives easier. We had 2 separate reservations and so we were expecting 2 rooms. When we arrived we asked that our rooms be next to each other especially if they had an attached door that would be great. We were then informed that we were put in a room together. We were told that they don't allow singles and that ...