Liriocala Apartahotel Punta Cana

... point Gabi and I are sweating our little tails off, and the ocean is too warm to really cool us down so we decide to find the "Indigenous Eyes" EcoReserve. It is a series of freshwater lagoons in the middle of 1500 of preserved land.

First, we go left from the beach. After walking about 8 minutes we end up at the golf course (yes, its oceanfront) and realize we are probably going the wrong way. We ask a groundskeeper for directions to "las ...

... broken English, but like most Dominicans, she's fantastic. She shows me the lodgings at the EF are much like dormitories: two twin beds in a room with a vanity, rod to hang your clothes, and bathroom that connects to another room. This one happens to have AC from 7pm-7am, which I quickly learn seems like a Godsend at the end of very long hot days. Also in the EF lodgings is a laundry room, really nice kitchen and huge great ...

... at the Gran Bahia Principe Punta Cana which is a huge hotel, as it contains 4 hotels of the same chain! While we didn't know until practically the day before we left if we were even going anywhere we were all pretty excited to be going anywhere and felt very fortunate that we were able to get somewhere! Personally I don't like large hotels, I just find there are too many people and you don't get to know ...

... museums here we come!  We are heading from here to Santa Domingo, the capital, and then to visit friends who work at an orphanage.  It may be abrupt to their little world views to go from the all-you-can-eat of the resort to the real world.  I wish I had this on video: Ross asks Luke upon sitting down with a huge plateful, "So Luke, do you have a strategy when you go through an all you can eat buffet... do you survey the scene first and decide ...

... visit. Meeting people from different parts of the world is the charm of international travel. This is the reason why I travel.

The beach was remarkable, crystal blue warm waters of the Caribbean are hard to beat. Each day we secured our spot on the beach, which is optional topless, a custom Americans are still not comfortable with; however, after a few Bahama Mamas, bathing suits tops are ...

Today we went horseback riding at the resort. The horses were pretty much useless but it was fun all the same. Laura's horse kept trying to eat, and mine would listen to my instructions at all. But it was fun riding along the shore as the waves rolled up the ...

... tried to learn how to windsurf. We also went swimming with sea lions, a highlight for me. It was a great trip, although the last day and the few days after were unfortunately ruined by both of us getting pretty sick...Montezuma's Revenge claimed its latest victims!

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 ...

... things really started to bother me. The hotel really tries to get you to interact with staff and other guests - which just really isn't my style. I don't like to make small talk and I don't like to be put into these situations...Well, at club med they sit you at large tables with guests and their staff also comes to sit with you as well.

We were the only guests there in our ...

... a car to take her the airport we were meeting at. I don't remember the airport but I know it wasn't too far, it was only supposed to be a quick flight for her!

I was getting really anxious as I waited for her - flying by myself out of the country wasn't really in my plan and I was uncomfortable with the idea as I wasn't really a savvy traveler at this point, and I didn't really want to go by myself for any length of time. The plan had ...