What I did with my family: Mom, dad, and sis came to the DR from December 20-January 1st. It was one of my favorite vacations with my family. I loved showing them around and exploring new parts of the island. Here is a collection of some pictures about our amazing trip.
Day 1: Santiago: We got our rental car, ate lunch at El Tablon, explored the Monument, and ate dinner overlooking the city at Camp David.
Day 4: Excursion to Playa Rincon: We went to a market in Samana, ate pan de coco, hiked to a beautiful viewpoint, at lunch at Playa Rincon, saw iguanas, sampled cacao, and ended our day in an infinity pool watching the sunset.
Day 5: Excursion to Los Haitises: We started the day with a rainy boat ride to an island where we got to play in the waves for an hour. We rode through mangroves, got to see lots of birds, and intricately twined branches on the many trees in the swamp-like area. After lunch we stopped at two caves that had petroglyphs and cave drawings from the Taino natives, hundreds of years ago.
Day 6: Christmas Eve: We relaxed by the pool and went shopping in the town. For dinner we made reservations at a little restaurant that offered a Christmas dinner. We walked in that night to find the table decorated. My name was even on a rock. We listened to Christmas music as we ate ham, turkey, mashed potatoes, veggies, and a sweet pie for dessert. We went home and spread our our plastic bag-wrapped presents under the little tree. We opened stockings. It was the perfect nontraditional Christmas.
Day 7: Christmas Day: We moved from las Terenas to Cabarete and stopped at Playa Bonita on our way. Playa Bonita lived up to its name. It was one of the most beautiful beaches I have ever been to.
Day 9: Puerto Plata: This little coastal town is only 25 minutes away from Cabarete. We went up the cable car and got to see the most beautiful view of the country. We also went to an old fort that had the neatest architecture.
Day 11: Monkey Jungle: I have done some pretty exciting things in my lifetime, but nothing as cool as Monkey Jungle. The ziplining was fun, and I even went upside-down flying through the trees! After the ziplining finished, we went into an enclosed area where we got to feed monkeys. I had them all on my arms and head. One of them tried to steal dad's glasses. The other family I work for had us over to their beach house for a huge typical Dominican dinner. I loved that my DR world and my OR world collided and interacted for a little bit, and I am so thankful I work for such wonderful families.
Day 13: New Years Eve: On the 31st we made it back to Santiago. The restuarant we were going to go to for dinner was closed, so we ate at La Campanga and got ice cream at the grocery store for dessert. We filled bags with presents for the New Hope girls (which I will hopefully write about in a blog post to come). Mom and dad brought some home movies that we watched. At midnight we ran to the porch to see all the fireworks going off around us.
It was one of my favorite vacations ever. I loved having my mom and dad see a piece of my life here in the DR. I loved showing them around and I am so thankful they got to meet the people I spend so much time with here in this country. Come back and visit soon please.
Con mucho amor.
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