Hello everyone! Hope this finds everyone happy, well and warming up with the spring weather. We are still in Luperon, DR. We are quite enjoying it here. The harbour is very protected, the people are great, it is inexpensive and the country is beautiful.
Yesterday we took a day and went by Guagua (a large van) into Puerto Plata. We were with our friends from Water Music, Michael, Fiona and Sheena who are from PEI. Greg or should I say, “Gregorio” made a deal with the driver and for 250 pesos each (about 7 dollars), he took us to the city, wherever we wanted to go, and brought us back to the government dock. The drive along the way was very interesting. Very lush country side, and lots of farms with cows, chickens, goats, etc. We saw huge royal palms, banana plantations, sugar cane fields, orange and lemon trees along the road. There were many small villages along the road as well, and so many people and kids right by the road. Everyone drives like bloody maniacs here. It is a two lane road, but the line in the middle means nothing. It’s really like three or four lane traffic. Motor Conchos (motorcycles) zip in and out of traffic and very few wear helmets. We hit and I am sure killed a dog on the way back to Luperon, it was pretty sad. The driver slowed down a bit, but then just kept on going. We are not going to rent a car here, who would want to drive in this insanity, when it is so cheap to hire someone to take you around. The trick is surviving the trip!
Our first stop in the city was an old Spanish fort that had been turned into a bit of a museum. It was built in the 1500’s. The walls were several feet thick, and it had turrets with tiny holes where one could look out and stick your rifle to fire at invaders. When you first walked in, you walked across a bridge. Back when the fort was in use, this was like a drawbride, and below the bridge, was a sort of a moat. The moat was filled with sharp coral, and back in the day, spears were stuck in the coral. So when enemies did break into the fort, the bridge would open and they would fall in. Inside, there was a doorway into each side of the fort. The doorway was only about four feet high, so you had duck down to enter the next chamber. This way, back in the day, when enemies tried to come through, someone would be waiting on the other side to chop their heads off! It was quite something to wander through here, thinking back to long ago, and the battles fought and bloodshed right under our feet. Outside the fort was a statue of General Gregorio Luperon, who along with his army, defeated and expelled the Haitians in 1844.
Our next stop was the city square. Our driver dropped us off and agreed to come back in two hours. We walked through the streets and checked out the shops. We went into a couple of “cigar factories”. These were actually a small room in the back of a shop where a local sat and made hand rolled cigars. This was really neat to see, and in one of the shops, they let Dylan roll a cigar. Greg got a few free samples, and also bought some different kinds. They come in a variety of flavours, cherry, vanilla, cinnamon and chocolate just to name a few. The shops are very “touristy”, most of the stuff is pretty gaudy. Even saw a few framed tarantulas... can’t say I’d want one of those hanging in my living room!
We met our driver and Water Music back at the square and they drove us to a restaurant for lunch. We told him, as best we could, we wanted to go to a local, cheap, but clean place. It worked out well as we all had a great lunch and frosty cervesas. Then we were off to do some shopping at Puerto Plata’s new shopping centre, La Siena (which means mermaid in Spanish). This is the Spanish version of a Walmart super centre. The confusing part is of course, translating the prices into U.S. dollars. Then trying to find what you are looking for. It was a great experience. We even found Brett and Greg a new charger for their laptop, for only $45.00. We bought a few things and after loading our purchases in the van, headed back to Luperon.
Since we have been here, we have been doing some maintenance on the boat. Just after arriving here, our gray water tank macerator pump went on the fritz. This meant our gray water was backing up into the shower and required an immediate fix. Greg hooked up a 12 volt pump to a garden hose and we pumped out the tank. Whew! It’s amazing how much dirty water stinks! Upon further inspection we realized that we have not one but two holding tanks that feed together. Greg had cleaned out the one under the shower stall when we were in Charleston, but not the other one, so it was pretty nasty. Greg had the lovely job of cleaning the crud out and scrubbing the tank out, and sterilizing it with bleach. Then he checked the pump, and it turned out it was just so dirty and plugged up, it has stopped working. After a good cleaning, it is all operational again. We also decided that our holding tank for our water had never been cleaned, and as the water in the Bahamas was not the greatest, we let it run dry, and then Greg gave it a good cleaning. Here a local guy by the name of Papo delivers drinking water in the big blue plastic jugs you can use on water coolers to the boat. So we ordered a bunch of those and now have nice clean water on board. Our water tank holds 350 gallons, which is huge, but it is a big boat! Then the other day Greg worked a bit on the outside of the boat, on the starboard side of the salon. He scraped and sanded and put a coat of Rust Bullet on the bad spots. Tomorrow and the rest of the week he will continue to work on the exterior.
Friday night we had quite a party on our boat. Our friends from Water Music, and Chocobo came over, and we partied until 3:00 a.m. It’s been a looooong time since any of us had done that, and we were all worse for wear the next day. It was great connecting with a bunch of crazy Canucks though.
Another great place we have found here is called Agugu, which is a tiny little restaurant with great fried chicken, and rice and beans, for “cheapy cheapy” “almost free” (as the peddlars will tell you!). Their beer is the cheapest around, only 70 pesos, which is two bucks, for a 22 oz. Beer. In the back yard is a big chicken coop, so you know the chicken is really, really fresh!
The boys have been busy at their school work, that is going really well. We have a good routine going. Dylan has been busy practicing making me a rope mat, and he finally got one put together. It is a little small, but it is a first try, and I think it is beautiful! The boys had their instruments out the other day, practicing on the deck. On Sunday at the Flea Market we ran into a musician, and apparently there is a bunch of cruisers that get together occasionally at a local bar called Shaggy’s to jam. So the next time they play, they are going to give us a call on radio and the boys will join in. They are pretty excited about it.
Saturday is my birthday, the big 50, and we are going to celebrate here at Captain Steve’s, with a bunch of our cruising friends. It should be a blast.
Oh, and we went out today and bought a cheap little cell phone, and a phone card. I think it is about 27 cents a minute for us to call you, but there’s no cost to us to receive calls. So here is our phone number: 1-809-203-5609.
Love you all lots, and miss you tons!
From the Dutch Dreamers
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