Bill&Theresa: Day 2 -- Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic

New Country!

Today’s blog comes to you in two parts, because, despite some people thinking it strange, Bill and I chose to do separate tours. So, first you have my Dominican Experience, then you get Bill’s Zip and Zoom.

We started the day sleeping in again until about 8am. We did lose an hour last night, since we had to advance the clocks by an hour. Mensa answers and trivia were at 10:25, so we had to get going 😊

We went for a morning coffee and worked on the Mensa quiz, leaving the coffee shop with one to mull. Then, up to deck 10 for breakfast, and mulling the open question. Breakfast was nice…and we came up with our answer.

So, Mensa quiz answers (all correct so 1 point for us), first place in trivia (3 points) and we’re off to our tours.

Julia Child? or Swedish Chef? :-)

The Dominican experience was enjoyable, but not exactly as “sold”. It started with a trip to OceanWorld, where we got a sampling of coffee (which we could buy later), Manajuana (a fortified wine, which we could buy later), and homemade chocolate (which we could buy later). Then, we went in for our cooking class. We were cooking Plantain Bowls stuffed with chicken in red sauce. Sounds yummy, right? (It actually was pretty yummy). But, the “cooking” part involved putting the plantains in hot oil, then using a juicer type implement to form them into bowls, then frying them again. Then, we put a squirt of ketchup on a plate, the two plantain bowls on the plate, and put the already prepared chicken in red sauce inside. Add a little cheese and a sprig of parsley and, voila, our cooking class was over.

Plantain Bowl with Chicken

After that, we had a short dance demonstration of the Merengue and Bachata, followed by some time where we could either go shopping or stay and learn the dance steps. I took option 3 and walked around Ocean World. Saw a dolphin swimming in the lagoon, a sea lion carousing, and some nurse sharks.

City Hall

Cathedral (inside)

Cathedral (outside)

We were then off to part 2 of the tour – we traveled to downtown Puerto Plato, saw their Liberation Square, the Town Hall, and the Cathedral. Then, a tour of the “Avenue”, which is a 4 km long beach front, and finally a fort, which is the only building remaining from the colonial time. Along the way, we saw two “money exchangers”. Which you apparently can give checks that are not cashable yet (later dated), but they will give you the money (minus a fee), and then cash the check later. They were right across from city hall, and the guide assured us it was legal. We also saw the amber museum that was used in the first Jurassic Park movie. I wasn’t quick enough to take a picture of their logo, which they got permission from the movie to use, since their amber mosquito was featured in the film.

Overall, it was a pleasant day.

Fort. Only remaining structure from Colonial era

Part Bill:

My group piled onto a “bus”? It had no windows, and we were told it would be a rough road. So, we had to wear our “seat belts”. You know the straps with plastic clips used for things like holding two suitcases together? It was like those but not nearly as robust. And the metal on all sides (covered with a thin vinyl cover) was going to punctuate any actual emergency. The scenery was nice, but nothing Ooh-Aah!! The little girl acting as our guide (she looked 16, so yeah…little girl!) did her best to narrate and talk to us, but that bus was so loud, even though she shouted, it was very hard to tell what she was saying.

One of the Ziplines

We arrived and were told we had the “beach time” first, so had about 40 minutes before the “next” activity. Well, there was a bar and some local beer, but I figured that would be bad with the ATVs later, so I waited. We did zipline first, and since I had a Go-Pro, they got me a helmet to attach it, and turned it on. (Video later after I sort through the 50 minutes worth looking for what might be viewable.) The zipline was fun, and the best run was about 1200 meters (3/4 of a mile) over the water. Then, another 30 minutes to wait for ATVs.

A photo stop on the ATV tour.

The ATVs were so easy; they were automatic, had a thumb button for acceleration, and the standard left hand brake, so it took nothing to get the hang of it. After a short “practice lap” to make sure everyone was modestly competent, we set off. It was fun, but dusty and not quite the “tearing across the landscape like a banshee” I would have liked. Still, it was fun.

The ride back to the ship was sort of terrible. It was noisy, windy, and the driver turned on some horrid noise (“music”) that, for 10 minutes was enough, but after 50 minutes…I was thinking of jumping off the bus! Once on the ship, they had cool damp cloths, which was so nice! And then followed by an almost immediate shower!