So it begins

Taking it easy

Published Date : April 2, 2008

I was hoping to sleep in this morning, but I was up by 8am again.  After another delicious omelette breakfast, I headed down to the beach to read and soak up some rays for a couple of hours.

This afternoon, I took a SCUBA skills refresher course along with two new divers who were being tested on some of the open water skills.  Julie was our divemaster and after checking our gear set-up, we hopped in the resort pool.  She took us through all the usual drills: mask clearing, fin pivots, regulator clearing, etc and we finished off our time with a leisurely paddle around the pool. 

I met up with Jackie and Karen again for dinner.  They had caught a shuttle bus to the nearby shopping centre for the day, but hadn’t been too impressed with it.  After dinner, the three of us took a leisurely stroll to the other side of the resort to catch the evening show.  It was a lively hour or so of music and dancing with a fair bit of audience participation. 

Afterwards, I found myself a lounge chair in a dark corner to enjoy my glass of wine.  It was a beautiful night and the illuminated pool was very peaceful amidst the palm trees.  I didn’t drink too much though.  Tomorrow is SCUBA!

Turtles and Rays

Published Date : April 3, 2008

It was an early start to the morning with a 2.5-hour drive ahead of us.  Our destination for the day’s diving was Samana on the north-east coast of the DR.  The dock was organized chaos as everyone was organized into smaller groups for the day. 

Antonio was the DM for my group.  There were 8 of us, 4 experienced divers and 4 novices.  My dive buddy was Donald, a 60-year old American from Michigan.  Our group was first into the water and I could feel myself grinning as soon as I dropped below the waves.  Oh how I had missed this! 

As we began to descend towards the sandy bottom, a sea turtle swam by less than 10 feet in front of us!!  I had always wanted to see one on a dive and I finally had my chance!  After checking to make sure we were all settled and doing okay, Antonio led us after the turtle towards the nearby reefs.  The visibility was fantastic, but the dive location wasn’t great.  There were a few scattered reefs around, but it was mostly sand so there wasn’t much aquatic life to be seen.

We were lucky enough to spend a few uninterrupted moments with our turtle, but he quickly took off when the other dive groups arrived.  We spotted a lone barracuda at one point and a few small tropical fish, but that was about it.  Although there wasn’t much to see, I was happy just to be underwater again.

Back on board our boat, we headed to a nearby island for lunch.  The place was mobbed with hardly an inch of unoccupied beach anywhere.  The food was excellent though and it was nice to be out enjoying the day.

Our second dive was even more barren than the first, with one major exception.  Sting rays!!  These graceful animals can be quite curious and have been known to swim extremely close to divers, even swooping low over their heads.  With so many people in the water, these ones were more cautious than curious, but it was still great to experience being in the water with them.  Then, as we were ascending back to the surface, a reef shark slunk past us beneath our feet.

The day was a mixed bag for me.  I really wasn’t too impressed with our dive sites, but they both resulted in some great “firsts” for me.  Despite not being the most impressive dives I’ve ever done, I found the day to be quite rewarding.  It feels great to be out exploring the world again and having freedom while I’m doing it.  I had forgotten what it was like to simply do what I wanted to without arguments, compromises or justifications.   For the first time in 4 years, I’m beginning to feel like myself again and it’s a brilliant feeling.

Lazy day

Published Date : April 4, 2008

Today was a lazy day.  I parked on the beach and read for most of it. 

In the afternoon, I went on a party cruise and got thoroughly liquored up.  The boat cruised up and down the coast line in front of the resorts with music pumping and drinks flowing.  I’m sure I’ll regret the amount of alcohol I ingested in the morning, but for now, it’s all about having fun.  I haven’t completely cut loose in a very, very, very long time.

Mama Juana

Published Date : April 5, 2008

To my surprise, I felt fantastic when I woke up this morning.  I finally managed to sleep in past 8am and stayed in bed until about 10:30 this morning. 

I decided to head off resort this morning and made my way to Rodrigo’s nearby shop.  I had promised him on my first day that I would come see him before I left and today is the day.  Apparently, not many tourists actually walk around off the resorts because several people asked me if I was lost.  One woman actually stopped to ask, “Aren’t you afraid to walk around by yourself?” 

Rodrigo was standing outside with his cousin when I arrived and welcomed me warmly.  The bulk of their merchandise was typical tourist fare: t-shirts, trinkets and cheap jewellery.  They also had a small selection of handmade crafts and a wall filled with bottles of Mama Juana as well.  Mama Juana is a local drink made of rum mixed with red wine, honey, tree bark and herbs.  It vaguely like port, but really it’s so unique you have to try it to understand the flavour.  It’s definitely not for everyone, but I really enjoyed it.   After chatting with Rodrigo and his friends for a while, I bought a bottle of Mama Juana and a handcrafted necklace and earring set from them before heading back to the resort.

I decided to go back along the beach this time to enjoy the sunset on my way.

For dinner I met up with a mixed group of people I had met on the party cruise last night.  One of the British women was complaining endlessly about how the food had been making her sick all week.  Two of us explained to her that she was actually just dehydrated and suffering from heat stroke, but she didn’t want to hear it.  She was convinced that it was the food and that was all there was to it.  Apart from her, the group was pleasant company and we stayed up drinking and chatting well into the night.