New Years in the Dominican

New Years is my favorite holiday. I enjoy spending time reflecting on the past year (challenges, successes, place traveled, people I have met.....) and also looking into the future to forecast what I want to claim for myself. This year I decided to go somewhere tropical and the destination was the Dominican Republic. Some people say life is not about the destination rather the journey...Well the journey to Caberrte (a small beach village) was interesting...My pal Nate informed me I could save a few bucks by flying into Punta Cana and taking a five hour bus ride to Caberrete. He said it would be a great cultural experience to interact with the locals, brush up on my Spanish, and hang out with some small animals. This sounded intriguing so I decided that would be my move. Three days prior to leaving I became curious about this little village that Nate spoke so highly of. I perused some websites and one particular site discussed travel to the village. It stated travel on a bus is the preferred method of transportation for locals and it is very affordable. Roger that and THEN....It stated to get from Punta Cana to Caberrte takes from 8 hours (minimum) to 3 days (maximum)... For those of you that know me well, you are aware that details sometimes escape me. Had I not been curious about my destination I would have spent the majority of my vacation on a bus!

So I made other plans and was on my way....

After three flights and two cab rides I made it to the Puerto Plata airport (20 miles from Caberrete). My cab driver, who was studying to be a lawyer stopped at a market and got us each a Presidente (the national beer) I practiced my broken Spanish and he kindly accommodated offering up information about the countries history, culture and recent development. I was slightly alarmed by the roads, the landscape, shacks, and poverty surrounding me. I had to remind myself that this is still a third world country and leave my stereotypes in the cab when I left. To much time in the US can blur my vision...
Major Contrast
The outside of our villa


We finally arrived at the villa and I was pleased to end my travel and begin my vacation.

Caberrte is a famous destination for Kite Surfing. The wind along the coast is powerful. The days and nights were spent relaxing. We spent alot of time on the beach, conversing with the locals and made some interesting friends.








New Years was a blast literally! We and everyone else on the island got fireworks and set them off with reckless abandon. Tom actually got hit in the foot with one that left a nice sized imprint/burn and we almost hit a incident bystander with a rocket. There was a huge beach party with DJ's, bonfires, dancing, drinking, and of course fireworks.




The next day everyone was worn out from the celebration the previous evening. What better remedy than to go to Jose O'Shea's and watch the Redskins control there destiny for making the playoffs??? The Skins handled their business and we celebrated with Pina Naturales aka Pina Coladas in a Pineapple.










Nate had pineapple envy because his was much smaller than mine.








The next few days we spent catching rays on the beach, playing cards, discussing the meaning of life and plotting on how we could bankrupt the casino.






After six days of fun and sun it was time to head back to reality and approach 2006 energized, optimistic and hungry for more adventure and development.