Day 5 - Dominican Republic

We woke up, packed up and headed to Samana to go whale watching. The Samana Bay is world famous for its whale watching. All the whales in the Atlantic Ocean go to the Bay during January through March to mate and have babies.

(Not the best picture of the whale but we were distracted.)

We went to a few different places trying to get a boat to take us out. We missed out on a few boats but finally found a small group to take us. We went out in a very small boat with two other people. It looked just like a row boat but a little longer and it had a motor off the back. We were out there for quite a while before spotting any whales. We thought it would be easier to spot them since we were seeing them from the beaches in Las Galeras, but the bay was pretty choppy and there were lots of big waves.

Finally we spotted some whales, a mama whale and her little baby. Since we were in such a small boat we were able to get very close to the whales. It was very cool. At one point the mama whale came out of the water and her back (mid range area) was so wide and huge I thougt for sure her tail was going to come up and knock our boat right over. Luckily that did not happen.

After we did the whale watching we headed to Las Terrenas another little town on the Samana peninsula. This town is a little larger than Las Galeras and has a little more tourism, but still very local.

A man we met on the road recommed that we stay at Casa Robinson which has little wooden rooms with bathrooms and kitchenettes. We actually had hot water there which was a pleasant surprise. The grounds were very clean and it was right across the street from the beach. It cost us $30 a night.

We headed straight to the beach and spotted a kite in the air. This put a smile on Rick's face. We pulled out his kiteboard and headed out just as the sun was starting to come down. He got a couple of runs in.

We folded up the kite, showered up and headed out on the town. We ate at a great restaurant right on the beach called Paco Cabana. It was very romantic; candle light, the sound of the waves crashing on the shore a few feet away, spot lights on the coconut trees along the beach, perfect weather and no bugs. You can't ask for anything more than that!

We had a delicious meal, in fact one of our favorites there. I had Loabster with Estragon sauce and Rick had Filete de pescado may y tierra (fish fillet, white beans, chorizo, serano and onions). We always share our meals so we ate half and switched. This way we get more of a variety. Both dishes were amazing ( a pretty expensive meal for the DR). 

Day 4 - Dominican Repbulic

We woke up, packed up our stuff and changed rooms. We went from a large bungalow to a room with a bathroom and a kitchenette on the front patio area. We didn't really need all the space in the bungalow so we decided to switch to the room which was half the price (not that either were expensive but why not, a little extra money for my amber).

We drove to the other side of town to Playa Rincon, which is one of the top ten beaches in the Caribbean. It took us a little while to get there. The road was a rocky dirt road and our little car barely made it. I was pretty impressed with its four wheel drive capabilities. One part of the road was flooded and we were pretty nervous that our little low to the ground car would not make it. Rick got enough speed and plowed right through it. The water came rushing over the top of the car. The picture doesn't do it justice.

We finally made it to the beach and it was a long white sandy beach with palm trees and clear, light blue water. The great thing about this beach was no reef, just a nice sandy bottom. This made it very enjoyable for swimming. I'd much rather swim in the ocean with a sandy bottom than a reef, when you touch your feet down you get all cut up. We swam around and played in the water and loved spending time together. Life can't get much better than being in a beautiful ocean, swimming around with your best friend and love of your life. If I was a millionaire that is exactly what I would be doing and where I would be. We did a little snorkeling but obviously there wasn't too much to see with a sandy bottom.

This was the perfect beach to bust out the dinghy. We got it all pumped up and ready to go and then a big gust of wind took the dinghy straight to the coconut tree debris, and sure enough it slowly started loosing it's air. We got it in the water to see if we could find the hole and patch it up with our patch kit. I laid on it, and Rick swam around it with his snorkel and mask. To our dismay, we were not able to find the hole (we will repair it when we get home, we aren't willing to let it go).

It was an enjoyable day on the beach, we were the only ones around.

A Dominican man rode his motorbike along the beach to where we were to let us know that he had a restaurant down at the other end of the beach if we wanted something to eat. Later in the day we walked down to his restaurant which consisted of a bunch of blue tarps held up by some old logs and a campfire in the middle.

They had fish and lobster. We picked out the fish that we wanted and they cooked it up for us. They served us some amazing fresh fish and rice. It was good.

We came back into town, showered up and headed out to explore the main street or the only street in town. We looked around the shops. I bought a few bracelets that I love. They are very native to the land, so are fun to have. We also bought a deck of DR cards which is a travel tradition I have (I have a ton of cards from all over).

We went to a restaurant called Le Adventures Pizzeria. It was a nice pizza place where we ordered a big ham pizza. It was good. We played cards while we were there waiting for our food. We love playing games at restaurants in other counties. It is so fun!

Day 3 - Dominican Republic

We woke up and decided to hike to Playa Fronton which is a gorgeous beach that has no roads to it. Ronald told us it was a two hour hike over the mountain top to the other side. He was kind enough to draw us a little map. We headed out and enjoyed the jungle hike. Several hours later we came to the top of a ridge and were a little unsure where exactly we were on his map. For a short while we were bush whacking down the side of the mountain. I put a quick stop to that and we headed another way along a trail. We ended up on the other side of the tip of the peninsula. We tried asking the old man who literally lived in the middle of no where, and he pointed us in the opposite direction. After almost 4 hours of hiking, we finally came to the right ridge and sure enough through the leaves of the trees we spotted a beautiful paradise - crystal clear water and a white sandy beach. We climbed down the cliff and enjoyed the amazing beach of Fronton. We snorkeled around, swam in the water and relaxed on the beach. 

The beach was lined with coconut trees and rocky cliffs. My sweet husband knows how much I love "buko" baby coconut and the juice straight from the coconut, so he was deteremined to get me one. At first he tried using a long bamboo stick to hit the coconut off the tree but it didn't work. I insisted he didn't need to get me the coconut but he was determined. Once again (he did this in Grenada as well) he climbed the coconut tree just like a native would and dropped me down the buko. He then spent the next half an hour banging it against the rock to get it open (we didn't have a knife with us at the time). Together we enjoyed drinking the coconut juice and eating the coconut on the beach. You can't get a better husband then that!

It started getting late and the hike up the rocky cliffs and through the jugnle no longer sounded appealing to me so we caught a boat ride back to Las Galeras Beach.

We then bought some fresh fish off a lady on the beach. We shopped around at the local market and picked up some bread, onions, garlic, rice, pineapple and limes. We headed back to our bungalow and made delicious pina coladas (Rick got a few more coconuts from the tree and we made clean ice the night before). We also made a delicious dinner.

We sauteed the onions, garlic and some toasted coconut pieces. We then added the fresh fish, coconut juice and sauteed it for awhile. At the end, we added a little milk to make it creamy. We squeezed lime juice on the fish as we were eating it. We decided to experiment a little with the rice. We added coconut and pineapple pieces before we cooked it. It had a sweet coconut, pineapple flavor. Our finished meal consisted of a creamy coconut fish, sweet coconut and pineapple rice with bread and homemade pina coladas. It was absolutely delicious. We enjoyed our dinner on the back porch mosquito free. 

As you may know, there are a lot of places in the Caribbean that do not have hot water. In fact it can somtimes be difficult to find hot water in the Caribbean. Our bungalow happened to be a place with out hot water. Although not ideal, it wasn't a problem. Rick doesn't mind the cold water and I lived in the Philippines and was very well use to taking bucket showers. We heated up some water and took a bucket shower before bed. 

While in the shower we noticed a white frog on the ledge of the shower. I had never seen a frog like that before so I was unsure if it was real. Rick made jokes about the frog hanging out in the toilet at night since the toilet was the only place in the house that constantly had water. Sure enough in the middle of the night, I got up to go to the bathroom like I always do and when I turned on the light, the little white frog was splashing around in the toilet. From then on I kept the toilet seat down when not in use.

I learned a few things living in a third world country for a year and a half. When entering a bathroom in a third world country ALWAYS peak your head in first, check the walls, behind the door and in the toilet before squatting down. You don't want to be squatting down when you discover a flying cockroach, rat or frog is in there with you. 

Day 2 - Dominican Republic

We woke up after sleeping in a little later than we expected, hopped in a taxi and headed to church. We got there 10 minutes before sacrament meeting ended, so we decided to join them for Sunday school. Typically we just attend sacrament when we are in another country, and for some reason it always seem to be  on a fast Sunday. Going to sacrament on fast Sunday in another country is always an amazing experience. Although we never understand what they are saying we can always feel the spirit strongly. You can feel their emotions, which always makes it enjoyable, comforting and memorable.

I was a little worried we may not have that same experience only going to Sunday school, but I was wrong. An American missionary sat right behind us and quietly translated for us. Although we couldn't understand their words, we were still able to feel their spirit and emotions. Several of the members shared their conversion stories and testimonies which made it a great experience. They also passed out scriptures at the beginning of class and little did they know, Rick doesn't speak Spanish. Rick did a great job reading his Spanish scripture, although it did take quite a while.

Against everyone's recommendations, we decided to drive through the country to get to the Samana peninsula. The driving was a little crazy in Santo Domingo but we had recently driven in Jamaica so nothing  seemed worse than that. The difficulties of driving in Santo Domingo were: streets weren't named making it difficult to know where you were on the map, most streets were one way, cars ran red lights, drove on the wrong side of the road and often would drive at night without their lights on. Other than that, no sweat!

They built a brand new road that lead us all the way through the country to Samana. It was the best looking road I have ever seen in a third wold country. It almost made me forget I was actually in a third world country. I quickly remembered once we hit the peninsula and found the two lane road that was half cement and half dirt with a million pot holes.

We stopped off in Samana to grab a bite to eat and enjoy the beautiful scenery. We ended up grabbing a slice of pizza off the pizza truck. To my surprise it was pretty good pizza. I haven't had much luck with good pizza in third world countries, but Dominican Republic has a lot of Italian and French people so pizza is easy to find.

We then drove out to the tip of the peninsula to a little town called Las Galeras. We checked in to our little white bungalow set in the jungle a few blocks from town and the beach. Our bungalow had a living room, bedroom, bathroom, kitchen and a nice big wrap around porch out side. We stayed at Karin y Ronald's. We ate at the out door restaurant they had there since it was getting pretty late. We had pasta with shrimp and a tomato sauce with coconut milk base. It was yummy.  

Who knew it was such a romantic city?

Day 1 in the Dominican Republic

We landed in Santo Domingo Saturday afternoon. We hopped in our rental car and headed to our hotel in Zona Colonial. We were absolutely amazed at the water in Santo Domingo. Right along the freeway  leading in to the city was the most neon electric blue water that I have ever seen. It was amazing. The picture doesn't do it justice. We got to our hotel and showered up for our Valentine's dinner date in the city. 

We walked around Zona Colonial for a little while. It was such a charming area with a lot of history. Old stone buildings, stone streets and fort walls. We walked along the main strip in the park and saw some carnival festivities, people dressed in traditional costumes and playing music.

 

We then ate at an outdoor restaurant called Le Tres Musketeres. It was a good dinner. I had creole chicken and Rick had creole fish. We had creme brulee for dessert. The weather was perfect outside, not cold and not hot just right, and there were no bugs or mosquitoes if you can believe that.

 After dinner we took a walk along the fort wall and waters edge and headed down to the town plaza. Everywhere we looked there were Dominican couples holding hands, sitting on the walls edge or on a park bench kissing. Romance was in the air. Who knew Zona Colonial would be so romantic.

 The plaza was surrounded with outdoor restaurants and tons of candles. Latin music was playing through out the plaza. Rick and I decided to follow suit by finding a park bench and enjoying the moment with some romantic kissing. It was a perfect, memorable and romantic evening, the best valentine's date I have ever been on.

The List

Everyone seems to have lists on their blogs these days. Lists of this or that, people who have been tagged and people who haven't. I haven't been tagged (which I am just fine with) but I do love lists, so I thought I would post a list.

A list of random things I have done in life. Have you done any of the same? If so post a comment and let me know which things you have done also. I can't wait to hear!

Things I Have Done

Helicopter ride over glaciers in Alaska

Scuba diving in Cozemel, Mexico

River rafted the Paquare River in Costa Rica

Whale watching in the Dominican Republic (Samana Penninsula)

Bungi jumping to Siouxsie and the Banshees

Snorkeling in a bioluminescent bay on Vieques Island (Mosquito Bay)

Surfed in Hawaii

Skydiving over the Monterey Bay

Hitchhiked around Vieques Island

Camped on the beach in Puerto Rico & Mexico

Ziplined in Mexico & Costa Rica

Sailed in Jamaica, Mexico & Hawaii

Climbed Stair Way To Heaven in Hawaii

Skinny dipped on a deserted island in the Grenadines

Horseback riding in the Grand Teton Mountains

Toured a cocoa plantation in Grenada

Visited Christopher Columbus' house in the Dominican Republic

Horseback riding on the beaches in Mexico

Ate dog, rat and blood in the Philippines

Cooked fresh fish in a bungalow in the Dominican Republic

Grocery shopped at the local market in Greneda

Saw a ballet in the opera house in Paris

Saw Phantom of the Opera in London

Snorkeled naked in the Dominican Republic

Saw a Broadway play in New York City

Visited Bath, England where the Romans bathed

Hiked through the jungle in the Dominican Republic

Backstage tour of the Metropolitian Opera House in New York City

Drove through the English country side

Road trip through Puerto Rico, Mexico, Grenada, Costa Rica, & Dominican Republic

Flew first class to Van Couver, Canada

Cruise to the Caribbean, Mexico & Alaska

Walked through the American Memorial Cemetery in Manila, Philippines

Tuna Fishing contest in Charleston, Oregon

The temple pageant in Palmayra, New York

Banaue Rice Terraces (8th wonder of the world) in the Philippines

Opera at the Metropolitian Opera House in New York City

Ate black forest cake in the black forest - Triberg, Germany

Toured the Neuschwanstein Castle in Germany

Visited the Louvre

Disney World for my 27th birthday

Visited the German Alps

Toured the Mayan Ruins in Costa Maya, Mexico

Jetskiied in Nassau Bahamas & Cabo San Lucas

Camped at Crater Lake

Grand Canyon

Got sea urchins in my feet catching waves in a kayak in Grenada

Quad riding on the beaches of San Felipe, Mexico & Pismo (of course)

Guadalupe Canyon Hot Springs in Mexico

Kayak camping on Catalina Island

Backpacked the Lost Coast

Organized an International service project in Mexico

Massage on the beach at sun down in Costa Rica

Bought a painting at the Mon Marte in France

Bought amber in the Dominican Republic

River rafted the American River

Bought a cuckoo clock in the black forest - Germany

Carnival in Germany & Dominican Republic

Enjoyed the Dinghy in California, Oregon, Hawaii, Puerto Rico, Jamaica, Grenada, Grenadine Islands, & Dominican Republic

Spent the weekend in the eye of Hurrican Ivan in Miami Florida

Deep Sea fishing in Monterey Bay

Duck hunting in Rexburg, Idaho

Snowmobiling in Yellowstone

River rafted the Snake River in Jackson Hole

I'm sure there are more but these are the things that pop into my mind first. Obviously we are back in the country. Our trip to the DR was a great one. I will blog about it soon.

The Best Year of My Life!

I can't believe it has already been a year. Yesterday was our one year anniversary. For many years I never knew if I would ever see the day and now, here it is. We have had a tough few weeks so it was nice to have a chance to relax, spend some good quality time together and think about the last year we spent together.

After work we headed over to Del Navio for dinner. Del Navio is the restaurant we went to for our wedding luncheon exactly one year ago. It is a small quiet Italian restaurant that is tucked away on a side street by the Oakland Temple. It was defiantly a good find. We were the only two in the restaurant. We started off with an appetizer -some Italian meatballs with marinara and a polenta cream sauce. We then ordered our favorite dish there, chicken breast wrapped in procuitto and cheese with a side of fettuccine and the other dish was fettuccine carbonara with pancetta, olives and tomatoes. They were both pretty good. We did not eat dessert at the restaurant since we had some waiting at home for us.

We then headed back home for the moment Rick has been waiting for most of his life - the wedding cake. When Rick proposed to me, a few minutes later I told him that he had to make me a promise. This made him very curious. I told him that he had to promise me, not to smash cake in my face on our wedding day. This was something that he had been planning on doing for most of his life so he wouldn't make me the promise. This worried me, even up to the second we cut the cake on our wedding day. 

My sweet new husband was so good to me and did not smash the cake in my face on our day. I told him that he could have his moment on our one year anniversary.

Since we didn't save the top of our wedding cake for our anniversary (who wants to eat old freezer burn cake) I ordered us a fresh new one. I ordered the same exact cake we had at our wedding but made it look a little different (more anniversary like than wedding like). I decided to have it light blue which was the color of our wedding and add a little design to the sides. We had a great time cutting the cake together, smashing it in each others face, eating it with our hands, and trying to document it all with our tripod and camera timer. We laughed and enjoyed ourselves. Trying to clean it all up was another story. Who knew buttercream would be so difficult to get off your face. It was like we smeared Crisco all over.

Who knows, maybe eating cake with our hands each year for our anniversary will become a fun tradition for us.

A few weeks ago I told Rick that I wasn't sure his anniversary gift was going to arrive on time and he said "What, are we doing gifts?" Typically we aren't that big into giving each other gifts for birthdays and Christmas. It's just not that big of a deal. We do buy each other gifts but it's usually not too much. Plus it's more fun to buy for others than just ourselves. I told him that out of all the different days of the year that we celebrate with gifts, our anniversary is the one day I wouldn't mind celebrating with a thoughtful gift for each other. 

A few weeks later I told him that if he wanted to, he could buy me some Amber in the Domincan Republic (they are famous for it) for our anniversary and he said "Maybe for Valentine's Day, you can't give Amber for your one year anniversary. A non traditional gift would be a clock and a traditional gift would be paper."

I knew that my comment a few weeks prior sparked him to investigate what he should get me for our anniversary. After several hours on the Internet ( I am sure) and some consultation from some girl friends he probably knows more about one year anniversaries than I do (I had no idea it was paper for the first year).

I spent a lot of time trying to think about all the different things I could get Rick and then the perfect gift popped into my head. A bonsai tree. Now why would I think a bonsai tree would be the perfect gift? Because if you nourish it, love it and take care of it, it will last forever. Rick is such a good husband and is always working on nourishing, loving and take care or our marriage so we'll be happy together forever. I know it sounds kinda of cheesy but it just seemed to fit perfectly for the way I feel about him and our marriage. I also thought he might enjoy taking care of it, training it and sculpting the cute little tree into a piece of art.

I ordered him a Chinese Elm bonsai tree. The shipment did come on time. However, it was a little damaged in shipping and I think they sent me the wrong tree. I ordered a trained tree that was 10 years old and 14 inches high. We got an untrained tree that was 9 inches high. As you can see the branches are scattered all over the place and it still needs to be formed and shaped. It does have the potential to be a beautiful piece of art.

Sweet Rick brought me some beautiful flowers - roses, tiger lilies, and tulips (all some of my favorites) and the best card in the world. I don't know how he finds them, but he always seems to find the perfect card, and believe it or not he writes the most romantic words. He is so romantic it makes me cry. Instead of actual paper, he decided to buy me a stamp embosser of a B for Bingham (I'm pretty happy to be a Bingham now!). This way I can make my own stationary or use it for what ever I want rather than just buying me boring paper. He knows me pretty well, I love anything monogrammed.

We are going to finish our anniversary celebration with a great trip to the Dominican Republic where we will enjoy some kiteboarding, scuba diving, warm sunny weather and some beautiful white sandy beaches. We are leaving the day before Valentine's Day.

Happy Anniversary sweet pea. I love you!