The Final Act: Monte Cristi

PART 4

With the trip in its last leg, there was still one last get-away: Monte Cristi, the birthplace of Clariza, the HomeLand, where it all started (Thanks, Monte Cristi).  

We filled the car, strapped in the baby to our DR car seat (hope she gets some use since we left), and headed west on the #1.  It was 2 drive to Monte Cristi through some rowdy towns.  

We got to MC safely. 

First thing we did was meet Clariza's cousin, Ivan, and then head to our Hostel.  

We were staying at the Hostel San Fernando at the foot of  El Morro.  The minute we got to our room, Nohli had to be changed, she had a monster Dominican poop.  Soo Stinky! It took 3 people to clean it.  We didn't love our rooms. So we changed rooms.  Then we drank and ate. And passed out (well,  actually we played dominos and drank Brugal. DomiNoah!).

The next day, Clara and Ivan were going to see the fam in Los Conucos.  We were hitting the beach.  

Nohli decided to go with Grandma. 

 It was her first trip without Mom & Dad.  She behaved beautiful for Grandma.  The beach was great too.  The waves were mucho powerful.

We all went to Los Conucos, the next day.  We had lunch at Tia Eva's house. 

 Lots of people came to meet Nohli.  

Then we walked down a few houses to Nohli's Great-Grand Nana.  

Nana was very happy to see her.

Nohli on a motorcyle.  She left Mom and Dad for a day trip with Clara & Ivan

Nohli is officially the best baby traveler I've seen.

3 hour Flight JFK to Santiago (and back): PERFECT!

2 hour Bus to the the capital : An angel!

7 hour Bus to Punta Cana: She the life of the party!

And numerous 2 to 3 hours drive in the car seating: Just QUIETLY takin it all in!

I think she is ready for her first WEST COAST trip sooon!

(LA & SF + Napa, See U Soon)

Nohli and her Great-Grandma

Nohli and BoBo in BoBo's back yard

The best lil co-pilot and NASCAR's finest CEOah

In the Back Yard with Tio Juan

Donde esta Faustino?

The Greenest block in Los Conucos

Clap your hands. Clap your hands.

Nohli at the B-Ball courts with Ivan

JenJen and Nohli checking out the back yard for great-grandmas.

The Best Cock Fighting Club in town was right next door.

If you there on Sunday, there like 50 motorcylces out front.

3 Generations 

Cabarete & Sosua

PART 3

As usual after our trip to Las Terrenas, we returned to Santiago to relax a bit, recoup, and then head out again.  We were all excited about out next destinations.  Unfortunately, Clara would not be accompanying us of this part on the trip.  But she did give us her car, which made things much easier (especially considering what was in our future).

We planned on staying at an all-inclusive in Cabarete.  We had booked it, kind of last minute in an internet cafe in Santiago.  It was advertised as a super-premium all-inclusive. We had dreams of shots of Patron and bottles of Moet and of course pre-made, fresh formula for Nohli.  

We drove the 2 hours and pulled into BREEZE'S SUPER CLUB.  We checked in and walked to our room.  As we walked thru the resort, we very quickly realized this place wasn't for US.  The whole place looked like it was built in the 70's.  The pool was full of Canadians sipping beers out of over-sized coffee mugs and the worst tattoos you have ever seen.  We got to our room. The air conditioners was dripping water all of the floor.  I left to explore the beach.  The beach had an odd colored sand, very different than the beaches I had seen in DR thus far.  It almost looked like it had been man-made.  I noticed that there was not 1 person in the water.  I thought that was a little weird.  When I got closer I notice a sign that stated, if their was a red flag, the ocean was off limits. WHAT? When I got back to the room, it was clear by the faces of every one in the room, we had to get out of here.  We marched up to the front desk (we left Nohli with Jenny). At the front desk, we proceeded to get the run-around.  They were sooo surprised we didn't love this place.  Finally with the help of a very nice agent, we got the manager and were told (after lots of pressure to stay in a BETTER room) that we would be getting our money back.

It was probably about 5pm when we left the Breeze's.

FYI.  

NEVER EVER STAY OR EVEN BOOK A VACATION A BREEZE'S SUPER CLUBS. 

SUPER? HA!

Now thanks to the help of the agent, we headed to Casa Marhina in Sosua (about 20mins away). We got there. Checked in. Even got a better price than Breeze's.  We walked around the resort. What a difference. The place was landscaped beautifully. And the rooms were small but clean and comfortable.

We stayed 2 wonderful nights at Casa Marhina. 

Our lil fish caught in the net (hammock)

2 Surfer girls hanging 10

The Fam Fam in front of DR's biggest breaks

A loving moment between Papa and Nohli

The Bread Monster! 

She will take your bread and their ain't nothing you can do!

We drove to downtown Cabarete (The Kite Surfing Capital).  We had no reservations, so we keep our eyes pealed for some place nice.  Our first 2 choices were booked, so we book a hotel called San Souci.  It was right on the water. The hotel looked like it was straight out of a 80's movie set in Miami. Crazy Art Deco. I thought it was cute, Clariza disagreed! We had a nice dinner at a little restaurant downtown. The next morning Jen wanted to try Kite Surfing, but there wasn't enough wind. Next time Jen. You Crazy girl! We left the San Souci with no plans where we were going to stay our last night. On my blackberry (he worked surprisingly well. Thanks buddy!) we found a spot that we actually really wanted to stay at, we called, praying there would be room open. There was!

We pulled into Natura Cabana. This place was incredible and the staff was very helpful. Every cabana is extra eco-friendly. No TVs. No AC. Just smartly designed rooms made with local materials. They had a delicious restaurant. A spa. A gorgeous beach. The whole vibe was just relaxing.  The place was pretty much perfect. Definitely our favorite our of trip. 

There was a path that followed the coast, about 30 minutes away was another beach with the best surfing in DR. Jen rented a board and hit the waves. The rest of us watched her rip it up.  Me and Nohli were going to try to, but we found out that the whole break was covered with sea urchin covered coral. On the way to our cabana, we found a great little pool.  Nohli did some more swimming. She got hit by a little wave and cried, but all in all she liked it. She especially loved the sand.

We were sad when we had to leave, but we will be back Natura Cabana.

On the way back, I decided to take a short cut over some tall mountain instead of going all the way around them.  There were some great views. We also had some interesting moments as well.  The roads were real bad and narrow.  There was a few fruit stands and other shops along the way.  We got to around the top of 1 mountain, and there was a small crowd of mostly young kids, when we got close, they pulled a rope across the road, and then like 5 kids run up to the car.  I was a bit nervous. They wanted money and food and pretty much any thing we had. We gave them a Coke and they let us pass.  Then like 100 meters later, the same thing happened.  Clariza was like "we have a BABY!" They let us pass free. Ha. We made it back home safely.  

Nohli swimming 

More swimming. She loved it. We couldn't get her out!

The lil Sharkette and her coaches

The girls in their sun glasses

Nohli took full advantage of the all-you-can-eat buffets

Nohli passed out at dinner, so I sipped to some Prezi drafts

Jen and Clariza walking to the WAVES

Moma and Nana getting ready to hit the strip

Me and Nohli at the San Souci (Clariza's favorite hotel EVER! HA) 

Jen, Nohli, & the Beach

Leaving the room, about to hit the beach

Watch OUT for the WAVE!

A few super models on the prowl

Playing in a giant wet sand box

Right after she got hit with a wave.

Standing tall

The beach in Cabarete was so cool. It had all the pools and coral lifts

The LAST DR 2009 POST Coming soon

(We've been home for 3 weeks but we BUSY!)

LAS TERRENAS

PART 2

After the 2 hour bus ride from Santa Domingo to Santiago, we relaxed and ate chicken. Jenny was due in 8pm.  When we checked flights on Jet Blue, we realized there was a big storm dumping on the Northeast. Nooo!  We prayed Jen's flight wouldn't be canceled.

Hanging out on the balcony at Granma's house

Joselito and Nohli

Jen Jen somehow made it out of JFK, but she was 2 hours late. We greeted her at the airport.  We weren't even that mad at her.  Clara, of course, had a nice hot plate of food waiting for her at home.  We all fell asleep to the sound of motorcyles and drums.

The next morning, we unpacked and repacked our bags, and headed east in Clara's Honda CR-V.  I drove. It took us about 5 hours.  We stopped once, and ate by Nagua.  The last 45 minutes of the drive we zig-zagged over a good-sized mountain.  Nohli was amazing once again.  She seems to be adapting well to life on the road. We reached Las Terrenas and checked into our hotel.  The place was nice. We were a little disappointed not to be staying at the hotel we stayed at last year (They doubled their prices. Get out of HERE). 

Las Terrenas is actually where we first told Granma Clara she was going to be a grandmother again  (for the 3rd time).  

The weather was a bit cloudy but we took Nohli down to the beach.

When we returned, Clara had cooked a master piece.  We ate soo good EVERY night, and we never ate out.  It doesn't get any better.

Una cena tipica  by Clara

Mama and Nana

Jen Jen and Nohli were best friends the whole trip

Our lil surfer girl hits the beach even on a cloudy day

 Put the tongue in the coconut....

Looking into Jenny's mind as she ponders her next move in Dominos

Still eating that $5 coconut. Ha

Our first day in Las Terrenas

Nohli got attacked by some mosquitos.  She looked like she got beat-up for a few days. 

Still Cute though!

Nohli reading to Papa

The fam in the Mirror

Coffee with the lil turtle

Our Family Adventure Part 1

PART 1

It's been almost a month since the last post. Funny it feels even longer.
Our Lil Family Vacation, no scratch that Our Lil family Adventure (that's better, I don't believe vacations exist when youre traveling with a 6-month old. True Story. Ha.) was lots of fun. We bounced all over the North shore of Dominican Republic from Copey to Punta Cana and everywhere in between. 

Here's how it went down...

We left ice cold New York at 6am via Nohli's favorite airline, JetBlue. The flight was full. Lots of babies too. Nohli behaved great. She spent her time sleeping and staring out the window.  We got into sunny Santiago around breakfast time, and were greeted by Grandma Clara.

We spent the next 2 days in Santiago. Shopping... Eating good eats.... Playin Dominos.... Hittin up El Provocon (the best fast food chix ever!) Then we headed east to Punta Cana! We made a pit stop in Santo Domingo. We spent a power-less night there (fightin off mosquitos! Oh and it was pouring rain too! Oh yeah and we fought off baby eating red ants as well!), we left bright n early on the bus to PC. 6 hours later (Nohli was incredible. She made lots of friends and learned to clap her hands on the way.) we arrived at the RIU, just around check-in time. Bring on the all inclusive life and bottom-less beers!!!  We ate. We drank. We changed dipers. We swam. We made fun of the Euros. Nohli wasn't really feeling the cool pool-water at first, but after a sloooow dip, she transformed into a petite Daryl Hannah from SPLASH. Her first tropical beach experience started with a few cries.  She didn't really didn't like the sand at first. She would scream every time her little toes touched it. But it wasn't long before she was walking (with some assistance) and playing in the sand(She really wanted to eat it too). Punta Cana has this beautiful, almost feathery-soft, white sand as well as lake-like calm crystal clear water. We walked the beach for what felt like miles. And witnessed a few colorful sun sets.  We tried to find our friend Jane who was staying at a resort not to far from us.  We snuck into her resort, but no luck.  Next time JANE! We bought Nohli a KidCo PeaPod Plus (basically a little tent). We used it on the beach and she slept in it at night to avoid the mosquitos. Nohli did 3 huge mosquitos bites in the capital.  There were a few days were it looked like she went 10 rounds with We-Man (Still looked cute! ha).  Me and Clariza hit the swim-up bar hard one sunny afternoon. After an hour or so at the bar, Grandma brought Nohli to meet us. She was the star of the bar for the rest of the day. Punta Cana was wonderful. The weather was perfect. The RIU was great as usual.  I did some snorkeling. Clariza dominated in dominos. She beat me 11 to 4 on 1 night. Ouch. (DomiNoah cried himself to sleep that night).  After 3 days in paradise, we headed back to the capital for a quick lay over. Guess what? No POWER again! Then back to Santiago.

Nohli and Clariza checking in at JFK early

Our lil jet-setter on the plane

Nohli half-napping in the cab with Grandma Clara

Me and Nohli walking downtown Santiago

Nohli was a little angry after she got hit by a wave in Punta Cana

2 Beauties in Red 

Papa Piff and Nohli 

Punta Cana

Nohli's First Swim

TUNE IN NEXT POST for the arrival of Jen-Jen and Las Terrenas

DR, we miss you already!!!