We stayed for 6 days and 5 nights. When we first arrived the drive from the airport to the resort reminded me so much of Ecuador. The color of the buildings, the people and dogs in the streets, the store fronts- I felt very nostalgic in that van. The resort itself was extremely beautiful. This includes the facilities and its natural surroundings.
Most days we spent our time in the pool with the swim up bar or on the beach. We did play tennis together a couple of times on the all-but-deserted tennis courts and went snorkeling in the shallow ocean waters of the resort's designated waterfront. We did the other typical resort type things; we overate, over drank, and got way too much sun.
At one point, my poor soon-to-be husband was kayaking in the ocean and flipped out! He attempted to get back in the kayak by hoisting himself up off of some coral. Not a good idea. He ended up with a cut foot complete with embedded coral pieces. One of the resort workers, who loved my husband because he would always play "bingo chess" (aka, Connect Four) with him. The employee performed beach side "surgery" on my poor fiance's foot with my tweezers. Steadily and carefully he proceeded to remove tiny fragment after tiny fragment of coral. My poor man ended up getting the rest of the pieces extracted by my sweet grandmother once were stateside. She was an OR nurse for many years so we trusted her and her skill set for this job a little more. :P
We did leave the resort once to do a zip lining excursion. That was quite a trip! I didn't have the chance to go zip lining while in Ecuador. I hear Costa Rica has the best, but the DR's lines were no joke! The scariest part for me was climbing up the wooden structures which swayed in the wind. I tried to distract myself with the gorgeous views of the mountains. Apparently that place was where Jurassic Park was filmed? I cannot remember exactly since I am posting this two and a half years after the trip. We completed this excursion with two other couples we met at the resort which made the experience that much more enjoyable in my opinion.
I read an article in AFAR, a magazine which I adore, about a journalist's visit to s resort in the Caribbean and its effects on the surrounding local community. It was a great read. You can check it out here: "The Great Escape" by Chris Colin
Despite being the dreaded "gringa" tourist, I loved my experience in the Dominican Republic! The overall relaxed vibe, generous people, gorgeous scenery, and delicious foods were well worth the long layover in the Miami Airport!
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