Day 15: I arrived in Puerta Plata, Dominican Republic with my travel buddies – Mark, whom I shared a room with in Aruba, and Kim, who I had just met. We landed at the airport and were immediately forced to pay $10 for a “Tourist Card”. No one could tell my why I was forced to buy this card, but immigration guards (with guns!) forced me to hand over $10. Even now, I still have no idea why I had to pay.

Leaving the airport, I found myself in a sea of locals all yelling and screaming at me. I stuck out like a sore thumb, and I have to say, I haven’t been this uncomfortable in a long time. People were eventually coming up to me where I had push them away. I found Mark and Kim and the 3 of us headed to the taxi stand to drive to our resort.

When we arrived at the resort, it was a much much different feeling. Someone picked up our bags, and another person gave up welcome drinks. This was what I was talking about! We checked in and had a personal tour of the property by a manager.

Let me explain. We stayed at the Viva Wyndham Tangerine resort in Cabarate. I had read some mixed reviews online, but what could you expect for $58/night all food and drinks included. What we got far exceeded my expectations. The food was pretty good, the drinks weren’t that bad the the rooms were very nice, if only a little old-fashioned. I couldn’t believe how much of an awesome deal we got, and we all had separate rooms!

We spend much of the first afternoon just handing out at the resort, sitting by the pool and taking part in the activities. Hey, I even played Bingo!

Bingo! Not yet. I love the beans, by the way.

For dinner, we made reservations at the Italian restaurant on property. It was absolutely delicious, and I would love to eat there again. Best part, no extra charge!

Later that night, the entertainment staff (which was comprised of a bunch of 20-something Dominicans) put on their rendition of the play Greese. It was a little odd, but the dancing wasn’t half bad.

Greece Lightning!

A nice thunderstorm closed out the evening.

Day 16: This was going to be a lazy day. I had no plans and just wanted to relax. I did, however, want to walk down to the city area of Cabarete to get a feel for more of the locals. Man, I had read that the Dominican Republic was a third world nation, but I have never seen one before.

Downtown Cabarate, Dominican Republic

More of Downtown Cabarete, Dominican Republic

One of the things that’s super popular around this side of the island was Kite Surfing. Our resort gives lessons, but it was rather pricey and took 6+ hours to fully master. Still, kite surfing was easily the most popular thing on the beach.

Kite Surfing! Every speck is a new kite.

After watching them for what seemed like hours, I decided to bargain with the instructor. 2 hours of kite surfing for much cheaper then he was asking – bingo. So yes, now I can say I know how to kite surf. Unfortunately, I don’t have a pic of me learning since I didn’t have my camera along with me.

I do, however, have a picture of a monkey on my head! That should suffice.

There's a monkey on my head!

Day 17: This was supposed to be a travel day, but ended up being the most dramatic to date. This may get a little long, but it’s a fun story – I promise.

So the 3 of us arrived at the airport about 2 and a half hours before our flight. During check in, the lady asked if I wanted an exit row window seat for no additional charge. (JetBlue charges for those seats) Um, YES PLEASE! All was great until I finished going through security.

A security agent pointed to me and immediately several non-uniformed guards came up to me. One took my passport while the other told me to sit down. The guard scrutinized my passport for what seemed like an hour and then made a phone call (on his iPhone nonetheless). I asked the second guard what was going on, but she didn’t speak English and just made a hand motion for me to be quiet.

A few minutes later, several other guards showed up and told me to follow them. We ended up in a room with no windows – 4 Spanish Dominican Police Officers and me. At this point I start getting a little impatient, asking what was going on. They had opened up my luggage, taken everything out and was searching every pocket and inch of my clothing.  No one in the room spoke English, however one of the officers pointed to her stomach and said “drugs”. Wait a second, do they think I’m smuggling drugs out of the country?

A few more minutes go by and another officer (assume it’s a superior office) walked in and asked me to follow him. Luckily he spoke English! We walked outside to a waiting cop car, where he told me that he was taking me to the local hospital to get X-Rayed. I told him that I wasn’t going anywhere, and I know my rights as a traveling citizen. I told him I wasn’t doing anything until I spoke with the American Consulate. I would listen to them, as they are my liaison to the Dominican Republic. The officer detested saying there was nothing the Consulate could do, but I said I would like to hear that from them. I kept saying the words “American Consulate” over and over until they realized I was serious.

The main officer grabbed my passport and flipped through it, asking why I was in his country. I told him vacation. He asked why I was only here for 2 days on vacation. I explained to him the vacation I was on (spending a few days at every location). After some more interrogation, he gave me my passport and let me go. Thank god we got to the airport early enough, as I had a few minutes to spare before the flight boarded.

I’m not quite sure what to make of all of this, but it worked itself out in the end and made for a pretty funny story. Needless to say, I probably won’t be visiting the Dominican Republic anytime soon.

Now I have a few days with family in Connecticut, then it’s off to Costa Rica!