Dreaming Punta Cana

I went to New York for a week with work, pretty busy week with work-related events, but also some time for sightseeing. One of the things I didn’t have time for last time I was in New York was Brooklyn Bridge so that was pretty high on my list this time. Even though it’s very crowded it was a nice walk with some pretty good views. Once in Brooklyn I made a stop in Randolph’s Beer Brewpub, a place with a good sortiment of beer, and a pretty nice self-serve, pay-by-ounce system. Never seen that before, but perfect for making your own tasting.

I was certain that New York in early March would be at least a little bit warmer than Stockholm, and since there was also going to be stops in warmer places I packed pretty light and thin clothes. Of course not bringing a warm jacket means the weather got cold, eventually turning into a blizzard. Not what I expected, and not really good for checking out the city, but at least I got a pretty alright photo of the hotel roof terrace.

Some of my colleagues going to New York the same week had planned a trip to Punta Cana, Dominican Republic, for a week on the beach as we were “pretty close to there anyway”, and I decided to take one week of vacation to join them. More of a beach vacation than the kind of trips I usually do, but after a long, dark, Swedish winter I could use a week in the sun with some fun people. The chat group Dreaming Punta Cana was born.

I’m used to travelling alone and staying at hostels, and usually really love that as it makes it so much easier to meet new people. But at the same time going witha group of friends has its benefits too, such as getting an entire apartment (or in our case two) for a reasonable price. One of them even had a roof terrace that was used pretty much whenever we weren’t on the beach.

Not too far from the apartment there was plenty of food available, especially grilled meat, with one places that was basically only a big outdoor grill and some plastic chairs, while another area had a setup of several food trucks. I had a hard time convincing some people in the group that they wouldn’t get food poisoning at these places but after I had gone one night without dying or even feeling the slightest bit sick even Camilo tried out the food trucks.

But we did a bit more stuff than just eating and sleeping. We had one day trip to Saltos de Limón a large waterfall in north-eastern Dominican Republic. The tour included a bus and boat ride there with a few extra stops on the way, including some time watching whales from the boat. We got to see several humpbacks, and for the first time I also got to see a proper breach as well, and not only backs and fins.

The last bit of the trip to the waterfalls was on horseback, a service that we were expected to pay for even though the sales person said everything was included in the tour. I guess the idea was that they’re not payed, only tipped. Too many American tourists there making it complicated for us people who don’t understand the tipping culture and don’t bring any money when on an everything included-tour.

Anyway, we did reach the falls, and they were really amazing. Some people went for a swim while I did a bit of a climb/walk up the side for some better views. This place should be a must-visit if you’re in the area. If I go back I would probably prefer to do it by myself though to be able to spend more time there, and probably on foot instead of horseback.

We did do one more full-day trip as well, this time a dive trip to Catalina island, a boat trip with two dives, and then lunch and a few relaxing hours with all-inclusive bar on the island. The dives were not too impressive, but we did get to see some interesting animals at least, including a morey eel. The island was great though with a good lunch, some time on the beach for those who wanted, and a short nature walk for those who prefer that.

It was a great, relaxing week in Punta Cana with plenty off time to recharge after several month with barely any sun at all. But the trip was not over quite yet. On the way home I had another night and almost a full day more in New York, and that day happened to be St. Patrick’s Day. I’d heard a lot about the parade going through New York so I decided to give that a go. I was kind of disappointed though. It was way too crowded and impossible to see anything at all, and it didn’t help that I was carrying around a big backpack in the crowds. I gave up and went to an Irish puub instead for a full Irish brealfast, including Guinness.

I still had a few more hours before my flight so I met up with Richard, who had also joined the Punta Cana group but taken other flights, to have a look at one more thing that I had on my list, the High Line. The High Line is and old elevated railway rebuilt as a park and walkway. It’s a walk of about 2km with some nice views on the way. This was way too early in the year though and the green areas weren’t really that green, but I can imagine this being pretty spectacular in the summer.

That’s all for New York. Time to head home and back to work again. Oh the jet-lag…