Montezuma,my „spiritual“ heaven on earth
16 Julai 2022, Costa Rica ⋅ ☁️ 29 °C
As we were getting closer to Montezuma I already started to feel that this was going to be a good place. The road led us through a very small colorful citycenter and a bit further along the coast. We didnt find our hostel at first and were a bit confused but then we saw it and walked into a green garden with flowers and trees and people playing games and getting tanned on the soft green grass. First of all we were amazed by the beautiful view in front of us, then, as I looked more closely to the people because I wanted to know what type of people this place hosted, when I suddenly noticed a head with short light blond hair. As I looked more closely I recognized Sebastian playing chess on the ground with another guy. I was so so so suprised and happy to see him. We had kind of lost him after leaving Dominical so seeing him now was really awesome. The other guy was Anton, a german friend he had met in Mexico and with whom he had traveled to Nicaragua and Panama. We met Antinea, a colunteer working at the hostel as a work & travel and she told us we couldnt do the check -in yet, so we left our stuff and walked to the center because just like every Saturday there was the prganic farmers market. The market consists in lical people selling their homemade products. There was home made Ricotta, Granola, hot sauce, bracelets (Noah and I bought 2 together as a souvenir), streetfood, clothes and many fruits and veggies. There was also music played by people with guitars and ukuleles. I absolutely LOVED this place and I couldnt resist, I bought veggies for dinner. We went to the center of the village and got an ice cream at a place Sebastian our ice cream specialist recommended. Then we walked on to a place called Piedra Colorada that we found on google maps and looked nice. We stayed there and went back to the hostel. The Hostel was so nice that Noah and I enjoyed just staying there. I read a bit, wrote and relaxed. Then we started cooking dinner. At the Piedra Colorada, The boys and I decided that we were gonna cook for the 4 of us. I wanted to make Quinoah bowl so I told the guys what veggies they had to cut and where to put them and coordinated everything which resulted in a good & healthy Quinoa Bowl. We drank Sangría from the supermarket as we were cooking which was way better than expected. When we sat down at the table we could tell that the other guests at the hostel were a bit jealous because we had made such a plate for dinner. Others were just eating basic spaghettis or rice with whatever instead. I was really happy because Anton and Sebastian were so so greatful for eating with us. They said this was the healthiest meal they had eaten so far and that they were very thankful for me cooking for them and that it was very good. I love it when people appreciate my effort, it makes me want to do such things for people if I know that its not going to be taken for granted. After dinner I told them that they had to clean the kitchen and I went out with Antinea to a bar in town wjere people played live music. There we met a friend of hers and had a drink. It was kind of crazy. Antinea was 28 years old and Marci her friend 39, so there was a 10 and 20 year age difference between us but still it felt like we all had the exact same age, I couldnt even tell what age, just three women listening to music, sitting in a bar, talking about some quite deep topics and just exchanging our thoughts and feelings. I think I desperately needed some female energy:) Both of them are quite different than me, way more spiritual, something I never really considered or even thought about but it was super interesting to listen to their opinions, their experiences and what they had to say about it. I even opened up to them about things that were making me angry and sad at the moment and it felt good to talk with them, even though they technically were strangers to me. Later on the boys came after their chess game and the kitchen cleaning. We went to „Chico‘s“ Bar and danced until about 1. Then we saw a streetfood truck in front of the bar and Noah had a funny looking hot dog, (Baby was fed and quiet again) which Anton called perro caliente directly translated to spanish, which obviously doesnt work. Eventually after dancing a bit more we went back to the hostel. We slept at about 2 and I woke up the next morning at 5:30. I dont know why and I probably would‘ve tried to go back to sleep but then I saw that the sky was all pink through the tiny window and decided I had to see. When I got out I got suprised by a beautiful sunrise (I didnt even know I could see the sun risind over the horizon from this place!!!!)
Currently I am lying in a cozy Hammok after 3 hours of sleep and writing this. Tired but very happy and absolutely keen on living many more experiences here.Baca lagi
„FAKE“ Santa Teresa
14 Julai 2022, Costa Rica ⋅ 🌧 27 °C
We had heard a lot about Santa Teresa even before getting there. Some people said it was beautiful and totally worth it, one girl in Uvita Hostel told us it was hell on earth, so we were very curious to explore this place by ourselves to make up our own mind. The roads leading to Santa T were in quite bad condition and there were huge trucks in front of us all the time that were driving super slowly and that no one was passing. Noah got VERY impatient at pne point and started getting mad at all the people who had the chance to pass the trucks but didnt do so. Well whatever, eventually we arrived in the village and the road was still a dirty muddy brownish road full of holes with way more cars, bikes and motorbikes on it than it should actually carry. The Hostel on the other hand was very nice. It was one of the Selina Hostels, the most expensive one we booked so far and it was way more luxurious than what we‘re used to, which was good because we needed to settle down at a nice and clean space for once, so we could unpack everything and do laundry (which was fully booked unfortunately) and most of all to have a hot shower that we havent had since the beginning of our travels. At 4pm we were welcomed with a „welcome drink“ they serve at Selina Hostel for newcomers. Then when we had enough energy, we started walking along the dirt road and saw some really pretty cafés at the side of the street, all decorated realy nicely, with fairylights and paintings, flowers and butterflies, whatever nice things they could use to make a place look really pretty. They were totally instagrammable, it felt a bit like an influencers parallel universe. The contrast between the muddy road with trash at both sides and some destroyed huts with even more trash in front of them, and the cute litle cafés was immense, but I focused on the nice things I saw on our way. At some point it started raining (surprise suprise) and once again, rainjacket was not in our bags. We stopped at a nice place called eat street, like the foodtruck place in the dominican republic, but since we were in Santa T, it was way prettier than what i had seen before. But it was way less authentic. You could clearly tell that each food truck belonged to the same company, all of them coordinated and tuned to serve things that matched with the rest. I would say almost too perfect. I liked the way local people in the Dom Rep just selled whatever they had cooked in their foodtrucks, independant from what the others did. Noah took Tuna tacos and I had a cocktail. When it stopped raining a bot we walked down to the beach, ehich was really beautiful, we even got to see the sunset. At night we went for dinner at the Drift Bar, where they make exquisite glutenfree food. Noah and I shared so we could try out more. Noah also tried his first Sangría!! Back at the hostel we went for a swim in our pool. The next morning I woke up and went to Yoga class. I liked it but it was a bit boring, it was a lot of meditation and I ususally prefer a faster flow and more excercise. Noah was tired so after eating breakfast (I finally made my famous banana pancakes, which Noah loves!!) he went back to bed and I walked along the beach. I found some parts where there was a lot of trash in the sand and I had to think agin about the dirty trash street. So many contrasts. Very nice beach, white sand, seashells, but plastic everywhere. After lunchtime it stopped raining and we rented bikes. Honestly, i‘ve never seen such weird bikes. It was hard to ride them especially on these streets full of holes. We drove to a beach where we stayed a bit. At one point I wanted to get off my bike but fell over, but didn‘t die, I just got a bit dirty. Afterwards we went to drink something at a place called „Art Coffee“ and Noah had Crepes. (So the baby was fed up and wasnt gonna cry). We went to the beach and again saw a beautiful sunset. We stayed for a long long time and eventually went home to bed. I stayed up and wrote a bit in my book, however, when I got back to the room, Noah was occupying the WHOLE bed. So i had to try to move him to his side, and I have to admit after his crepe this wasnt that easy. Next morning I woke up early and prepared beakfast for Noah and me. I made Porridge with Chia seeds and honey, topped with Dragonfruit and Passion Fruit and Granola. When Noah woke up we ate and went to the bike rental to return our bikes. We walked back on the beach and checked out. Our Next destination was waiting for us!Baca lagi
Ferry from Puntarenas to Paquera
14 Julai 2022, Costa Rica ⋅ ⛅ 27 °C
We got to the ferry terminal very early which was good so we didnt have to wait at all and even had some time to walk around. Puntarenas was not super pretty though. I really had to go to the washroom but I guess they must‘ve had some problems woth that because every single toilet in Puntarenas was closed, even woth signs saying „forbidden to enter“. Eventually I found one. On the ferry we listened to music and enjoyed the scenery and the landscapes. After an hour we arrived in Paquera and drove on to our next destination: Santa Teresa.Baca lagi
Rainy Days In Jacó
13 Julai 2022, Costa Rica ⋅ 🌧 28 °C
When we arrived in Jaco it was sunny so we decided to go for a walk along the main street. It was the first bigger city since San José and we were excited to see some nice shops. The Hostel De Haan had highly been recommended by some friends who had already been to Costa Rica, so our expectations were high. We were welcomed by the friendly owner Wilson, who suggested us some activities and places to see. While we were walking it started raining so we hid in a supermarket because we had to buy things for dinner anyways. It started raining so bad that we were reluctant to walk back right away so we stayed in the supermarket, which by now is basically our home, walked around, fooled around and eventually when the rain was less heavy we walked back to the hostel. We survived but Noah‘s baguette unfortunately didnt. Now, let me talk about something: Of course it matters if a hostel is clean, the beds are more or less comfy and the place is safe but what is most important is that there‘s a good equipped kitchen. Hostel De Haan provided everything, even a pool but the kitchen was a catastrophy. There was one tiny little pan, about as big as the palm of my hand and some dirty pots. We wanted to make lentil daahl and it was nearly impossible. The stove didnt really work either by the way. In the end after struggeling for a while we managed to cook something similar. We started taking it as a challenge to cook a meal with zero equipment, thinking bout it now it was funny but at that moment i was quite desperate (noah can approve). We were tired so we just played some card games and then tried out the Jacó Bar close to the hostel, where we tried the chiliguaro shot. This is a typical costa rican spicy shot - we didnt really like it but i still think its a matter of habit. The next day we rented boards at our hostel and went surfing and I got a sunburn (yes mom, i put on sunscreen but the sun was too strong). Afterwards we went to the city and did some shopping. The woman in the shop where I bought some clothes told me I should go to the supermarket and get aloe vera for my skin, what we did later on, as you can see in the video. We went to a place which is rated the best burger place in costa rica so noah obviously had to try one. He was happy:). Afterwards we hiked to the Miro, a really nice viewpoint but the moment we got there it started raining really really heavily but there was a ceiling. We were kind of stuck so we waited for a while. There were other people who also didnt leave the place. At some point we realized it was gonna get dark before the rain stops so we got undressed up to our underwear, put everything we had in the small plastic bag we had thanks to my shopping earlier and started walking. The people thaught we were crazy but honestly, for me, this was one of the highlights. As we got down to the village and kept walking in out underwear on the streets in jaco, suddenly and totally by chance I met Aline and Dömi, two ski instructors from Laax. They had been travelling for 8 weeks through Nicaragua and now through Costa Rica. They‘re heading to Panama next. We chatted for a while, couldnt believe this crazy coincidence and walked on until we got to a waffle place that made glutenfree waffles and ordered some, still in our underwear. Next day, surfing, but the waves were a bit rough. In the afternoon we went Ziplining and later on had dinner at a really really nice place called green room. There was even life music. The next morning we left Jaco. However, before leaving we took a picture with Wilson, the owner! And back we were on the road towsrds Puntarenas where we would get the ferry…Baca lagi
Two faces of Quepos and Manuel Antonio
10 Julai 2022, Costa Rica ⋅ 🌧 26 °C
We woke up early and ate breakfast at the almost 100% glutenfree mono congo café in dominical. We went to see the Nauyaca waterfalls in the morning and then drove to Quepos, our next stop. In Quepos we checked- in at the Villas Jacquelina Hotel, nice but a bit far from the city center, and walked around the area. First, as we walked along the main road, we got to a very luxurious tourist place which looked a bit like a gated community. The buildings were all perfectly white and built around a plaza with view over the sea. There were many fancy seafood restaurants and super expensive souvenir shops. The place was called marina pez-vela, and is a harbour for sporthfishing. We soon figured out that this was the place rich old men went on hilodays. I didnt like it at all, i felt more and more uncomfortable every second we spent there. When we left I realized even more what hige contrast there is between this marina and the rest of poor quepos. We wanted to walk on the beach but it was separeted by a river we had to cross. It was way deeped than we expected, so unfortunately I got wet almost up to my tummy. The beach was beautiful but I couldnt really enjoy it because I was still discussing with Noah about this gated community we‘ve seen. His point of view was that it was good on one hand because it provided jobs for the people living in quepos. I agreed to a certain point but still thought that the money could‘ve been used for the local economy and to renovate parts of the city. We didnt walk back on the beach because we wanted to see another part of the city. What we didnt know was that, this oart wasn‘t a real city.. it was a slum. A dirty road covered with holes and with dogs walking on it, dying of starvation , many huts, most of them very small with people sitting in front of them, all looking sad and lifeless, and a very bad smell. Noah and I went completely quiet. I was speechless, I didnt even know what to think. As we passed the people and the houses, I felt so so bad. When we got to the end of the road we had to take a ferry taxi that brought us to the other side. We walked back to the hotel but almost didnt talk. Eventually we started talking about what we‘ve seen and how injust everything is. It couldnt get out of my head during thw whole evening. We cooked veggie pasta together and Noah ate a lot, as usual. I dont know how a person can eat this quantity of food. The next morning we woke up at 6 and went to Manuel Antonio National Park. When we were at about 1 kilometre before the park entrance my google maps suggested, people who looked like park rangers told us to leave the highway and park in some parking lot at the side of a street. We told them we wanted to go to Manuel Antonio and they said rhis was the parking. I almost couldnt believe them because there were no other cars there, but they looked really professional. We got out of the car but my intuition told me that something was wrong. I told Noah to get back into the car and we ignored those people shouting and telling us to turn around and followed my google maps, which in the end brought us to the real park parking lot. We parked and were thankful that we hadnt been tricked.
My biggest goal for the day was to find a sloth, because I had never seen one plus I thought and still consider them super cute. We walked around the park anf did every possible trail. We saw iguanas, monkeys, of which one had a very special relationship with Noah, some type of pigs and in the end even two sloths. There were many tourists at some beaches but on the trails we were basically alone. After seeing everything we decided to leave and drove our car to Jacó.Baca lagi
Sleepy Dominical
8 Julai 2022, Costa Rica ⋅ 🌧 27 °C
We arrived in Dominical in the afternoon and decided to take a look at the small city after we checked-in at the good vibes hostel. Its a very small village with one pedestrian street at the beach with many souvernir vendors and tables where sellers sell their wood-art, bracelets and beach towels. And there‘s another street for cars with some restaurants and shops, a school and some bars. The people we saw are either backpackers, surfers or locals working in the tourist industry. The beach looked totally different from what we had seen before, the sea was wild and on the sand there were pieces of wood and stones. The restaurants all have the same cozy atmosphere, with fairy lights and wooden tables, walls and floors and look a bit like tree houses. We drank a smoothie in one little cute place and Noah ate fresh fish tacos. We walked past a super fancy restaurant where we went for dinner in the evening and shared fish, shrimp and palmheart cevice and again both had fish tacos. Earlier we couldnt see the sunset because there were too many clouds but the sky still looked beautiful at around 6. the next morning we woke up later than usual and had breakfast at the beach. Now let me shock you: noah eats a lot more than me, and to show you what a lot more means, i‘ll gove you an example. We had bought fresh mango, passionfruit, granola a 500g yogurt cup of which i ate half mango, half passion fruit and 2 big spoons of yogurt with some granola. Noah ate THE REST. So all the yogurt that was left in the 500g (half a kilogram) cup he ate with the rest of the mango, the passion fruit and at least half of the whole vereal pack. I almost had a heart attack, saved the rest of my glutenfree cereal and told him we would go buy him some cheap cereal with gluten. At 11 we had booked a surfing lesson. It was quite expensive but so worth it. Noah had never surfed before and bevause I was sick of always taking the beginner lessons too, we had each a personal instructor focusing only on one of us. Mine war Jordi and after he saw that I was able to do the pop up, we went out into the deep water and waited for green waves. (Waves that havent broken yet) I actually managed to get some and to ride them until the beach!! Some others I fell off and got tumbled around like in a washing machine. I got tired super fast, especially my arms and after 2 hours I was dead. We wanted to go buy some food and cook pasta at home but as we got out from this super cool glutenfree-shop (which had cookies, all kinds of pasta, flower, crackers, and whatever my heart could long for), it was raining so hard we wouldnt have made it back wothout being completely wet, so we waited, waited, went into some shops, waited, eventually drank a cot tumeric golden dirty chai latte (yummy) and then walked home. It was already 3pm so we didnt eat. Noah ate 4 meat skewers from a street vendor on our way back. Then we wanted to see the Nauyaca waterfalls with sebastian but they were already closed, so we went to the beach in the stormy weather and walked up to rocks to see the view which turned out to be very beaitiful. In the evening we had dinner at a place called phat noodle and they had a lot of glutenfree options for me. I shared a thai curry and a phad thai with sebatian. When we wanted to go back home our car was out of battery because unfortunately we had forgotten to turn off the lights in the back. Some local costarican people, called ticos, helped up push the car so that noah could get it going again. After some attempts it worked and we drove around a bot to get the system back on track. After getting back home, talking to the other guests for a while, we went to bed.Baca lagi
Ballena de Uvita
7 Julai 2022, Costa Rica ⋅ 🌧 27 °C
Next Stop: the Ballena National Park in Uvita. When we arrived around lunchtime we checked into our Hostel, cascada verde, that we had booked very spontanously and we were surprised by how cool it was. Again it was a bit further outside the village in between trees but reachable by car this time. There was a terrace with a beautiful view, where you could even see the sea. Sebatian the danish guy hadn’t gotten on the bus in the end and instead had come to the hostel with us, where he found a room to stay. In the afternoon the three of us went to see the cascadas, close to the hostel. Afterwards we found a butterfly house, the mariposario, totally by chance and got to see some very pretty butterflies. In the evening we cooked in the hostel together. We tried out a costa-rican vegetable and ate rice with pico de gallo, avocado and tuna out of the can. It was a typical backpackers dinner I would say, but it was not bad at all. The next day we went to the national park and walked along the beautiful beach, which seemed endless. There was high tide at first but as the tide slowly went down and the water moved away we could start to see the shape of a whale fin appearing at one corner of the beach. We walked to the very end of the fin and as we turned around we were stunned by the view: dark, almost black sand im front of a forest of light green palmtrees encircled by dark green hills under the blue sky. The clouds had almost faded away completely at this point and the sun was heating up the air, so that when we got back to the main beach, we went for a swim anf hung around on our towels. At some point Sebastian got hungry so he went off and came back with two coconuts. It was really funny to see him trying to open them. Eventually he did it and we had fresh coconut to snack. On our way back we stopped at the supermarked and bought local fruits we wanted to try, two beers, of which one was glutenfree and some potato chips. We sat down in the hostel and had our ice cold beer with the chips. Next to us there were monkeys playing in the trees and we observed them for a while. In the evening Noah and I went out to eat in a restaurant. The next morning we had breakfast on our pretty terrace, and explored a place they call bamboo forest, with hige bamboos and found a river with crystal clear and emerald blue water. We checked out from our hostel at 11 and drove to our next destination, Dominical.Baca lagi
Bolita Rainforest Hostel
5 Julai 2022, Costa Rica ⋅ 🌧 24 °C
To get to the Hostel we had to cross a river and hike through the Jungle. When we got there it was dark and we were really hungry. Ron, the friendly owner of the place showed us around and told us the lost important things such as that the water was drinkable, not to step on spiders, snakes or frogs, because they were everywhere and to be quiet between 10pm and 6am. We cooked dinner, veggie pasta, in our outdoor kitchen and went to sleep. Our room was very simple but we didnt need more. There were some bathrooms and showers a bit further away and the mainhouse was also really close. The next day we went hiking on the trails of the Bolita area. There was a map and all the trails were perfectly marked. The cool thing was that we were actually right next to the Corcovado national park and the variety of plants and animals was exactly the same but instead of paying a guide to walk us around we could walk on our own and see everything by our own. We did all the trails except for the small waterfalls next to the house. We saw monkeys, tucans, a snake, frogs and many birds. We gpt to big waterfalls where we went swimming. We got back at 2 pm and I sat down on a chair with a beautiful view and while Noah was sleeping I planned our further trip. The next day we ate breakfast on the terrasse, where we got visited by some Colibris drinking nectar in the flowers around us and walked to the waterfalls we hadnt seen. While we were walking it started raining really hard and I took a big leave and used it as umbrella haha. At around 9 we left and walked down to Dos Brazos where our car was parked. Some backpackers we met at the Hostel asked us to take them with us until Uvita, where they wanted to take a but to go further to the north and of course we let them come with us. So we were 5 people in the car: Sebastian, a danish guy, Henning and his girlfriend from Germany, Noah and me, driving to Uvita, listening to songs and singing along.Baca lagi
From San José to Osa Island
4 Julai 2022, Costa Rica ⋅ 🌧 25 °C
Our aim for the day was to get to the Osa Island in the south of Costa Rica by 5 pm. This was the deadline for the check-in at the hostel we had booked. We left San José and everything went well. The city and the streets weren‘t too busy and as soon as we got further away the highways were basically empty. We had expected the streets to be in worse conditions but they were totally okay. We stopped at the famous Crocodile Bridge to see the huge crocodiles lazily hangind around at the riverbanks. At Jaco we stopped to buy a fresh coconut and to see the view. After 3 hours of driving we did a lunch break where we had Smoothies and a Salad. Even though we had calculated enough time to get there in the end the street got really bad. So the last twenty minutes we lost some time and our poor car had to fight quite hard. We got to the check-in at 16:57 so perfectly in time. They told us that we still made tmit but that we had to be fast now. The hostel was in the middle of the junge, still 45 minutes away by foot and at 6 it would get dark. We unpacked some things, grabbed food and started walking to the Bolita Ranforest hostel.Baca lagi
Arrival in San José
3 Julai 2022, Costa Rica ⋅ 🌧 22 °C
My flight to San José was one of the worst I‘ve ever had, because I was still feeling sick and I was afraid that the flight would aggravate my situation, but luckily nothing happened anymore. When I arrived in San José, Noah was waiting for me. He had already picked up our rental car and we drove to our First Hostel: Gaudy‘s Eco Hostel. It wasn‘t the prettiest but it was clean and the people were friendly and since it was only fot one night it was okay. I couldnt eat anything because I still wasnt feeling too good and I had a little fever and Noah still had two sandwiches left, so we stayed at the room and went to sleep very early. The next morning we ate breakfast at the hostel. They made pancakes for Noah and I tried to eat some muesli. I already felt better and after taking a painkiller for my head I was ready to go grocery shopping and then start our roadtrip!Baca lagi
Food poisoning in Santo Domingo
2 Julai 2022, Republik Dominika ⋅ 🌧 26 °C
After Windsurfing, Udo drovs us with his car to Sosúa to the Caribe Bus station, where we would hop on the bus what would bring us to Santo Domingo. Thanks to Udo’s crazy-dominican driving, we got there just in time. The drive to Santo Domingo was very very long, 4.5 hours and there was a really strong air conditioning and we were freezing. I had forgotten my hoodie in my Backpack even though I usually always have it in my bag, so I was sitting there with my crop top and goosebumps on my whole body for 4 hours straight. Theresa slept but I couldnt fall asleep so I listened to music, texted with Micka, who was on the bus from las Terrenas to Santo, and ate some Nuts & Crackers.
Eventually we arrived in Santo & took an uber to the Island Life hostel, where Micka was already waiting. The others, Henrike, Rene and Matteo had already arrived a day earlier but where in the city at the moment and we found their stuff in the 12 bed dormitory where we would all sleep together that night. I was super exited!
While Theresa showered, micka and I went to the zona colonial and walked around, saw some street artists, musicians and found a plaza where we danced for a while until Theresa joined us. On our way back to the hostel we stopped at Casa Barista & Co., the glutenfree caffe/restaurant where I had already eaten with Nina some weeks earlier and ordered food to go. Micka knew how important this was to me, so he offered me to share two things that I could choose, he would eat whatever. I chose glutenfree handmade ravioli with ricotta and spinach and Vegetable panini. Plus while we waited we ordered a glutenfre croissant - it looked really good and since it was a croissant I had to try it. It tasted like a real gipfeli and the consistency was also like I had in mind. I was amazed, it was my first real gipfeli since I got the diagnosis of cealiac disease. We got the food and went back to the hostel where the others were already waiting for us. We ate all together and I have to admit the food was a bit disappointing, but still good. Then we played pool in the hostel and drank some sangrías, which were very good. Afterwards we went out. I really wanted to stay out for a long to me because it was my last night but unfortunately at about 12:30 after drinking an energy drink to keep my awake longer I started feeling sick, I told Micka about it and soon decided to head back to the hostel to get some sleep. Rene drove me back with their rental car and so Micka and I sat down on the couch in front of our room in the hostel for a bit and hoped I would feel better soon so I could go to bed. I knew sometjing was wrong with my tummy and I tried to throw up but it didnt work. The moment I I got up and went into the dorm to change and put on my pyjama I suddendly felt sick and ran to the washroom. I wasnt able to reach the toilet though and I threw up. The whole washroom floor got dirty - it was a disaster. Micka came right away and cleaned everything while I washed my face and hands. We stayed a bit longer on the sofa. I still didnt feel much better so I stayed on the sofa a bit longer. I‘ll keep it short: I threw up 2 more times that night. Again I missed the toilet the second time so Micka had to clean up everything one more time and the third time I didnt even manage to stand up from the couch. It was a mess. I didnt sleep at all that night and Micka didn‘t either, he stayed there with me during the whole time. At about 8am I felt a bit better so I stood up and packed everything. At 9:30 my uber arrived and it was time to say bye to everyone. I cried especially because of Theresa and Micka, but I knew that I had to go on and I was thankful for the time I had had with them. In the uber I cried on but eventually calmed down and focused on what was coming next. Another adventure was about to start!Baca lagi
Cabarete, one last trip
29 Jun 2022, Republik Dominika ⋅ ☀️ 27 °C
On wednesday we woke up at 5 after two hours of sleep to get a motoconcho and then get on the bus to Cabarete. First we thought we would have to drive over Puerto Plata and then take a GuaGua and a Taxi but we were lucky. We just told the busdriver where we wanted to go and when we were passing Cabarete he let us out 10 minutes away from our Hotel. The place we had booked was beautiful, there were some bungalows and cottages, two big pools, an areo where one could eat and a very big garden with all kinds of flowers. There was also one buildign with an open Yoga room on too of it, and since there were no Yoga classes due to low season, I could use the room for dancing. Apart from another two single women, we were the only guests so everything belonged to us, we loved it. The next day we took surfclasses in the morning, then went to eat at a place which serves glutenfree waffles and Paninis and Bread and eberything I could wish for. That day I realized that Dan, a guy that I know from sailing club in Tennwil, was in Cabarete too, so we met him in the Afternoon. He has been going to Cabarete for 15 years so he knew a lot of people and we got to know Udo, the owner of a Restaurant-Bar and a Wind- and Kitesurfing School next to it. We also got to know his daugther Jasmine, same age as us and other friends. We drank 2 mojito Pitchers and Rum-Chinola Cocktails at the beach with them. Since it was Jasmine‘s birthday, they invited us for dinner at a very very fancy restaurant. The food was really good and super expensive. I ate Seared Salmon in Walnut, Cranberry and Maple leave crust with veggies, plus a dessert afterwards. We thanked them a thousand times. Then we all went out to a beach bar. I looked for people to dance bachata with but it seemed like people in Cabarete are more surfers than dancers.
The next day we had surflesson again and went windsurfing with Udo in the afternoon. He gave us a private lesson for free. In the Evening we went to a beach close to Udo‘s house to see the sunset and drink some champagn. After Theresa and I went to a beach restaurant, where I ate a Salad in a pineapple. Then we met people who brought us to their appartment by the sea where we went swimming in the middle of the night. We got home at about 4 and slept for a couple of hours until we went to the beach again for our second windsurfing lesson with Udo. At lunchtime we left the beach and drove to the bus station.Baca lagi
Último Dia
28 Jun 2022, Republik Dominika ⋅ ⛅ 26 °C
In the morning we ate breakfast at the Cafecito del Mar. our fridge was empty anyways because we were leaving and we‘ve always wanted to eat breakfast at a restaurant. Afterwards we went diving and did a nice cave dive first. After we dived to our nursery one last time and replaced the missing ropes. Daria and I worked together in a team and attached all the empty waterbottles we used as bouys. It was a really good dive and we achieved a lot, I was happy about it because it was my last dive. On the way back on the motorboat I enjoyed every second of the ride. In the afternoon I still had my Pasola, and Theresa was feeling way better than the day before after her allercig reaction to the sandflies, so I went to pica pollo to grab some food and later on we drove to Bonita with Henrike to eat and drink a last Sangría at the beach. At 3:30 pm I had to go fill up the tanks. I said bye to Daria and started. Then to my surprise, René, Matteo, Henrike, Antoine and even Micka arrived to keep me company and we played cards and drank rum sours. Later on I went to the beach with Micka and afterwards home to pack my things and get ready for one last dinner at Manty‘s place. She cooked the coconut fish for me and I took 3 portions of it. Imat 10 we went to Etno where Micka joined us. The mood wasn‘t really great, nobody actually wanted to dance even though Micka kept animating them because he knew I really wanted everybody to dance and have fun that night. Eventually he drove them home, but I stayed and went to Babylon to dance one last Time with Frenk, my Bachata guy. After the goodbyes in babylon, Micka picked me up and we drove one last time to the hills above Cosón beach and looked at the Stars. Without light pollution it looks beautiful we could even see the milky way. At about 2am he drove me home where Theresa was still packing. We finished at about 3 and went to sleep.Baca lagi
Pasolas and Karaoke
27 Jun 2022, Republik Dominika ⋅ ⛅ 26 °C
Second last day, still a couple of things left on my bucket list. One of them was eating breakfast at the beach, so I woke up with Theresa‘s alarm, prepared breakfast and took a motoconcho to punta poppy. I loved how calm this beach was during the morning anf enjoyed the time I had all by myself. We did a double dive that morning, one of them was a deep dive I had asked Daria if we could do while I was still here. At this point I really have to sayc I am so so so thankful to have had a diving instructor like Daria. She always did everything so we could dive as often as possible. Aldeas de Paz, the organisation actually only wanted us volunteers to do a max of 3 dives a week. Well with daria we had an average of 6 dives, counting in that weekends are always free). After diving I went to tropikbowl, one pf my favourite places to eat with Theresa because we wanted to plan our trip to Cabarete. In my last post I talked about these sandflies. Well, Theresa had an allergic reaction. Her legs were full of inflamed red dots, that were biting her the whole time, so she couldnt stop scratching her skin. The hospitals here are really bad so all they do when somebody has an ailment, is giving them painkillers, which didnt help her at all. In the restaurant she could handle it anymore, she was shaking, freezing and sweating at the same time, she started crying and I told her to go home. She stayed the whole afternoon in bed but couldnt sleep. I stayed a bit with her but there was nothing I could do except for getting her ice and trying to calm her down.
Another thing on my bucketlist was to rent pasolas, motos, and drive around and go to some beaches. It took us some time to find a good rental place because some that we saw were really sketchy and we didnt feel comfortable. We found a really trustwothy one with good pasolas at the end. A day of rental including complete insurance costed 20 dollars. They wanted to see our drivinf licenses and I showed my car license. Guess that was enough because they didnt want futher documents, they simply asked if we knew how to drive and if we had driven before. I didnt lie. I had driven one before. For about a minute. After drinking some cocktails. With somebody behind me who took care. But hey, I had driven before. I know all the people reading this are not really proud of me at this point, (sorry mami)
While we were still at the rental place they gave us each a pasola and explained the basics. Then my big moment came. I obviously had no idea what I had to do but it had to seem like i did. I sat on the pasola, and kicked in the stand. I didnt know a pasola was this heavy and it almost fell to the side. Luckily René was standing next to me and helped me. Then I tried to accellerate but I had forgotten to turn the key to turn on the engine. The guy at the rental looked at the others and asked them if I really knew what I was doing. It was really embarassing but eventually I did it and this stupid pasola started moving. I had some severe difficulties in the beginning especially because in las Terrenas these people drive like crazy but I got used to it fast. We drive to a lookout point which was really beautiful, then headed to Coson for a swim and afterwards drank a sundowner at Mosquito bar in El Portillo. At night there was karaoke at the Garage Bar. First I went to an ice cream place woth Micka and then we met the others at The bar. It was so nice to see how we europeans, usually so strict and controlled, just let ourselves go and sang to songs, danced and enjoyed the night fully as if we were locals.Baca lagi
Los Haitises
26 Jun 2022, Republik Dominika ⋅ ☁️ 27 °C
On Sunday we went to the nationalpark „Los Haitises“. It is located on the other side of the Samaná bay and can‘t be visited alone, only with a guided tour. Rowena and Hektor organised everything for us so we just had to be ready and 7:30 in the morning outside of our appartment. We got picked up by a private bus which drove us to Sanches, where we took a boat across the whole Samaná bay. First we stayed on the boat and drove into some caves, where we could also jump into the water and awim out, I was the first one to jump in, the others followed. We swam until we got to the shore of a small island woth nothing but palmtrees on it. The tourguide gave us some information on the place and made us eat termites. At first I thought it was super disgusting but I convinced myself that I can‘t judge until I havent tried. So the guide broke off some termite „earth“ from the tree and a couple of termites came out, he took one and put it into my hands. It tasted like nuts, quite crunchy, it won‘t make it to my top 5 favourite dishes though, but at least I can tick it off my life-bucket-list. (I have to write a new point first haha) afterwards we got off the boat a couple of times to go to caves where first nation people had made drawrings. I have to admit, as artists they wouldnt have gained a lot of money, it looked more like the painting of a 3 year old on a wall with pencils. We drove on to a mangrove jungle where we waitet in silence for a couple of minutes. It was fascinating. We had a lunch break where they let us try rum, so we drank some santo libres (Rum with sprite) at around 1pm. Eventually we drove back and they brought us back to las Terrenas. We spent the afternoon at Cosón beach, playing card games and esting Ananas locals had given us. There were so many sandflies though that we had to leave at some point. Sandflies are like mosquitos but they hurt more and they come in groups of thousands. They can cause severe sllergic reactions to some people. Unfortunately Teresa is one of them, but this is a different story.Baca lagi
Jungle Party
26 Jun 2022, Republik Dominika ⋅ ⛅ 26 °C
The infrastructure of our Building is decent but the worst is definitely the laundry machine. I promise that each time theresa and I’ve washed our clothes, they came out dirtier than they were before. Since I didnt have many days here left and I really really desperately needed some clean clothes to go on to Costa Rica, I decided to bring my clothes to a laundry and let them wash and dry. So I brought them to this girl at 3 pm, and went to playa Bonita. I went with Henrike, Theresa, Matteo, Rene, Antonia and Micka. (Now you know the names of my friends here too) all volunteers working with me, except for Micka, he lives here. We spend the whole afternoon there, while the others were just lying around and eating, Micka and I walked along the beach and played some ballgame in the warer sirh Matteo and Rene. At 6pm I went to the laundry to get my clean, soft and extremely good smelling clothes. My jeans shorts finally didnt feel like packing paper anymore but like normal jeans textile as they should. In the evening there was a mottoparty at Mosquito and the theme was „Jungle“. I had brought a bandana, for my hair, so I didnt have to buy anything. Before going there we went to groovy garden for a cocktail and then I went to Micka‘s place. He lives in a residencial complex but they have a private rooftop. We went up and talked a bit, looked at the stars, which were very bright that night, and generally are because there‘s no light pollution over here. We saw the milky way and many constellations. Eventually he put on some music and chose a bachata song. He had joined our dance class 2 days earlier so we had already danced together and knew it was a lot of fun. We danced and tried out new moves. At around midnight we joined the others at mosquito. This was probably going to be one of my last real official parties here so I hoped it would be good. I wasnt disappointed at all, the music was amazing, people were dressed up and the vibe was really good. Micka and I shared a frozen strawberry daiquiri. I got a tired after dancing for a long time, so we had a break and I did something I usually never did: i drank an energy drink and it seemes like not drinking the same amount of coffee as at home actually has an effect, because It woke me up right away, actually it did not only wake me up, I was so hypernergetic that we went back to mosquito and danced until 3 am when the party ended and the people started going home. There was an afterparty but we decided not to go. I wanted to walk home or take a concho but Micka didnt let me and drive me home. When I got home Theresa was already sleeping and I noticed that she had fallen asleep half-sitting in her bed with her phone in her hands. It looked so funny I started laughing and took her phone out of her hand and loved some stuff so she wouldnt gwt hurt in case she moved. I still wasnt tired so I did a bunch of stuff I had wanted to do but hadnt done yet, as for example book our accomodation in Cabarete, where we planned on going after Las Terrenas. So I went to sleep at 5am when I finally was tired.Baca lagi
Still alive!!!
22 Jun 2022, Republik Dominika ⋅ ⛅ 28 °C
My last 10 days in Las Terrenas were so busy that I didnt even find the time to write a little update on my life. And I even forgot until Grosmami and Gotti asked me if I was still alive, and here’s the proof:) Sorry for that though!
During my time here I kept adding points tp my bucket list of tjings I wanted to dp for the time being and one of them was to walk from Restaurant Luis all along Cosón to Punta Bonita and later on to Playa Bonita. My friends hadn‘t really been up fot walking but that day I convinced them and they joined me. In the morning we had to do some work at the diving, make new ropes for our coral reef and prepare all the stuff for our next dives. By the way, I am now officially a certified „deep diver“, which is even after the advanced (so my level of diving is higher than papas hihi). So anyways we didnt have to fill up tanks in the afternoon so we had plenty of time. The walk was really nice, we stopped at a beautiful river surrounded by mangroves and palmtrees on its shores. We stayed there a bit and went swimming because it was really hot that day. In the evening we went to groovy Garden again to eat dinner this time & I took rollos de verano con camarones, which ver delicious, however unfortunately earlier they had brought us olives and „papas“ which technically would‘ve been glutenfree but seems like the spices were not good for me, so the next day I suffered from some very bad stomach aches for the first time here in the Dom Rep.
It got better quickly afterwards and now I‘m feeling great again!Baca lagi
Bonfire Night
20 Jun 2022, Republik Dominika ⋅ ⛅ 26 °C
Finally after passport problems and missing her flight a couple of days earlier, now it was finally Nina‘s last night and we decided we wanted to go to the beach and make a bonfire. We ate on the rooftop and went to the beach but the spot we wanted to go to turned out to be way to windy, and the only thing we had brought was a lighter. So we moved to another part of the beach where there wasnt any wind and some more light coming from restaurants near by. The others sat down in a circle and wanted to do a fire but were not really sure about it and just sat around. I tried to convince them several times that we could still try and go find some wood but they had already kind of given it up. That‘s the moment I learned that sometimes you just have to do things by yourself. So while the others were just sitting, I started showeling a hole in the middle of the circle and grabbing some wooden sticks on the ground. On friend started helping me, the others were mostly laughing it off and telling me kt wouldnt work, telling me it wasnt possible etc, but that pushed me even more, I wanted to prove them they were wrong and that if you want something you can make it if you put enough effort into this. When we had gathered enlugh wood we build some kind of tent with it and I tried to remember how that used to work. We foind some tissue to that we used to get flames that quickly went over to the wook. 10 minutes later we had a cute little Bonfire and when I told the others that if we didnt look for more wood now it would be off soon, everybody stood up and looked for wood. Eventually Micka came and brought his guitar. So we sat around until 1 am in the morning, playing guitar, singing and listening to songs.Baca lagi
Playa Rincón, Las Galeras pt.2
19 Jun 2022, Republik Dominika ⋅ ⛅ 30 °C
Our second day in Las Galeras started off with selfmade oat pancakes with fresh Mango, Bananas and typical Chinola. We took our car and drove towards El Cabito. I had heard that there must be a pretty nice viewpoint so I convinced the others to go there even though it was not in the direction we first wanted to go. On the way to El Cabito we stopped at some Rocks that spit out water. Then we moved to El Cabito and didnt get disappointed. At first I had a little „disput“ with a turkey, that attacked me. I dont know why but I guess he just didnt like me. I had to hide behind some plants in vases, thank got he was too dumb to figure out how to walk past the plants to get to me. The problem was solved when the owner of the Place finally came and scared the aggressive turkey away. The Restaurant was closed but we still got to see the breathtaking view. Our next stop was playa Rincón. A quintessential, postcard perfect, tropical white-sand beach. Glimmering aquamarine waves lap the shore. Huge palm trees line the sand and provide shade. At one end, a protected cove offers a consistently calm bay for swimming, and in the distance, lush green mountains rise up from the opposite shore of the bay. They say its the second prettiest beach of the Dom Rep and even the number 5 world wide. I dont know who did that rating but I agree that the beach was really nice. Although there were many many many people, especially local people, not even tourists. I swam along the shore and got out of the water where the cold river flows into the sea. It must‘ve been pretty about 40 years ago in the 80s but now there were thousands of people and tons of trash laying around. There were about 100 speakers, all playing different songs of different styles, which was way to noisy. So it wasnt really as heavenly as I had expected it to be. However the worst part was that I didnt feel well in my „white“ skin. The way people were looking at me was really uncomfortable. I walked back as fast as I could, I even ran back along the beach. It was an experience for sure but not one I‘d like to repeat. After Rincón we went to see Samaná, the city and walked to the Islands in the middle of the bay. Then we ate dinner by the sea, where I finally ate Octopus. When we got back to Las Terrenas I felt like st home. We went to Groovy Garden all together and shared some wine. Was nice to be reunited with everyone and to spent a nice evening all together.Baca lagi
Playa Frontón, Las Galeras pt.1
17 Jun 2022, Republik Dominika ⋅ ☁️ 27 °C
Our weekend trip to las Galeras started on Friday after diving. We rented a car, and drove off. René offered to drive since he’s quite experienced and the road can be in a pretty bad conditions sometimes. Everything went seemed good, too good. After a couple of kilometres we realized we had to tank the car first, so we drove to the next gas station we found where they told us they couldnt give us fuel, because our car needed gas. We were a bit shocked, however we drove to a real „gas“ station and let our car be filled. We were a bit sceptical, we could all already see our car blowing us all up because of a gas leak. Nevertheless we were quite relieved when we started the engine and nothing happened. We drove for 1.2 hours over Samaná to get to Las Galeras and to check into out pretty roundhouse airbnb with outdoor kitchen and fresh pineapples in pur garden. It was only 6pm and not dark yet so we walked to the beach Playita, which was only 200 metres further down a small road. We bought a piña Colada and walked along the beach and the Rocks up to Punta Playita. Afterwards we walked for about 30mins to get to Las Galeras and went to a Restaurant. I really wanted seafood therefore I shared a Paella Marinera with Hektor, which isnt really dominican but still better than the Pizza‘s the other „tourists“, our friends, ordered. I didnt say anything but HOW CAN SOMEBODY ORDER PIZZA, in a country where there‘s such good food and variety. HOW? Whatever, we were quite tired and went to sleep in order to get up early the following day to visit playa Frontón.
At 6am in the morning we were woken up by birds who had made nests in our roof and insects which were so loud, it felt like a concert. Not a nice symphony played by an orchestra though, way more like hardrock sounds. None of us could go on sleeping so we stood up and wanted to cook pancakes. Unfortunately the gastank was empty, so my friends only had cookies and I had an energybar, which I had brought for emergency situations like this one, and an apple. Then we left with the car. The description plus de navigation app told us it would take about 20 mins. Well, the road was basically destroyed, there were very deep holes all over it and we had to drive extremely slowly. We peobably woul‘ve been faster by feet. We even had to get out twice, to check te depth of a hole which was filled with water. Eventually we got to the point where we couldnt go further. We parked the car and decided to walk from there. It took us a 1 and a half hour hike through caves, along the ocean and through the deep jungle to get to the playa Frontón. On the way we saw people cutring coconuts from trees and like typical dominicans they pffered each one of us a coconut, which we could first drink and then eat afterwards. It was a crazy experience to walk through the rainforest, I had never seen something alike. When we got to the beach we were stunned by its beauty. We got hungry a few hours later, luckily we saw some people cooking food in some pans on the ground on open campfires and ordered 2 dishes. They even let me help them. I only got to cut cucumbers though. The food was very tasty: we had fish, chicken, plátanos fritos, arroz con abichuela and salad with cucumber (the one I cut), tomato and Avocado. After lunch we slept for a few hours and then started heading back. Again ot took us two hours so in the evening we were really tired. Therefore we didnt go out but cooked peperonata with salad and pasta (for the others) at home instead and played some card games.Baca lagi
Manty‘s Dominican Food
16 Jun 2022, Republik Dominika ⋅ ⛅ 24 °C
Since Nina, Mirjam and Felicie are leaving this weekend we decided to spend one last night all together and go wat dominican food. I knew a hostel where they cook delicious and typical dominican food, because we went there once and organised everything for the whole group. I called the hostelmom Manty 2 days earlier and asked her if she could cook dinner for 11 people and what the price was gonna be per person. She was really nice and told me that for 500 pesos per person, which is about 9 dollars she would prepare different dominican style veggies, fish, chicken, rice, fresh fruit and of course beverage. The day we planned to eat all together, suddenly Manty texted me and asked for a confirmation of the dinner, which I gave her right away. Then she admitted that she still had to go buy the food she wanted to cook but that she didnt have enough money, so she asked me to lend her some money to go to the supermarket. Of course I told her that I would help her out and we met on the street. She sent me a selfie of herself before, so I would know it was her for sure and she even told me what she was wearing. I gave her 2000 pesos, which is only 35 USD… i was shocked and surprised and didnt know what to think of it. She was so thankful, hugged me and apologized a million times. When we went to the Hostel in the evening everything was perfect. No one was late, to start with and we arrived in time. Manty had prepared a huge buffet with everything one could dream of. We ate a LOT and enjoyed every bite of the delicious food. My favourite was the „pescado al coco“, I almost can‘t say it, but I refilled my plate 3 times.
Afterwards Theresa and I were so full, we were carrying around food babies. But we managed to dance them away at Etno during the following night.Baca lagi
people, cars and dirt - Santo Domingo
14 Jun 2022, Republik Dominika ⋅ ☀️ 26 °C
Since Nina‘s passport had been stolen a couple of weeks ago when she had been mugged in the capital, she needed a new one in order to fly out of the country. She already had to postpone her flight to a week later, but finally on tuesday they gave her an emergency appointment at the dutch embassy in Santo Domingo to get a provisional travel document.
I knew how dangerous Santo Domingo was for a girl on her own, so I offered her to accompany her to the capital. We hat to take the bus leaving las Terrenas at 5am in the morning. When we arrived in Santo, we still had 2 and a half hours to kill, so we went to the ciudad colonial by uber and ate breakfast in a café where everything is 100% glutenfree and based on coffee. I was delighted! I had a really tasty Chai latte, an espresso and delicious oat pancakes with fruit and honey. I still dream of them now. Afterwards we headed to the embassy where in total we had to wait for 2 hours. In between we left the building once to go and take colour- pictures of Nina for her Passport, because she had only brought black and white ones. At the studio we asked the owner to take some pictures of us together and even though it was meant as a joke at first, we ended up having a fotoshoot.
During our wait we played all possible games and we laughed a LOT. Even the security guards had fun watching us.. we caught them laughing:)
When we finally had the new passport we checked out two malls, of which one is the famous Àgora Mall, but it had nothing special really. So we decided to get the 3pm bus back to Las Terrenas. As we got to the bus station, which is located in one of the worst parts of the city, almost a ghetto, we noticed we didnt have enough money to pay for the busride. We searched online for „cajeros“, atm‘s, close to us and found one in 5 mins walking distance. We started walking and soon understood that it had been a bad, really bad idea. The pathway along the road we were walking on got tighter and tighter, the cars to our sides were rushing past crazy fast, people were staring at us, talking to us, trying to reach out for us. I had my phone in my hand for the google maps, some guys screamed and shouted at me to put my phone away because otherwise somebody would rip it off me. There were people lying on the street, people walking past us, trash everywhere and a really bad smell. We got to a crossing where the sidewalk was very narrow, we had to cross the street but the cars didnt seem to ever stop. Suddenly a guy came up to us and asked us what we were doing here and told us that it was very dangerous. With tears in my eyes I told him we needed money and thank god he lead us to an atm. We got the money and walked back as fast as we could, got on the bus and drove home. I felt really bad afterwards. Reality had really hit me and i had a lot to think about. At night I went to salsa class to distract me and it worked. Later on I went for a dance at Babylon with Mickah. All in all, interesting day.Baca lagi
Mosquito Beach Bar
13 Jun 2022, Republik Dominika ⋅ ⛅ 29 °C
Paradise found, that‘s what I thought when we walked into Mosquito Beach Bar at El Porillo. Also, this is what I call a perfect afternoon. I had to fill up some tanks earlier after the diving but didn‘t get bored because Sola was entertaining me perfectly all the time. It‘s surprising, the amount of cuddles this dog needs:) And with her cute puppy eyes I just couldnt say no..:) After the last tank and the cuddle session, I walked to Punta Poppy and from there all the way along the Beach to the Mosquito beach bar, we had seen so many times while driving by but had never checked out. We stayed there the whole afternoon and tried the delicious frozen daiquiris they offered us. To get back i got on a GuaGua, another typical method of transport in the Dom Rep, whoch was full of dominicans coming home from work or the groceries. They were all laughing, talking and some of them even singing. I love this culture. In the Evening we made Avocado toast and later on I had a „date“ with Micka, a guy I met at the beach, who wanted to introduce me to the owners of the „best ice cream shop“ in Las Terrenas and buy me an ice cream. We shared our ice creams so we got to know different flavours as for example Guanábana. In the end he admitted that he already knew all of them;)Baca lagi
Lazy Day
12 Jun 2022, Republik Dominika ⋅ ☀️ 27 °C
After a dive in the morning and a crazy evening on Saturday with a lot of dancing and driving a car for 5 people with 11 people in it, today was officially named “lazy sunday”. This day started off with brunch on the rooftop at 12:30 pm, where everzbody brought something, which could be shared. I prepared porridge after a Jamie Oliver recipe and it turned out delicious, it will definitely become my new to-go. Other than that we had lots of fruit, Eggs, Yogurt and fresh juices. We hung around at the beach the whole afternoon, went into the water and slept. In late afternoon the waves got bigger and some surfers started showing off their skills. It was reallz fun watching them do a handstand on their board and falling in the water. Now, totally tired, after a walk around the “pueblo” with René, i’ll go to sleep.Baca lagi
Bachata Night
10 Jun 2022, Republik Dominika ⋅ ⛅ 28 °C
A big part of the Dominican culture is dancing, especially Bachata and Salsa. That‘s why a couple of days ago I visited a Salsa/Bachata class in order to learn the basics. It was really fun, we were about the same amount of women as of men, so we could actually try out the steps and moves with partners. They were mostly between 40 and 60 year old retired, rich, french people livong in Las Terrenas, but it was cool anyways. The teachers were young dominicans and you could tell dancing is in their blood. So on Friday we had a double dive and we were 8 People, accordingly we had to fill up 16 tanks!!! We knew this would take forever, especially because with this immense heat, the compressor would need at least 5 breaks and maybe even a piña colada to cool down, so we decided to stay at the diving all together instead of one person staying there and doing it. We ate bananas, drank Santo Libre (Rum-Sprite), Lime-Tonics and played card games. In the evening we watched the sunset and I took a Motoconcho to get home. This dude was really crazy, he drove so fast that i had to hold myself onto him instead of only to the moto. He didnt even care about the speed boosters and bumps on the road, we basically just jumped over them. I was glad to still be alive when I arrived at the ayuntamiento next to our appartment and cooked dinner. Our dancing instructors had invited us to a bar-restaurant, where there would be dancing at night. We went and were amazed by what we saw. There were many locals, includind a youg dominican dancing teacher I had met at the beach once and I had already danced with, dancing bachata and salsa in the middle of the room with guests, people walking by, waiters and with each other. I was happy I could try out the new steps I learned and didnt feel too lost after all. We stayed for a long time and enjoyed the atmosphere & the delicious sangrías;)Baca lagi
Diving, diving, diving
8 Jun 2022, Republik Dominika ⋅ ⛅ 27 °C
I always talk about the diving and our project but never really about how this actually works. Usually we meet at 9am at the diving center, even though normally everybody’s late, dominican lifestyle, that’s how they call it. Then we prepare: I have to get my tank and weightbelt from our tank room. Then I go to the back of the house into the storage room and get my long sleeve neoprene and my shorty, both market wirh blue zippers so I recognize them. After that I grab my fins with the mask already attached to them, my shoes, and my bcd. Before leaving the room i suddenly realize that as usual I have forgotten my regulator, so with both hands already full, I use my little finger to take the regulator with me, because HELL no, i’m not gonna walk twice. Then I prepare the tanks and get everything ready so that the last step, but really only the very last step, is to put on the neoprene. With 35 degrees this is absolute torture but I know that i’ll be thankful for the extra skin later on.
Then we walk to the beach which only takes about 1 and a half minutes but we have ti cross the street and descend stairs that are even difficult walking on without a 20kg tank on your back and fins &mask in your hand. Once arrived at the beach Rio and I use to jump into the water as fast as we can. Not one second longer will I stand under the burning sun in in utter heat, sweating like a turkey at thanksgiving. After a couple of minutes the boat arrives and we drive to the spot we dive. We “prepare” in the water, which means that we jump into the water with weightbelt, fins and mask, but only put on the bcd with the tank in the water. Then we dive.
After the one or two dives we drive back to the dive center with the boat, wash all our used stuff and let it dry. In the meantime we start filling up the empty tanks.
We get dressed and walk home. I must admit, besides the snowy mountains, this is one of the most beautiful offices one could imagine.Baca lagi
PengembaraDa waren wir auch schon Tauchen🥰. Bin aber immer noch sehr traurig das ich keinen einzigen Rochen gesehen haben...🙄
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