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Unloxit 2024

January - April 2024
Some travels both domestic and distant, kicking off with the very first day of the year.. Read more
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  • TravelerUnloxit 2024
    Day 1

    New Year, new colours

    January 1 in England ⋅ ☁️ 9 °C

    It's 2024 and while many people were enjoying the fireworks by the river last night, I choose a morning start to enjoy London's New Year parade. After 2 years hiatus it's becoming a regular fixture again and well worth braving the January weather, This time I watch most of it from Piccadilly, at a spot before the main parade begins. Hence I can beat the crowds and get a better view of the performers as they get ready to make their way towards Parliament Square.

    It's so nice to see ordinary people getting a release from their office suits or overalls to become special for a day. With London's diverse population, there's a huge choice of ethnic costumes. I particularly like the Bolivian team bringing a rare colour to the sober tube station.

    If this is the only carnival I see this year (and I hope it isn't!), 2024 has got off to a colourful start.    Read more

  • TravelerUnloxit 2024
    1
    Day 46

    Pilot of the Caribbean

    February 15 in Dominican Republic ⋅ ☀️ 26 °C

    Airborne for the first time in 2024, I'm spending a fortnight in Santo Domingo. Not to be confused with Dominica, it's the Spanish-speaking part of Hispaniola island. Punta Cana is the only place with direct flights from the London area, and the journey is comfortable and seamless. Apart from a scare at Gatwick, that is, which nearly finishes my journey before it's started. I've forgotten to complete the return half of the immigration form! Fortunately a helpful airline staff member completes it and I'm on my way.

    Arrival at Punta Cana is seamless as well. The hotel booking agency have arranged a taxi for the 20 km. drive to my hotel. They prefer US dollars cash but the local banknotes (about 55 to the US$) are attractive and portray characters in local history. Next morning, the view from the hotel balcony reveals what is typical of Punta Cana: a mass tourist destination, like Cancun in Mexico, which satisfies desires for sun, sea and sand but for me is a jumping-off point for more typical experiences.

    Without a doubt the beaches, though busy, are spectacular. But there's still space for traditional street art.    Read more

  • TravelerUnloxit 2024
    11
    Day 48

    La Capital

    February 17 in Dominican Republic ⋅ ☀️ 30 °C

    Punta Cana used to be cut off from the rest of the island but since the construction of new roads, getting around is now quite easy. A taxi ride to the bus station and a bus so air-conditioned that I wear two layers of clothes, gets me to the capital in 3 hours.

    Santo Domingo was founded a few years after Columbus' landfall in 1492 and boasts the first street pattern, the first cathedral and the first university in the New World. While lacking some of the timeworn atmosphere of Havana in Cuba, it's a vibrant bustling city of 2.5 million people.

    The Colonial centre is the soul of the city's history and Parque Colon (Columbus) is the focus of much human life, with a non-stop parade of people watching. These three men are playing merengue, an up-tempo music style with evident African roots. Not that this seems to impress the young lady advertising a local restaurant! In the same plaza we see a Dominican version of a "beer bike" which some European cities are trying to eliminate but flourish here. No one promised the Dom. Rep. to be quiet.
    But there are some quiet corners and I enjoy resting in Parque Duarte, a few blocks away, and the colourful back street housing.

    A brisk walk westwards leads to the Malecon, the waterfront where people relax at weekends. The fresh sea breeze is a good foil to the powerful Caribbean sun.    Read more

  • TravelerUnloxit 2024
    Day 50

    Almost the Caribbean

    February 19 in Dominican Republic ⋅ ☀️ 28 °C

    Thanks to another good road, the 3-hour bus journey from the capital to the town on Samana is straightforward. Moving on isn't quite as easy: it's hard to work out where to get transport, until a helpful policewoman walks me to a place where I can flag down a guagua. Pronounced "wa-wa" and seeming to mimic the noise from their horns, these redoubtable vehicles are vans seating around 15 passengers and will stop anywhere on the route to pick up or drop off people. Yet again I appreciate the value of travelling light, with the small backpack on my knees.

    The Samana pensinsula is several things that Punta Cana is not: low rise, quiet and peaceful. Its' actually on the Atlantic but might as well be the Caribbean. I'm staying at an excellent French-run hotel in the small town of Las Galeras. and a view from the balcony shows that it's not short of plant life. The streets have a pleasant outdoor atmosphere and the town is well worth a few days stay.

    Some people come to the peninsula for whale watching, this being the middle of the calving season. I'm here however mainly to indulge in the world-class tropical beaches, for which the two men outside the tour agency are negotiating a trip. Complete with a supply of cold drinks. But there are two caveats: my guide book has several nasty little warnings about robberies on the beaches. It's depressing to have to be careful even in idyllic places like this and I hope they just advise not to leave valuables on the beach while going for a swim. Another discomfort is the boat trip to what's advertised as Las 3 Playas. It's by speedboat carrying about 12 passengers and with the choppy water, it's a rollercoaster. Every 30 seconds my heart is in my mouth as the boat takes a plunge to a trough and then peaks to the next wave. It's a wonder my back stays in one piece.

    But...but...the ride takes us to Fronton, Playita (for lunch) and Rincon beaches and they are all world class. And for the final picture, I don't need a boat at all---just a 10-minute walk from my hotel to watch golden hour.    Read more

  • TravelerUnloxit 2024
    Day 55

    Back in the S.D.

    February 24 in Dominican Republic ⋅ ☀️ 29 °C

    A reversal of last week's trip (guagua, bus, taxi) takes me back to a few days in the capital. This time I'm right in the heart of things, in a classy hotel on Parque Colon and a prime view from the roof terrace. At first I hope it won't be too many times that he plays "My Way" and "La Vie on Rose" on the saxophone, but after a couple of days I get to like him. Some sort of dancing display usually takes place in the afternoons. The quiet backstreets show an unhurried pace of life, even if the bronze sleeper takes it to the extreme.

    Indeed, music is never far away. It's good to know that as well as the local styles, salsa is popular---maybe from Cuba or Puerto Rico. I follow the sounds blasting from a neighbourhood bar, and then a colmado (corner shop). The music is recorded but they like to juice it up with their own percussion.    Read more

  • TravelerUnloxit 2024
    Day 58

    Almost a carnival

    February 27 in Dominican Republic ⋅ ⛅ 27 °C

    To my immense frustration, there have been no Sunday carnivals as the tourist guides had led me to believe. What does happen, on 27th February, is the annual Independence Day celebration. Independence not from Spain as one might expect but Haiti, which by the early 19th century had freed itself from France and abolished slavery. As the first Latin American country to gain independence, Haiti then occupied the Dom. Rep. for 20 years, to be driven out on this day in 1844. Sadly of course, the downward spiral in Haiti's fortunes---reparations to France, the Papa Doc regime and the 2010 earthquake---have led to its becoming the lawless state of today and the border with the Dom. Rep. is closed.

    Dominicans however are hugely proud of their heritage, with the colours of red, white and blue everywhere. School parties, marching bands and soldiers parade the streets in full regalia. The Malecon brings out dozens of street food sellers to satisfy the spectators while back on Parque Colon, a lone reveller has her moment in front of the camera.

    Would I go back to the Dom. Rep? My having been there 20 years ago and with the attractions of Cuba and Mexico next door, probably not but it's been a satisfying trip.    Read more

  • TravelerUnloxit 2024
    Day 100

    DFL again

    April 9 in England ⋅ 🌬 10 °C

    Once again I'm in Ramsgate, Kent, joining the other DFL (down from London) types. As before, accommodation is at the peerless Royal Temple Yacht Club, with its magnificent view of the harbour---which our family used in our yachtie days. At quayside level is the Victorian sailors' church, a beautiful Victorian oasis of peace and quietness.

    More secular delights can be found with views of the beach---not fashionable but good and sandy---from the former casino. It's been converted into a Wetherspoons pub, the largest in the chain and very elegant it is too. A far cry from when I visited it in 2021, with Covid restrictions forcing me to order not from the bar but on the app---which I couldn't get to work! There's also time for a more traditional pub, the Horse and Groom, hidden in a back street in the town centre.

    Ramsgate always fascinates me with its intimate squares and gardens, that could almost be in Islington or even Kensington. The architecture is DFL too! The final shot is of a Victorian block of flats designed by the son of Augustus Pugin, architect of the Houses of Parliament and one-time Ramsgate resident. Its forbidding profile might be more suited to a prison or an asylum. Regrettably some of the block is empty and it all goes to show how even in this era of housing shortages there is so much wastage. But to look at, the building does have a je ne sais quoi.    Read more

  • TravelerUnloxit 2024
    Day 112

    Keep on running!

    April 21 in England ⋅ ☁️ 10 °C

    This 1960s chart hit is often played to celebrate the London Marathon. It's got a carnival spirit that has returned to the streets in the spring, following closures for Covid. It's a lovely event---maybe less so for some of the exhausted runners, although even they should be satisfied by completing the challenge. More than 50,000 people take part, including many elite runners but mainly charity fundraisers. There's also the handful of celebrities; the comedian Romesh Ranganathan and the newsreader Sophie Raworth are reported to be in the mix.

    To get there, I become a sardine on the Jubilee Line, which disgorges me with relief at Bermondsey station. This spot is on the edge of the southern arm of London's docklands. It's not quite half-way along the route and a strategic place to watch, less frenetic than both the starting point at Blackheath and the finishing line in Hyde Park.

    For people-watching, the spectators are at least as interesting as the participants. Some runners, knowing where their friends will be along the route, take time out to be greeted. Others, knowing they're goal is not to win but just to finish, communicate remotely. As the day wears on, people are reduced to a walking pace but still receive refreshments along the way. The watching crowd have other ideas!    Read more

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