Punta Cana, Dominican Republic - October, 2000

Monday

Monday morning we woke up to a rainstorm coming in from the ocean.  As we watched and videotaped the rain we noticed a mini-twister twirling around offshore between us and the Palace.  As we watched the staff and vacationers scurry around to avoid getting soaked we looked back towards the swirling water and realized it was coming ashore.   As I videotaped, it came ashore picking up the beach chairs and sending them flying up in to the palm trees and sent the last of the staff running for cover.  It only lasted about 10 seconds but it was quite a scene.  Later in the morning when we went to breakfast to book our Wednesday Jeep Safari with Lynn she mentioned that there had been a twister come ashore.  I told her I had it on video, so she watched one for the first time.  She said they were common during the rainy season but had never seen one.  

We had breakfast at the Ambar Buffet.   During breakfast it slowly cleared up, but we had only sunny periods throughout the day.  It was still very warm and a great day for swimming, relaxing and having a beer.  But then what day isn't.  Rob even ran in to Santa on vacation (Left).  We went to the beach for the morning then went to the Amber buffet for lunch.  Since it wasn't an overly sunny

day we decided to head for the beach flea market on the other side of the Palace resort.  Locals are not allowed on the beach in front of the resorts to sell items so they have set up a flea market on the beach amongst the resorts.  Its an experience in its own, well worth walking to at least once.  Its only about a 15-20 minute stroll up the beach and it gave us a chance to see the Palace.  The Palace is very nice, the pool area is set up better then the Beach, but other then that I didn't see any reason to pay up for the Palace.  That's only my opinion.  

	As you approach the market you notice a lot of boats on the beach in front of the market.  They are locals offering their services for fishing, para-sailing, etc.  The market itself is set up in rows running parallel to the beach.  The first row is jewelry, the second row is liquor and cigars, the third row is collectibles(crafts), fourth row is clothing, fifth row is art.  The merchants are very aggressive, especially the ones selling liquor and cigars.  They will jump right in front of you and try and get you to their booth.   A firm "No thanks" and keep on moving if your not interested and they will leave you alone.  Some merchants were very genuine and friendly, others were crooked and fast talkers.  We had both, they are in the pictures below.  Prices are very flexible, the stories I had read about bartering are true.  They are willing and able.  If you go to leave after doing some bartering and not buying, the price will mysteriously get lower again.  Take advantage of it, like I said its an experience.   The prices are usually much lower here then back in the resort shops, so if you want to do some shopping, the market is the place to do it.  After an hour or two of the market we had enough and headed back to the resort.

The resort has a gift shop that carries everything from clothing, jewelry, chips, snack foods, band aids, cameras, etc.  But like I said you pay dearly for it.  We had paid $14 Canadian dollars for our Kodak disposable camera at home, the same camera in the shop was 450 pesos I believe, that's about $45 Canadian dollars, ouch!  Snack foods and suntan lotion is marked up by the same amount, so pack what you want.  We took 3 tubes of suntan lotion and used most of it.  We also packed small cans of Pringles chips and Rob and Rhonda packed snacks also, they came in handy many nights sitting around the rooms or patios when we got the munchies.

Monday evening we decided to go to the Casino resort and eat at the Mirador buffet, check out the resort and the casino.  We walked to the Casino, it only takes about 10 or 15 minutes.  On the way we went in to the Plaza Dominica, a small shopping area for the resort complex.  It's a very nice open air plaza with a few shopping boutiques and nice water fountain in the middle.  The Las Canas buffet for the Golf resort was here, which we returned to eat at on Wednesday evening.  The restaurant after it closes turns in to a Disco for staff and vacationers.  The main Disco, Disco Bavaro is located across the road from the Plaza.  It is only for vacationers.  We never made it to the Disco Bavaro.  It opens at 11pm, men must have pants, no shorts allowed, which we were told is strictly enforced, however it was air conditioned.  We just couldn't leave the beach bars, go put on pants then head inside to an air conditioned Disco at 11pm. 

The Casino resort is very nice also, very similar to the Garden and Beach.   If it didn't matter for you to be directly on the beach, and you are just looking to get away to a warm tropical place then the Casino resort would be great place for that.   It also has an open Lobby area and Bar.  As you enter through the Lobby the restaurants are to your left and the Casino is to your right.  The Pool and Pool bar are straight ahead, it overlooks the golf course.  We ate supper at the Mirador.   The buffets are all fairly similar but they offer such a variety that you can try something different at each one.  They have pasta bars at each buffet, if you like pasta don't miss them.  You order what ever you like in pasta types, what sauce you like and whatever ingredients and the chef makes it for you while you wait.  After supper we played pool in the lobby of the Casino resort.  We played a few games, had some cerveza and Rob was physically able to miss 2 breaks in a row and send the cue ball off the table and break our cerveza's on the railing. We took that as a sign to stop playing pool and stick to the cerveza's.  We ventured in to the Casino, it was air conditioned that was what I liked about it.  The weather was extremely humid the entire time we were there, so a blast of cold air felt nice every now and then.  The Casino is very attractive and well maintained but fairly small.  It has some tables of various games in the center and slots surrounding the tables.  There wasn't a lot of gambling action happening that night, but if you are a gambler I'm sure you would find enough there to entertain you.  The restaurant La Fuente, I believe it is French dining, is the only restaurant you had to pay extra for outside of the Palace.  We peaked inside and it looked very eloquent, but we figured there were enough restaurants to try and eat at without paying extra.  The Tropicalismo is also at the Casino resort, it is a Caribbean style Vegas show.  We went to it on Friday evening.

We ordered a few more drinks and headed over to the Garden resort.   It is only about a 10 minute walk past the Plaza Dominica, but again you build up a tremendous thirst walking in that heat.  So we stopped at the pool bar of the Garden resort, the Buganvilla.  Tried some different drinks, watched some of the entertainment in their showroom area.  The Garden and Beach main areas are very similar.  The lobby area is open, with the buffet and bar/showroom for nightly entertainment.  They each have a pool bar and beach grill.  From the Garden we headed on to the beach and headed for the Beach resort and  watched some of the entertainment.  At night there is covered seating in the showroom area or you can sit out under the stars around the pool at the tables and chairs and enjoy the show. 

We enjoyed our drinks, our friends, the entertainment and the tropical paradise while on....

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Last updated Tuesday, September 04, 2001