Caribbean Holiday 2007 (or Jo’s search for sunshine) By Jo Currie

Monday After a long flight we arrived in sunshine, I thought ‘Oh good I can get a tan!’ When we arrived at the hotel I thought it was a good hotel and had good interiors. It reminded me of Green Golf (a hotel Jo stayed in Tunisia) and several hotels in Kenya. Tuesday We woke up and it was raining which was a bit of a let down at first (Jo was grumpy!! Ed.) But the sun came out later and we spent the rest of the day in and around the pool. In the evening there was a spectacular show on a floating stage on the pool - it was brilliant. Later I danced the night away with David. Wednesday It rained for some of the day, so we decided to check out the local shops. (Retail therapy. Ed.) I bought a Tee Shirt and saw loads of things to buy including some iffy herbs. We went back to the pool where we had a swim and got involved in playing bowls and darts. I won the bowls! I had 160 points - I was very impressed with myself. That evening we were presented with certificates, and then they had the best male in the hotel competition, which was very funny. During the evening we learned how to do a dance. I finished off by going down to the beach with David and danced on the beach and gazed at the stars. Thursday Brilliant day. We went to Sosua; to me this was what I had imagined the Dominican Republic would be. All the shanty shops with the tourist tat, and an absolutely beautiful beach, with massive waves. I lay in the water, my beach bed nearly got washed away and Steven very nearly lost his shoes in the waves. The other holiday makers buried me in the sand, even Keith joined in. It was wicked! I bought myself a painting. Guess what! It rained tonight, major downpour! (And guess who left their clothes on the sun bed? Ed). Tonight we are going to see a show and I’m really looking forward to it. Friday I went to the beach near our hotel, and swam in the sea. Some guy came along and offered us would we like to go horse riding for 2 hours. I couldn’t resist so I said yes. So in the afternoon some of us went horse riding. Through the shanty town and sugar cane plantation. I was quite an adventure, at times I was a little scared because my horse kept breaking into a gallop; so fast I nearly fell off. I don’t think the horse liked me cos it tried to bite me and the other horses. It had an interesting temperament. In the evening there was a beach party, which was really enjoyable. The entertainment staff played silly games with the guests. And one of the games was where you had to go under a low pole, and it kept being lowered; I managed to go lower than everyone else and won the competition. I couldn’t believe it – I was on a real high. I won a bottle of rum Saturday Today we had to get up early to go on a truck safari, which was really interesting. We went to a little farm and learned the names of the local fruits – some of which we don’t get to see at home. We were able to smell them, I found it really interesting. The best bit was when we went to a coffee factory. We were shown how to ground coffee by hand and I had a go – I was very good at it. Then we tried it and it was very lovely and sweet. We also tried the local cocoa which was largely (sic) because I am a bit of a chocoholic. I also got to try holding a snake which I was scared of. Then we went to the waterfalls, which was very lovely, and I was able to swim in the waterfall which was refreshing. We walked through the jungle to get there, it was very heavy and mountainous, and quite hard on your feet and took us through rock pools and streams. I wasn’t for the fainthearted. I saw David and Steven leaping off the waterfalls – which looked really wicked. I wish I’d done it. Maybe next time. When we got back to the hotel David and myself had our hair braided Wednesday Yesterday we had a lazy day by the pool. The weather was awkward, it couldn’t decide what to do with itself, sometimes it was hot and sunny and sometimes it rained. I joined in with the aerobics, and played on the lilo in the pool. I also made some friends by the pool. I spent some time talking with them, one turned out to be a professional golfer. In the afternoon we had a demonstration by a fire eater, the entertainment is really great. In the evening we went to the grill restaurant at the hotel. I spent my time watching the stars go by and listening to the surf, it was peaceful and quite romantic. Later we went to see the brilliant magic show at the hotel. Today we went to swim with the dolphins at Ocean World in Puerto Plata. I had a fantastic experience – it was “Wow”!. I was a calming experience, at first I was nervous, but I soon calmed. Being towed by the Dolphins was an interesting experience, especially as I nearly lost my bikini bottoms! I was able to kiss and cuddle the dolphins, and one of them tried to snog me – which was very funny!! We went to see the sharks, they made a very strange noise as they were being fed. Then we saw the sea lions, they gave an hilarious show. At the end of the afternoon I went snorkelling and some amazingly coloured fish, big and small. I found the snorkelling quite difficult. Then we went for a walk in the rain forest, where I saw a beautiful Toucan. Today was Keith’s birthday which we celebrated in style in the jade garden restaurant at the hotel. He finished off his meal with his favourite chocolate cake – with candles on it of course! Thursday It was a really nice sunny day, so we went onto the beach. Some of us went kayaking in the surf, which was really fun, but was a little frightening when we kept falling off. I found it quite difficult and gave up in the end. Later some of us went Parascending, but I didn’t because I was too frightened, but now wish I had. It looked so nice seeing them floating in the air enjoying the views. I spent the rest of the day swimming in the lovely warm sea and sunbathing. It was the Miss Blue bay competition that night, but I didn’t enter. It was very funny, the Women had to collect items of clothing from the audience, it was hilarious. Phillip won the dance competition and David got a certificate for winning at bowls. Keith is known by everyone as Mr Maracas, because he bought some maracas which he uses at every opportunity – he is probably the most popular guy here. All the staff wave and say hello to him and so do the other holiday makers. Friday We sat around the pool for a while, I sat on the airbed on the pool most of the time and soaked up the sun – I really want to go home with a good tan. I went on the cable car up a mountain, as saw some really lovely views from the mountain. I was quite scared going up in the cable car. I went with Lee and Jo. Later I won the darts competition with 120 points. At night there was a beach party where I got my certificate. It rained heavily during the party, but we were ok because we were under cover. Saturday The weather has turned and it has rained already this morning which makes me fed up. Tonight we are going for a Chinese meal Sunday We lazed around the pool all day yesterday (Sat.), we joined in with some of the games and entertainments laid on by the animation crew. We went for a meal in one of the hotels other restaurants , we thought it would be the Chinese, but turned out that we had accidentally booked into the grill instead. Never mind it was a nice meal and very sociable. I spent the rest of the evening talking to some friends I had made and listening to the entertainment. Sunday Some of us were booked in to have a massage. David had a chocolate massage and I had a head and shoulders massage, it was very relaxing, and the oils were lovely. David smelt of Chocolate all day. We all sat in the pool and had our picture taken at the pool bar – we even managed to get Keith in, he wasn’t sure at first but really enjoyed it. Later I went down to the beach and went into the sea, Steven took the lilo and went out on the sea on it – not a very sensible idea. Overall I have enjoyed the holiday, especially enjoyed the outings and meeting loads of people.