Dominican Republic

4

La Isabela, Fricolandia, Little Beach and a rest day

A slow start today. After a few days of travel and constant rumpus beatings by the Dominican “roads” we laid around the house not ready to move just yet.

John made his $&#%ing perfect omelettes (seriously, after years of cooking I still can’t make a decent omelette) and some French (Dominican) toast and we had an excellent breakfast then, really motivated now, frantically laid around the house some more…

Finally packing up we decided to make a run down to La Isabela, the settlement where Italian explorer Christopher Columbus established a Spanish foothold in the Americas.

Apparently in the 1950’s then dictator Trujillo ordered the settlement restored but the orders were misunderstood and most of the settlement was bulldozed into the sea.

I’m guessing the guy with the bulldozer was then bull whipped into the sea but I can’t seem to find that information.

Currently it’s an interesting place where you can see where buildings once were and the remains of the admirals house.

Mangoes grow wild there and the one we tried was small but delicious.

There’s a museum complete with artifacts such as an ancient axe head, some nails presumably from the Spanish ships, some cannon balls and a couple of cannons reclaimed from the sea.

Descendants of Columbus’ chickens can be seen on the site as well as “authentic” treasures from the local gift shop made with “way better wood” than other gift shops.

I was totally convinced and walked away with a pocket full of nothing much like the other gift shops.

I would have gladly eaten one of the descendants though…

Riding away, we followed John looking for a restaurant or bar where we could find a drink or two.

Many signs dotted the road advertising for amazing restaurants but we discovered that the sign maker was way better than the restaurateur and the signs seemed to last much longer than the establishments.

Rambling a bit further we happened upon a place with a name so awesome that stopping was no longer an option but an absolute requirement.

Fricolandia.

Turns out the place was an amazing oasis and we spent the next hour marveling at the view and swilling Presidenté to the sounds of whoever imitates Enrique Iglesias the best and some fresh beats.

One cigar and two cervesas later we were back on our way and headed to “Little Beach”.

We didn’t know the actual name but that’s what the locals call it so that’s what we’re going with.

There on the beach was another snack shack but this one was different.

Of course they had the omnipresent beers and some bags of chips but this one had pizza.

AND ICE CREAM.

Now, pizza and beer are wonderful siblings but after days of breathing hot and stifling roads, ice cream was like a shining beacon in the storm of rocky and dusty earth.

We all had some as well as a pizza each and I was in whatever place is between earth and the heavens.

A bit of playing around in the ocean (No, mothers, I did not wait the required 45 minutes after eating) and we were once again off.

Exactly 40 yards away.

The local ex-pats get together every Wednesday for a happy hour and although many were on holiday, today was no exception.

A gentleman who turned out to be the brother of the wife of the man of the grandparents of the owner of the dog I’d been petting a few days before was hosting and the man lived in an oasis.

Gordon has a rambling hacienda that reminded me much of a home in an exclusive gated community and his house, his pool, his pineapple juice and his rum were all lovely and the man himself was a consummate host.

All in all an excellent day was had and the low key vibe was much needed by all.

Tomorrow was coming and big plans were afoot.