Vacation

Kalee and I got a chance to vacate our typical locale, for one in a much different latitude.  Crossing the Tropic of Cancer at a rate of 650 miles per hour, we arrived in Santo Domingo mid afternoon, and rode by private van to the Gran Bahia Principe Cayo Levantado resort.

Tropical luxury was the order of the day.  I worked on my Spanish skills, while Kelee honed her suntanfoo. Leaving the kids with Kalee's parents was a bit of a hardship, but we worked through it with dinner and dancing.  I probably paid way too much for a box of cigars, but how often do you get to haggle with a Haitian over Cuban cigars at a 5-star, all inclusive resort.  You have to take it all in I say, $8 cigars and tropical sea side sunshine.

The resort is on its own island, rented from the government of The Dominican Republic.  The DR shares western side of Hispanola with Haiti.  I first saw Cayo Levantado on a whale watching tour right about ten years ago.  Ever since then I wanted to have a stay on the beautiful island.  In that meantime, the old dock appears to have been abandoned, but the hotel itself has really grown.  We ended up staying in one of the villas that surround the main hotel.  We didn't have an ocean view, but had our own veranda with its own hot tub.










We went whale watching again, and got even closer than I did last time.  We got to experience a cow and calf together.  I even saw the calf breach (jump out of the water).  They were quite the couple.  Besides pools there was a range of beach space to occupy during the day.  Basically, it was a remote, restful luxurious experience.