Animals and books

It has been a busy few weeks and I am pleased to say that my brain is slowly beginning to work a little better. I forget fewer words and have had no more coffee maker disasters.

There is a man who lives in Mao who breeds Great Danes and he wanted to bring a female Dane here who was on heat, to live with Goofy for a while. I said no, Danilo said yes, the dog arrived. She had only just started her heat as he wanted them to fall in love pre-bonking. Goofy predictably fell in love with her - her name was Matari - Lobo was not allowed to be with his best mate Goofy and fancied Matari as well so they had to be kept apart.

Grumpy was upset her boyfriend Goofy was with another woman so it was a stressful time for all of the dogs and me! No idea if Goofy did the deed, but Matari left after two weeks, leaving Goofy howling at the gate for a few days. Dogs are now back to normal - thank goodness.

Sticking with the animal theme. as you know we no longer have water delivered from the local water company into our cistern. So we buy it every couple of weeks from Water Man. You call him up, he goes to the river, sucks the water into his truck, comes to us and pumps it into our cistern. Trouble is, the river has more than just water in it, so this time, he deposited a frog into the cistern along with the water. I only realised when I saw the lid of the cistern propped open with a wooden ladder which Danilo had put in there for the frog to climb out.

Please note, the metal box in front of the WATER CISTERN is the box for the main electrics for the house. Please also note the prevalence of taypee sticking all of the wires together.

I thought this was daft until I Googled and found out that all over the place ladders are put in drains for frogs to climb out and what is more, frogs and ladders are used to forecast the weather as they only climb out of water and up ladders if it will be fine, and if it is going to rain they stay in the water! No idea if our frog climbed out, but the lid is back on.

Remember I said the todys were back - the gorgeous tiny green and red birds. Well they disappeared after a day and Danilo discovered they had unwelcome squatters in their little hole in the base of the tree - a family of tarantulas - mum, dad and lots of babies. He disposed of the squatters and the other day the todys returned! I just hope they stay this time. The female is higher up the twig as she has a little bit of black on her green wings.

Oh and even more news, I am a grandmother again! Ana and Alberto (stepson number 2) welcomed Adriana to the world a month early. Though a little small, 6.5 pounds, she is lovely and Danilo and I went to see her in Ana's mum's house, where Ana is staying for the 40 days she is "at risk". Not sure what she is at risk of, but most all women here have to be with their mothers for the 40 day period with a whole list of things they cannot do - like go outside, look at the moon, and they have to have cotton wool in their ears so the cold air doesn't get to their brains.

Proud grandpa Danilo

Ana, Adibel and new baby Adriana

Alberto with his new daughter

Mother's day is very important in the DR, but this year I had no visits from the kids as Ana and Alberto stayed with the baby and was Adibel's, number one granddaughter,  fifth birthday. Danilo was on a course in the capital and returned in the afternoon, cooking me a massive sancocho for my Mother's Day celebration. We ate sancocho for a week.

Finally, as you know I love reading memoirs and this last month I have read two fabulous books, both brilliant and both different.

The first was by Beth Haslam and is called Fat Dogs and French Estates part 1.

This was my review on Amazon.

"I was attracted to this book as the title mentioned the words Dogs and French – and I love dogs and love France. I was certainly not disappointed. The book describes the author and her husband travelling throughout France house hunting, well, estate hunting, to find their perfect home. They took their fat dogs with them.
The characterization of Beth’s husband, Jack, the dogs, and all of the French people and estate agents they meet along the way is superb. There are fabulous descriptions of the estates and the countryside and you really feel you are sitting in the back of the car along with the dogs. In addition, there are unexpected history lessons about different parts of France as well as interesting information about many of the towns and villages.
That in itself would be sufficient to make a good memoir, but what moves this book from good to great, and even fabulous, is the humour throughout. I started off smiling sometimes, then giggling occasionally and eventually was collapsed with laughter, even snorting at stages. It is so very funny I have not laughed so much in months.
I highly recommend this book, and I know I now have no choice but to read the rest of the series. I must admit I was concerned that they might not live up to my now high expectations, but having checked the reviews on Amazon – they are all five stars as well. Thank goodness! I can’t wait."

There are three more books in the same series so my next task is to get those. Really worth it, pure escapism, some learning more about France, and just pure fun.

The second was by Gina DePaulo and is called Unopened Doors.

My review says: 

"In brief, the author describes how she was victim of a mugging which caused a Traumatic Brain Injury and that in turn led to flashbacks of her childhood and a rape and near-death strangulation when she was 19. She then decides to revisit her attack of some 40 years ago and with the help of a Cold Case investigator she slowly unearths the past.

The book is beautifully written and it goes backwards and forwards between the present and the past in a seamless manner. It is more than simply a memoir; however, it is a detective novel, it portrays life in the USA in the 1960s, and you really do find yourself transported back in time. In addition, DePaulo adds in stories of other victims of violence, rape and murder during the same time period in the same area.

More than a memoir, more than a detective story, overall a truly excellent read. I defy anyone not to enjoy this book, which I was unable to put down as it draws you in from the very first page. In fact, this was the best book I have read in years."

This book really resonated with me, having had a couple of near death experiences and now suffering from brain injury. But even if you have been lucky enough not to have those, I promise you will really enjoy this book.

And for those of you who enjoy reading and enjoy reading memoirs, I really do recommend you join the We Love Memoirs Facebook Group. Why? Because the members are writers of memoirs and lovers of memoirs. There are lots of free memoirs to be won, chats with authors, competitions where you can read memoirs and, the best thing, all of the members are lovely people!

We Love Memoirs

While waiting to hear if Danilo and Chivirico have visas for the UK, as I have not heard a squeak so far and it has been 10 days,  I thought I would take the opportunity to tell you about some memoirs  I have read.

I love reading memoirs as I learn about situations and locations I have never experienced. In some cases I can empathise as have been through the same or similar. I also think it helps me to become a better memoir writer as I can learn from others who do the same as I do, try and honestly and engagingly entertain and educate at the same time.

I am a member of a FB page – We Love Memoirs – which is a lovely group of people and the admins lets you know when books are free or heavily discounted on Amazon, and you even have chances to win books. Here are some of my favourite ones which I have read recently and when  I reviewed them I gave them all five stars. They will take you around the world, from America to Bali, from Greece to the UK, from Ireland to the Dominican Republic.

Rash by Lisa Kusel

This book is about an American couple leaving their old life behind and moving to Bali.

I don’t know exactly what to say about this book, apart from the fact that it is fabulous on every level. It draws you in from the very first page as it is easy to read, exciting, emotional and involving and once you start reading it is impossible to stop.

Those who have left their home countries for pastures new and different, as I did, will identify immediately with the author’s discontentment with the familiar and search for something further afield. But the grass is not always greener on the other side and the challenges faced with living in a third world country as opposed to a first world one are beautifully chronicled and truly brought to life.

There is a stark honesty as the author describes her feelings and emotions towards her husband and the way of life as she comes to the realization that even though she has what she thought she wanted, life is never that simple.

This book should be required reading for every single person thinking of leaving their homeland for the promise of Paradise. Highly recommended.

Survival and Arrival by John Fahey

These are two memoirs, the first Survival is about the author’s time growing up in the north of England with an abusive father and I loved the book but it ended all too soon. It is beautifully written and the memories came flooding back. School dinners (or lunches) with fish on Fridays. The mangle for squeezing the water from clothes. Underground toilets and making a coal fire with newspaper. What hit a chord with me was that whatever happens to us, whatever education you have, the person in the end will emerge from all of the disadvantages and be what they are capable of being. The other thing was that a simple act of kindness from one person to another can have a lasting effect and can change a life – living in a third world country with extreme poverty, it has made me realise that the little things we do for others can change lives. I wish the author all the best (I want to give him a big hug), and I really, really loved this book.

Luckily Survival was followed by Arrival which tells the story of the author’s arrival in the United States and what it was like being an immigrant during the time of the Vietnam War. I loved the comparisons between UK life and USA life at that time, and being an immigrant or expat in the Dominican Republic from the UK, I could relate to the similarities of some of his experiences.

The book is well written and the author is obviously highly intelligent, whether from describing chemical experiments in the search for new drugs, or his introspective thinking into the behaviours of those around him and revealing his own personal demons. While I only have an O Level Grade 6 in chemistry (scraped pass), I still found the descriptions of the experiments interesting, recognizing the names of several drugs used today, and found it fascinating to learn about the whole long process to get a drug to market.

Almost as powerful as his first book, educational in more ways than one, and very honest and frank Arrival is also emotional and I found myself tearing up at times, which is not something I do often.

I am eagerly waiting for book 3, as this book just stopped suddenly before I expected it to, leaving me very much wanting more.

A Kilo of string by Rob Johnson

When I read a memoir I want to be educated and to be entertained. This book by Rob Johnson does both in spades. A Kilo of String chronicles the lives of Rob and his wife Penny as they move to Greece and their daily life there with all the challenges it presents. Living in the Dominican Republic, I was amazed at the similarities between the two countries in terms of the culture, corruption and slow pace of life.

As well as educating me in the Greek language, lifestyle, farming olives and many thing Greek what I loved about this book was the entertainment. I had a fixed grin on my face from the first to the last page, with several chuckles, snorts and guffaws as I was reading it. It is quite simply hilarious and the author writes brilliantly with an excellent dead pan sense of humor as well as a truly warped imagination which makes A Kilo of String a delightful book to read.

I really hope there is a sequel as it ended far too soon and I would highly recommend it to anyone who wants to escape from the daily grind and howl with laughter for a few hours.

Mile 445: Hitched in her hiking boots by Claire Miller

This book is about a lady to decide to walk a famous trail in the United States and I was addicted to it from the very first page. That addiction continued to the last page. The writing flows easily, you feel like you are being told a story sitting in a pub over a glass or two of wine. The descriptions are perfect, allowing the reader to see, feel and touch the surroundings without being over dramatic or over flowery, and the wry sense of humour is sprinkled throughout. The characterization brings each of the different people to life so it is not just about the author but you get to know the people she meets along the way.

For me a good memoir should educate as well as entertain and this book certainly does that as I learned so much about hiking and the trail and its surroundings. Would I do it? Never, but kudos to the author for having done so.

The love story between the author and her husband is touching and realistic and I loved the realization that when one becomes two there is a need to adapt one’s own wishes. I could understand Claire’s dilemma when the decision was made to leave the trail as throughout the book we are waiting for the finish line to be reached. However life is not about the achievement of goals but the journey and the realization of this is one of the moments when the book, for me, satisfies another key element of an excellent memoir which is to make one think and realize the different paths we can all take, should we be brave enough to follow our dreams, and keep on going wherever life takes us.

Highly recommended, easy to read, thought provoking, educational and very enjoyable.

Joan's descent into Alzheimers by Jill Stoking

I wanted to read this book as I knew little about Alzheimer’s and wanted to learn more, and this book does indeed provide an education about Alzheimer’s. However, it delivers so very much more. It describes not only the sufferer but also the role, feelings and emotions of the caregiver in a refreshingly honest way. What I found amazing, is that somewhere along the line, the book stops being simply the written word on a page and sweeps you up into feeling you are actually there in the scenes. You can picture the locations, see the people, feel the emotion, stress and frustration and from then on I was unable to put this book down. Living in a third world country there are no nursing homes, no facilities for caring for those with Alzheimer’s and no social services. As well as the beautifully written story itself, I found it amazing and appalling that in a first world country such as the UK, even though on paper the facilities exist, they do not operate in an efficient and caring way and this book shows you the distress and the frustration this causes to both the author and her mother, Joan.

But this book is not simply about Alzheimer’s, it is also about the author’s relationships with her husband, her parents, her son and her brother with just the right amount of detail so as not to detract from the key element of the story

An excellent book, written brilliantly and honestly, which delivers educationally and emotionally and which I highly recommend.

The Coconut Latitudes by Rita Gardner

I was attracted to this book as it was a memoir about the Dominican Republic, where I live, and also took place during the era of the dictator Trujillo, a time in history I am also interested in.

The book is well written, you are not only transported by the author back in time but also you feel you are actually there in the north east of the Dominican Republic, the sights, the smells, the food, the atmosphere all come to life. The book has many levels, reading it is like peeling an onion, each time revealing more information, about the country, about being an American in the DR with the pros and cons that brings, but also about family life and the traumas and tribulations that brings, along with the damage that family relationships can cause.

There are some shocking moments and revelations and one cannot help but think how different life might have been had the author been brought up on mainland USA surrounded by like peers, rather than on a semi deserted coconut plantation.

The Coconut Latitudes also leaves one with questions, why did this happen, what happened to her or him. I enjoyed it and would recommend it to anyone interested in the Dominican Republic.

Fresh Eggs and Dog Beds by Nick Albert

And now off we go to rural Ireland.

Nick, and his wife Lesley are in a situation I am sure many will identify with, living in the stress filled, fast paced England, like hamsters running round a round in a wheel. They decide to move to Ireland and the book covers their journey to find the perfect house and then to begin their new life.

The writing is lovely and the characterization is excellent, not only of the people but even the dogs and the chickens come to life with their own personalities. There is humour throughout, making the book impossible to read without smiling.

The book flows beautifully and as well as being a great story, it is also full of interesting information about Ireland so as well as a fun and interesting read it is also educational.

I really enjoyed this book, and would love to meet Nick’s wife, Lesley as I am sure we would get on well! Now I can’t wait for the sequel and luckily Nick has just written a follow up memoir which I haven’t read yet called Fresh Eggs and Dog Beds 2.

Hope you enjoy reading some or all of them - will let you all know about the visas as soon as I do!

Visas and Island Life

The visa applications took for ever. One each for Chivirico and Danilo. You apply online, pay US$200 each and set up an appointment at a visa centre in Santo Domingo. No longer are they issued at the British Embassy, which is a shame as I have friends there. Once the online application is done you have to get all of the paperwork together - birth and marriage certs, proof that Chiv is at school and Danilo graduated from university, house title deeds, utility bills, sponsor's invitation letter, 6 months of bank statements, proof of income, proof you will return to the DR etc etc. I was printing for days. Everything in Spanish has to be translated into English by a legal translator so my friend Olga did that for me and I printed them all out.

The day before we set off for the capital on the bus - Caribe tours.

Chiv at the Caribe tours bus stop

We decided to stay at a hostel in the Colonial Zone, owned and run by fellow Brit, Chris. We had chatted a bit over the last few years. I wasn't really sure what to expect - thinking it would be long dormitories and somewhat basic but when I checked out the web page for Island Life Backpackers Hostel I was surprised that there were double and triple rooms as well as rooms of all different sizes and some had private ensuite bathrooms.

The hostel was charming. Formerly a 400 year old colonial home it has been beautifully restored and still has lots of original features.

The courtyard

Our room was the first door on the left

The room we had, had a double and single bed, great quiet aircon and a lovely bathroom with a powerful shower and piping hot water.

But what makes Island Life so special is the atmosphere. Not a stuffy impersonal hotel but a casual, comfortable and very friendly place. When you walk in, you go straight into the bar which is just like a traditional English pub.

Chivirico took no time at all to make himself comfortable with a coca cola before beating Danilo at pool.

In addition to the facilities, Island Life has its own resident Great Dane, Schumacher, who is very well behaved as well as being enormous. Chivirico took charge of the camera to take snaps of him - this is the only one which isn't of his bottom - the dog's bottom not Chiv's.

It was great to finally meet Chris and we chatted late into the night.

So there you have it. Island Life is certainly a great choice for somewhere to stay in the capital. So many interesting people from all over the world to talk to, friendly and helpful staff, fast wifi and everything you need for a comfortable stay.

Before continuing with the visa story, we had a couple of hours to kill the next morning and given that Chivirico had never been to the Colonial Zone, armed with my camera around his neck off we set to explore. I will just post a few of the pictures he took, as there were loads!

Juan Pablo Duarte's house and museum

The ferry to Puerto Rico

Top of the Pantheon

Chiv and the Choo Choo train which tours the Colonial Zone

Christopher Columbus

Beginning of El Conde with Danilo's back on the left!

La Puerta del Conde where independence was declared and my back and Danilo's back

Tour over, it was back to the hotel to meet up with Olga who brought her stamp and stamped and signed the myriad of translations.

Then off to have some lunch and taxi to the visa centre which is in a residential area of the city. We arrived early, said goodbye to Olga and sat down in a freezing room with very squeaky chairs to wait. No photos as they are not allowed. We were early and eventually went in and handed all of the papers over to be scanned to somewhere. A note on the wall said the decision would be made at the British Embassy in Colombia and if granted the visa would be issued in Jamaica. Danilo and Chivirico had their photos and fingerprints taken and surprisingly no questions were asked. So much for all the rehearsals.

Now we have to wait, not sure for how long but the website says 85% of decisions made within 15 days. There is no way of tracking the applications, but we have the Fedex receipt so once the passport starts going somewhere we can track that. At the moment it is not moving!

Then back to Santiago on the bus, this time Transporte Espinal as the last Caribe tours one had gone. We then had to get another bus to Esperanza when Danilo's sons met us and brought us home. Unfortunately we were minus the camera as I had left it on the bus, or, as the Dominicans would say, which I prefer, the camera left itself on the bus.

Quick phone call to Transporte Espinal and the camera had returned itself to Santo Domingo, so once again my "go to person in Santo Domingo" Olga, picked it up and put it back on Caribe Tours to Mao where Danilo picked it up! What luck! Now the waiting continues.

Competitions

I don't win competitions. Never. I don't win raffles either. I don't know that feeling of "OMG I have won!"

But I am good at coming second. This is my certificate for coming second in the Girls High Jump at my junior school in Singapore when I was nine. Given I was only 4 foot nothing at that stage you may think it was a miracle - mind you I think there were only three entries.

Amazing that I have so little from my past - no degree certificates, few photos, no saucepans (which I now miss terribly seeing them on Masterchef every week - they are using MY saucepans), but I still have this certificate.

At senior school I came second in the public speaking competition, and I won the David Renton prize for being good in all subjects but not good enough in any single one to win the subject prize.

You see the pattern here?

When I started writing, I entered writing competitions and would rarely get even an acknowledgment that they had received my sweated over prose. Most didn't answer, I was never told that the results were out, never told "Never mind, better luck next time".  So I gave up  on competitions.

Until the We Love Memoirs Facebook page  published information about a competition for travel writers, and undeterred by previous failure I decided to check it out. It is on Fred's Blog and the competition entry requirements are here  They didn't seem too difficult and each month a winner is picked for five months and wins US$50 and at the end, the overall winner gets US$300 which is a Lot of Money.

The last line for my entry came to me as I was feeding the goats and then all I had to do was to fill in the 900 word blank page before it, which I did over a few days, and nervously I submitted my entry together with the requested photo and short bio.

Well you could have knocked me over with a feather when within minutes I had an email reply thanking me for my entry, Saying "I love your story"and promising me the link when it was published in a week or so.

The link duly arrived as promised and if you want to read my entry it is here.

And then, out of nowhere, the announcement of the winner arrived in my inbox. I realised I could now start another one for April and scanned through the message:

"Find out who won the March competition

Many thanks to the 22 authors and writers who entered their travel stories in the first part of our 4th Annual Travel Stories Competition.

Each and every entry was brilliant and they covered such a wide spectrum of travel writing. Thank you all so much for getting involved.

As you can imagine, the selection of a winning story was extremely difficult, but ……..

MANY CONGRATULATIONS TO OUR MARCH WINNER"

and then it said

Lindsay de Feliz and her story Consequences.

You have no idea how I felt - amazing, fantastic, emotional, running around the living room announcing my success to the goats, geese, chickens and dogs. At last I had actually won something.

So any of you who love travel writing give it a go. I have already submitted my entry for this month, The overall competition runs until July 31st, 2018, so there are still another 4 opportunities to enter your 500-1000 word travel stories in the April, May, June, and July competitions.

Take the plunge and good luck!

Reminder I am on Spotlight Sunday tomorrow

Just a quick reminder that tomorrow I will be appearing on what is called Spotlight Sunday on a Facebook Group called We Love Memoirs. It is a lovely group of people from all around the world who enjoy reading memoirs and who also write them, although if you are a writer you cannot promote your work, apart from if you are invited to be in Spotlight Sunday. So on Sunday December 3, I will be on line on We Love Memoirs all day answering questions. People can ask whatever they like so it should be a fun day. If you want to join the page before then so you can ask me anything you like, just click the link above to join the site. We will start at 10 am Dominican time. Here are the other time zones: UK 2pm / CET 3pm / AKST 5am / PST 6am / MST 7am / CST 8am / EST 9am / AST 10am / UYT/GMT-3 11am / EET 4pm / GST/GMT+4 6pm / IST 7.30pm / MYT/GMT+8 10pm / HKT 10pm / JST 11pm / AWST 10pm / AEST 12am / ACDT 12.30am / NZDT 3am /

Following that, Chivirico and I will be getting ready for our book signing tour, starting in Sosua on Thursday 7, followed by Las Terrenas. I will post pictures the following week.

Now I must get back to sorting photographs for tomorrow to post during Spotlight Sunday. See you there!!

Holiday to Sosúa and North Coast - Final Part

We left Tubagua at 10 am and Charly the taxi driver took us to Puerto Plata bus station, around 25 minutes away. I didn’t think I could subject Michelle to the public shared taxis. From there it was a simple route home on one bus, then another, then another which dropped us off outside my house. The public transport system works so well, with buses combining with each other and the conductors are always great at helping with luggage so traveling with a suitcase is not problem.

It rained all the way home and continued raining until Danilo took Michelle back to the airport on Monday and life returned to normal. Apart from the rain.

The rains have displaced tens of thousands of people and thousands of homes destroyed.

Even the hospital and airport in Puerto Plata were flooded.

There are loads of videos on youtube – here is just one so you can get an idea of the damage.

The situation has been exacerbated by the opening of the Taveras Dam in the middle of the country to save it breaching.

I understand why they had to do it, but even though those living close to rivers were warned the affect has been appalling.

The water has filled the main river in the north of the country, the Yaque del Norte which, together with the rain has caused tens of bridges to collapse or to disappear under the water. They have now closed the main bridge from Santiago to Puerto Plata, for inspection and should they have to close it for longer, the north coast will be more or less cut off as  the other routes from Santiago, over the mountains including the road we took to Tubagua are also closed – one as the bridge is going and the one via Tubagua as the road disappeared, although they are now making a bypass of the big hole!

Thousands of acres of agricultural produce have been destroyed especially the staples of bananas, plantains and rice, but in true Dominican tradition people are just doing the best they can.

And it still carries on raining, although supposedly things will improve by the middle of the week.

The good news is that when we got home, Danilo had bought a rat trap. I had bought some nice cheddar in Sosúa and he put a piece of that in it (don’t ask why not use Dominican cheese) and that did the trick – RIP rat. However, a few days later the television in our bedroom stopped worked and on closer inspection inside, there was a baby rat asleep. No idea how many more of the little sods there are.

So, the end of my annual holiday. Despite the rain it was a lovely break – no work, loads of fabulous food, and meeting friends old and new. Plus speaking English for a week! Now it is back to work and wait for the sun to appear so I can do my washing as am rapidly running out of knickers!

Holiday to Sosúa and the North Coast- Part 5

As I said yesterday, the sun came out for a while the following morning so we went off to explore and we were able to see exactly what the cabin was like.

I rarely feel as if I am in the Caribbean for some reason, maybe as the island is so big, but Tubagua and the way it is built using different woods and plants and all hand made, makes you feel like you are back in the time of the Taino Indians.

It was lush and green.

The villa had a bedroom with a mosquito net and plenty of cupboard space – the slats on the windows all closed completely as well.

The living area had a super comfy couch, with plenty of books provided where you could curl up (minus the dog) and spend a lazy afternoon.

The bathroom was rustic, basic but functional with a hot and powerful shower.

And look at how beautiful the roof is.

As night fell and we were above the clouds, you really felt on top of the world,

watching the lights slowly come on down in the valley.

After another superb meal of salad, vegetables, beans and barbecued chicken it was off to bed ready for the trip home the next day.

The following morning, before we left  I was thinking that, having visited the whole country, this really was the perfect place to live. It had “to die for” views, beaches within 20 minutes and Puerto Plata and Sosúa the same distance away with international schools, the international airport, international supermarkets, great restaurants and health care, so I mentioned this to Tim. He suggested I might want to see his next project which is right next to Tubagua on the same piece of land. There he has 10 lots for sale, each of 650 square meters and should you want to purchase one, you don't just get a chunk of land,  Tim will build you a little villa, just like the one we stayed in, so it is move in ready until and if you want to build your very own eco house.

One of the eco-houses Tim has built

It really is the perfect spot. Tim wants to keep it all ecologically friendly, but what an amazing community this will be. Fresh running stream water, no need for air conditioners or even fans, privacy, at one with nature but with friends and company on your doorstep if you need it. The price of the land with your very own little villa is US$40,000, less if you would prefer just to pitch a tent in the short term. If you want to know more just email Tim here. And no, I am not on commission but if I didn't already have my own mountain abode - this is where I would live.

I wish I could have seen more of the area when I was there - gone on a hike to the waterfalls, visited the amber mines, but the weather was against us. That gives me a great reason to return, For those of you who live in the DR and who have not been to Tubagua you simply must go and see more of what the country has to offer. I have lived in a beach/tourist area, and in a town, and now in a mountain campo which is by far my favourite - but Tubagua takes it to a different level.

In the Taino language, the native Indians who lived in the Dominican Republic prior to the arrival of Columbus, “Tubagua” means an abundance of water. Well we certainly had that but there is a sign on the wall of Tubagua, in the main eating/social room saying Mi Bagua es Tu Bagua. Definitely My Home is Your Home is perfect for Tubagua.

Final part tomorrow.