rich and sandi

here's a picture of rich and sandi, two friends of ours here. they're married and have lived in the DR for many years. i think rich has been here for about 10 years and sandi 7 years. she's from germany, and he is from upstate NY.

sandi runs a restaurant called claro, which is a great place to have breakfast in cabarete. veronica and i go there often to enjoy her company and great food. the picture is taken at the restaurant which is just a short walk from where we live. sandi and rich also happen to live at the same condo complex as we do, along with their 2 dogs. that's how we met them.

rich owns a company here called Trips, Tours, Treks, and Travel that organizes and runs adventure and educational tours, as well as community services programs. a company or a school for instance, back in the US or wherever, would use his company to organize a trip here within the DR. he can customize the trip to whatever the customer wants to do here. things like: hiking the Caribbean's highest peak Pico Duarte (10,000 ft), snorkeling in Punta Rusia/Cayo Paradise, discovering the Colonial Zone in Santo Domingo, helping to rebuild a school here, etc.

having lived here for many years, he knows the country inside and out. the DR is the type of place where you have to know where to go to find the cool stuff - it's not always marked or written about in the guidebooks. in essence, there are many hidden gems here. rich knows where they are and is happy to help out when we are lost as newbies here, looking for something cool to do.

check out his company:
http://www.4tdomrep.com