some catching up

we've been bad and have not blogged lately. it feels kind of like when you stop exercising. once you stop for a few days, it feels hard to get back into it!

it's been a week since the last post. in that time, we took a weekend trip out to las terrenas with nicole and karen. we were excited to show them this fun little town and the blue, blue waters out there. turns out though that in december and january, the water becomes rough. so the water was not very blue. we had been noticing the rougher waters in cabarete but didn't think to translate that into its effect on las terrenas waters. oh well. we had a fun time out there anyway, even though it was not particularly centered around swimming. we did spend time on the beach for sure - particularly taking some nice long walks.

i'll focus this entry on the trip out to las terrenas. starting off, here are some shots taken along the way. this one is near rio san juan. out here the fields are so incredibly vibrantly green. having driven here many times, i finally decided to take a picture of this landscape.



we stopped at 2 beaches along the way to show nicole and karen. the first was playa caleton. this is a great little beach that is located within a (usually) calm inlet. we should have known when we saw the rough water even here that our experience in las terrenas would be different. anyway, here is a sign to the beach. as is typical here in the DR, nothing is well marked here. it's only after coming once, that you know "it's after the brugal billboard and a left turn at this sign."




next up was playa grande. we have much better pictures of playa grande (and playa caleton for that matter) but for matter of fact sake, i've put in one that was taken that day. (i plan to write a blog entry soon on the beaches we've been to here. i'll be sure to use the cream of the crop photos for that entry). again, the surf was way up at playa grande.



we then motored along to las terrenas. once we arrived, wondered if we should buy gas or not, due to the rationing. we actually forgot that they lifted the rationing for the month of december. if we wanted, we could have bought some gas like this - this is a private home whose residents are trying to make a few pesos by selling gasoline in old water jugs, beer bottles, etc.:



i'll start a new post with some photos from our time in las terrenas. so that's all for now.