palm trees, monkeys, beach walks

the day started off with the coconut palm trees getting a trim. this guy in the photo was up in the palm tree at our condo complex, hacking off the palms and coconuts. they do this to ensure that people walking under the trees don't get walloped on the head by an old palm leave or any coconuts. that could really injure you! it was intriguing to witness how this guy was able to climb 30+ feet up and down the tree by just using a rope. he somehow wrapped it around his leg and the tree, which enabled him to slowly shimmy up and down the tree. again, note the machete. that tool is used for everything.

we needed to head into the sosua office today to do some work in prep for 3 clients over the next 3 days. we brought my mom along and dropped her off to walk around sosua a bit.

once done in the office, we next needed to see a new house listing. so off we went up into the hills of sosua. when it's a cool house, this is a fun thing to do! and cool, indeed, was this house. the living area and kitchen were partially outdoors on a kind of terrace like floor. in one direction, you had a sweeping view of the ocean off in the distance. the back side of the house borders the road that brings you to panorama village. so from that side, you see this movie set view of gorgeous, vibrantly green rolling hills with tons of palm trees.

the owner was swiss - a very nice guy. the only strange thing (there's always something) was that he had a monkey! yes, a monkey! it apparently acts like a watch dog for him. i can't imagine how a dominican intruder would react to seeing a monkey during a break-in! they're usually scared to death of dogs, but a monkey might just completely freak them out, especially if it screeched, which the owner said it would.

later in the day my mom and i went for another long walk along cabarete beach out to kite beach. this is good exercise for us both and also a great sight with all the kitesurfers that have been out over the past few days. here are some shots during our walk:





we just finished having a bbq out on the deck. tomorrow night we're planning to go to pomodoro where they play jazz on thursday nights.