Rio San Juan!

Now that I've been living in the Dominican Republic for over a year, I have a few favorite places to which I enjoy returning. In the beginning I wanted to explore every part of the island, including places that were hard to get to. One place that has become a favorite is the Hotel Bahia Blanca in Rio San Juan. It's a relief that transportation there is easy. Above I am standing next to the French Canadian proprietor of this establishment. Below you can view a photo of the Bahia Blanca.  

I like to stay in one of the corner rooms overlooking the ocean. The owners haven't invested much in the hotel over the last years, so it's a little run down. That keeps costs down, which suits me fine. For $30 a night I can open the windows & enjoy the sound of the ocean's waves all night long. Below is a view from the deck outside of my room.

 Below is the beach alongside the hotel at sunset:

An advantage of staying in Rio San Juan is that some of the country's best beaches are nearby. My favorite is the Playa Grande, which has been featured in this blog previously:

I took a motoconcho to nearby Playa Caleton, not pictured here, but also a wonderful beach, where a delightful lady gave me a terrific massage on the beach for about $8 after a long swim. That was a fabulous day. And the next day I took the guagua to Playa Grande, where I swam and played in the surf for several hours. Now that is my idea of a fabulous weekend. I can hardly wait to return. Rio San Juan itself is low key, which helps make for an enjoyable stay. Below is a photo of a Canadian woman, Marcie, whom I met at the hotel. We enjoyed walking to the colmado and talking together.

 

Above is the path I walked through to get into town. Chickens and a rooster greeted me mornings.

Past a shaded area is the Gri-gri lagoon, which offers boat rides to passengers wishing to view the occasional crocodile or heron. I haven't taken this tour yet enjoy walking past the boats docked there.

The above photo is taken of my favorite French restaurant in town, where I enjoyed big cups of hot coffee with steamed milk at 7 a.m. in the mornings. A small group of ex-patriates convene here. Below are more photos of Estrella Restaurant.

Below, the owner can be seen taking fresh croissants out of the oven.

 And the next photo shows the prawns grilled with garlic I had for lunch:

 

This terrific French restaurant certainly enhances a trip to Rio San Juan. And the pina coladas there are out of sight. The photo below was taken at Estrella in April when my friends Sandy and Jan joined me on a trip to Rio San Juan.

As I mentioned before, it's easy to get to Rio San Juan from Santo Domingo. Caribe Tours goes directly there. The bus travels along the coast toward San Pedro de Macoris, then turns north on the new Samana highway, and cuts over to Nagua, arriving at Rio San Juan three hours after leaving Santo Domingo.  Rio San Juan on the point between Nagua and Cabarete on the map below:

Another  highlight of September was a trip I took to see the shore birds near Bani, which is west of Santo Domingo on the South coast. Below are photos of the bird enthusiasts I went with.

I'm on the right in this photo, and Kate Wallace, our guide, is standing next to me. Maria Paulino, a new friend, and Stephen Johnson, another bird enthusiast, are also seen in this photo. Below is a photo of Maria and her niece, Johanna. Both are accomplished birders and photographers.

I'm seen above with Stephen, a friend of Kate's visiting from Florida.

Other bird enthusiasts were out to view shore birds and as it turned out, they were friends with our guide, Kate Wallace.

 And the flamingos seen at Salinas de Bani are shown below:

Below, a photo of David and his two children, who joined us for the day.

 Lunch, which we enjoyed at the end of our morning of hiking, bird watching and swimming:

Almost forgot to include this photo! A storm chased us nearly all morning; below dark clouds can be seen above the beach in which we enjoyed a swim.

Below is the fruit stand (featuring mangos, avocados and eggplants) at which we stopped outside of Bani. Bani is especially known for its mangos.

This past month I enjoyed coffee at the home of a new friend, Lynette, who is a member of the International Women's Club in Santo Domingo. Lynette's husband is with the Dutch embassy. These photos of her elegant home in the Zona Colonial give ample evidence that some people do live very well in the Dominican Republic.

Another highlight of my month was an all day study group with the Baha'i Community learning songs and stories to teach children. Below are members of my group at the Baha'i Center:

 Kathryn was my teacher that day, and can be seen below. She is seated with my friend Julie.

 Group members are shown below sorting some things out.

 And below is an altar at the Baha'i Center, featuring a photo of Spiritual Leader, Bahá’u’lláh:

Finally, the good news this month is that I continue to help the children at the nearby elementary school read Spanish. I volunteer at the Collegio three mornings a week and those hours are among the most rewarding of my week.

Also, I've begin work as a part-time contract employee of an organization providing English tutoring to Executives at Orange, a French owned internet company with offices in the Dominican Republic.

Below is the colorful building in which the office of the agency for which I work is located. 

 Below are photos of the Orange Building in Santo Domingo.

I've spent the last week being trained by a delightful young American woman, who is returning to the United States after ten years of living in the Dominican Republic. Below is a photo of the lovely Lisa Daugherty, who has helped me so much. It's been such a pleasure to know her this past month!

So what seemed initially like a slow month has actually turned into a time of real change. I am thrilled to be getting around more in Santo Domingo, and for new possibilities.

Thank you for looking at the photos and reading my blog. I will post again next month!