My Three Weeks in the Dominican Republic Essay Example For Students

My Three Weeks in the Dominican Republic Essay As of today at about 2:44 p.m, I will be landing at one of the most beautiful islands in the world, Punta Cana, Dominican Republic. Hopefully this trip will be a good get-away for me to relax and figure out what I really want to accomplish in my life, all this â€Å"I have to get good grades† has gotten me a bit out of track and a bit confused as well but hopefully this trip is enough. I need get on the plane to Punta Cana at 7:40 a.m. The round trip ticket cost me $442.20 not bad actually, bringing my total of $5000 down to $4,557.8. The trip has one stop in the Philadelphia airport where I will have to wait an hour and 45 minutes, then take the next flight to Punta Cana at 9:50 a.m. I get to the Punta Cana airport at 2:44 p.m but because of security purposes and certain procedures a passenger has to follow I will be leaving the airport at around 3 or so, where a taxi driver is waiting to take me to the Four Point hotel in the Punta Cana resort village. Upon arrival I pay the man in $50 US dollars and book a room for 5 nights costing me $107 a night for a total of $535 bringing down my total to $4,022.8. Crazy how money goes huh? I have spent above a thousand dollars in one day, the first day. I actually have a pretty good impression on my choice of hotel though. I decide to walk up the stairs instead of taking the elevator just so i can get familiar with the hotel and so far so good, I am not regretting anything. Everything seems to be perfect and clean. Just the way i like it. Day 2 Day 2, today is the official day. Hopefully today I will be venturing some cool adventures. It is 8:30 in the morning, not so bad of a morning, it’s pretty chill outside. I head down to the resorts buffet for breakfast, luckily for me I dont have to worry about paying for a plate of food because all meals come bundled with the room. The steaks were pretty good actually, I mean it is a Spanish country right? Honestly from reader to writer, one of the main reasons why I came here, was because of the food and because of that fact that I knew I can definitely got get the extremely needed tan. It is exactly 12:00 p.m just when the sun is hitting the middle sky. Perfect time for tanning. I go back to my room and get my towel and some tanning oil. About 4 hours have passed by and gosh I can already see a difference, well hopefully the lines a under my biking mean a good thing. It is about 4:30 and I just remember I have to visit the car enterprise so i can rent car- seems like paying a cab everyday will probably lead me to my last dollar bill. Day 3 I am actually thinking of going to visit my family, wait, you know what? that is part of my plan now. It is day 3, 6 in the morning to be exact. I kind of want to hit the gym but ill rather go for breakfast and give my family a surprise. Oh man I cant even remember when was the last time I saw them, hopefully they remember my face, i tend to hear a lot that Ive changed over the past years. Hopefully i look better now. It is about 15 of 12 I head to the other side of Punta Cana where most of my family is at. Cant lie, i am pretty excited but nervous at the same. I am already imagining what their reactions are going to be if they actually do remember me. Day 4 You dont understand how amazing this place is, there might actually be a possibility of settling a life here, after college of course, though what if i come to a college here in Punta Cana?. I definitely would not mind. Well, it is day 4, 7:30 in the morning, and todays plans are, to make plans, since i dont have any yet. I am thinking of visiting a lot of different places. I have no idea what places I want to visit but i’ll find out, hopefully with the help of the internet and some locals that i will strangely be approaching today. But first thing is first and that is my stomach. I am currently at one of the local â€Å"Cafe† restaurant in the resort. The coffee definitely tastes different but it sure tastes wonderful. I head down to the â€Å"mini library†, i mean my room is bigger than this â€Å"library†. The research is going good so far, a lot of amazing different sites and lands and historical places and parks and beaches and lakes. God i love this place. Day 5 Day 5, last day at the resort. Tons of packing to do, well not really. If the packing goes well hopefully by 12:00 pm Ill be free. I heard about samba classes that is held by a profession dancing crew that the resort has a partnership with just so they can have a variety of activities for us to do and well, you know, I am definitely in there! It is 12:30 sharp, 30 minutes past my original plan but it’s okay. I head down to the dance studio about a block away from my room. I am definitely ready for this. One thing I know about Dominican Republic. They love dancing. I wish i wouldve found out about this classes earlier though, not the last day ugh. Day 6 Day 6, I am currently on my way West of Punta Cana, to the city of La Romana. From there I exchange some of my USD to the countries currency, pesos. I took $1000 USD and converted it to pesos, each USD is around 43 pesos so I was left with around 43,000 Dominican Pesos. Since I was already in the city I decided to check in the Hotel Frano that was around the area since it was getting late. I pay 2161 for the night, not bad, I mean it is no longer a 4 point hotel anymore but i mean, it doesnt matter because as of tomorrow I will be visiting tons of places, hopefully. Monopoly or is it just phony EssayDay 14 I pack up the supplies and take a personal cab down to the airport of Puerto Plata to pick up the vehicle I reserved. The cab ride was very long and took the majority of the day. When we finally arrived I gave the taxi driver $150 USD leaving me with $1,509.8 USD left. I rent the vehicle for six days costing me a total of $476 USD tax included. This leaves my total to $1,033.8 USD. Im running very low on money so I decide to stay in a cheap hotel called Celuisma Cabarete for three nights which costs $34 per night. This leaves me with $931.8. It is late at night so I park the car and head to my room to sleep. Day 15 I was already in the Puerto Plata area so I decided to check out a swimming place called the 27 Waterfalls of Damajagua which is a free lagoon type thing where anyone can go swim by the waterfall or jump from it if they want. The place is fully inhabited by locals who go daily for a free routine of jumping from waterfall, the lake, and back. I eat what the local merchants sell me, wasting about 200 pesos plus the food I still have from the night on the beach. At the end of the day I drive back up to the hotel, Day 16 Today I left the car in the hotel and was picked up early in the morning for a Dominican Outback Safari tour which cost me $80. The truck took us along dirt roads to the lesser inhabited areas of Puerto Plata. The tour was very educational and fun. It lasted around 7 hours approximately and I got to learn more about the countries history and its rich culture. After the tour the tour truck made a stop to a local restaurant where the meal cost me a total of $80 (minus the $80 for the tour today i spent $160 USD). I figured the prices are so high because this is a large tourist attraction in the city. Today I was left with $771.8 USD. I now have to find a way to stretch that amount for the next five days. Day 17 Today I spent the day around the hotel seeing what it had to offer. After breakfast I went down to the pool area and decided to try out yoga with one of the personal instructors. Later today I stocked up on supplies and went to a personal hiking trip in Pico Isabel de Torres. The trail was 5 miles long and took moderate effort to complete. It didnt cost me anything because it was a natural trail for anyone to use. At the end of the day I book the hotel for one more night ($737.8 USD left) and prepare for sleep. Day 18 From Puerto Plata I drive down to the City of Santiago, arguably one of the more modernized cities of the country. Its an hour trip and I spend about $30 on gas ($707.8 USD left). Upon reaching the city I quickly check into the Hodelpa Hotel which costs $100 USD a night and I book two nights. After the free lunch I go to a baseball field and play some baseball with a friendly group of girls. I spend the whole evening playing and after losing I head to the mall to do some girl shopping. Today has been a very long but enjoyable day, I head back to my hotel room to sleep. Day 19 Today there is a special event taking place in the city called Las Patronales which is a celebration of the countries independence and culture that travels across different parts of the country all year round. I spend the entire day in the hotel and leave at night for the event. Everyday there is a special guest star appearance in the festival and in the Patronales in Santiago it happens to be Romeo Santos. Everyone is having a good time drinking, dancing, going on the rides, and singing that I lose track of the time and head back to the hotel at dawn. Day 20 Today I checked out of the hotel and slowly drove through cities, countrysides, and military bases making my way back to the Punta Cana area. Dominican Republic as a whole is very diverse in its scenery. I check back in the Hotel I first arrived to. I pay the usual $107 ($400.8 left) and I turn the car back in around the airport. Arriving back to the hotel, at night I go to the pool area and bar where I drink some pià ±a colada before heading back into my room. It has definitely been the vacation of my life but I am crazy for a bed right now. Day 21 The complimentary hotel bus takes me back to the airport free of charge. I get on my 1:33 p.m flight and ill be landing in Philadelphia airport again, i’ll then wait 2 hours and 33 minutes. Hopefully by 8:31 i’ll be landing in Boston. Since I have money to spare I pay $25 to upgrade my seat to first class. Bibliography: Flight Ticket hhtps://m.cheapair.com/air/bookflight?sid=1cid=379 Dominican experiences http://www.lonelyplanet.com/dominican-republic/travel-tips-and-articles/76828 Map of Dominican Republic https://maps.google.com/maps?q=Santo+Domingo+Zona+Colonialie=UTF-8ei=T6wKU_n2AcPFsATh9YHYCAved=0CAkQ_AUoAQ Dominican Outback Safari Tour Bus http://www.viator.com/tours/Puerto-Plata/Dominican-Outback-Safari/d795-2476POP_7 Alisei Hotel Rates http://aliseihotelspa.com/rates-reservations/ http://www.adventurerentcar.com/flotilla.php 27 Waterfalls guide http://www.27charcos.com/index.php Dominican Holiday Calendar http://www.listindiario.com/rd_festivos Hodelpa Hotel Chain http://www.hodelpa.com/en/ Few Facts about Dominican Republic http://dr1.com/articles/twenty_one.shtml Dominican Festivals http://www.welcome-dominican-republic.com/Dominican-Republic-holidays.html http://www.sixt.com/php/reservation/offerconfig