Caribbean 2008: 1 - Belize, Punta Cana Dominican Republic

Monday, November 17, 2008

A couple of weeks ago I flew to Belize City, Belize on a trip that was largely business. As long as one picks the right day of the week, it is a fairly easy flight from Costa Rica. A 6 AM departure from San Jose arrives in San Salvador, El Salvador an hour later, and after a wait of 1-½ hours connects with another one-hour flight to Belize City. I was there by shortly after 10 in the morning.

The last time I was in Belize was 1975, when I drove from Canada in an old Jeep Wagoneer that broke down continually. My first lap to Los Angles, California was with my son Bill, who was 7 at the time. I met up with Dave Alban, who I'd met in Costa Rica the previous year, and then put young son on the plane to fly back to Canada. Dave and I continued through Mexico, adding one more to the expedition on top of a pyramid at Chizen Itza in the Yucatan Peninsula. This was Robert Headland, an Englishman who travelled perpetually. The three of us drove into Belize from Mexico, staying for a while in Belize City where the vehicle was once more repaired.

The thing that amazed me most about Belize City after 33 years was how little it had change. They had filled in the waterfront to make room for a wider road, leaving houses with davits for taking boats out of the water as ornaments in the front yard. There were a few new buildings, including a couple of hotels, but other than that the place was identical right down to the potholed dirt streets. Actually, I think the streets were in better shape in 1975!

I stayed at the Radisson, which was quite good, and discovered a couple of good restaurants and an excellent pub restaurant on the river called the Riverside Tavern. It was four days of meetings, and although I had planned to get a bit of diving in, torrential rains caused swollen rivers, widespread flooding and a murky ocean so that was out. The trip back to Costa Rica was also smooth and quick.

Yesterday we teamed up with neighbours Jose and Nuria Carter to catch a COPA flight from San Jose to Punta Canas in the Dominican Republic. It was an easy flight - 50 minutes to Panama City, a one-minute wait and then the 2 hour 10 minute flight to Punta Canas. The planes were comfortable, and the food and service good. Marilynn wasn't that keen on the quick connection, having missing the duty free shopping the airport in Panama offers.

It was with some apprehension that I approached our hotel. My expectations had been lowered by the hotel web site which offered spectacular prices and free airport pickup, however after filling in three pages of information the site refused to accept the reservation. The hotel phone number is not on the web site, but Marilynn finally found it and was informed the hotel does not accept reservations, only the central booking agencies in either Venezuela or Mexico, where no one answered the phone in either location. Finally, in desperation, the people in our associated travel division, The Costa Rica Travel Store, were asked to help. They managed a booking through a travel wholesaler at higher prices than advertised on the web and with a $25 pp cost for airport pickup.

The airport at Punta Cana was very welcoming. There are no jetways, everyone follows a guide down the tarmac to the main building. Those awaiting outgoing flights were standing among airport equipment. A Caribbean music group were playing in the palm frond roofed terminal building, which was open to the ocean breezes. We purchased a visitor card for $10 from one booth, and then handed it over at the next booth a few steps away, but everyone in the process was polite and friendly and the lines moved quickly.

Once we had our baggage every suitcase and carry on bag were thoroughly searched, causing considerable delay. Eventually we boarded the bus that was to take us to the hotel. The seats on the bus would have been tight for small children - the only one I could fit into was in the centre at the back. Sitting down was accompanied by a tearing sound - the armrests had been broken off instead of properly removed, and jagged plastic tore into the backside of my pants. The hotel later affected a crude repair.

After a considerable wait we got underway. The Rui Taino Hotel is 20 miles from the airport on narrow roads. There is a tremendous amount of construction of new two story condos, but the flat, scrub covered countryside is not very interesting. Hotels are in front of the beach, so the roads are well inland. Before there were roads 58 million hectares of beachfront were purchased by a group of investors who then laid out plans and developed the area.

After a couple of stops to drop people at other hotels we arrived. The grounds are well landscaped and maintained, and check in was reasonably efficient. Accommodations are in buildings with either four or six rooms each - ours has four. They have a good-sized balcony and private entrance. The hotel is all-inclusive, and the walk in closet was equipped with a safe, a fridge stocked with soft drinks and beer, and a bar type liquor dispenser with 26 oz bottles of rum, vodka, gin and brandy. Definitely a good start!

Gaybrielle Halsey, an old friend from Canada, found our room and gave us a rundown on the hotel. She and her husband Bob are here for the wedding of Cal Lee and Karen Scott, which is also why we are here. There is a delegation of about 30 people from Canada here for the occasion, most of whom we know, so it has the makings of a good party!

We didn't take long getting into it. We met up with Carters and headed for what is called the "small pool", which has bar and restaurants beside it - this was to become our local pub and meeting point. While the pool isn't that small, it is smaller than the "big pool" located further over. We promptly immersed ourselves into the ocean, and then got down to some serious drinking and socializing. Meals are buffet style with good variety and more than ample quantity - survival over the next few days doesn't appear to be too difficult.