Samana, you have my heart.

With the clock on our departure ticking, Jesus and I had to pick one last part of the country to explore.  We chose Samama, the peninsula on the far right of the island.  We loved it!  It's kind of an undiscovered tourist spot that is so beautiful.  It's becoming more and more touristy but nothing like the hots spots of Puerto Plata and Punta Cana.  We toyed with making it to the city of Punta Cana (said to have most beautiful beaches by many) before we left but the six hour drive to an unknown place with Joaquin didn't sell us and we also knew it's very touristy there with huge resorts and we felt like been there, done that with our honeymoon in Puerto Rico.  Our trip to Samana was a secluded beach house apartment on the coast, with an ocean view, swimming pools, private beaches and basically just serenity.  We were there on off season with just 50 people in the whole apartment complex we rented!  With the beauty my photos can't even convey, I do think we found one of the most beautiful spots in the country!  

However getting to Samana was a whole other story.  After briefly getting lost and turning onto unknown narrow roads with no room to turn around, Joaquin projectile vomited in his car seat what looked to be his last five bottles of milk in the form of rank smelling white chunks.  I frantically searched for baby wipes, beach towels and plastic bags to do whatever I could to clean up so that he could still ride comfortably the remaining two to three hours of our trip.  He then vomited about two more times during the process of turning around the car and me cleaning up.  We had to pull over in a neighborhood where we didn't know where we were as Jesus took Joaquin and I dumped the vomit from the car seat outside.  Jesus grew impatient with me cleaning up as he knew it wasn't safe for an American woman to be chilling outside of the car alone.  At this point I thought we were giving up and were going to turn around and go home.  But somehow Jesus and his GPS figured out where we made the wrong turn and we continued on our way and got Joaquin somewhat comfortable.  As we arrived to Samana, there were many turns up the mountain causing Joaquin to have a fourth or fifth final vomit and since at this point was all water, I was able to just wipe him off with the towel I laid over his lap and under his legs to catch anything else.   It was a frantic check in at the hotel to get everything cleaned up asap and I was so grateful to see that the hotel we chose had an in room washer and dryer.  Sadly the car seat cover doesn't completely detach and I'm still working on getting the smell out.  While I rubbed it down with soap and water, I  think I have a baking soda and vinegar day in my future! I just can't do it yet... Apparently Joaquin is carsick because smaller versions of this story have happened before.  Oh and by the way, I'm car sick too which made this whole process of cleaning up even more fun while going up that mountain!  Luckily on the way home we did our research, made sure to not feed Joaquin a big meal right before leaving, left during nap time and only fed him crackers and Gatorade in the car, hallelujah it all worked!

I bet that sounds like enough of an adventure to get to Samana eh?  Well it wasn't enough.  On one of the long country roads, the police and their guns were patrolling the streets and stopping people.  We got stopped by a less than lovely corrupt police man.  It's common here if you are asked to show your license and don't have it, you can just pay off the officer but this officer didn't even ask to see a license.  He flat out said he and his buddies were going to need something to drink later.  Jesus asked him what specifically he needed for us to pass, and the officer replied: "you know what i need."  With that, Jesus took out his wallet and paid him off.  Jesus didn't want to risk being cheap and getting in more trouble so he gave him 500 pesos which is plenty here but only 12 American dollars.  I was shocked at this whole thing!  However I am so so grateful Jesus is my husband.  He showed no fear and knew exactly what to do because he has heard of this happening.  He was so calm and we were able to continue on our way.  Later in our journey, more police were stopping people and were about to stop us again but made eye contact with me and Joaquin in the back and told us to go ahead, thank goodness.  Again luckily on the way home we took a new route that not only had less turns, but was a bigger highway with no police and we got home faster.  Much nicer.

This is why looks aren't always what they seem.  While I flaunt my photos of the beach on Facebook, I bet you didn't know we went through all this!  However getting to our beach house apartment with the ocean view and private beaches seemed to make everything worth it.  For one afternoon, we were the only people on the private beach and it was perfect!  It was lined with trees and rocks and looked out onto Cayo levantao (a separate smaller island owned by a big resort) and the mountains and pure ocean.  The water was clear reflecting both green and blue and the sand was soft.  The infinity pool and hot tub were also perks with pool side tropical drinks.  The only complaint I would make was Jesus and I were not impressed with the restaurant's food but I assume since these were apartments that many people rent for longer amounts of time, guests often cook for themselves.  Now I'll let my photos tell the story!

1. Room photos of Vista Marre, Samana

our view and huge deck

Joaquin playing in the fully stocked kitchen 

Living area and more of the view

2. Pool time

3. The Views

The island in the ocean is Cayo Levantao

4. Beach time

no fear!

5. Family time

PS this was our Anniversary trip and this photo captures our last three anniversaries together!