Our flight took 65 minutes from Santo Domingo to Providenciales. Once again we were met by an agent to direct us through the airport. The accommodation we had booked was near the airport so we decided to walk it. As we set off and elderly man pointed us in the direction of the Old Airport Road and told us he wouldn't walk it. When we told him where we were going he said I wouldn't go there. He told us that he had been a lawyer in town for 27 years. Anyway we headed off and about 10 minutes later he pulled up and told us he would drive us to our hotel. The hotel was very new and not on any maps so we all had difficulty finding it. He asked at a few shops and came back to the car complaining about the Dominicans who didn't speak English.
The place was really lovely with a small pool and was very tastefully decorated. The safe in our room was locked shut so we were moved to another one that worked. Of the 14 or so rooms only two had guests so it was very quiet. Beside the place was a restaurant where we watched some of the locals playing dominoes while we ate the local conch and fish. We walked about 20 minutes along the road to a new modern supermarket and bought a few drinks and snacks, as well as food for breakfast. Along the road we passed some bars with blaring music and groups of Dominicans cooking on charcoal barbecues and drinking outside.
The temperature was in the 30's but lovely and dry compared to Santo Domingo.We decided to take a 24 hour hire car and hired it to coincide with our flight check in time so we could have something to do after our check out and before our flight out the next day. We drove east to Turtle Cove and looked around the residential areas and beaches there. The island is very populated by people with a lot of money. The residences are large with manicured gardens and statues and the obligatory electric fencing and security guard.
The beaches belong to the resorts and condominiums and the few public beaches are called national parks. On our last day we headed west to check out the beaches there.
The islands used to have huge salt pans. There are not many tall trees left as they were felled as they shaded the salt beds.
The island is famous for its annual conch festival.
The hire car company warned us not to drive on unsealed roads as we would risk being robbed. We were not to pick up hitch hikers. The locals hitch hike to get about. We had to leave the car unlocked if we got out of it so that robbers didn't break the windows to get anything inside. We had all our bags with us after check out so they would have scored everything we have if we were held up. Fortunately we were spared robbers but while waiting at a roundabout in a queue of traffic we were hit from behind by a huge SUV. John leapt out and started taking photos of the offending vehicle and the damage and this unnerved the driver. The Spanish speaking woman was taking her partner's lunch to him and was keen to do that. John suggested I hop in with her and that we all drive to the car rental yard around the corner. He was worried she was going to disappear. At the yard the woman rang a friend who spoke English and the yard rang an insurance assessor. The woman, it appeared, did not have legal papers to be driving so admitted liability and fished out US$550 from her purse to pay for the damage and our excess. We got all the paperwork finalised in the hour before we needed to check in and were dropped off at the airport in time for checking in to our flight to La Habana Cuba.
The place was really lovely with a small pool and was very tastefully decorated. The safe in our room was locked shut so we were moved to another one that worked. Of the 14 or so rooms only two had guests so it was very quiet. Beside the place was a restaurant where we watched some of the locals playing dominoes while we ate the local conch and fish. We walked about 20 minutes along the road to a new modern supermarket and bought a few drinks and snacks, as well as food for breakfast. Along the road we passed some bars with blaring music and groups of Dominicans cooking on charcoal barbecues and drinking outside.
The temperature was in the 30's but lovely and dry compared to Santo Domingo.We decided to take a 24 hour hire car and hired it to coincide with our flight check in time so we could have something to do after our check out and before our flight out the next day. We drove east to Turtle Cove and looked around the residential areas and beaches there. The island is very populated by people with a lot of money. The residences are large with manicured gardens and statues and the obligatory electric fencing and security guard.
The beaches belong to the resorts and condominiums and the few public beaches are called national parks. On our last day we headed west to check out the beaches there.
The islands used to have huge salt pans. There are not many tall trees left as they were felled as they shaded the salt beds.
The island is famous for its annual conch festival.
The hire car company warned us not to drive on unsealed roads as we would risk being robbed. We were not to pick up hitch hikers. The locals hitch hike to get about. We had to leave the car unlocked if we got out of it so that robbers didn't break the windows to get anything inside. We had all our bags with us after check out so they would have scored everything we have if we were held up. Fortunately we were spared robbers but while waiting at a roundabout in a queue of traffic we were hit from behind by a huge SUV. John leapt out and started taking photos of the offending vehicle and the damage and this unnerved the driver. The Spanish speaking woman was taking her partner's lunch to him and was keen to do that. John suggested I hop in with her and that we all drive to the car rental yard around the corner. He was worried she was going to disappear. At the yard the woman rang a friend who spoke English and the yard rang an insurance assessor. The woman, it appeared, did not have legal papers to be driving so admitted liability and fished out US$550 from her purse to pay for the damage and our excess. We got all the paperwork finalised in the hour before we needed to check in and were dropped off at the airport in time for checking in to our flight to La Habana Cuba.
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