"Welcome to Paradise..."

My Parents, Kati, Me, Haley, and Spencer
at a Swim-up Bar at the Hard Rock

There's no more fitting quote to kick off a stay in the Hard Rock at Punta Cana, Dominican Republic.  It seems strange (in a good way) to be on vacation again so soon after we got back from Europe, but I'm not going to complain about it.  (Though I might when I get back and have two days to prep for my NC Supreme Court argument!)

The trip down here left something to be desired.  In what seems to be a theme for our winter travel, the flight was pretty turbulent.  At one point, the plane spontaneously dropped about 2 feet and my mom let out a shriek that scared all of us.  Still, we made it down here in one piece and, after navigating the maze of border control winding through the thatched-roof buildings of the airport, we were on our way to the resort.

It was about a 30 minute drive from the airport to the resort.  I was struck by just how empty the country is.  Besides a smattering of "Se Vende" signs (for sale) and a few seemingly abandoned construction projects, there was nothing.  And then we got to the resort...

This place is huge!  They have somewhere north of 3,000 rooms and what seems like dozens of pools, fountains, restaurants, and ponds.  To put this in perspective, I've been running around the resort every morning and, if I just do a loop around the outside of the resort, it just about gives me my 5k for the day.

Now, this is not my vacation.  By that I mean that I didn't plan it and it diverges from the typical "Jackson Vacation" in that we're relaxing and hanging out at the resort instead of traveling constantly to take in the obscure and quirky cultural landmarks that happen to catch my fancy.  Now, that's not to say that this is not a great vacation (it is) and it's not to say that I'm not having a blast (I am).  It's only to say that those who have become accustomed to reading about our exploits should know that this week is slightly different.  It is also worth noting that this chapter in our travels marks the introduction of four new characters - my parents, my brother Spencer, and his girlfriend Haley.

Punta Cana, located on the most eastern peninsula on Hispanola is, simply put, a Caribbean paradise.  It's becoming super-saturated with resorts, but that doesn't really detract from the true draw of the area - the beach.  The area is world-renowned, and with good reason, for it's stunning white sand beaches and turquoise blue water.  Flanking the point are 36 km of pristine beaches.  One thing that has struck me being down here for a day now is the surf.  There are some serious waves.  It really makes me want to get out there and do some surfing.

My greatest disappointment from this trip (Yes, it's the beginning of the week and I can already tell you) is that my dreams of a glorious day trip have been quashed.  They have tons of tourist agencies down here that are more than willing to help you plan a trip...as long as it's one of their standard trips that are easily marketed to the masses.  With that said, the trip that I wanted to take happened to be one of the ones that they offered.

North of Punta Cana is another peninsula called Samana.  It is truly one of the most interesting locations in the Dominican.  There is a great waterfall (Salto de Limon) in the middle of the jungle that can only be reached by horseback.  It's 150 meters tall and falls into a crystalline pool perfect for swimming.  Samana is also north of a bay, most of which is a protected nature preserve, that is famous for one thing above all others: humpback whales.  Between January and March (yes, right now), Samana is one of the top five destinations in the world to see humpback whales.  They come to this bay once a year to breed and rear their calfs.  They say that during these winter months, visitors have a 95% chance of seeing the whales!  I've been looking forward to seeing both of these things for quite some time.  We had planned to take a day and check them out.  The canned trip that the agency offered was perfect, you catch a plane to Samana, visit the waterfall in the morning, and go whale watching in the afternoon.  The only problem was that the next time they were offering the trip was on February 17 - three days after we leave.  Even when we offered to fill an entire plane (9 people) if they would help us schedule a trip this week, the couldn't (or wouldn't) make it work.

One more interesting factoid about Samana, at the tip of the peninsula is Playa Rincon which is notable because it is the fist place that Christopher Colombus landed in the New World.  It's supposed to be absolutely breathtaking.  I apologize in advance for the lack of posts and pictures.  I'm pretty busy drinking, relaxing, and enjoying paradise.