Punta Cana Vacation Part Eleven

There I was. It was very therapeutic to sit on the beach.........listening to the waves rush in..........breathing in the cleansing salt air...........ahhhhhhh. Alot of people, such as the man in the upper left corner, chose to take the time to read a book. Me?...........nahhhhhh........I just sit there and take it all in.
For seven continuous days I sat on the beach at the Iberostar Bavaro resort in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic. A long, long way from home. I didn't care about anything while sitting there. The election was not dominating my mind. There were no Jehovah's Witnesses passing out propaganda to the tourists.............hmmmm.........I imagine I would have had to do something about that kind of scenario..........I wasn't gonna let anyone mess up my vacation. I sat there and it was all good.
If I looked up, this is what I would see. I don't particularly enjoy getting burned to a crisp, so I spent a good amount of time under the canopy. Shade is a good thing to have when you are not conditioned for the tropical sun. Even though it was about 85 degrees with a nice ocean breeze, the sun here is very strong and you can feel it penetrating your skin. Of course, my better half made sure I was nearly embalmed with sunblock. My legs are so white they look like flourescent tubes..........people might think I was a kitchen or an ice cream dealer on the beach....hehehe.......so I have to use sunblock because I would burn up like a Watchtower Magazine at an Apostafest!

There are plenty of canopies and chairs for everyone. These were behind where I sat.

To my left was where they loaded up the catamaran and the parasail. The banana boat ride was also available. This was looking north.

As I previously mentioned, my camera was malfunctioning. I apologize for the lack of quality in these photos, but its all I have.......and its better than nothing. During the strong daylight the camera would act up. It couldn't handle the bright sunlight hitting the white sand. Even my own eyes required sunglasses here.

Here are some of the Chesapeake Medical Staffing entourage taking a dip. That water was like bathtub water.....so warm.........you just wanted to never get out.

That was worth repeating..................hehehe........On this particular day, the water was very calm with hardly any waves. Very nice indeed.

Looking to my right, I could see this.........sometimes people stretching out in their chairs..........sometimes there were even some women bandying about topless. No big deal.........except there are way too many women that you would NOT want to see in a bathing suit, why would they want to frighten anyone by going topless?

Yep, I could have sat there everyday..........and I did exactly that!

Sometimes the scenery gets a little better. It's all good, folks......it's all good.

Meanwhile, in my chair..................I would look through my binoculars every once in a while. I could see a ship or two in the distance and watch the parasailers go by.........and yes........some of the people that just so happened to walk by......hehehe.

You might look at this picture and think "Gee...look at all of the seaweed". Everyday, the staff of the hotel rake up as much of the seaweed that they can and haul it away. In the water, there was never enough seaweed to complain about. I have been to other resorts where you could not tolerate being in the water because of massive amounts of seaweed. This beach is somewhat protected to a degree by a coral reef. Unless there is a storm or high winds, the seaweed is minimal to non-existent here.

The coral reef also filters what otherwise would show up on the beach. The sand here is pure white and without rocks and broken shells. Pure sand........and great on your feet! I will mention that you will encounter an occasional piece of coral under your feet while in the water. These can hurt your feet and the solution is to move a few feet away from it. There wasn't that much of it to even call it a bother. In fact, I brought some of it home with me as a souvenir............although I heard we were not supposed to do that.

The color of the water................absolutely stunning.
Very roomy place eh? Looking at the trees, you can see which way the wind blows here....hehehe. In the far distance along the beach is the "flea market"......a series of shacks where you can haggle over the price of rum, souvenirs, larimar jewelry, turtle shells, and t-shirts. I got some pretty good deals there, but it is not for the timid because the salespeople are very aggressive and can drive a hard bargain. These guys are not employees of the resort and that area of the beach is on public land. I would recommend that anyone that visits here, at least visit the "flea market" once for the experience. At least you will have a story to go along with your souvenirs!

There is something about seeing a boat on the beach.

Hey..........that's my chair! Darn........I wanna go back and reclaim my space.

This was looking back towards the Iberostar Bavaro beach. I was just leaving the "flea market" when I snapped this off. I encountered a man holding a sign seated to the left of this view (out of camera).......I chose to not take his picture. He was a double amputee and was homeless..........a reminder that there are problems anywhere. If I was him, I wouldn't want to be anywhere else but right there on that beach.....legs or no legs. He had a small box on the sand in front of him.......I threw in a couple of dollars and he looked up at me and said "God Bless You".......and I said to him "God Bless YOU Buddy". He smiled and I continued walking.

This is the view of the beach at the end of "Caribbean Street". The left side was primarily the section of the beach where the guests of the Iberostar Dominicana and Punta Cana would soak up the sun.

A few clouds here and there. This was the part of the day when the sun was going down behind me. It brought an entirely different "feel" to the beach.

I love those palm trees. Yep.....God does some awesome work.

This picture does it no justice, but the evening skies are something to behold. Simply put, it is just plain beautiful.

The wind picked up that evening and had its effect on the waves. There is nothing like a walk along the beach in the evening.

You wont find litter in the sand. The staff remove it promptly. It is a pleasure to walk around the beachfront of this resort.

Imagine having a job like that guy........everyday........walking the beach property and picking up any stray cups, bottles or paper. Gee........I could do that! I wouldn't mind that at all.

What appears to be a blue dotted line across the sand is actually a plastic strip that marks of the boundary for beach volleyball.

Romantic, eh?
I am not a jogger......but if I was.....I would want to be able to see this kind of sight while jogging.

Well, that's the beach! It was the nicest beach I have ever been to. Definately the most beautiful. I did my share of soaking it up. I spent alot of time in the water here. (when I wasn't in my chair) I cannot swim, but nonetheless, I really enjoyed the water. It was like a healing experience for me. Very therapeutic. It cleanses your soul. Call it God's idea of a natural spa. And there is no charge for the natural salt scrub and water massage. I wanna go back. I can safely say that I was totally happy during my seven night vacation here. Not one problem. Not one worry. No schedule to keep. No stress. No pressures. Clean air to breathe. Beautiful eye candy. Happy people.

Paradise.

(*****Note to any Jehovah's Witness that happen to read this...............I have been to "paradise on earth" and I didn't see any lions with beachballs.......hehehehe)