6) Vieques - great beaches and mindblowing Bio Bay

On our way from Culebra via Fajardo to Vieques we learned from our initial ride to Culebra and anti nausea pills. Thanks to them, we slept most parts of the rides^^ In Vieques, we took a local bus at the ferry terminal to our AirBnB host in Esperanza. The host was very friendly, but we were surprised by the bad quality of the room. It was like a garden hut under construction. We went to Esperanza's small Malecon that is filled with restaurants and had dinner at Lazy Jacks.
The next morning (29.12.) Franzi jogged to Sun Bay and I followed her. The beaches on Vieques are very beautiful too, they are more natural and receive less cleaning. The large number of beaches also causes most of them to be lonely. As everyone adviced us to do a kayak tour in the famous bioluminescence bay nearby, we asked everywhere for a spot but were quite unlucky. Back in Esperanza, we found a place to rent bycicles and suddenly also were lucky to get a spot on a tour. After very late breakfast at Belly Button's, we used the bikes to cycle west to Playa Grande, which was an untouched beauty of a beach. We wanted to continue across the island to Green Beach, but when we heard gun shots coming closer and closer to us, we changed direction back to Esperanza. We later found out that the local gun and shooting sports club was there. Instead, we cycled east as far as La Chiva (Blue Beach). We were really amazed by the many wild horses on Vieques. We stopped at Playa Prieta for a swim. For sunset we visited Sun Bay on the way back to Esperanza. Finally a good sunset again :) Back in Esperanza, we prepared for the kayak trip. But when we waited to be picked up, noone came. When our phone contact stopped answering our calls and 1:20h passed, we decided to go for dinner instead. But right then a car stopped and a guy called us. We were lucky to be only two people on his tour, while he had 6 before and later 11 after us. At Bio Bay a starry night sky with few clouds covered us while we entered Bio Bay in the dark. When we started paddling, the water around the paddles and under the kayak started to glow. I can't describe how amazing it was, but I try to cover it a bit. The bay was less than a meter deep and we could see the water glow around fishes that moved. Even when fish haunted we could watch them through the water. When we lifted a handfull water, it was as stars rolled down our arms and fell into the boat. It was such a great experience! Unfortunately, our cameras couldn't capture any of this. Back in Esperanza, we were hungry and went for dinner at Bananas.
The next morning (30.12.) we encountered a great bakery. After a coffee and some pasteries, we wanted to bring the bikes back when a strong rain hit us. Soaked we, I returned the bikes while Franzi went for a run anyways^^ On my way back I picked up some more pastries for our way. We went to the Ferry Terminal in Isabella and returned to Fajardo. In Fajardo we shared a taxi with two Americans and two Chinese to San Juan.

morning sun at Sun Bay

I at Playa Grande

Sunbathing at Playa Prieta

Sunset at Sun Bay

5) Culebra - paradise beach Flamenco

The ferry ride from Fajardo to Culebra was much more rough than we expected. I somehow managed not to puke, while Franzi didn't share that luck. When we arrived at Culebra town, our guesthouse didn't seem to be far away on the map. Seeing all the hassle with people negotiating for transport, we decided to just walk with our sick stomaches. We underestimated the sun a lot though. Fortunately, Culebra is a true island with people offering you hitchhikes all the time. Two hitchhikes later we found Casa Robinson Guesthouse. The guesthouse is located on a hill overlooking large parts of the island. We loved the view! The guesthouse itself didn't offer much and seemed a little overpriced. We went for lunch at Tiki's Grill and afterwards I somehow slipped next to the street, scraped my knee and while I got a hold of myself I crushed my hand into a piece of glas. After I cleaned and desinfected the wounds we headed for the beach. The owner was friendly and offered us a ride to the supermarket and then famous Playa Flamenco. The beach is truly gorgeous with white sand across several kilometers and cristal clear turquoise water. You could always find calm water for swimming and waves for fun somewhere along the beach. Funny easter eggs were two old tanks at the beach. Back from Playa Flamenco, we considered renting a golf cart... but then we were told that the other beaches around the island would not be worth it and we found that we can go some ways with the local bus or by hitchhiking... so we decided to save that money^^ We were a little late to enjoy sunset from our guesthouse and it was also a bit cloudy. Later for dinner we went to Zaco's Tacos. Mexican or, alternatively, Italian food are my favorits in Central America and the Carribbean :)
The next day (27.12.) Franzi jogged to Playa Flamenco, while I bought some drinks and got a hitchhike to follow her. After her run, we had sandwiches for breakfast from the kiosks at Playa Flamenco. After breakfast we walked over to Playa Tamarindo but we quickly knew why most of the people are at Playa Flamenco - it is better in all regards. We also had lunch at the kiosks - a true beach day :D When we returned to our guesthous we were in time to see the sunset, but clouds were hiding it. We still enjoyed the view with some Coronas. Due to our big and late lunch we were only looking for some desert and found Lynn's ice cream in homemade Belgian waffles :D
We kind of repeated our beachday the next day (28.12.). Franzi jogged to Playa Flamenco and I followed her with fresh chocolate milk from the supermarket by hitchhiking. We enjoyed the big waves on the beach that day, but needed to leave after lunch. The guesthouse owner drove us to the Ferry Terminal where we went back to Fajardo and in Fajardo we got on a ferry to Vieques.

view from our guesthouse

entering Playa Flamenco

a true post card beach

easter eggs at Playa Flamenco: a tank...

...two tanks^^

beautiful wife at the beach...

better gotta be kissed by her husband :D

night view from our guesthouse

our Minions enjoy relaxing at the beach too...

...and the white sand of course :)

4) El Yunque Park, Luquillo, and Fajardo

The next morning (24.12.) our families back home were already preparing for christmas feasts while we woke up to sunshine but missed the family feeling. We knew there would be no christmas for us this year. After Franzi skyped with her family, we got our clothes to the laundry, searched for bikes to rent. Then, we went hiking in the El Yunque rainforest. On the way, we stopped for lunch at Boardriders in Luquillo. In El Yunque, we skipped the visitor center and went straight for the longest trail, the El Yunque trail. We didn't make all the way on top of Mt El Yunque, but instead climbed Mt Britton. A tower on Mt Britton allowed us to overlook the National Park and see the north and south coast of Puerto Rico. I used the opportunity to call my family for christmas. Back at our car we drove to Yokahu tower, which offer us great views across the National Park as far as the northern coast of Puerto Rico. When the tower closed, we visited nearby La Coca waterfall. We were eager to see the beach and sun started setting. So we drove to Luquillo Beach. It is a wide and nice beach, but couldn't compete with the beaches of Las Terrenas. We shot a happy christmas picture for our family and friends before having vietnamese buffet dinner at Luqillo Beach BBQ. We then check for possibilities to visit the Bioluminescence Bay near Fajardo in Laguna Grande. But all slots were fully booked and we were told that not much luminescence could be seen at the moment.

El Yunque - a true rainforest :)

Franzi and I on Mt Britton

falls from Bano de Ojo

view over El Yunque from Yokahu tower

christmas greetings from Luquillo Beach

The next day (25.12.) we went for hiking in El Yunque again. This time, the park was largely closed and we had to leave our car near La Coca waterfall. We walked the Big Tree and La Mina trail and were hit by heavy rain. We then visited Luquillo Beach again and went for a swim. There we encountered some sand flies, which made us escape. After a shower in our guesthouse, we went for a more fancy dinner at Calizo Seafood Restaurant. The food was good, but the portions small... the sangria was good too and we enjoyed the live music... a nice birthday dinner for me :) Afterwards, we returned our rental car and had quite some trouble finding the station, which turned out to be a car lot at a gulf club.
The next morning (26.12.) our AirBnB host drove us very early to the Fajardo Ferry Terminal. We were heading for Culebra and it turned out that many people who came later were not able to get a ticket. When we queued for the tickets, we were hit by another strong rain... at least it revealed a nice double rainbow^^

Franzi and I on Big Tree trail

dinner at Calizo restaurant

double rainbow while queuing for Culebra ferry tickets

3) From Santo Domingo to Puerto Rico

When we arrived at the bus station in Santo Domingo from Las Tarrenas, the sun was setting and there was quite a traffic jam in the city. As the bus station was not far from Zona Colonial, we simply walked to our hotel. The locals were surprised to see tourist walk with their suitcases through the streets. We crossed Mercado Modelo, the first true market we saw in the Dominican Republic. This time, our hotel was right on Calle Conde: Hotel Casa Conde Boutique... its location was great, the room was small - again - and the breakfast disappointing. In general we found value for money to be ok in D.R., but not good compared to other poor countries.
After check in, we walked to Plaza Espana and later had dinner at SegaZona who served Italian and Mexican food. The next morning (23.12.) we visited the Malecon, Parque Independencia and Mercado Modelo (where it turned out that we already saw most of the market when walking past it the evening before), spend some time on Calle Conde and visited Catedral Primada at Parque Colon. After lunch, we visited the Palacio Nacional and were surprised how nice the palace is. Quite typical for poor countries though to have huge palaces for their presidents.
At the evening we then hopped on a taxi to the airport. From town to the airport the taxi cost 25 compared to 40$ the other way around... that's quite telling^^
We flew to San Juan, Puerto Rico and arrived there with some delay. Entering the USA was quick here - yes Puerto Rico is US territory and you need US visa to enter. We picked up a car from Enterprise at San Juan airport and drove to Fajardo. On the way we stopped for super late dinner snack at McD before entering our AirBnB in Fajardo.

I really like the grafities all over Santo Domingo - here on Calle Conde

Even Calle Conde, the busiest shopping street in Zona Colonial, has largley unused buildings

convenience stores in Santo Domingo also serve as pubs

gorgeous Palacio Nacional

2) Las Terrenas

In Las Terrenas we stayed at Hotel El Rincon de Abi, which was owned by a french couple. Except for the too hard bed, our room was nice and the hotel was close to the beach. Well, almost every place in Las Terrenas is close to the beach :) The small town is very laid back and it feels like more expats than locals run the place. As it was sunset time when we arrived, we just had a walk along the beach and got some local seafood for dinner at the beach. The next morning we went for a swim close to our hotel and really enjoyed lying on the beach :D We then looked for bikes and a dive center. We rented bicycles from a nice swiss guy and drove to Playa Coson. We took an early crossing and came to a completely lonely stretch of the beach that was extremely beautiful. We shot a few pictures and walked on to the main part of Playa Coson. There Franzi asked for surfing lessons the next days. But the guy hardly spoke english but told us that the waves were too small even for beginners at the moment. On our way back we stopped at Playa Bonita that faces plenty development. It is by far not as beautiful and lonely as Playa Coson, but the setting sun added some nice flair. Back in Las Terrenas we kept the bikes until the next day and had some nice bbq ribs and chicken for dinner accompanied by some mojitos of course :) We continued our evening with another mojito and beer at a bar near the central crossing, watching plenty old foreigners hanging out with young locals. Las Terrenas is flooded by old foreign guys and women alike who look for exotic local adventures.

beautiful and lonely, near Playa Coson

time for photos :)

being at such a great beach even pushing your bike is fun^^

sunset time at Playa Bonita

The next morning (19.12.) we exchanged my bike for a larger one to make a ride to El Limon visiting a waterfall. While we waited for the new bike to be prepared, Franzi saw Samana Diving, a really nice dive center owned by the friendly Spanish Josue. I went there and reserved a spot to dive the next morning. With the new bike, we made our way to El Limon, which was easier than expected. At the major crossroad in El Limon I checked for the right way to the waterfall. That was when several people approached us and wanted to guide us to the waterfall. We said we were not interested and continued quickly... but it didn't help. Two guys followed us by motorbike to the entrance of the waterfall. We went straight down to the entrance and left our bikes with the staff there, not trusting the guys who followed us. We were the only tourist at that time and more guys approached us, 5 including 2 horses by that time. Telling them that we weren't interested in a guid didn't help. They kept following us. When we arrived at a stream it was difficult to see where the way continous. That is when they told us it was impossible to go to the waterfall without a guide - it would even be dangerous. It was a creepy situtation. I checked my open street map, found the direction and then we followed the horse shit. Not very difficult, not dangerous, just a little annoying to make your way without a guide. They even tried to lure us on a wrong path, but we wouldn't listen :P We should have brought some mosquito spray though, that made the hike a little tougher. When we arrived the top, great views and a fresh coke awaited us^^ The waterfall was big and we went for a dip in its pool.
On the way back we had lunch at Restaurant Santi in El Limon and then stopped at a beach near the old airstrip. Back in Las Terrenas we wanted to watch the sunset but were a little late. We then had dinner at Casa Azul Pizzeria and visited La Bodega for some salsa music and drinks. A massive rain fall flooded the streets while we danced^^

reached the top and enjoyed a fresh coke^^

in the pool at the bottom of El Salto del Limon

The next morning (20.12.) I went for a dive. We started with an easy dive where we also dropped two snorkelers and wanted to head for a pseudo-cave dive next. But when we surfaced, the sky was black, the waves high and buckets of large rain drops fell on our faces. Josue canceled the dive due to safety concerns and invited me to come back the next day. I was back to our hotel just when Franzi was back from her daily morning run... she was quite surprised :) We used the bycicles to check another surf school at Playa Bonita that Franzi heard about. However, on our way there I had a flat tire and spend my time pushing the bike back to the swiss guy while Franzi asked about the surfing. We then returned the bikes and had some local bbq chicken for lunch. We found out that locals overcharge us so much, that it is better to eat at the fancier expat places at the beach for a similar price. We spend our afternoon at Las Terrenas' beach and it rained occasionally. For dinner we went to a Spanish enjoying a good Paella. The dinner was great, but we misread the menu and ended up spending more money than we had with us. That was a little embarrassing^^

rainbow - the good side of rain :)

Las Terrenas' beach

Paella for dinner. And mojitos :)

The next day (21.12.) we wanted to rent a quad to explore more of Samana, after we canceled our initial idea to change city to Jarabacoa in central Dominican Republic due to the rainfalls. Unfortunately, it kept raining most of day. So we went for some souvenir shopping and spent the afternoon at Las Terrenas' beach again. The waves became nice though and we enjoyed swimming a lot. We got a body board from a French kite surfing teacher and it was fun to ride the waves with it. When the sun set we took some pictures, the beach looked gorgeous. For dinner we had a hard time deciding and went for Casa Azul Pizzaria again^^

Las Terrenas' beach is not bad either

great light from the setting sun

I like beaches with palm trees reaching to the sea

sunset time is best for photos^^

heading for the sea...

you can even see the moon already!

sunset at Las Terrenas' beach

The next morning (22.12.) I wanted to dive again. However, Josue and I were not fortunate. No rain, but two other divers canceled leaving only me, which would have cost Josue much more than he could have earned from my dive. Josue offered to teach Franzi and me any diving we would like to learn. Franzi was surprised when I was home even before her this time. After breakfast we visited Josue again and Franzi decided to try diving. While Josue patiently introduced her to the essentials of diving, I trained my boyance in the pool. It was quite some fun and with the help of Josue Franzi went diving and fulfilled some basic diver tasks. Maybe I convince her to become a diver one day :) Later we hopped on the afternoon bus back to Santo Domingo.

1) Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic

On Wednesday (16.12.) Franzi and I left Boston for the Caribbean. After a stop in San Juan, Puerto Rico, we arrived delayed in Santo Domingo. The airport has no proper public connection to the city forcing people to use the airport taxi whose monopoly has extremely inflated prices (40$ to downtown). We stayed in Antiguo Hotel Europa in Santo Domingo's zona historical. The hotel was ok with breakfast on the roof top being the a nice treat. It was already past sunset, but we wanted to stretch our legs and went for a walk through the main shopping street Calle Conde. Although it was just past 9pm the streets were pretty empty and we were approached by a number of beggers. We went for dinner at Grand's Cafeteria and had some good Italian food (quite typical for Central America including the Caribbean). Somehow we lost some of our money there - maybe fall out of the pocket. Not a good start overall, we were hoping for the next day. Early morning (17.12.) Franzi and I walked down to the malecon (promenade) where Franzi went on a run while I enjoyed the sea breeze at Plaza Juan Baron and did some first sightseeing on the way back to the hotel. The grafitis scattered around the city were impressive and stood out. There we enjoyed a really nice breakfast at the rooftop together. Then we went on a walking tour through the city starting at Plaza Espana where we saw a big coca cola christmas tree. From there we walked along Calle Las Damas past numerous museums to Fortaleza Ozama where we enjoyed some fine views. We then walked along Calle Padre Billini viewing multiple churches and then got fresh lemonade and ice cream at Calle Conde before we finished our sightseeing tour in Parque Colon in front of Catedral Primada. Back in our hotel we ordered a taxi to bring us to Caribe Tours station. The bus took us in the afternoon to Las Terrenas... well kind of^^ We were dropped in Sanchez, the closest town to Las Terrenas on the route where we should catch a small local bus to Las Terrenas. The last one of course left 5 min before we arrived. Two guys took us on their bikes promising to catch the bus, when they didnt they offered to drive us to Las Terrenas for 20$ per person... quite an extortion, but at least the ride has been a lot of fun and brought some adventurous vacation feeling :)

waiting in San Juan for our connecting flight...

colorful Obelisco at Plaza Juan Baron

Santo Domingo's city beaches are not inviting...

big Coca Cola christmas tree on Plaza Espana - christmas tree among palm trees appear always strange to me

Calle Conde - major shopping street during the day

Hiking White Mountains

After collecting our rental car Friday night, we started early Saturday (12.12.) morning towards the White Mountains in New Hampshire. We drove I-93 north until Layafette Campground in the White Mountains. There we hiked up to Lonsome Lake. It was an easy hike an only little ice awaited us on the trail. Lonesome Lake had a great setting and was really beautiful. We surrounded the lake and then wanted to hike a loop back to the Campground. However, we clearly misjudged that trail. We thought it would lead us along the side of Cannon Mountain back down to the Campground. The sun was already setting and we ran a bit out of time. The trail became extremely icy and the rocks got bigger and bigger. We met a few hikers on the way that told us we could indeed take that route. Then, an experienced hiker that also works as guide told us to turn around as the path would get much more dangerous and without equipment such as spikes we would surely risk a broken arm or leg. So we turned around and made it back to our car at the Campground just before darkness. 20min later it was completely dark. That was kinda scary^^ We then drove to Ashland where we stayed at Comfort Inn - a simple but pleasent hotel. We went to Village Pizza & Grill for dinner. They provided large portions for an ok price. But the meals looked better than they tasted... not bad, but not great either.

Our picnic spot at Lonesome Lake

trail around Lonesome Lake

Franzi on the Lonesome Lake trail

Overlooking Lonesome Lake and Cannon Mountain

Climbing above Lonesome Lake on the Cannon Mountain trail

The next day (13.12.) we enjoyed breakfast at the hotel before checking out. We then drove into the White Mountains again starting with an easy visit to Flume Gorge - a small canyon carved into the rocks by a small stream. After struggling to find the trail, we found out the the canyon was closed for walking. Instead, we climbed on Mt Pemigewasset, which was a rather easy hike too. But it rewarded us with some amazing views. Great place for a picnic :D We took the Indian Head trail down and sometimes finding the trail marks was not too easy^^ Back at our car we looked for a place to have lunch and found the charming Sunny day diner - a truly classy American diner. Their prices were good and food tasty. With full bellies we visited the Basin, a natural pool in the White Mountains. From there we went on the Cascade Brook trail. A nice trail that led along a small stream. The trail normally would have led as far as to the Lonesome Lake. A bridge, however, was destroyed but floods. At that point we returned to our car and headed back to Boston leaving the White Mountains while the sun set.

great views from Mt Pemigewasset

perfect picnic place :)

what a view!

Cascade Brook trail was much fun too...

I like hiking along a stream :)

Particularly when getting such nice views on the way :D