Salto del Limón - Las Terrenas

An unexpected chance came up to go to Las Terrenas as Katherines sister had arranged to go with her friend to Salto del Limón and Las Terrenas but the friend cancelled last minute. So not wanting to see a ticket go to waste I said I would go. I am not usually one for organized tours as I like to be able to go and do what I want when I want but it was a really good deal and I have never been to Las Terrenas before so I thought why not.

Cascada

Katherine is not a fan of trekking especially through a forest so she swiftly passed on the trip. 

The trip was to Salto del Limon which is a waterfall and to the beach in Las Terrenas. The bus left at 6am which meant a 5am wake up but I was pretty excited so it didn’t bother me much. It took about three hours to get there on the new (ish) Samana road, with a stop for breakfast on the way. I like the road as there isn't usually much traffic and very few pot holes! The only problem is the tolls - if you come in a car on your own its pretty expensive, I cannot remember the exact amount but its around RD$700 ( $17 USD ) each way - maybe being on an excursion is not that bad.

River crossing

So we arrived at a restaurant where the walk starts from, it was a really nice place called Manzana (apple). We got our swim stuff on and got ready to go. They were renting boots for the trail at 50 Dominican pesos (just over $1USD) but me thinking I was being clever passed the offer - just another way to get money out of you I thought. So many times on my travels you get offered things at the start of trips and 99% of the times you regret getting them as it was a waste of money... his was that 1% of times that I wish I had not been a cheap ass and got the boots - of course I didnt admit that at the time.

Trail

So we started walking up - a few of the older members of the group got horses to take them but I love a good trek and the guides said it was only 2km so no way was I getting on a horse.

Only a little muddy

It was a pretty easy trek, longer then 2km for sure but not to bad, it took us around 40 minutes. The reason why it took so long was the mud... they must have had a lot of rain as the trail was a swamp, I had to put up with a lot of people laughing at me in my sandals a I was hopping from stone to stone. But it was worth it when we made it there, by far the biggest waterfall I have seen in the Dominican Republic so far. So I got straight in to start washing all the mud off me, pretty refreshing but not to cold. My one piece of advice is to get there early, we were lucky that when we got there only a handful of people were around but about 20 minutes later the place was packed!

Parrot eating lunch with us

So we started the walk back to the restaurant to try and beat the crowds. I have to say it is an awesome walk, you forget what its like to walk in silence when you live in the capital - no traffic, no horns - nothing. The scenery was  beautiful, when people think of the Dominican Republic the first thing they think of is the beaches but theres so much more. 

Beautiful

 So after an equally muddy walk back we sat down for a delicious lunch, local Dominican food washed down with a Presidente. They had to parrots which live in the tree and come down for food identical to my parrot Linda, could not help taking a photo.

A refreshing dip

So back on the bus for the second part of the trip - Las Terrenas beach. I have never been before so was looking forward to checking it out. The ticket for the trip included free drinks at the beach so the rum started to flow  followed by a dip in the ocean. 

Las Terrenas reminds me of Cabarete but a lot quieter, it is basically just two roads of bars and hotels. I will definitely come back again as we only had a couple of hours.

Las Terrenas beach

So that was the end of my little trip, I would recommend the waterfall to people as it is a great day out. The next place on my list is Punta Rucia - hopefully I will make it there some time after xmas.

Scarpelo Salon

Our new Salon - Scarpelo Salon

Well what a few weeks!
First I will start with the house... In my last post we had just dropped in all the plans to Patrimonio. Now we are almost on first name basis with them in Patrimonio with the amount of times we have been in asking questions. I was told that its a long process to get plans approved Patrimonio and have not heard a good word about them I have to admit - so when I got a phone call 5 days after dropping the plans in asking us to come to their office I thought the worst... are the plans wrong, are we missing something... but no, to my surprise they handed us over the plans all approved!
Five days to get approval from Patrimonio - awesome. 
I have to say I haven’t a bad word to say, they are organized and very efficient. A lot more than I can say for Ayuntamiento - who also need to sign off on the plans before we can start work. We went in with the plans and covering letter and they just looked at us like it was the first time they have been asked to approve plans - seriously the guy opened the folder (ripping in half one of the drawings) and said we will call you when they are ready...
Not believing that we would ever receive a phone call we have been in 4 times in the last two weeks and I have to say they are a joke. They really havent got a clue what they are doing.
After a lot arguments the guy in the office sent someone with us to look at the house - this guy actually asked us what he was meant to be doing????
We got there he looked around, got a tape measure out, measured a couple of walls, looked upstairs, said it was big and that was it...
So something tells me we will be in Ayuntamiento next week, we have decided that we will just keep on going in every other day until they give us the permissions. I will let you know if it works!
So I am hoping we will get the serious work under way in January, until then I am going to start digging up the plumbing which is in a state, and putting in a cistern. 
Some family and friends are coming over next week for the holidays for which we have a few trips planned so I am looking forward to a relaxing xmas on the beach.

Upstairs

On a totally different subject I have been really busy for the last two weeks setting up a hair salon that myself and Katherine have just opened. Its been a lot hard work but we have just had our grand opening and I am really happy with it.

When I first came over Katherine and me discussed opening a salon but didn't do much about it. I know nothing about hair so this is Katherines field.  After Katherine and myself came back from the states we decided that we were going to go for it. Its going to be tough at first but Katherine is really enthusiastic about it and I know from experience that Dominicans spend a fortune on their hair!

Downstairs

I have to admit I didn't really imagine setting up a new business whilst restoring the property but I am so glad we did. So a couple of weeks ago we started looking for a local to rent; now we know from experience that this could take a lot of time as last year we looked for months and found nothing that we liked. But sure enough after only a week of looking we found a place, it needed a bit of work but is in a good location on Independencia between Lincoln and Maximo Gomez in Plaza Mirador II (just past Plaza Capri). 
It has two floors, and is on the corner next to the road so is really visible which is always good. So we agreed on a price and signed the contract - the new Scarpelo Salon! Katherine came up with the name - its actually one of the hooks that they use to put in hair extensions and being as the Salon specializes in hair extensions the name fits perfectly.
Katherine knew a friend that was selling her salon in Bella Vista so we got a good deal on all the equipment and are using her staff as well. So we had the location, equipment and staff... now we just need to put it all together. It was a lot of work sometimes working until after midnight but we finished in just over two weeks and are now open.
So if anyone is in Santo Domingo feel free to pop in and check us out. Scarpelo Salon! Find us here - Scarpelo Salon

Scarpelo Salon

Outside

Salon

Extensions

Plans... check / Clearing... check

Finally, I have managed to start clearing up the property! So I arrived with my shovel, brush, gloves and bags... my first thought: I am going to need more bags. Its hard to explain how much trash and debris there is lying around the place - the pictures do not do it justice. 

Trash everywhere

As I have mentioned before when I bought the house there was a local Dominican running a bottle collection downstairs, basically he sells the bottles back to the brewery that people bring him - he pays people something like 1 peso for every 3 bottles they bring him. He had about 7 dogs living in the garden which attracted rats - the dogs food was just thrown in the back garden which is when all the rats would come out and feast, nice! He has been there about 10 years but when I purchased obviously he had to move the business - he actually moved right across the road, which was actually good news as he now looks after the house for me.

Over 50 sacks of bottles

It became apparent that all the bottles that were broken or the brewery would not take were just thrown in the back garden. The same back garden that I am now attempting to clear. As I have plenty of time on my hands and like to get my hands dirty I decided that I wanted to clear the place - now I know I could pay someone 300 - 400 pesos a day to clear it but wheres the fun in that? Where to start? seriously it was a mess everywhere, the actually concrete floor was buried under 2 foot of bottles and trash in places. So I started inside in the back rooms, disgusting was not the word - luckily I am not squeamish. 

I can see the floor!

Luckily I have not seen one rat all week, I am hoping they have moved as there is no food for them to eat now - wishful thinking I guess. One thing that I have come across a lot of is cockroaches! My god there have been thousands, one actually ran up my jeans... I hope the neighbors were not watching as I have never got my jeans off that fast.

Almost there...

So after that experience I pushed on and made good progress on the first day. I should be talking Spanish in no time as my caretaker and his brother keep coming in to check on the progress. I have been asked by about 10 people if they can help me but its something that I want to do - the locals do not seem to get it, they just laugh at me and say I am a crazy gringo! My caretakers brother does keep me supplied in material sacks at 5 pesos a piece, he makes a little on it and I share a beer with him at lunchtime as a thanks - my caretaker joins us and I practice my Spanish - hopefully I will improve a lot as they know I am not very good but they just keep on at full speed, its actually quite fun.

Uncovered an outside toilet

The first two days were backbreaking, no need for the gym whilst doing this. By Wednesday I had filled over 50 sacks of trash piled up near the front doors along with a lot of old wood. I had an offer by someone to collect all the scrap metal in the place for free, he would make a few pesos in scrap and I get rid of some trash for free. There wasn’t much and most of it was rusted but he took it all.

I did accept some help from my caretakers brother on the Wednesday in return for a beer and some fruit off one of my trees as I was shattered. I did not realize how many fruit trees I had in the garden. I have a Jagua tree which has a ton of fruit on it. I have never even heard of it before, but apparently you can put it in drinks, maybe I will try it one day. We also have an orange tree, a guava tree, a few plantain trees and apparently an Avacado tree but I did not see any Avacados. I will be keeping all but the plantain trees as they are in the way.

Had to stop my caretaker from burning the trash when I popped out for 5 minutes

My caretaker lent me his wheel barrow as I had so much dirt and rocks it wasn't feasible to bag it all up. So we wheeled it down to the front doors - I am trying to get everything to the front of the house and will get a truck to come and collect it all. 

The cleared back garden - ready for work

I received all of the plans for the house - I have to say I was shocked with the amount that they gave me - but it cant be bad I would rather be well prepared. So we went to Patrimonio and handed in all the plans. It feels so good to finally apply for the permits, I know it will be a long process but at least its started. I have heard so many bad things about Patrimonio taking ages to agree on plans but I suppose I will just have to wait and see. 

The front two rooms full of trash waiting to be picked up

The encouraging thing is that they have already seen the house and we are just restoring it to its original state so it should not be to hard a decision. We will hear back in two weeks if everything is ok with the plans so fingers crossed. We have three departments to go through - first Patrimonio (Unesco) have to sign off, then Ayuntamiento and finally Obras Publicas. But at least we have started the process...

The completed plans

Bahia de las Aguilas

Bahia de las Aguilas

I have been waiting to go to Bahia de las Aguilas for long time but finally we decided to make time and arrange a trip over a weekend. Its been a busy week with the house and we decided to take a break. 

Bahia de Las Aguilas is in the South West of the Dominican Republic and is know for its virgin beaches and crystal clear waters, its right next to the border with Haiti.

The night before we went we had tickets to go and watch the Cirque De Soleil that was showing in the city. We were running late and as with any concert and event in the city the traffic was crazy. The parking in DR is also and experience, we could have done the normal thing and parked where there was spaces far away from the entrance or you can pay one of the many guys hanging around to find you a space right at the front. After a very stressful parking experience which saw us squeeze through a gap that I swear was smaller than the car we made it into the Cirque De Soleil. These guys are incredible the amount of strength and control they have is amazing - it actually made me feel a little queazy watching them do some of the high acts.

So we had a 5am start the next morning as it is a bit of a mission to get to Bahia de las Aguilas. It is only around 300km but I have heard it takes around 5 hours to get there due to the road. We set off heading west through Bani, Azua, and Barahona. The road was fine until we got to Barahona but after that it started to get bad. 

Me and Katherine

It was so interesting driving through the barrios along the way, the road hugs the coast so there were some amazing views, its hard to believe that this part of the island is so untouched - I am sure it wont be long before the big hotels start setting up shop. This would be perfect for a beach house and I am guessing the prices are really cheap although getting here is the problem - it a bit of a drive. As we passed though the barrios I noticed that there was no gas stations, just people with plastic containers on the side of the road... I was glad we filled up in Barahona! We saw locals betting on cockfighting, kids playing in the streets and shacks with a cows head hanging up outside, I am guessing to let people know they have fresh beef for sale. It was great to see yet another side of this island, seriously there is so much to see and do here and everything is so different.

Cock Fighting

Once you get into the national park you are on your own, we must have seen one car in about and hour. Finally be made it to Cabo Rojo, this is where you stop off the get a boat to the bay. Now there is a road to get there however it is really bad and we have heard you need a serious 4x4 to make it - people say that the owners of the boats try and make it impassable to ensure people us their boats. To be fair I wasn't going to risk it as we were in the middle of nowhere - definitely not worth the risk of getting stuck.

Amazing fresh fish

So we stopped at a restaurant and asked if it was ok to put our tent up and stay there overnight - they were fine with it as we were buying dinner from them. The boat was 1500 pesos which is a little steep as its not actually that far but to be fair we have driven all this way - we didn't really have a choice and it was a nice boat ride. Now Bahia de las Aguilas is known for its crystal clear water - unfortunately when hurricane Sandy passed through it made a mess, all the waters were still churned up in the bay, it was a bit of a shame but at the end of the day it was an amazing beach. We spent the day next to the rocks on the beach drinking rum - cant really think of a better way to have spent the day to be honest.

We got picked up around 4 in the afternoon and got taken back to the restaurant for our dinner and to set up the tent. 

Now as we were camping I thought it would be nice to have a camp fire. So as soon as the tent was up  the fire was lit. It was a really good night and the four of us had an awesome time but it soon became apparent that it was not going to be a good nights sleep, at first I thought it would be due to our new neighbors blaring out Dominican tunes until 3am but no... Mosquitos! I have never, repeat NEVER seen so many - I am not sure if it was the time of year but it was crazy I had been bitten about 20 times and our tent was full of them. 

Drinking rum in the sea

At around 2am I gave up and went to sleep in the car (which apparently was also was buzzing with mosquitos). It was not a good nights sleep but I didn't end up getting the worst of it, Katherine's sister was covered in bites - arms, legs, face! I counted 22 on just one of her arms! I was the first to say lets get the hell out of here in the morning, there were no showers and I was itching like crazy as the mosquitos were still out in force. It was a mad dash to get the tent down and packed up.

Camp fire

On the way back we stopped at Los Patos (The Ducks) which is a little town on a coast. We stopped for lunch at an awesome little place that is next to the river on the beach. People were swimming but it was freezing, like ice cold, so I thought Id give it a miss. You get to pick you fish at the little shacks and they will fry it up for you, its pretty cheap with a fish costing you around 250 DOP. It was interesting to people watch as there was so many people passing through, the highlight for me being when all the bikers turned up so I dragged Katherine out to the parking lot to go and pick out my future bike hehe.

I was jealous when the bikers turned up!

So in total it took us 11 hours and 45 minutes to drive a total of 614km for the round trip. Shattered is not the word to describe it although it was an amazing weekend. If I was to do it again I would probably do it over two nights and there is not a chance you would get me in a tent again with all those mosquitos there. 

What a coast!

Trip to Santiago

My first baseball experience

I was supposed to get in the house this week to start clearing up but unfortunately the guy looking after our house has been a bit slow in rehoming the 5 dogs that we inherited when we bought the house. I went around on Friday and they were gone... it was sad though as he said he could only find a home for 2 of them so he had the others put down. I felt really bad as I didn't want them killed but he had been trying to find homes for them for 2 months and no luck so he made the decision. 

So on Monday I will be in there with my shovel, brush and crow bar clearing the place out. It hasn't actually felt like my house yet as I haven’t spent much time in there - I am sure after a week of clearing it will feel like home. We also get the plans in a couple of days so we can finally apply for these permits! I cannot wait to get the ball rolling.

Me and Fabio

I decided to go up to Santiago for the weekend to see my friend Fabio that I met in the states back in 2009. I have decided that I haven't seen enough of this amazing country so I am going to try and go somewhere new every month. Santiago doesn't really fall in this category as I have been there before but Fabio was telling me about this waterfall we could go to so that counted as somewhere new. I also decided to try and do the trip on a budget. As I was going alone this would mean having to leave the car at home and get a bus - it made sense as its about $2500 DOP in gas for the round trip in the jeep compared to $560 DOP on the bus. So about 2 and a half hours later I was in Santiago. When I got there we decided to go and see a Baseball game. Santiago ‘Aguilas’ were playing Estrella and I have never been to a proper baseball game before so thought it would be good to try and get interested in the national sport of the Dominican Republic.

A very wobbly bridge

What made it even better was that we didnt even have to pay to get in! Fabio is a student and apparently it was free for students that night. I have to say I really enjoyed it - ok it goes on for ages but I can see why people like it - I think its just an excuse for Dominican's to dance drink and be crazy as it was a party atmosphere inside the stadium. We had to leave by the 7th inning (3 hours later!) as we were heading out. Now one of my favourite things about life here is liquor stores! Sad i know but it makes for a cheap night - I tell people back in the UK that we are going to drink at a liquor store and they think we crazy. The fact is though you can have a good night on about $7 USD each and in Santiago the liquor stores are really nice and have nice outdoor seating areas.

So I woke up in the morning with the kind of hangover that only a bottle of rum can give you. We were supposed to go to the waterfall at 8am to miss the crowds but we didnt get going until 11ish. The waterfall was good - does not quite compare to the ’27 Waterfalls’ on the way up to Puerto Plata but it was nice and refreshing. It was about a 30 minute trek to get there - we went to the second waterfall - which was pretty cool. The water was freezing which was awesome as you work up quite a sweat getting there. We did try and go up river a bit further as we heard there were four more waterfalls up the river but we were on the way when Fabios friend who was in front started running back - their was a hornets nest on the path and he got stung twice. Preferring not be stung we thought it would be best just to hang around at the second waterfall.

Messing around

So it was a really good weekend and it makes me want to explore this country even more. I was online the other day and read a blog belonging to an expat living on the north coast here and he documented the trips he has done around the island on his motorbike. I don't know why I didnt think about that before to be honest - I did a 6 week trip through Vietnam on a motorbike a couple of years ago and loved it. So I have started to look for a cheap bike, wont be anything to big although will try and get a 250cc enduro bike so I can go on the rough roads on my trips. It will also save us having to get another car when Katherine starts work, not to mention it will be cheap on gas. 

Katherine has decided to open a beauty salon specializing in hair extensions so she has been busy planning everything and we have found a good location for it so its looking like by 1st December she will be ready to open which is awesome. So this week on top of clearing the house I have to start designing the logos and advertising along with making her a website - its nice to be busy again! So although things are moving slower than expected with the property it will be good to get one business going before Christmas.

What a view

Cabarete Long Weekend

Well its been a little while since my last post this is where we are... 

Puerto Plata Cable Car

There has been a few developments with the house. The quote came back from the architects that we were going to use to draw up the plans for the house so we can submit them to Patrimonial and apply for our permits to start work. Unfortunately the quote was out of our reach so a couple of Katherine's friends who are architects are drawing up all the plans for us. We will have them by 19th November which is awesome and they gave us a pretty good price. On the 11th November the dogs that we inherited with the house will be gone so I can finally get in there and start clearing the trash and junk. We got our first quote back for the restoration and I almost had a heart attack - it was more than we paid for the house! I know it needs a lot of work but that just isn't going to happen. I am not to worried though, we will be able to get the quote down I am sure of it and I plan on doing some of the work myself - so not hitting the panic button just yet.

Relaxing at the pool

We decided to go away for the long weekend up to Cabarete - I decided I was to white after living in the Caribbean for the last year so I needed to get my tan sorted. So me Katherine, Fabio and a few others headed up to the North Coast. We left at 6am to try and beat the traffic - its about a 3 and half our journey - its a good road until you get past Santiago - thats when the pot holes start. Now for some reason whenever I try and avoid a hole in the road I end up hitting it, I am like a magnet for them - seriously, my poor Jeep I thought the wheels were going to fall off.

Every time I have been to Cabarete previously it has rained, but it was looking good and we cracked the rum open at 10am - I love the DR! We were staying at the Hotel Kaoba which I would recommend if anyone wants a cheap place to stay, its right on the strip - nothing fancy but cheap; just make sure you call to make a reservation, if you book online its almost twice as expensive. After the rum we hit the happy hours along the beach where I had a bit of a shock - there is an Irish bar there and I was craving a Guinness - it used to be all I drank so we asked the waitress how much one was... $20 USD! Now I know its imported etc but that is crazy - I even sent Katherine to go and ask again incase she got the price wrong, nope.

We went back to get ready - then it happened the heavens opened... I have never seen so much rain - I almost thought that Hurricane Sandy had turned around and come back. The rain put a bit of a downer on the night but a good time was had. We decided not to stay another night in the rain and went to Puerto Plata where there is a cable car that goes up to the top of a mountain. Katherine was a getting scared on the way up (as you can see in the pictures. We went up there and it was surreal as we went up through the fog. Luckily it cleared on the way down so we could see the awesome view. We made a quick stop in Santiago for lunch on the way down to end an enjoyable weekend.

Hopefully by the next post I will have the completed plans in my hand...

A scared Katherine

Reminds me of Brazil

Santiago

El Monumento - Santiago

What may be done at any time will be done at no time

Back room

Things are moving forward with the house - a little slower than I wanted but it is to be expected I suppose. I met up with the architects and they gave me a set of conceptual designs based on the brief I had given them. I have to say it is a good feeling to see what the place is going to look like. At the moment you have to have a lot of imagination and vision to picture the property finished - every time I walk into the place I get excited, even with the trash, bottles, dogs and rats all over the place. They did pretty well with the designs and even added a few features that I didn't think of and ones that can be added over time. 

The constructional engineers came by during the week and it wasn’t all bad news. Most of the beams holding up the roof and the floors will be reusable which will be a huge saving. They said the front structure is pretty sound which is awesome news however there are question marks over the two pillars that hold up the upstairs sun terrace and the two rooms at the back of the rear construction. Not sure what that means yet but I am sure I will find out soon. The one thing that does worry me is that no one wants to say a price... strange hey lol.

I have got some quotes in for the plans I need to apply for the permits so I will be maing a decision shortly on which architects to go for. From what I have found out I need four sets of plans; Orginal/constructural, conceptual, plumbing and electrical. My main aim is to get these permits applied for to get the ball rolling, I can worry about getting quotes for the work whilst I am waiting on the permits.  

I did drive by the other day to a bit of a shock, they are digging up the road and sidewalks along the road - I later found out that the government is investing money to replace the sewage pipes and electrical lines which is a plus. However to my shock there was three children having a shower in front of my property in their underwear... They had a hose pipe connected to what I am guessing is my water supply that is now accessible due to the sidewalk repairs. I had a horrible feeling I might be providing the neighbors with their water and power... So the utility companies were called and they came around and cut of the water and electricity until we start restoration.

Tres Ojos Santo Domingo

That is one thing over here you have to be really careful of - the electricity thieves! The cost of electricity over here is astronomical and having neighbors hook up to your supply is a frequent occurrence. I am glad I spotted that one early.

With regards to the paperwork side of the house; I have paid the taxes - a 3% transfer tax and registration fee. I had to go to the DGII (government tax office) to find out the amount I had to pay. This would have been a little quicker however I have not yet applied for residency - silly I know - and therefore have no cedula (ID) number yet. It is not a big issue as over here you can buy property with just a passport as ID but you need to have a personal RNC (tax) number. Its very handy having Katherines dad who is a lawyer as he sorted all this out for me. So I now have an RNC number so I can pay tax on the house - oh the joy.

On the day we had to go and pay the taxes I thought it would be a simple process but this is Dominican Republic and something that should take 30 minutes takes 4 hours - but I am getting used to it. So first things first we had to get a cheque issued from me to the government, I wont bore you with the details but after an hour and a half in the bank we finally sorted it. So then down to the tax office, after waiting about an hour - which was strange as the place was pretty empty and there was a lot of staff at the windows - we finally got to the desk only to find out that we needed to fill in another form - for that we have to go upstairs and take a ticket then come back down and wait to see an attendant again. Hey but I didn’t care, taxes were paid! woop woop - you get a green sheet stating the amount you have paid. 

I am almost at the stage of getting the title in my name, I just have to go to the DGII office this week to hand in all my paperwork. 

Dominicana Moda 2012

So what else is new... The new president has released his new tax rises that are apparently going to allow the country to grow and prosper... or as everyone here sees it just to line a few more government pockets, but I wont go into that.

There are a few of the usual suspects that aren't to shocking such as a rise cigarette and alcohol tax. They are also raising the property taxes - registration tax will now be 4.5% rather than 3% (I bought just in time), but probably the biggest one will be that before if you had properties over here worth under $5m pesos you did not need to pay tax. For example if you had 4 properties worth $4m pesos each then you wouldn't have to pay any taxes. However as I understand it (I could be wrong) now they are changing that to your collective properties worth ie 4 houses at $4m Pesos = $16m pesos. The first $5m pesos is tax free but now this person would have to pay 1% tax a year on $11m pesos of that... 

Another is that the ITBIS is going up from 16% to 18% which I think is pretty high for a developing country.

Another one that got me was the car tax, now the tax is 1% of your cars value each year. Might not seem so bad but its the governments appraised value - not the purchase price which screws me as they say mine is worth almost double what I paid for it! If they just put an end to all the ‘waste’ that goes on in the government they wouldn't need to raise anything.

7am Queue to register my car

Now I had promised myself I would start working through a long list of things that I need to get done - not house related. Top of that is to finally register my car, six months on I am almost there! Katherine's dad came along with me (did I mention its awesome having a lawyer in the family?) and told me to meet him at the local office in Santo Domingo at 7am. I did think that was early and but I found at why... even at this time there was at least 50 cars ahead of me in line. Basically you have to wait until one of the workers comes to check all your paperwork against the VIN numbers on the car to ensure it is all legit - to be fair the office doesn't open until 8:30am and I was seen at 9am so it wasn't that bad - I got told if you come later it takes a lot longer. They then give you a slip of paper and then you have to go in and queue to submit all the paperwork; contract of sale signed by owner and buyer and then notarized, original title of car and a photocopy of cedulas/passport. 

I think it takes about a week then I have to go back down to pick up the new title. One job almost completed! It only took about 3 hours... 

Next job will be applying for my cedula which might not be as bad as I first throught as there is a foreign investment incentive that allows you to get a cedula in 45 days! I am curious if that is true? But before I can apply I need my Birth certificate apostlized in the UK and sent over along with a police check - I am heading to the embassy tomorrow to see if they can help me with the police check. I had to apply for a new birth certificate as they kept my original one for my wedding at xmas - which added another week onto the process, But its finally here so watch this space...

Weekend in Sosua

Other news...

Had a bit of a shock the other morning - woke up feeling very hot indeed, first I thought the aircon must have broken. But unfortunately not! Someone had stolen it off the wall from the outside of the building (for the second time) - even though a new cage had been put up and it was securely locked they managed to take it - along with three others from the building we found out later that day.  

Thieving sods - if I had to give advice when living in an apartment it would be to not have one on the ground floor! 

So I am hoping by mid November I will have finally applied for the permits so I can apply at Patrimonio and Ayuntamiento. My live in caretaker will have moved out everything by mid November so I will finally be able to get in there and clean the place up a bit. He is going to stay on as our caretaker to make sure nobody decides to move in to the house which is handy. So until next time...