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