Who would have thought that clicking through on a random email in my sea of junk mail and following a link that was supposed to tell me about the number one all inclusive island trip for 2013 would take Rob and I all the way to the Dominican Republic with Islands magazine?
It's been on my list for a while to go on a photography "vacation". This means the general purpose of going is to take photos. In this scenario, it would also mean that Rob would possibly have the company of other "plus ones" to share his misery with of the insane amount of photos I like to take when we travel. Seemed like a win-win situation for everyone involved if you ask me!
The very same weekend that our island adventure was to start, was also a long awaited and bucket list item for Rob... the Berkshire Hathaway Shareholders meeting in OMAHA, Nebraska where Rob would get to see (from a fair distance) Warren Buffett. If you don't know who that is, then rest assured he isn't related to Jimmy Buffett nor does he sing (that I know of!). Rob was going to have to fly from Omaha to Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic and would meet me there.
After landing in Santo Domingo, I just so happened to be on the same flight as one of the photographers and we waited it out for our ride to arrive. And we waited. And we waited. And we waited just a little more. Finally our ride organizer, Charley, showed up at the airport with ice chests full of beer and water. Believe it or not, you can drink and drive in this country. And what I mean by that is you can drink WHILE you are driving.
Our drive, which was supposed to be only 2 hours and ended up being about three and a half after we got un-lost, and then ended in the town of Cabrera. Cabrera is located on the north coast of the Dominican Republic and while is not considered a tourist hot spot, it is considered one of the most beautiful places in the DR.
The villa we stayed at was called the Golden Dolphin Villa. It sat perched high a top a steep and rocky road which overlooked lots of vegetation, the town of Cabrera and the ocean. The villa is about 17,000 square feet and featured 9 bedrooms. Lucky for Rob and I we actually got to stay in the master suite. We had a nice balcony and "outdoor" shower.
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| Enjoying our balcony view! |
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| One of the wings of the villa. |
There were 10 other photographers on this trip, three Islands staff members and an assortment of guests- fondly known by the end of our trip as "The Plus Ones".
Fish Market Folly
On our first day of shooting we woke up bright and early to discuss some high-level photography terms and techniques where we then ventured out to visit a local fish market. I've been to fish markets before in the US, Asia and Europe, but a fish market in the DR means something totally different.For the most part, I think the majority of us thought fish market translated into fresh fish that was caught locally, packed on ice in a nice display. This DR fish market was actually a boat coming up to shore where they killed and weighed the fish there and then sold it. I totally didn't wear the right shoes for traversing rocky shore lines, but made sure to make a more concerted footwear effort for future "markets".
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| I only had a split second to capture this shot before the young boy jumped off the rock. Ended up being one of my very favorite shots of the whole trip. |
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| A young boy tries to help push a boat ashore after fishing. |
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| Locals crack open these shells right along the beach to dig out their tasty? insides. |
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In the afternoon we learned about food photography. Take aways are that shooting is natural light is best, and in this case, it's also OK to put your food on the floor (or any other creatively textured background).
That night we had a lobster dinner on the beach, however it felt more like a lobster feast if you ask me!
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| "free" entertainment |
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Waterfalls, Du Du and the Paparazzi... It's not what you think!
Tuesday started out at the Salterdo Waterfall. There were three young...eh-hem... men waiting for us when we arrived waiting for us to put on a show of jumping into the pool of water waiting for them below. We learned that it is only about 6 feet deep, so jumping in is quite dangerous, but local children like to hang out there and will jump in for pesos. It was pretty hard to get some nice crisp shots of them in action.
After their jumping feats were completed, we drug them around for what I like to call, an Abercrombie and Fitch photo shoot. Not sure if you can figure out why.
After that we went over to Lake Du Du. Sadly, the name doesn't do the place justice as it was simply beautiful. This lake is actually a sinkhole and it is rumored to be about 107 feet deep, although some say the true depth is yet to be determined. What I didn't know at the time was that you can actually cave dive here and what I did know at the time was that you can zip line over the sinkhole and plunge into it. Both Rob and I swallowed our fears and took the plunge! Thanks to one of our photographers (Jeff Leoneli) for these pictures of me plunging into the crisp, cool water- proof I really did do it!
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| aaagggghhhhhhh! |
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| It seemed like I was hanging there for an eternity! |
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| Not sure if this splash would qualify for a high score in the Olympics. |
While the Plus One Posse went to a bar to kick back with drinks, the more reasonable group (or less fun) of us went to a neighborhood in Cabrera to do some street photography. Generally speaking, the people in the DR do not speak English, so pantomiming seemed to be our general form of communication when trying to ask someone if their picture could be taken. I was truly amazed at how people (and many animals) were willing to have their photo taken by a bunch of gringos strolling down the street. If we were on Main Street USA, we would have gotten punched, or shot...
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| I was so happy to a see a Saints hat! |
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| This man is from Canada and has lived in the DR for about 2 years. His current project? Restoring this car! |
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| Making friends rooftop... |
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| This pooch thought he was such a tough guy guarding his alley! |
A few of us had one last stop on our way back to the villa at the Hotel La Catalina for a mojito!
I couldn't believe everything we had packed into that day- and it was only Tuesday! It was definitely proving to be a very exciting trip!
Chocolate and Farms and Horses...oh my!
By Wednesday, I was trying to figure out why my thighs were hurting so much. Yes, our room was on the second floor, but I soon found the source of my pain... all of the squatting I was doing while shooting. I also discovered I like to drop down to my left knee, so that was filled with scratches and bruises. I think I might need to invest in some knee pads at this point. We started out our day going to a chocolate farm.
When I think of the cocoa bean, I think of something that resembles a coffee bean. I don't really know where it comes from as I haven't given much thought about it as I eat it. I know it's good, it makes me feel better when I am stressed out, it doesn't talk back and there's lots of it available over any major holiday. For the first time I get to see (and smell) where cacao beans come from. You won't believe your eyes!
When we first made it on the property a young boy on a horse was right behind our van. He was so cute riding on the horse with a colored blanket, and of course his green Crocs. We asked the driver to stop and 5 of us piled out of the van using our mad pantomiming skills to ask him if we could take his picture. And so we did. Overall, this kid was not much of a smiler, but we managed to get him to pose for us.
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| I snagged this shot from the back of the van. |
After we were finished we made it up to the top of the farm. When we got out of the car an overwhelming smell of grossness hits your nostrils and you are thinking WHAT IS THAT!? Well, that's your cocoa beans. Sounds yummy, right?
The cacao pod that your cocao beans come from, grows on a tree like this. Being from New Orleans, it just looks like a mirliton to me!
You have to wait a few months in order to harvest these pods for the seeds which are contained inside. Here is a picture of what they look like ripe!
Once they are ripe you can take the machete of your choice to slice them open. Buried inside this ice cream cone looking dish are about 40 seeds. We were able to dig out the seeds and try it if we wanted. Don't eat the seeds though we were warned, just suck on the goo. To me... the goo was nasty, but the others in our group didn't seem to think so (unless we were all just being nice!). It tasted like something I would clean my house with.
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| Sure didn't taste like ice cream! |
Once the seeds are dug out they need to lay out and ferment... I mean dry in the sun on large tarps.
I know that the above is not a very great picture to understand what this stuff looks like... so here is a close up. Ugh! Do you still want to eat chocolate now?? Every time I look at this picture the smell that greeted me in the hot sun wafts back to me.
Once everything is nice and dry and the lovely aroma of fermenting beans has subsided, the beans can be pulverized with a giant pestle and mortar. Lets crack open a bean now to see what's inside!
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| Starting to look more like chocolate to me! |
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| Into the mortar we go! |
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| Cacao Bean Chip Chop! |
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| Grated chocolate in your coffee and for hot chocolate is nothing to joke about in the DR! |
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| Gustavo and his crew before we left. |
Beaches, Cigars and Twilight- vampires not included
The weather was hit or miss on Thursday, which was a bit of a disappointment when it comes to shooting photography at actual beaches when you want that nice blue sky in your photos.
The first beach we went to, I was greeted with a calm dog resting peacefully under the shade of some palm trees. I was amazed at the number of dogs that presumably live on the many beaches we visited that day. There was a pair of them at the first beach. One wanted to lounge, while the other was interested in a sand crab.
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| Looks comfy! |
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| Standoff! |
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| One of my favorite pictures from the trip. |
Beach number two brought us to the Gri Gri Lagoon. This Lagoon feeds to the Rio San Juan River
While we were out walking around the general area of the Rio San Juan, Rob was off with the plus one crew on a booze cruise. I don't know if you know Rob that well or not- but that's the type of cruise he may not fit in very well with!
When we returned back to the villa, there was a Dominican hand rolling cigars for us. As anyone who knows me well will know I wasn't going to try one, but it was interesting to see just the same.
Later thtat evening we went outside to do some twilight photography of the villa.
Singing For Your Supper
On our final night we had a pig roast, which was also supposed to feature a pool party, but the weather had other things in mind. Some specially crafted pineapple drinks were on the menu and a little piggie as well. Since out outdoor festivities were squashed, things had to move indoors and karaoke took center stage. Even Rob sang, which was a miracle in and of itself.... he even got up on his own to sing another song!
Overall, this was a great trip. It was a "vacation" that Rob and I will never forget! Thanks to everyone that was a part of it. Hope to meet up with you again soon!
