Nine-Day Date-Day 4

Prior to our arrival in Samana, Dominican Republic, Chris and I had waffled back and forth about what excursion we planned to go on. Some of our group were going on a horseback riding and culture excursion to El Limon Waterfalls. Neither Chris nor I really wanted to go on this one. Monday night we finally decided on the Hike, Bike and Kayak excursion, but when we went to the excursion desk to request it, the desk was closed for the evening. Tuesday morning we tried to add it to our itinerary and it had already been filled. We decided just to take a tender (boat transfer) in to Samana and check the area out on our own.





Fortunately, we met Scot and Lisa who also were just going in to Samana to explore. It was nice to have another couple to spend the day with. And we happened to meet up with Justin and Susan who decided to join us as well.





We walked around the main area of town for a short time and then decided to walk around the bay to a cool looking bridge that connected two small islands with the mainland. It was called the Bridge to Nowhere. History suggests that the bridge was originally built to develop the area but when political agendas changed an attempt to build a restaurant on one of the islands stopped.







Before stepping on to the bridge, we came upon a private beach for the Gran Bahía Príncipe Cayacoa (Hotel). Chris took off his sandals and waded out into the water. His surprise came when the beach dropped off sharply. The sand was not very soft and was filled with broken sea shells. As Chris stepped off the ledge, one of the shells cut the bottom of his toe. That didn't stop him from putting his sandals back on and wading out again. I found a few cool shells to take home. I think I could do a little relaxing here.





A small vendor was set up just off the beach. We couldn't say no to the pineapple drinks.



Chris mentioned a number of times how much Samana reminded him of the Philippines, minus the open sewer smell. (We were all grateful for that). Even the rickshaw-type vehicles that sped around the island were reminiscent of the Philippines. We opted to keep our feet on land and ended up walking about 4 1/2 miles. It was a great way to see the island. Our return tender sped us back to the boat where we ate a quick lunch in the cafeteria followed by a trip to the swimming pool and hot tub with Lisa and Scot. Lisa and I were both of the same mind as neither of us thought the pool was overly warm. We stuck to the hot tub while Scot and Chris jumped in the pool and then sped down the water slide with all of the kids.







After our swim, we showered and then slept. Oh the life of a cruiser. For dinner Chris and I headed down to the Indigo Dining room and ran into Laura and Kevin and Laura and Jamon. It was a dinner full of laughs, followed by the most entertaining night on the ship--Sharkbait and then the Not-So-Newlywed Game.