I have always struggled to turn down work, enjoying what I do and believing that I can squeeze a few more minutes of productivity out of my day. So it’s not suprising that at times I overcommit myself and then scramble to prioritize what does and doesn’t get done. (Note: this is why I have been two years behind on this blog but have decided to jump ahead to write about more recent trips). The past several months have been especially challenging with parent care, deal flow, new course prep, board service, etc. so by December I was in desparate need for some R&R before the holidays. My husband’s birthday is in late December; prior to COVID, we’d always taken a short excursion to celebrate, so it seemed right to restart this tradition. So off to Punta Cana we went for five days of rest and relaxation at the Iberostar Grand Bavaro Resort.
We arrived in Punta Cana shortly before 3pm, quickly cleared immigration and taxied to the hotel, arriving about 90 mins after touchdown. Checkin was quick and painless and we were escorted to our room to meet our butler, who would explain the amenities of the resort and make dinner and golf reservations for us. Our room was large and well appointed; in addition to a king sized bed, there was a desk, day lounger and a bathroom with a large jacuzzi tub strategically located next to one way glass so we could enjoy the view. A spacious balcony looked down on the lagoon and lobby bar, giving us prime viewing for evening musical performances.
We answered a knock at the door, opening it to a tall Dominican man in a white, black and green striped jacket, black slacks, white shirt and bowtie. He introduced himself as Jose, our floor conceirge for the duration of our stay and proceeded to give us a quick rundown of room amenities, get our drink selections to stock the in-room minibar and explain the various restaurants on property and get our preferences for dinner. Twilight was settling in as we finished with Jose with just enough daylight for a quick walk to the beach. The ocean was east and the setting sun in the western sky cast a pinkish glow on both the waves and the clouds hugging the horizon.
We continued our walk, taking advantage of the remaining daylight to explore the resort. A large man-made lagoon with ‘islands’ of palms crisscrossed by walking bridges was in the center of the property, surrounded by Grand Bavaro’s restaurants, shops, bars, lobby and hotel. Docked near the restaurants was a replica of a 17th century Spanish galleon. The ship was dark but we were abloe to board and discovered a bar with a pool table below deck. This was the Cala Esmerella Bar, the after hours pub that serviced the night owls, open from 11pm – 2am. I doubted we’d be patronizing it much!
The resort was beautifully decorated for Christmas – lighted trees, ornaments, angels, candy canes and arches adorned the various plazas, reminding us that despite the 80 deg temps and soft breezes, the Christmas season was upon us.
Since we’d just arrived and had no restaurant reservations our first night, we dined at the Bella Vista buffet, choosing to eat right at 6pm when the restaurant opened. There was an overwhelming selection of Dominican, American and European food – everything from chicken and plantains to burgers to French bread and charcuterie. The resort hosted live performances in the theater every night at 9:30pm – we doubted we’d be able to stay coherent until then but decided to walk after dinner, enjoying the starry sky, lapping waves and cool breeze. And walk we could – there are a total of five hotels connected by paths paralleling the beach and before we knew it we ‘d strolled to the next hotel. By the time we had a drink, watched the kids performing in an outdoor circus show and walked back, it was nearly showtime. So we found the La Scalla theater, a hundered person venue with comfortable chairs, mini drink tables, a big stage and great sound system right at the foot of the elevator to our room. Tonight’s show was a group of talented dancers lip syncing to popular tunes with a few Caribean numbers thrown in for good measure. The next night, four vocalists performed accompanied by a small troupe of dancers. All the shows were entertaining, high energy and often invigorated the crowd to continue the night at the Spanish galleon.
Bavaro Beach is one of the lovliest beaches on the island – miles and miles of sugary white sand sans silicia so never hot to the feet. A steady breeze cooled us and made parasailing a popular activity. We spent hours walking the miles of beach, standing in the surf, swimming in the ocean and people watching. Dominican Republic caters to a large European clientele so besides differences in the amount of flesh left exposed by bathing attire, we often identified French, German, the Queen’s English and even a Slavic languange (Polish, Czech, Serbian?) being spoken by sunbathers.
It was peaceful to cap off the day at the beach watching the sky darken as the sun set, silhoutting the tall palms leaning at odd angles, fronds fluttering in the breeze.
Mornings were the best time to walk the inner roads of the property, before the day became too hot and humid to venture far from the water. We discovered a two mile jogging path that parelleled the golf course and found that if we kept to the east side we would be partially shaded from the sun. One morning we turned onto a gravel maintenance road and were delighted to witness a whimsy of nature. A peacock, its plumage erect, strutted back and forth hoping to impress its female companion.
After our walk, we headed back to Grand Bavaro spending a few minutes watching the flamingos and geese that frequented the inner lagoon. We breakfasted at the Bella Vista buffet where once again the most pressing decision of the morning was which of the hundreds of options to fill our plates with. I have been learning Spanish using Duolingo and one morning was well prepared to order my and my husband’s beverages in Spanish. ‘Yo quiero una taza de te negro con poco leche y el quiere un vaso de jugo de naranja con heilo, por favor’, I proudly, albeit slowly, articulated to the waiter. He gave me a quizzical look, blurted out WHAT as he rushed past and my husband quickly interposed, ‘tea and orange juice, please.’ So much for my Spanish. I decided to save my new language skills for the wait staff in the finer restaurants who were not so rushed!
After breakfast, I’d participate in yoga on the beach; one morning we golfed, then the rest of the day was open to swimming, sunning, enjoying the beach, the pool and the beauty of the resort. A favorite area to walk was under the shaded canopy alongside the hundreds of multicolored orchids.
Jose, our butler, helped make my husband’s birthday special. We came back to the room late afternoon to find a chocolate cake and chilled bottle of champagne waiting for us. The room was strewn with rose petals and a large happy birthday banner was strung across the room. The jacuzzi tub was filled with bubbles and flowers. That night we dined on surf and turf at El Galleon, the restaurant across from the Spanish galleon and toasted to another year of health and happiness.
Dinners at the resort were exquisite. We ate at four of the five reservation only restaurants during our stay. La Tentazione had amazing mushroom risotto, Le Tourbillin, thick, crusty sliced at the table breads to accompany a main of fish and meat, Casa de la Playa was a taste of mediterranean with delicious assortment of olives while El Galeon, located across from the ship was noted for its various combinations of surf and turf.
The last night of our stay was Dominican night featuring island food, locally made handiwork and a show celebrating the music, dance and culture of the country. The deck of the galleon and the adjacent plaza became the entertainment stage for this event. Although we arrived just ten minutes before showtime, we easily found front row seats along the plaza. We’d notice that the resort was far from full; we’d asked Jose about this and he mentioned the hotel was at about 58% capacity – it was too close to Christmas for vacation yet too far from Christmas for holiday travel! We loved the lack of crowds and how easy it was to find lounge chairs at the pool, cabanas at the beach, available dinner reservations, golf tee times and last minute close up seating for shows.
The plaza spotlights illuminated and an emcee appeared on the galleon deck to welcome the crowd in both Spanish and English. Dominican culture is a mixture of Spanish colonism, African slavery and indigineous Taino culture. The show began with Spanish inspired dancing – the men outfitted as cowboys, the women in colorful flowing skirts, spinning and stomping to a rythmic beat.
Music and dancing are elemental to Dominican culture and the ‘official’ dance of the country is merengue. I took merengue and bachata dance lessons daily on the beach but never attained the beautifully executed hip swivel of the Dominican dancers in the show.
The show concluded with music and dance inspired by the indigenous inhabitants of the island, the Taino. The colorful costumes with elaborate head dresses, fast, repetive beat of the music and frenetic footwork made for a high energy finale. Our hearts were racing just from clapping along with the dancers. Energized, we lingered over a drink at the lobby bar enjoying the warm temperature and light breeze, savoring the night a little longer. Tomorrow we go home to the Christmas rush, but fortunately only for four days. Then we are off to our family vacation to Costa Rica .and a new adventure ……
