Author: JT

Interesting haircut experience in Punta Cana

Interesting (men’s) hair cut experience yesterday afternoon for US$10 here in Bavaro, Dominican Republic.

Painful is the word. Lots of pain. Like a bad beach massage where the masseuse is just pressing hard in a beat you up kind of way, instead of being helpful.

He really pressed the trimmer (with attachment) hard on my head, bent my ears forcefully, poked at my head to get me tilt this way or that. No finesse. I’ve never been so uncomfortable at a haircut.

Come to think of it, I’ve never had the trimmer portion take so much time and effort…

And hygiene? Ha! No sterilizer, and when he dropped his comb near the end, he gave it a little tap (not even a wipe) and went back to work on my head. Really!?

 

And to top it off, he as drinking Chivas Regal (scotch). While working on me. Nice.

Whale = ballena = vah-JAY-na!?

In Spanish whales are “ballenas” (pronounced ba-YEH-nas in Spain).
When we did the whale watching cruise in Samaná, Dominican Republic, earlier this month, with a terrific Canadian marine biologist named Kim leading the boat, it sounded like she said “vajena”. As in vajayjay.

Though it actually  makes sense with the local dialect (her gringo accent notwithstanding):

– a “b” and “v” are almost interchangeable (in fact you even see a town Veron spelled as Beron sometimes on the side of taxis)
– an “ll” is pronounced like a j (as opposed to a y or “lli” as in million)
– the “s” at the end of the word is dropped in the D.R.

So it sounds over the loudspeaker like “the vajayjay dives at regular intervals” <snickers>

Taha’a: scooter for the day

A mere 8500 CFP / US$80 for the day, inc one tank of gas (which we nearly bled dry). The 50cc scooter laboured up the handful of hills near the center of the hibiscus shaped island.

The scooter was delivered to us at the boat dock, and picked up at our restaurant prior to sunset, so we never had to go to their office.

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Clockwise from top left:
– sunset from waterfront dinner resto Chez Louise
– tasty seafood dinner (lobster, parrotfish, curried non-local shrimp, raw fish Tahitian style – parrotfish, not tuna, this time), 5500 CFP /US$50 pp plus drinks(but tax and tip included)
– cows with Raiatea in the background, on our 15 min hike to a semi-deserted beach
– helmets required!
– one of the bays at center of the island
– view to Raiatea from the southern tip of Taha’a
– drying tamanu nuts (used for skin products)  at the vanilla farm… this is the Vanilla Isle after all
– Joe Dassin beach with snorkeling just offshore, inc a dropoff

We also visited a pearl farm, had a tasty lunch on the bay at Taha’a Maitai resto, and tried to see rescued turtles at Hibiscus hotel but they no longer do that (the danger of an LP guide that is 2 years old :-)

Tip: most places have hard to see road signs :-)