Punta Cana Recap

Some beachside shade at our resort in Punta Cana

Got back from an all-inclusive resort week at the Iberostar Bavaro in Punta Cana with Dan and Brad a few days ago, and it was definitely the relaxing vacation away from emails, grad school/road trip planning, and other distractions that I needed post-work and pre-grad school. The weather was pretty terrible the first 4-5 days of the trip (overcast or pouring rain the entire time), but that was really the only negative of the trip and the weather was perfect the last two days.

The food was all pretty good and available at all hours of the day. There was a dinner buffet which we ate at 4 of the nights, and then we also went to their a la carte steakhouse, Japanese restaurant, and Mediterranean restaurant the other 3 nights. Besides dinner, our favorite meals were breakfast, lunch, second lunch, afternoon snack and late night. Drinks were pretty good too and made waiting out rain storms a little more fun. Brad and I managed to cut through the cocktail menu for every possible fruity drink they advertised with no shame whatsoever, while Dan enjoyed a steady stream of El Presidente cervesas, and of course, whiskey and cokes.

Late night activities were somewhat limited and low key, but we still stayed up later most nights than I originally had expected, between our resort and the sister resort next door (Iberostar Dominicana) that we had access to. Our lobby bar stayed open until 1 am and featured the friendliest of the staff that we met during our stay. The Dominicana had a night club which looked fun if you either enjoy dancing or hanging out with high school kids, but that doesn't describe any member of the PCP. We spent a decent amount of time at the sports/karaoke bar trying to guess the Spanish headlines on ESPN Deportes, listening to Tatyana wreck havoc on our eardrums with the same two songs every night, and humoring Brad as he suggested tequila shots every three minutes. The Dominicana also had a small casino which none of us used. Gotta save up my gambling energy for Vegas in three weeks. The evening was usually concluded by hitting up the late night buffet, and then heading back to our room to hear the overindulging college kids from Chicago upstairs retching in the middle of the night. You just can't take Americans anywhere.

Other random trip highlights: driving through town to see a man holding a gun up at a store; our tour excursion rep Gerkins who might have been soliciting us a prostitute as part of the tour excursion package; Gerkins on the last day looking ready to cry and refusing to look us in the eye b/c we didn't take him up on that offer nor booked an excursion through him; "Everybody...clap your hands..hip hip... everybody!"; explaining legume allergies to hispanic busboys; the waiter calling Dan a baby for not drinking wine; remembering "tenedor" means fork; two days of snorkeling; the "raising your beer bottle to everyone who walks past our patio to see what reaction you get" game; ping pong, War, Set, and Egyptian Ratscrew; not using any Imodium on the trip; Bahama Mamas; milky cream ice cream; celebratory cigars; refusing to sleep before our 4:10 am airport pickup on the last night; and, of course, the Wild Card.