Escaping the Storm

Paradise in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic- September 2017

Me driving the buggy

It was my dream holiday. A nice break away.  No kids, No work, No noise. Just a week full of sand, sea, and cocktails. Everyday was a blaze, boiling hot sun, dripping with vitamin D. I'd never felt better.

My original idea was to head to the Capital, Santa Domingo, for shopping and nightclubs, but friends thought otherwise, so we negotiated a week stay in Punta Cana. All inclusive resort, with a private beach — sounded good to me. 

As we stepped out of the transfer, our beautiful resort awaited us. We made it our intentions to create a day-to-day plan of what we would do during the week.

Rest was much needed, and at the top of our list, so we spent endless time tanning and collecting as much vitamin D as possible! Hot dogs, burgers, and salads were by our side, along with a bar full of alcohol. At that point, nothing else was needed.

During our stay, we engaged in boogie driving, swimming in underwater caves, visiting cocoa plantations and eating out in some of the most wonderful restaurants. 

Day five of our holiday began to take a turn. We had received information that a storm was heading our way, and that it would arrive later the following day. My cousin and I looked at each other in the most perturbed way, but we did try to compose ourselves at the same time. The first thing that came to our mind was that a drink was very much needed!!! So to the bar we headed and left with martinis and mojitos.

The following day, we received notifications written in Spanish. So we headed down to the reception to see if we could get them translated into English. The letters stated that we had to be in our rooms by 10 PM and advised us to take shelter in the bathrooms of our suites. After dinner, we hung out at the bar and got a few more drinks.

I dreaded turning on my phone data to contact family back home, and as soon as I did, I was bombarded with hundreds of emails and text messages.

The first person I called was my mum. Mum stated that ten planes were on they way to pick up all the British citizens!! At first I laughed in disbelief, but at the same time, I thought there may be a lot more to the story (I was actually involved in) then I knew about. So I flicked through our TV until we got to BBC news.

BBC News stated we were in a Cat 5 storm, and although the rain and wind were heavy, we kind of expected worse. 

At 9:00 PM, there was a knock on our door and we were given a pack lunch box from the staff. We had to try our best to sleep through the heavy rain and strong winds. Praying that all would be well. I laid there thinking, at what point do we take shelter in the bathroom? Or do we wait for the water to come smashing against our balcony window. Nevertheless, I closed my eyes and tried to sleep.

The following morning we went downstairs for breakfast, our last meal before heading home. Lots of palm trees were damaged from the roots, and they had been thrown across the grass. Random rooftops we're laying on the ground, along with coconuts that had fell from the trees. 

It was disheartening to see, but we thanked our lucky stars we were OK, and that our hotel was not badly destroyed beyond repair.

As we hopped into our transfer, heading back to the airport we saw a few damaged hotels, it was a damper to the lovely memories we were taking with us.

Punta Cana was absolute bliss, it was paradise. I enjoyed some of the amazing excursions we went on especially the buggy driving, it was so much fun. My absolute favourite was swimming in the underwater cave, it was an experience of a lifetime.

We managed to escape beautiful Punta Cana with a delayed flight, but nevertheless we've left with some of the most amazing memories.

Dominican Republic, see you again. x

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