Sharlene: “What’s wrong with this place?”
Chris: “What do you mean?”
Sharlene: “We’ve been here almost 4 days and everything is missing. There’s no roaches, no bats, no rats, no spiders, no lizards, no bedbugs, no mice, no bugs, no snakes, no dogs, no goats, no cows, no rabid diseased animals, no crazy people; it’s unnatural and I’m a little disappointed.”
It’s true. I was disappointed because encountering any of the above generally amounts to a great story or two and their absence seemed a little unnatural to me. In response to my question, I started wandering around looking for crawly critters and initially had little success beyond a centipede or two. Eventually I found the lizards… they were on the palm trees and were really really tiny. Having lizards around means there’s bugs somewhere… but where?
I discovered a spider rather accidentally, while waiting to try on a dress in a store. A tarantula sprinted across the floor of the store with a cloud of babies following — only to disappear under a bin full of balls. The German lady next to me managed to get out a loud “ewww” before moving on. That was a little freaky and quite unexpected, but it bestowed a bit of confidence that yes there were creatures other than tourists on the island.
La Niña found the roaches. She came running out of the bathroom on one of our last nights in the resort saying there was a bug in the bathroom; a REALLY REALLY big bug. Upon investigation we found the little monster below and a second ‘friend.’ There must have been more because the staff quickly mobilized and descended upon the rooms in fumigation mode with their cans of toxic gas and white suits.
I had to leave the resort area to find a dog who quickly became my solo canine friend. He seemed to find my photographic pursuits interesting and followed me through the village to see what kind of crazy things the female gringo would do.
One thing that I found interesting about el perro is he was amazingly adept at reading the waves along the beach side of the village. As we worked our way through fishing boats he knew exactly when to move and when to stay as the waves came in and out (they were unpredictable to my eyes in this area). As such he quickly became a guide as we worked our way through the boats.
At the end of the village adventure, my little canine friend eventually gave me a good bye look and disappeared as we got close to the resorts; it seems that like all los bichos he knew he wasn’t allowed in the forbidden resort zone and went off to explore greener pastures.
If you are looking for critters you need to go to Puerto Rico. There are lizards everywhere, all shapes and sizes. Cockroaches are plentiful in the greasy spoons, gleefully running across the crust on top of the mayo. Then there are the s*** birds that follow the livestock around and eat something from the excrement. There are also the land crabs that crawl around everywhere and you can buy them at the market for supper. There are lots of spiders, bugs, gnats, termites, etc. There are no snakes. The mongooses ate them all. Sounds like Punta Cana has been sanitized for the tourists.
When were you in Puerto Rico? Is that why you hate mayonnaise so much?
Before we left I’d heard that the Dominican Republic was considered a poor man’s Puerto Rico. I have nothing to compare that statement to (I’d need to go to Puerto Rico) but it was definitely sanitized.
OMG, that dog is ADORABLE!!!! I want to bring him home and ADOPT him!!! Oh, my heart breaks for all the dogs out there in the world…… Sigh. 🙁
Awwww, I just figured out what it was about the dog that really got me…..He actually has almost the exact same markings as our mini Australian Shepherd, Scarlett. (same white blaze on forehead/nose and same white chest and copper on the legs.) And that little head pose he is doing is also reminiscent of Scarlett. Awww, I really wish I could adopt him!!! 🙁
I was in Puerto Rico for two weeks at Naval Station Roosevelt Roads when I was with the Air Force. And no, my hate for mayo goes way back to early childhood. I must admit though I felt pretty queasy seeing the roaches swimming in it. A lot of cruise ships visit San Juan.
More of el perro for Nic (a.k.a. the photos that didn’t make the cut):
Awww, thanks Shar! Those are adorable shots!!! I just want to give him a huge hug and stick him in my pocket!! 😉
Plus, you know what is particularly great about all of these photos? (aside from his insane cuteness) is the lovely contrast between the blue door and his copper fur! Such a lovely, complimentary combination!
That photos needs to be enlarged and framed! (I would totally hang that on my wall!)
🙂