If you remember from our first post on our trip to Tortuga Bay, we were short on time for this trip. With a child in college, we had only a few days, leaving Thanksgiving Day and returning the following Monday. The fact that Punta Cana was a direct flight from Chicago made this trip work, but once we arrived, as guests of Tortuga Bay, we were treated to the VIP Service at Punta Cana International Airport, making it even quicker and easier to get from the airport to the beach and in record time. As soon as our plane landed in Punta Cana, we were greeted by a representative of…
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Today we head off to Indigenous Eyes Ecological Park and Reserve (Reserve Ecological Ojos Indigenous), a 1,500 acre private reserve maintained by the Ecological Foundation of Punta Cana. The Foundation maintains the grounds for preservation, recreation, and research. Contained within the grounds of Punta Cana Resort & Club, the park is a quick golf cart ride from Tortuga Bay, midpoint between Tortuga Bay and La Yola, one of the fine restaurants on the grounds. The park is a series of trails which take you past freshwater lagoons and immerse you in the plants and animals that find their home there. Loads of turtles! And lots of cool fish! The paths are…
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It’s time to hit the beach! When staying in an oceanfront suite at Tortuga Bay, the beach just across the lawn. Pick a lounger, and they’ll pop open the umbrella and set you up with towels and an ice bucket of bottled water. The water is refreshing, but it’s not long before our beach attendant chopped open some coconuts to offer us a little something different! Here’s a tip for drinking from a coconut – pull out your straw and pop a second hole in the coconut. The second hole relieves the pressure, making it easier to drink! Time for a walk. You can walk to the south, but you’ll…
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Now that we’ve had a glimpse of Tortuga Bay, let’s take a closer look. Over the next few posts, we’ll check out our two-bedroom oceanfront suite, we’ll walk the beautifully manicured grounds, and then relax oceanside sipping the milk from our freshly-cut coconut. We’ll check out the restaurants on the grounds, and share our favorite afternoon snacks. We’ll take a trip to the village to do a bit of shopping and browse the offerings at the Saturday morning farmers market. Then we’ll hike through the Indigenous Eyes Ecological Park, taking a dip in the cool freshwater pools. First things first — let’s check out our suite, which is the entire first…
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When our kids were young, we had no problem taking them out of school for a week or more to take a trip to the Caribbean. That changed when our oldest went off to college, and our traditional Thanksgiving vacation was not possible. Our daughter had only a few days off from classes for the Thanksgiving holiday, so we skipped our trip in 2015. It was harder than I thought to stay home after ten years of Thanksgiving trips. So we decided to look for a shorter trip, some place we could get to and from with the shortest number of connections, and a short travel time. Traveling out of Milwaukee, Wisconsin…
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Sometimes you have to jump right in, even when you may not think you are experienced enough or talented enough. It was back in 2011 that my husband convinced me to enter the Caribbean Travel + Life Photo Contest, and it turned out that I won the grand prize. But that competition was primarily for amateurs. I was eager to get to the next level, but not sure I was able to compete. Last fall, I decided to take the plunge joining NATJA, the North American Travel Journalists Association, hoping to learn something from the talented people in that organization who make their living bringing you great travel articles and…
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Four years ago, I wrote “Taking Better Travel Photos” to provide helpful tips to improve your travel photography no matter what gear you use. I am excited to announce that I recently updated the book, including information on rules of composition, and providing additional information on “hot spots” for great photographs throughout the Caribbean. Some people say the rules are meant to be broken, but the rules are rules for a reason. They can help you find a shot when you can’t decide how to compose it. Knowing the rules will help you frame up better shots, and if you decide to break the rules for a particular effect, go…
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Time for our Top 9 Instagram photos of 2016! Your favorite Instagram photos based upon likes and comments include: #9 Film Prints by Richard Photo Lab We printed our favorite film shots from our trip to Kamalame Cay, Andros, Bahamas. Our film processing and printing was done by the wonderful and very talented people at Richard Photo Lab! More from our trip to Andros, Bahamas here! #8 Arrival Dock at Kamalame Cay Your departure point on Andros for the short boat ride over to Kamalame Cay, Andros, Bahamas. More from our trip to Andros, Bahamas here! #7 Lighthouse Bay, Barbuda, Antigua & Barbuda The palapas mark the beginning of miles of…
