Friday - 2.23.24

Although we are checking out of the hotel today, that doesn’t mean that the fun is over just yet. This morning, like yesterday morning, the students were provided with the option to take a tour of Puerto Plata. Because the cable car took up all of the time yesterday, today the students were able to see the downtown center of Puerto Plata, which includes some beautiful, vibrant streets, and a ton of little shops where they could buy some souvenirs before leaving the country.

The tour concluded around 11am and everyone was back to the hotel before check out. We worked it out with the hotel so that they would hold our bags for us after check out, and still have a few hours to enjoy the pool and beach before leaving.

Once it was 3pm, however, it was time to go. We got on the bus and began our 4.5 hour journey back to Santo Domingo. After about a couple of hours, we stopped at La Jacaranda rest stop (the same one where we stopped on the way to Santiago from Santo Domingo) and were able to grab a snack, stretch our legs, and prepare for the second half of the trip to the capital. 

Once we arrived at the capital, we went straight to dinner at El Conuco, a traditional Dominican restaurant in the city of Santo Domingo. We were greeted with merengue and the smell of fresh, authentic Dominican food. Everyone enjoyed the food and after, we all worked some of it off by doing some serious merengue dancing! What a fun way to put the cherry on top of what has been such an awesome trip. 

After dinner, it was back to our original hotel in the colonial city. We only have a few hours to sleep before it’s time to get up and board the bus again to the airport, however, some sleep is better than no sleep! ¡Nos vemos mañana!