I’m back — and, oh, what a trip it was! I believe we left off Part One as I was about to head to my first beach day on a beautiful island in Bayahibe, a resort town about 10 miles east of La Romana.

My cousins and I headed out around 8:30 a.m. that Thursday and made it to Playa Dominicus before noon. The ride was smooth — whatever that means when driving in the D.R. (but more on that in future blogs). We made one stop to grab some snacks, drinks and ice during the last stretch.

There are quite a few resorts on this beach, but we accessed it through its public entrance closer to Iberostar Hacienda Dominicus. We rented a huge umbrella and a few beach chairs and found our spot; some sunscreen, sun and three Presidentes (local beer) later, and I was pretending I was a mermaid.

The water was lukewarm and the brightest blue I’ve seen since my shore excursion in St. Croix a few years ago. We spent most of the time in the water swimming, drinking and chatting. We headed back before rush hour hit and curfew started.

The next day I checked in at the gorgeous JW Marriott Santo Domingo and had a lovely time on the property tour, led by the cluster marketing leader, Manel Atie. I won’t share much about our stay in this blog as there will be a GT Tested review coming to an issue near you! Just know it was one of the highlights of my 21 days in the country.

That night, my cousin and I picked up Nathan from the airport and headed back to the hotel to catch some needed rest. The rest of the weekend involved dentist appointments, a lunch double-date at Shibuya inside Blue Mall, a hosted dinner at the JW’s Winston’s Grill & Patio and rain showers at the beach.

Stay tuned for more … .

— Yasser Ogando, production & advertising coordinator