We had been planning a short getaway to the Caribbean for some time (and the timing was right to escape the cooler coastal California weather we often have this time of year) – my brother had been to the Dominican Republic a number of years ago and recommended we visit the Samaná Peninsula in the northern part of the country. We arrived to Punta Cana and were the first ones from our flight off the bus from the plane to the terminal. Three hours later we were probably the last ones from our flight to actually leave the airport!
We had just received our stamps from immigration when we realized our roll aboard was no longer with us. We talked to one of the security folks and they let us run back to the terminal entrance – not finding our suitcase there we ran back to immigration bypassing the very long line by ducking under a few barriers. Then we were informed our luggage was found on the bus. We ran back and fortunately there it was. This back and forth would just not be possible at immigration in most countries!
Then we arrived to pick up the car we had rented prior – usually we use a certain credit card to pay for the rental (which already includes secondary insurance) but this company would have none of that and charged us 2x our reservation rate to add the insurance. After lots of time researching this policy while we waited near the rental counter, calls to the parent company, calls to the booking company overseas and back and forth – we agreed on a rate that was somewhere in the middle.
Hassles behind us, we are now relaxing with Caipirinhas in hand in a tiny Bávaro overlooking the Caribbean Ocean just north of Punta Cana.
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