An expensive holiday that couldn't be cancelled
In February 2008 we set off with Hanka and the girls for two weeks in the Caribbean. Barka was three, Žofinka one. Žofinka was tiny, skinny and didn't eat much.
At the last minute Hanka didn't even want to go, afraid something might happen to her. But everything was paid for, we were supposed to stay in a fairly luxurious resort in Boca Chica (I think it was the Don Juan) and by the standards of the time it was an extremely expensive holiday that couldn't be cancelled. So we flew.
Saturday 2 February 2008, Boca Chica
First day by the sea. Blue sun loungers, palm trees, parasols made of dried grass and the girls straight into the sand. In the afternoon a meal at the hotel restaurant, a walk around the pool and in the evening in the room Žofka was discovering everywhere she could climb.
Sunday 3 February 2008, Boca Chica
In the morning portraits by the orange wall, the girls in their little hats and Žofinka with big eyes. Then the beach with green parasols, building things in the sand and a vendor with a basket on her head.
A family of locals joined us on the beach. They cuddled up to us a lot, Žofinka included. Looking back, I think the critical moment is visible right there, in the photo of Žofka in the pushchair with the local boy next to her.
Boca Chica
A resort town about 30 km east of Santo Domingo, not far from Las Américas international airport. The beach is protected by a coral reef, so the water in the bay is shallow and calm.
Monday 4 February 2008, Boca Chica
A morning walk around the resort: three-storey red-orange buildings with white railings, blocks numbered like on a housing estate, swimming pools and a tree with huge roots over the pebbles.
Tuesday 5 February 2008, Boca Chica
Žofka spent most of the day in a sling on me, in the garden, at the bar and on the beach. Meanwhile Barka was running around the wooden walkways with a ball.
Wednesday 6 February 2008, Boca Chica
We headed out of the resort with the pushchair, into the streets of Boca Chica. Pastel houses with peeling walls, motorbikes on every corner, a car being taken apart right there in the street, stalls made of planks, banana trees and a dental surgery with a big tooth painted on the wall. The girls rode in the pushchair together and at one stop a local boy immediately sidled up to them.
Thursday 7 February 2008, Boca Chica – Bayahibe – Isla Saona
A full-day trip to Saona Island. In the morning by bus through towns and villages, motorbikes all around, Žofka fell asleep in Hanka's arms. Dědek came along too, a Czech guy with a moustache we'd made friends with over the previous days.
In Bayahibe we boarded a catamaran. There was dancing on deck and the crew took photos of the guests. Then the island: white sand, palm trees leaning over the water and a sea so clear it looked like a swimming pool. Barka climbed a palm tree with Dědek, Žofka sat in the sand under a palm. On the way back we stopped at a sandbank where you stand waist-deep in water in the middle of the sea.
But Žofka came down with a fever on the catamaran, stopped eating and we were headed for trouble. The next day, Friday, we ended up taking a taxi to a hospital, luckily some version for rich foreigners. The taxi driver drove like a maniac, until I had to rein him in with my "excellent" Spanish. At the hospital Žofinka was put on a drip, she was dehydrated. Dědek looked after Barka for us in the meantime.
It all turned out fine, but Hanka still says to this day that Žofinka nearly died there.
Isla Saona
An island off the southeastern tip of the Dominican Republic, part of the Cotubanamá National Park (formerly Parque Nacional del Este). Trips here run from Bayahibe by catamaran and speedboat.
Saturday 9 February – Monday 11 February 2008, Boca Chica
I only have a few photos from the following days. Žofinka slept a lot, but by Monday evening the girls were playing on the balcony again.
Tuesday 12 February 2008, Boca Chica
A local lady at the resort braided Barka's hair with beads. Žofka was laughing from the pushchair again, white smears of sun cream on her face.
In the afternoon portraits by the door of the room and in the evening Hanka with Žofinka by the orange wall.
Wednesday 13 February 2008, Boca Chica
Into town once more. Macaws were sitting in a souvenir shop, pick-ups loaded with bananas drove down the street, people sat at a table in a little garden and in a shed a guy was asleep on a coiled rope.
Thursday 14 February 2008, Boca Chica
In the morning Žofka with a phone in her mouth. In the evening we celebrated Valentine's Day: dinner at a restaurant and on the plate a lobster that almost spanned the whole table 🙂
Friday 15 February 2008, Boca Chica – Las Américas airport
The last morning, the girls were asleep, then a romp in the bed and Žofka finally settled right inside the suitcase. In the evening the flight out from Las Américas airport.
