Few photos!

Winding down here, and we boy will we miss it; it has been such a happy dumping of sunshine and warmth and blue water on our souls. Thomas is especially skeptical of a return to civilization...he is so relaxed here. For me it is of course a lovely place to be quarantined, though it has a bit of a Truman Show vibe. That is the movie where Jim Carey is unknowingly in a reality show in a fake set where he cannot leave. At one point he literally butts up against a wall that looks like the sky. Whenever we get even close to leaving the property- even approaching the front gate, there is a security kerfuffle. Part of it is Corona Virus, and the rule on the island that one can come to the Amanera, but has to stay here. They practically threw a butterfly net over us when we tried to walk back from the spa on the absolutely stunning golf course.  We can walk up and down the beach, but it is not for the faint of heart. It is really, really hot and the sand can be so thick, that the way back is a bit reminiscent of Alexander's Gedrosian desert march. Very dangerous for couples hoping ot avoid divorce...must have water and a hat and a dive into the sea as soon as one is back.  It is a very hard earned 4,000 steps. 

We did do another jungle walk this morning and F came along. Too funny- S is just so happy to be in the jungle with all those delightful creepy crawlies, and when she is there we seem to stumble on things that our guide says he rarely sees- he almost jumped up and down over a special gecko, and then she found amid all these leaves, a very rare butterfly wing. The two of them were over the moon. F tries to get in the spirit, but this was the baby that cried the first time I put him on a lawn. 

The other guests here have been odd and disproportionately prop Trump. We heard one guy complaining about "all these masks at home" and another guy-who is from the Bay area and here for a month, is head of some sort of Jewish Republican group (we googled him). Lovely chap, but one wonders why only the Wehlens and the Trump die hards are traveling. Attractive people without boob jobs seem to be staying home. 

Beach walking soon, then rum and dinner with the delightful kiddies, then tennis mañana. D.C. Thursday night, home Friday morning. 😞 

xx

My daily lunch date and view. Tacos and Thomas. 

Hard at work

You can see how much studying F has done by his tan. 

Amazing architecture here...this is the front "lobby"

Thomas working on our puzzle

view from our bed. The clouds were a show every day...rainy dark ones and huge fluffy pink ones and everything in between

We made a run for the tiny beach next to ours...small freedom

Jungle walk again- this time with the physicist. 

S trying to show F how much fun a jungle walk can be

A Dominican Fishing Boat, a World Champion Kite Boarder and an Englishmen who speaks like an Aussie

 I figured I would save some time writing the blog by putting the most important things in the title. Maybe it will even be the whole entry.

Greetings! All is well. The climate is hot and, in the middle of the day, quite windy. We play tennis most mornings in the heat, although today it was in a full rainstorm. I am used to tennis being cancelled for the rain, but here in the jungle they don't know of this tradition.

Lunch is down at the beach and no matter how much I try to veer from the usual, it is always one shrimp, and one fish taco. They split the orders for me...I am hoping they name it "The Ellie" soon.

We do not drink rosé at lunch which seems to be de rigeur for the people who come for a few days only. We are part of an elite crowd of eccentrics who stay and stay and stay. Our only competition in this area is a family of five who live in New York but the father -whom we refer to a 'Fuzzy' due to his wild hair and half grown beard and slight caveman posture..(but in a dashing caveman way. I am sure his wife thinks he is quite handsome)-he apparently grew up in Florida which is exactly what I told Thomas. Thomas pegged them for Upper West side NYC and I said no way, no how....Florida. I guess we were both right.
They seem to laugh a lot and are quite the insulated little group...they do not associate with outsiders or, it seems do anything other than go to meals.

You might ask why we care...and I would remind you that the main reason one goes to a hotel like this is the people watching. It is like an expensive zoo. Everyone it seems flew privately here and no one wears pink. Men have things like shirts that tie on the sides and wear backward baseball hats. Kanye West was or is here (I couldn't understand the man who told me).

No one uses any of the beach toys except for us, and our team is carried by the heroic S who tries them all. She was seen paddle boarding in rough seas while her absent minded boyfriend was calmly reading A brief History of Time under an umbrella. Thomas and I were watching her over tacos and Thomas was wondering when he should jump in before she paddled herself to Turks and Caicos. But the biggest news in sports and perhaps the biggest news at the hotel is Thomas and the kite boarding. I gave him a kite board for Christmas a few years ago, and he has never had any lessons. Since the D.R. has a huge kite boarding scene, we arranged for lessons here. It wasn't easy..normally clients go into the tourists town nearby, but because of Covid, we have to stay on campus. After much negotiating, they arranged for a teacher who moved here in 2001 from England, who comes with the Dominican world champion: Luis Alberto Cruz. Please google him. Lastly, they bring an old guy in a fishing boat to follow Thomas and fish him out of the sea.

The first day is almost three hours on a Saharan type sand-scape but with wind. It looks awful. Then he gets in the water and stage one (this sport is apparently difficult) is basically being dragged around in the water by the kite. Day two is more water and I go up to the top floor where there is an open air bar with views of the sea. I see what I think is my husband dashing back and forth on what I think is the board. Then I see him leap in the air and I assume he has done this on purpose. Alas he had not. He landed (I didn't see it) on his back from high above the sea. Every waiter and concierge and driver and taco hander-outer is talking to us about Thomas and his kiteboarding. They feel he is an exceptional talent. They also think my taco order is a thing of poetry, as it my forehand and where did we pick up this incredible Spanish. It takes a while to catch on, but we are getting there.

Thomas is as sunburnt as I have ever seen him, and his eyes were puffy from so much sand, sea and suntan lotion over the three hours. We had room service with the kiddies and watched separate movies. He is back at it tomorrow.

Ok I will get this up with photos now because I know you are clamoring for fewer words and more photos.

Oh God Kanye is here. He is sitting in front of us. Weird entourage, Camo pants, strange fishing vest with things in it ...weird is my normal now.

View from where I eat tacos

The gym

Watching Thomas

Civilization Successfully Flee-ed!

our footsteps....yes of course we are counting.

 The demand for the blog has never been this keen! Such is the fascination with the garden variety United airlines flight, not to mention a Caribbean jaunt, everyone is checking in daily! thank you Corona. (I guess) 

I have to get this down quickly, so no editing. 

Flight was normal, but with masks. Once you are on, you are on and it is weirdly ok. So don't fret if you have to go somewhere. The private flight was also good...although I had visions of champagne and tea sandwiches but all we had were vegan scones brought by heroic S and a mini, mini bottle of tequila I made Frederick get for me in case of turbulence. It was more like a New York taxi than something the Kardashians would fly. 

The pilot seemed to want to feel out Thomas about his politics, and mentioned he "couldn't vote for Biden because he was senile" Poor Thomas, these types always flock to him in the mistaken belief he is a secret German right winger with a hedge fund that makes money off of orphans. If they only knew he wept on the street in D.C. on July 4 listening to MLK's I have a dream speech. It was being played out of a lone man's car while traffic whizzed past and it was indescribibly poignant. A perfect Corona July 4. 

But alas, Thomas does tends to exude a vaguely bond villain vibe; and it is only worse when he is tan. 

Onward to the Aman! Short answer is the beach is one of the prettiest I have ever seen- it is sublime. Water is turquoise with perfect little waves to bob in. Staff is super kind, and while they didn't exactly graduate from Swiss hotel schools (forks are often on the wrong side, and wine is sort of plunked down then forgotten) BUT! they are utterly charming and because our little group represents 40 percent of the entire guest list, we get nice treatment. 

It is not like one forgets totally abut Corona; I woke up one night and started in with the usual worry, but during the day it is so beautiful and, frankly, hot; one cannot really worry for long. 

We went on a 3.5 hour nature hike in the jungle. It was supposed to be an hour and a a half, but S (F had a class and didn't come) is no ordinary nature walk attendee. Lol. Guide did not know what he was in for...but AP bio at Exeter and 18 years of fixation on all animal and plant things, has made her the single greatest Aman nature walk guest in history. I think he knew he was in for a good day when she asked him if he could please catch a snake for her to hold. He then proceeded to catch a crab, two snakes, and a gecko. Then he taught us how to find passion fruit and eat termites and build shelter out of palms we have dried. (spoiler: you need a machete).

 Coming home might not be necessary. 

Our room has this nice pool (below) and a rather enormous garden. Today we will eat grilled fish for lunch at the beach restaurant, then collapse (we played tennis at 9 am and the humidity was insane.) 

Ok Ill send more photos, later today, but let's get this up...more soon. 

Post beach walk guacamole and beer discovery. yay