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Mountains are not the first thing one thinks about when thinking about the Caribbean, but for the last few days we stayed up in the mountains of the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico. Both have high mountains covered with rain forests. The DR has a mountain over 3000m high but we did not pass the 1000m mark. Still, mountains are a refreshing change from beaches. Frankly, we are not really beach-folk and climbing up and down forests is where we feel more comfortable.

Another source of pleasure in traveling in the DR and PR is that for the first time since my trip to Latin America in 2003 I am speaking Spanish. Although my vocabulary is not as good as it was after that 8 month trip I'm happy that, even after a decade without speaking Spanish, to still be fluent enough to get by. Something that impresses me and Hagit alot.

For Some reason the sentence that ringed in my mind was "hasta la revolucion siempre" even though it relates to a neighboring island that we did not visit (Cuba). Maybe the atmosphere on tropical islands is such that if you do not sit idle on the beach then you are drawn to toppling the government? Maybe it is the wind of revolutions we brought from the mid-east. in any case it's the sentence has a nice ring to it.

In the footsteps of 007

I have always find it quirky when local people are proud of the Hollywood film that was filmed in their neck of the woods. As if that is the only claim to fame they have to show for their local. Many times you will find local cafes playing the movie in continuous - at nausea - loop or local guides doing "follow the film" tours. Most often this happens in remote places. You will never find people from Paris or New-York bragging about the film shoot in their city. 
But places like Siam Reap Cambodia (Lara Croft- Tomb Raider) or  Marigot Bay, Saint Lucia.(Dr Doolittle) or even Queenstown, New Zealand (Lord of the Rings) all cash in on their films.

This week in the Dominican Republic we were pointed out to such a "famous" local film location - the waterfall used as the backdrop of the opening sequence of Jurassic Park (WOW!). Not that Jurassic Park was actually filmed there. It was just used as a background on a green screen. But it was still important enough to be mentioned more then once in places as far off as 5-6 hr drive away by people not even from the tourist industry. It is, by the way, a lovely waterfall as can be seen in our photos.

No film franchise has touched more places then James Bond. I always like to discover "off the beaten track" locations in which Her Majesty's agent once visited. The list include places like Udipur, India (Octopussy) in which every backpacker establishment still plays the mediocre movie every evening and Phang Nga Bay, Thailand , (the Man with the Golden Gun) who run tours to "James Bond Island". Other remote sites I have visited in the footsteps of 007 were  Iguassu Falls, Brazil (Moonraker) and Lake Como, Italy (Casino Royale)

This week we visited one more 007 site - the Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico (Golden Eye) . Even though it is a US government site, James Bond was still mentioned in the small  observatory museum. Apart from Mr Bond - Jodie Fosters alien-obsessed character in Contact begins on her quest for extra-terrestrial life at the observatory. The machinery in the huge radio telescope is indeed out of this world!

Ultimate moment of joy #1

A week into our trip, high in the DR mountain area, I woke up at 6AM. At first I thought it was jetlag but on considering this fact a bit more I decided it was simple my sub-conscience wanting to utilize as much time in this beautiful place as possible. Everyone else was still sleeping so I took my iPod to the room balcony which faced a cool river wandering in the green forest. The rush of the water mixed with the full volume music playing in my ears. The sky was becoming more and more full of light as the sun came up. The air was cool, no more then 17-18 degrees – a refreshing change from the hot and damp air of the beach. I was shirtless and I felt the cool breeze all around. I was totally relaxed (not an easy feeling when traveling with 2 children). The mist slowly lifted from the green hills across the river when it started to drizzle and the most intense rainbow appeared. It was so peaceful I could not keep it to myself to I stepped into the room and got Liya, who was just getting out of bed, to view the rainbow.
With Liya awake the relaxing feeling was gone :)

Ultimate moment of joy #2

After a walk in the forest to see a waterfall the kids fell asleep in the car. By our calculations that was a bad thing since if the children sleep in the car it means they will wake up by the time we arrive to the hotel and there goes the noon nap for us.

By some huge piece of luck Ariel kept on sleeping for 2.5 more hour. Liya work up but was still sleepy and continued to watch a DVD for the next 2hrs. Which allowed us,to sleep hugging in the naturally cool air for what seemed to be a long time.
Ahh, the little joys!

Ultimate moment of joy #3
OR
Ultimate "I want to go home" moment

The last "moment of joy" proves that not all our enjoyable moments happen when the children are asleep….

After a delay prone drive+flight+drive starting from a mountain in the DR we arrived very late to the "mountain retreat hotel" in a secluded forest location in Puerto-Rico,. All the guests and reception people were already sleeping and our room was open waiting for us. All the windows were wide open. Being in the very middle of a tropical forest at night the noise of little chirping and squeaking animals was very very loud. The smell of the rainy forest hovered in the air.

It could be no get more natural than that.

I was ecstatic.

Unfortunately, at the exact same time, all that Hagit wanted was to go home. It was due to a combination of the noise threatening to disturb our sleep with the wide open net windows inviting the sun to wake us early in the morning joint with the fatigue of the long day.

Luckily, the windows had good shaded and because of the long day no one woke from the noise.

When we woke up, we opened the door to see the bountiful forest and Hagit joined me in the long moment of bliss.

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