Hola!

I've been back a little over two weeks now and I am still missing it. We met some brilliant people and had some amazing experiences. We booked it in January and at a cost of just below £800 per person, I was ready for a wonderful all inclusive holiday to the Dominican Republic! It's a hotel I have been to before back in 2002 and then went back twice in 2004, again in 2006, and again in 2011 to it's sister hotel. After finding out you could no longer stay in that sister hotel, what was Clubhotel Riu Mambo, I decided to go back to the Bachata, where it all began.


The Clubhotel Riu Bachata was the first Riu hotel we stayed at and haven't looked back since, so much so that now, if I'm choosing to stay at an all inclusive resort, I would always choose Riu. I practically grew up in the Dominican Republic Riu hotels before venturing off to Mexico to stay at the Riu Playacar and then the Clubhotel Riu Tequila three times! Riu Hotels provide everything you could ever want on holiday, and you definitely get what you pay for.

Here's a picture of me on a tree from back in 2004!

The Riu Bachata, and generally the Dominican Republic, is a lot cheaper than say somewhere in Mexico because unfortunately their tourism is reducing, most likely due to their wavering laws about who can stay in the hotel. In particular, very often at the weekends, locals are allowed in which would normally be completely fine, however they very often come in the masses and are very impolite. Fair enough, in their way of life this may be the norm but to the rest of the world, it is down right rude. We had troubles back in 2011 at the Riu Mambo. All the locals were allowed in and some had even parked their jeep up at the bottom of the beach and broken through the fence to use the facilities the hotel offers. Their kids were peeing in the pool and in the bushes when the toilet was close by and they would always push in front of you when getting food. Rude! Police and medics were on site everyday but there wasn't much they could do. We vowed not to go back unless it got sorted. This time round I had seen lots of mixed reviews but, because of the price, we took the risk!

Here's a photo of me up by the viewpoint. As far as I know, it was made for weddings but since it is too windy up there it simply became a piece of architecture to go and see. It's high enough to see all of the beach along the hotels too. Yes, I know, what a bad fashion choice - this was back in 2011.

Clubhotel Riu Bachata Review

Check In - 
There were an awful lot of Brits that had arrived from the same flight to the same hotel so I was surprised at how smoothly check in was. When we arrived, we were already the third coach full but we weren't waiting around long at all. We were welcomed with a delicious cocktail and shown to a desk where many members of staff we handing out our keys and towel cards and before we knew it, we were off to our room. Unfortunately, due to the amount of people, it took nearly an hour before our bags arrived at our room so for future notice, I will just take them myself. Saves me the tip money too.


Room -
I was really impressed by the room! The only problem we had was that our safe key got stuck but all took was a phone call to reception and it got sorted! Oh, and we got a room upgrade! Thanks to my post from last year about the Riu Tequila, Riu got in touch and said they would see what they could do for my next holiday, but it depending on availability. Well, they had the availability and I was able to get and upgrade and was welcomed with a VIP Riu Class mug and real Santo Domingo coffee, known for being one of the world's best coffees! It was such a lovely surprise so, yeah, I was very impressed with our room! It was very open and spacious with the most amazing views I have ever seen from a balcony! There are two double beds which are pushed together that some people complain about but it's what you get at most Riu hotels, and personally, I quite like them! If you're wondering whether to book a suite, I would say it's best to decide what exactly you are looking for in the holiday. If you want a gorgeous view and will probably spend a bit of time in your room then it is worth the money! Otherwise, the normal rooms are still nice enough. All rooms come with a safe, mini bar and fridge with get refilled every two days! Always good to have rum basically on tap in the Caribbean!

The best way to capture the view from our balcony was to do a panorama!

Grounds - 
Just from the view above you can see how gorgeous the grounds are. There are palm trees everywhere and beautiful colourful flowers all around! The gardeners do very well to keep them looking as good as they do considering the amount of guests and you know what some people can be like. The hotel is right on the beach too and, although it can get quite windy, it is such a lovely place. It's not very often I will go lie on the beach when I'm on holiday but it became the perfect spot for us to chill out whilst I read some of my book!




Food and Drink - 
A lot of people tend to complain about the food as it can get quite samey. On the contrary though, the chefs prepare a wide variety of cuisines and each night in the main buffet there is a different theme. The downside is that the food is often reheated or refried and used for a second day, which I understand why but that's what makes the food very similar each day. At night you do also have a choice between the Steak House, Italian or Caribbean restaurant depending which is open. We only tried the Steak House but it was delicious, I wish we had gone more times! The system for booking has changed now. Instead of having to book first thing in the morning, you can simply queue up at 6 o'clock and get your name down, which is a lot more convenient for people like me that often struggle to wake up in the morning. If you don't make it into the half 6 sitting then you can put your name down for the 8 o'clock sitting and you'll be given a buzzer to let you know when your table is ready! Lunch time is much more simple. You go to the main buffet restaurant where you have breakfast and dinner and there's plenty to choose from! I'd suggest the 'cream of' soups, they are always delicious! Breakfast was my favourite. As soon as you walk in, there are freshly made smoothies and milkshakes and a little further down the line is an entire area full of donuts. I didn't get much further, except to get pancakes, a banana and some yoghurt on the odd occasion.

In the first week, I always looked forward to lunch or dinner as there was something different each day but after that I was starting to get bored of it. I found myself eating the same pasta, rice and pork each day. I tried to mix it up with some soup but they didn't always have something I'd like. In Mexico, although the food system is similar, I usually have salad at lunches but in Dom Rep, I was a bit disappointed with the salads. One day there was a plate full of lettuce, that was it, yet the sign said caesar salad. On Mexican night they didn't have guacamole either. It's the little things that you notice. One thing I remember from all the previous times I've been to the complex is that lunch was normally served at the snack bar, which then turns into the Steak House at night. I was a bit gutted because I like that change of scenery but not using it meant it looked desolate during the day. It was a bit eerie  to walk through when going to the toilet since no one else would be in there at all. Unfortunately, towards the end of the holiday I did get food poisoning too but even though it wasn't nice, it's just one of those things you put up with when you're in a country like that.



Entertainment - 
Always my favourite part of the Riu hotels. We always book to stay for two weeks and only plan around three days out but that's usually all we need because the entertainment team never let us get bored. I still miss all the friends we made in the Riu Tequila team which kind of made us sad going somewhere with a team who we didn't know. That said, I didn't doubt that they'd become our friends too. Unlike normal, we didn't really get involved in the activities for the first week and we did get a little bored so we became determined to win a certificate and some new Riu merchandise to add to our collection. After countless games of boccia, mini golf, horse shoes, crazy games and of course, bingo, we weren't so lucky. Ed came home with a neon orange bandanna but that was it, despite trying our best to bring home a t-shirt. It's quite sad actually because it's the first time I've been to a Riu hotel and not managed to get a t-shirt or even a cap. I have some t-shirts from when I was very little so it's always funny to see how much I've grown! The entertainment team were always full of energy (I really don't know how they do that everyday) and kept us smiling no matter what. Sounds daft but the only thing I disliked was having to play boccia and horseshoes in pairs everyday. I'm used to the games changing from doubling the scores and throwing a dart with your eyes closed to spinning five times then throwing the horseshoe. Playing in pairs made it more difficult to get to know people and a lot more difficult to win as people began choosing their partners based on who was better. It was a good laugh in the end. Just disappointed we didn't win. (Yeah, I know, I can be a sore loser sometimes - although to be fair, there was a few times where we had to play 2 semi-finals because of an odd number and yet both teams that got into the final only played once! Now that's not fair!)

I will say that there was one particular female member of the animation team who was very bitchy. She'd often make very sarcastic comments but it wasn't until our final night when she came over to us after having a few beers and started mouthing off about one of the guests. I thought that was downright rude and I hope she isn't a part of the team for much longer.

This is one of the shows in Mexico. You pay the extra money to see much bigger shows and there's a bit more going on!

I can't help but compare the hotel to the Riu Tequila in Mexico. We tried not to as they both have things they could teach each other but night times are one thing the Tequila does brilliantly. Night times at the Bachata consisted of mini disco time for the kids to dance on stage, then dancing in the patio with the entertainment team, then the show, club dance and finally more dancing in the patio with the entertainment team. It got very repetitive! Whereas at the Tequila, it changes each night, with Mexican games, audience participation games as a pre-show, a rock band would come in, etc. There was always something different on each night. I'll admit the shows weren't quite as good either. The in-house dance team were good, but never quite on it. Some of the choreography was alright but you could tell it was all very similar no matter which style dance they were supposed to be doing. I loved some of the variation in shows though. The Chicago/Burlesque night was new and Burlesque is one of my favourite movies so I was most definitely singing along. I also really appreciated how the in-house team did the Michael Jackson show instead of bringing another group in. The shows that did have other dancers come in were very poor. For what I thought were supposed to be professional dance troops, they were off-beat, not confident and made a lot of mistakes! (This is turning into a bit of a rant - I'm a drama student though so I can't help it, oops!) Finally, what really annoyed me was the Rock Station show. To most, it wouldn't have bothered them and they probably enjoyed singing along but it really got on my nerves. Throughout the day I had seen the Rock of Ages logo as part of the set and got myself extremely excited as Rock of Ages is my favourite musical. However, when it came to the show, it began with I Wish I was a Punk Rocker. It wasn't Rock of Ages at all. I stuck around though hoping there would be a few songs in there but I counted two, and they didn't even use the original White Snake version of Here I Go Again. Edmond can vouch at how annoyed I was. I spoke to a few people later and I wasn't the only one. We both said it was like they wrote 'guitar' into Spotify and choose the top 20 songs. I'd suggest that they either do Rock of Ages songs or change the set and simply make it a rock show! (I've always wanted the Riu hotels to do a proper Rock of Ages show, like they usually do with Grease and Mamma Mia, so you can imagine how disappointed I was!)

Caribbean Street at night - even in this picture you can see we were being watched by the shopkeepers. I know this happens in a lot of countries but you don't expect it when you are still inside your hotel complex. I don't remember it being so bad the past few times I've been.

I was gutted that we didn't see the African show that I remember. As far as I know, they still do it (from pictures I've seen on Facebook) but it might have been pushed back because of the Caribbean Street Party. In between the Riu Bachata and Riu Merengue there is a street full of shops known as Caribbean Street and when the party was on (supposedly once a month, yet it's been on every time we've been) all the hotels come together to have what I remember to be a traditional Caribbean party. As a kid we used to spend the day making costumes in the kids club and then wear them to mini disco time at the party. I used to really enjoy myself so this time, I made sure we had eaten early enough to get seats and see what was going on. We may have been a little too early but still headed out to get some pictures before it got dark. Bad decision. The shops all stayed open and some locals had come to sell their souvenirs on the street so straight away we got called over to have a look. One guy gave me a free ankle bracelet which I thought was lovely. I didn't have any money on me so we promised to come back and have a proper look later. Whether we would or not was another matter but it was nice of him let us have a wander. Walking further down the street we kept getting called over so persistently we kept saying we had no money, most gave up calling. Except one guy who physically came out of the shop, asked where we were from and what are names were. Usually I try give a false name but Ed got there with his before me, which made me panic and say Kira. He invited us into his shop to look around and quickly we said no. We still didn't have any money. But of course, it's ok for us to look around and then we can come back and pay later. To get him off our backs we just went inside. After showing us a few t-shirts and giving me a free bracelet, he left us alone. Just as we were planning on making our escape he came back in and handed us a basket, asked if we like rum and put a bottle straight in the basket. Constantly he kept saying how he wasn't pushy and he was letting us look around, whilst Ed and I were thinking the complete opposite. Eventually I put a few things in the basket, told him we'd come back and pay for it later so he could wrap it up. That was a lie. When asking for the price, at supposedly 50% off, he was charging me nearly £4 for a key ring. You don't even want to know how much the small bongo drum I liked cost. We walked out and never went anywhere near that place again. It ruined the night for me. We ended up going back to our room whilst I tried to calm down for an hour, before heading back out to see what was actually going on at the party. We avoided walking past the shops by walking all the way around the hotel to get to either end of the street. Safe to say I didn't enjoy myself that night.

Moving on...

What was the Riu Mambo

Sister hotels - 
It's not really part of this hotel but I thought it was worth mentioning. Since you are easily able to walk along the path or the beach to visit the other two (or now one) hotels it's only fair I write a little bit about them. The Riu Merengue is the oldest of the three and it has that older feel. The pool is rectangular with a bridge across the middle and it's definitely a part of it's charm. Further down is what was the Riu Mambo and it still looks as lovely as ever. However, we only noticed the beach bar and, what was, the lunch restaurant bar open. There wasn't many people around the pool as, for the most of it, the hotel is closed. I took Ed through to the rooms to see the hill I remember seeing from our balcony when we used to stay there. You'd often see a random horse walk by or perhaps a cow which gave it some character. Walking beyond the bar though made us feel like we'd stepped into a different world, almost horror movie like. All the curtains to the rooms were still open with most of the furniture piled high. I then took him to see the stage area but all of the reception, stage, and main restaurant were closed off by a simple piece of rope. There was no furniture or decorations to be seen. It was empty. Completely empty. Very eerie indeed. I found it quite sad. I did nearly cry because of all the childhood memories I had that I wanted to share with Ed but it's now like they've gone forever. That hotel was so beautiful and I do hope that one day it is reopened in its full glory with it's own entertainment team like it once was!



On another visit to the Riu Merengue to do a little shopping (they have the best and cheapest shops of the complex with souvenir Christmas decorations!!) I was amazed at how full it was. I then remembered it was Saturday and typically at the weekend, the locals are welcomed into the hotels. There has been warnings that this happened the most at the Riu Bachata but I didn't have a problem with it at all. The Riu Merengue however, was completely packed out. There was no space in the pool and I noticed the animation team were only speaking in Spanish. I did see some British people staying there but they didn't look too happy. I suppose this is a solution to letting them come in to the hotels, by putting them all in one hotel, however last time there was that many, everything kicked off. That was back in 2011. Makes you wonder if things really have changed.

Both of the photos above were taken around a similar time in the day. The top one was the day we arrived, a Sunday. You can't see much but you can definitely tell that it is a lot quieter that the photo below, take the day before we left, on a Saturday!

Check Out - 
Our check out was simple. We had to be out of the room by 12 o'clock or we could pay $10 per hour if we wanted a later check out. We didn't bother as we had packed and were ready to go. That was until we found out that our flight had been delayed for two hours so instead of getting picked up at 1pm, the coaches arrived at 3pm. If we had all know sooner then us and the friends we made could have pitched in to have late check out on one of our rooms. It was more Thomsons fault for not letting us know. We ended up sat by the pool bar playing Uno. There is a room to store your luggage until the coaches arrived so there was no worrying about that. We were able to keep our wristbands on to there was no fuss when getting lunch and we could continue getting drinks until we left.

Final note:
Before I conclude, I just want to mention about what was the sports beach. The Riu Bachata has it's own little quiet beach hidden away at the other end of the resort. It's perfect if you want to get away from the music and there is a lot less wind. It used to be the place you'd go to, to go on peddle boats or jet skis, etc. They've now moved that to the middle of the main beach where it can be accessed by all. Instead, there are signs up advertising a nature area. We followed the signs just before sunset not expecting it to be open but the second we stepped on to the beach a man came straight over offering to show it to us, pointing out the monkeys over in the corner. The monkeys that were tied up by a piece of rope or a small chain. They were going insane, unable to move far. The man took us out to a new build area that had apparently only been there for three years to show us a cage. The cage was full of various birds, again unable to move far inside the cage. The worst of it was the iguana inside a smaller cage, on the floor, not much bigger than the length of it's body. It was horrible to look at. Animals should not be kept like that at all and I think it's the duty of Riu and Thomson to shut that place down as it is animal cruelty! Of course the guy only wanted to show us around so he could show us to his little shop as well, which as soon as we walked in another guy came in being quite intimidating! They always expect I like jewellery when I really don't...



Overall - 
Overall, despite my rants, I really enjoyed the holiday and I'm definitely glad I got to go back to somewhere I had fond memories of as a kid. It was lovely taking Ed to somewhere I remembered so vividly and yet hadn't been to in such a long time. There were of course lots of ups and downs but overall, if the price was right, I'd probably go back with Ed and some family and friends. However, there are a few things that I would like to be a bit better, for example, the nightly entertainment, and perhaps the food could have a little more variation, but other than that, I would definitely recommend staying there. For the price, it is most definitely worth it! If in doubt, the drinks are always amazing! There is enough to do outside of the hotel, if you have the money, for the two weeks as well.

Myself and Edmond are now looking into more back packing trips. He's going to Canada next week and in four weeks time I'm heading to Tanzania so after that, once we've saved up the money, we'll be looking into trips to go to Asia or Central America. I would love to come back to the Dominican Republic one day and visit the south coast so perhaps we'll do that when island hopping the Caribbean.



It's more the people that make the holiday so I thank all the entertainment team and our lovely new British and Canadian friends we made, because without them, the holiday wouldn't have been what it was.

If you want a cheaper all inclusive long haul holiday to the Caribbean then I would definitely suggest the Riu Bachata, otherwise, if you can afford it, I'd say go to the Riu Tequila. They are similar but I feel like for that bit extra money, you do get that little bit more and I can never stop singing it's praises. We're hoping that when we eventually do get to backpack across Mexico, we can make sure that we spend at least a week, at the end, at the Riu Tequila before flying home. That's the dream anyway. Now let's work to make that happen!

Sorry this post has been so long, I genuinely think it's the longest post I've ever done, and it has taken ages to write, but I had a lot to say! I have a few more Dom Rep related posts on their way so keep your eyes peeled for them! Also, Tanzania posts! In the meantime, I shall leave you with three photos of me at the same bar (Riu Mambo beach bar).

- KC xx

2004

2011

2017

Hello!

Hope you all had a lovely weekend! I was full of a cold which wasn't nice but luckily it was only really a two day thing. I been doing a lot of thinking lately, which is probably too philosophical for this post, and I'm finally starting to feel a bit more motivated and I'm ready to power on! Fingers crossed I will be working and earning money this week (although I'm still waiting to hear about my hours) and I have a lot of blog posts planned for the next couple of weeks, including working on my travel video about Dominican Republic. I am still trying to organise my 6 days back packing around Tanzania (which is looking more like 6 nights and 7 days - yey more time!) but we're all slowly getting there and I think we've got a good plan and hopefully I will be able to afford it by then! Which kind of brings me to the whole factor of going to Tanzania. 

My next big adventure to Tanzania is to climb Kilimanjaro for Childreach International and the only way I was to ensure my place on the trip was to raise £3060. I signed up around the end of October and since then I have been doing all that I can to raise the money I needed. That overall amount does cover flights and everything included in the Kilimanjaro trek (food and accommodation, which is camping) and then the rest goes straight to the charity to help fund their amazing projects, such as the school farming project I'm going to visit in Tanzania! Approximately two thirds of the money goes to charity, possibly even more!



I have had just over 7 months to raise the money whilst juggling my very hands-on course at uni! Not only that but I continued with my blog and have some how managed to maintain a bit of a social life and kept my fitness up by playing hockey! So first things first, it is do able!

YOU CAN DO IT!

It may not seem like a long time but you can definitely do it, but you do have to work hard! Stay motivated. Keep on watching those travel videos of people climbing the mountain or keep on learning more about the amazing causes you are raising money for! It all helps and if you have a well developed fundraising plan right from the beginning, that you can keep on adding to, you will smash your targets in no time!


Here's how I did it:

Firstly, make yourself a fundraising plan on a spreadsheet. There should be a column for ideas, another column with space to list what you need to do for those ideas to come to life, and then a target amount to raise. This should be enough to give you a little motivation whilst also being a good place where you can work out how much you can raise overall.

Secondly, make yourself that list of ideas. To help you out, I have decided to go through everything that I did which helped me raise the money and hopefully you can get some ideas from that, feel free to ask me for more information if you fancy trying something out!

FUNDRAISING IDEAS:


Stalls - There's lots you can sell at a stall. When we first started, we did a big team sweets and cakes stall as it was a great way to get to know everyone on my Kilimanjaro team. Since there was so many of us, we only made about £15 each but it's a small step in the right direction. Doing seasonal stalls is also very good as at Christmas, my mum and I made lots of decorations and little gifts and sold them at my university's Christmas fair! Anything you don't sell, post pictures on Facebook and sell them to your friends! I'd say, on average, at each stall, if you do them alone or with two people, you can make at least £50 per day!

Seasonal Party - The first season that came around after I applied was Halloween so it only seemed right that our house hosted a Halloween party. I'll admit, I don't think we quite did all that we could to raise funds on this night but again it's a step. We only made about £30 but you can definitely do more. Make some fancy themed snacks and drinks and put up a price list. If you have a breakfast bar, literally use it as a bar and make your guests pay. Obviously don't stop them from bringing their own drinks but if you have some funky named cocktail, that you've probably found the recipe on Pinterest, then they are going to want to try one!

Raffles! - Childreach International do all they can to help out their fundraisers so at Christmas and Easter they send out tickets for a free prize draw for you to sell to make donations. Although I didn't quite push it as much as I should have at Easter, I made an extra £100 at Christmas. You can set up your own raffle too. Simply ask for prize donations from local business and off you go!


Public Collections -  Firstly, go on eBay and buy a fancy dress costume. You'll be amazed at what you can find! I bought a Supergirl costume for £13 and it was well worth it. I was lucky enough to have Childreach do it for me but if you don't have that, speak to your local councils about getting a charity collection permit for a few days throughout the year. There is usually something online. Public collections are the easiest way to raise money as all you do is stand there with a collection bucket. Keep on smiling and have a laugh with everyone who puts in a little bit of spare change. I did at least 5 public collections and made over £500! The longer you can stand there, the more money you can raise. I made £110 one day! York was the best place for it as everyone was so lovely, I even got a hot chocolate bought for me without my asking!


Barefoot Day! - I have wrote about these on my blog because of how successful they were for not putting much effort in. I simply wore no shoes and socks for 24 hours and made it known across my social media. It can be very cold or wet but it's a sacrifice to make £200. My first one wasn't quite successful and only raised £30 but my dedication at doing it twice made people want to donate more and so made nearly £180! Easy to organise too as you pick a day and do it! Advertise it on Facebook beforehand and off you go!


Getting Slimed! - Choose somewhere quite public and get a few friends to help out with the pouring slime and collecting money and it's all pretty easy. I chose to do it right outside my Student Union where it often gets quite busy, however I did have to fill out a risk assessment but I did it and people loved it. I was only there for about an hour and managed to raise at least £60, not bad for an hour! You can read more about it here!

Pub Quiz - My pub quiz could have gone a lot better. I had problems with the pub I did it at (they got a new manager less than a week before and she wasn't told anything about my pub quiz and so it wasn't advertised, and they didn't get me the PA system they said they would) and in the end I only made £75. I'd suggest doing a pub quiz with another person so you can both bring all your friends and make more money. I only did £1 per person whereas you could bump that up to £2 at least as it's for charity. The raffle is always a big money maker too so get some good prizes donated by local shops and get everyone to buy at least one strip!


Carboot Sale - Ah, a good old classic carboot sale! I sent letters out to all my neighbours asking if they had any unwanted items to put on a carboot. You wouldn't believe the response I got. I had so much stuff to take, I loaded two cars and still had to do a second one. I made about £240 from both carboot sales. Whatever I had left, I have tried to sell on the local Facebook carboot groups. I've not had that much luck but I have sold a bin bag full of unwanted clothes for £20!

Bingo Night! - You can easily purchase bingo cards online and there are plenty of bingo caller apps for your phone so find a venue and invite everyone you know! Near my uni there are a few pubs that offer hire of their function rooms for free on certain nights so get in touch with places like that and see what you can do! Make it fancy dress, blast some music, bring some snacks, and have a great time! I made about £165 as everyone wanted a second round! The prizes don't have to be much. Most of mine were unwanted tins and packets that I have in my kitchen cupboard, but I wrapped everything up to keep it a surprise.

Grand National Sweepstake - Every year in April we have the Grand National! Use it to your advantage. Invite all your friends and family around for a BBQ or go to your local pub. If you ask nicely, the pub owners will let you go round with your sweep stake! I did £2 a go and winner gets half! So I made £40!

Chores and Work - I managed to make an extra £10 from posting in my local Facebook group about what I was doing and offered to do some dog walking. A few people did actually get back to me but I didn't push too hard. Also, any money I made from my blog over the past few months got donated straight on to my fundraising page. From doing my little bits of work I raised at least another £150!


Treadmill Walk! - As my final fundraising event, as well as a bit of training, I took on the challenge of doing a 12 hour treadmill hike at my local gym. It was horrible and I never want to do anything like it again. I was unable to walk for a good three days afterwards. The plan was to get as high up Kilimanjaro in Km as I could. In the 12 hours I managed 28km, only 12 off reaching the peak. On the following Tuesday I went back in and completed the final 12 km, raising over £160!

I had more ideas but unfortunately, with heading to Dominican Republic, I just didn't have the time to fit them in! I did rely a lot on family and friends donating but obviously that never turns out the way you hope but all in all, eventually I managed to do it all thanks to the generosity of everyone who donated! When doing something like this, you'll be surprised at how generous some people can be! Don't get disheartened if you find yourself struggling though, everyone does but in the end it is worth it. Keep on working hard and organise as many events as you can!

Good luck if you are doing something similar!

- KC xx

Have you ever had to raise a large amount of money like this? Would you have any other ideas to add to the list?

Jambo!

I'M GOING TO TANZANIA!

Ok, so that's not majorly big news any more but the point is, I'm actually going. I've spent the past year fundraising and doing all that I can to raise the money I needed to go to Tanzania and climb Kilimanjaro this August. Even though I kept on saying I was going, it was all a bit up in the air. To be able to go I needed to raise the money and it was difficult. Eventually, whilst in the Dominican Republic the final deadline date came around and after persistent promotion on Facebook, I finally did it! A massive thank you everyone who donated and supported me throughout my fundraising! I'm planning a full fundraising update as a round up of everything that I did to raise money. Hopefully in the future that with help others who are planning a similar thing. In the meantime, I have a trip to plan! (Check out that post here!)

The trip I have booked with our adventure company, Rare Adventures, includes flights, the Kilimanjaro trek, plus food and accommodation whilst on the trek, and then allows time for some independent travelling at the end. I now have just over 5 weeks until I jet off to Tanzania and start the big adventure, but before then I have a lot of preparing to do. Both to remind myself and to give everyone else a little idea of what's got to be done before Kilimanjaro and Tanzania, I thought I'd do a post today with a list of things.


1. Travel Insurance

I did this yesterday but it's been one of the main things on my mind lately. Getting travel insurance normally is very important but this time round it hasn't been as simple as Compare the Market. Climbing Kilimanjaro requires all sorts of extras similarly to extreme sports. Altitude sickness can be very common so making sure the insurance covers being above 6000ft is essential. I am fortunate that our travel company offer their own version through Endsleigh Insurance that is tailored to the specific challenge! It is a bit more on the expensive side at £81 but given the risks you are taking, it is worth it.

2. Visa

The next thing on my list to get done is sorting out my visa. Some visas are pretty simple to sort out. For example, when going to the Dominican Republic you can just fill in a short form online and send it off with a photocopy of your passport at a cost of £11 and it's sorted within the week. Both of our visas arrived at my door ready for our holidays. Otherwise you can purchase them when you arrive in Dom Rep, but the queue gets quite long. For Tanzania it's a bit different. There is an application form to print off and fill in which needs to be sent off with your passport, two passport sized photos and proof of payment which is simply you putting money into a bank account. It is all such a hassle. When doing it by mail it is said to take up to ten days to return so in case of any complications, sending it off early is key. Oh, I forgot, it's best to get it recorded delivery since your passport is in it but you also need to send a pre-paid envelope for them to send everything back in.


3. Kit

I previously did a list of everything I will need for the trip as well as a backpacker's wishlist so there are quite a few things I am going to have to buy. Looking at the list, I do actually have a few things and luckily I was donated a large 65L back pack but I still need a new coat and probably layer clothing! Off I go shopping in the next couple of weeks!

4. Train

My fitness isn't too bad as I've played hockey throughout the year and been to the gym when I could. I also recently climbed Mount Isabel de Torres in Dominican Republic which took about 3 hours at a steep incline, which was probably a lot more than we would do in a day when climbing Kilimanjaro so I'm not feeling too bad about that. However, dare I say it, I have put on weight since I finished uni and came home. I haven't really looked after myself and I guess you could say I have eaten a lot of chocolate! Now I really need to put my foot down and make sure I am keeping my fitness up and try to loose that bit of puppy fat I've put on. I didn't really feel comfortable in my bikini on holiday this time round so I don't want the same in Tanzania!


5. Itinerary

Finally, I have 7 days of independent travel time after the challenge for me to do whatever I want before my flight home. Within our team we have been trying to organise who wants to do what in order to stay in groups for safety reasons. There is a lot to do in Tanzania such as safaris, hot springs, big cities with museums, cultural tours, and a ferry system across to the beautiful Zanzibar! Lots to do in such a short amount of time. Here's me wanting to do it all. Of course my budget is not allowing for that at all so sacrifices will have to be made. No safari for me. Not this time anyway. Once all the groups are sorted and the full itinerary has been planned and hopefully booked, I will share with you what I shall be doing. Until then, it's very stressful when you're trying to organise about 13 people all at once and everyone wants to do something different.

I mentioned my budget. Currently I don't have one as I am skint. I honestly don't know where money goes and how it goes so quickly. Especially since I'm back home and my parents pay for things as I'm not at uni. Either way, the whole plan was to get a job as soon as I got back from Dominican Republic to tide me over until I go to Tanzania. That has proved a lot more difficult that I had originally thought as nowhere will take me on for such a short amount of time. I can't go back to my old job as they are full up and I have not been trained behind the bar. Gone are the days when you can easily get a little summer job for 6 weeks. I gave up searching and instead, through the power of Facebook, I have been able to actually get two jobs. One is at a cafe and one is at a restaurant. I never worked at anything like either of them but both owners know about my trip and are keen to help me out so I have money for spends like food and drink. I start one this weekend and then I think the other on Monday. I'm still waiting for the call to let me know my hours. I just hope that I can fit both of them in. According to opening hours, one closes at 5pm whilst the other opens at 6pm so fingers crossed it all goes well. If it does then I might just have money left over to take me to university. UPDATE - both jobs fell through. How annoying! I'm back to being jobless when I didn't even get to start either of these!

All in all, lots to do and lots to look forward to! Here's to another great adventure and my first proper backpacking trip! I am genuinely so excited and really hope it all goes well and works out ok! Things are looking up! Well they were when I had jobs to look forward to, anyway I' am still looking forward to my trip!

Fingers crossed!
- KC xx

Have you ever done a trip like this? What sort of things do you like to see in new countries?

Photos courtesy of Hull RAG of which I am a committee member of.

Hola!

Still amazed that it has only just been over a week since I got back from the Dominican Republic. I can't make my mind up about how I feel. It kind of feels like I've been back for ages, as nothing has changed, or that it was just a dream. That said, it also feels like yesterday we were sat by the pool bar with a bunch of our new friends, drinking cocktails and playing Uno. It's so surreal. I absolutely love travelling but coming back home and integrating back into normality is a very odd experience. I've spent this past week and a bit suffering from a mixture of food poisoning and jet lag, whilst trying to search for a job to cover me just for the next six weeks, realising that I'm flying out to Tanzania on my next big adventure! I'll admit, I'm addicted to searching for cheap flights and holidays. You'd think I'd be fine now that I've just got back, and I'm going away again soon! Nope, travelling is addictive. There is so much more of the world to see and whilst I'm still young, I want to explore it!

Back to the Dominican Republic...

Mentioned in my previous post, myself and Edmond decided it would be a good idea to climb Mount Isabel de Torres, 793m high, whilst in Dominican Republic to be adventurous and, I suppose, give myself some training before climbing Kilimanjaro in a few weeks time. I did a little research beforehand to check it was doable and how much it would cost if we got a guide to take us up. Most reviews of the trail on TripAdvisor said the route was clearly marked out by red paint and is easy enough to follow, however they would suggest paying for a guide simply for some information and the more tricky bits. Of course it is much safer if you're with someone who knows where they are going and apparently it would cost around 800 pesos per person (around £15) so it seemed worth it.



Getting there:

The mountain is easy enough to find. As you head into Puerto Plata, you see it straight away. Mount Isabel de Torres is the third tallest mountain in the Dominican Republic and it one of the main tourist attractions in Puerto Plata so most tour operators offer excursions or add-ons to city tours. We chose to get a taxi from our hotel for a $40 return. All taxi prices are set and the drivers will either wait for you or pick up at a set time so it was the easiest way to do things on our own. Our taxi driver was lovely and happy to chat with us about the mountain and dropped us off at the door at the base. By door, I mean the entrance to the cable car or Teleférico.



Teleférico:

The Teleférico is the easiest option to reach the peak of the mountain. It is also, as it seemed, the cheaper option too which is why it attracts tourists and locals everyday between the hours of _ and 5pm. Originally built to increase tourism into the city, it's doors opened to the public in 1975 to allow everyone to ascend the mountain to see the Christ the Redeemer statue, being a very Christian country. It costs about 400 peso each for a return at any time ticket and there is one every 15 minutes, so it is the very simple and easy way of getting to the top. As I've said, stupidly we didn't take this option.


Walking up the Isabel de Torres Trail

Guides: 

When you arrive at the main door, it's likely that you'll be greeted by someone who will show you the way. They will try take you to the cable car and offer you a guide, of course if you go that way and don't want a guide just say no and you can wander around at the top yourself, instead we explained to him that we wanted to walk up the trail. I wasn't entirely sure he understood what I was saying but eventually he understood and began telling us the price of a guide. Starting price was $75!!! There was no way I was paying that. Thinking back to it, I probably overreacted as he was giving us a price for two. Even so, I wasn't willing to pay that much at all. I tried negotiating saying we know people who have done it for 800 pesos each. But they wouldn't have it. In the end, because we were desperate to do it since we'd come all that way, I think we paid around £20-25 each. It does seem a bit ridiculous when you can go up in the cable car for much less but I was putting it down to training and luckily we had enough money. Those who are better at haggling than I am could probably get them lower but either way, off we went.


Route of the Trail:


The route begins at the foot of the mountain, towards the back of the car park. When we were there, there was a small fair ground and the entrance to the trail was over by the left hand side. As far as I know, the fair is there all year round. It starts off easy enough. It's a bit slippery going over a small empty creek but it dries up as the path gets grassy with rubble. It's a straightforward path which crosses over a baseball field and continues up, basically following the route of the cable car. It does get steeper all of a sudden but if you take it slowly and pace yourself, it's easy enough. Unfortunately for us, our guide overestimated our fitness and went full speed ahead which had me really struggling about half an hour in. I couldn't give up so I drank a bit of water and slowed down. He'd just have to wait for me. About an hour in, it got much easier as the route took us down hill and more into the jungle. It was much cooler and a well needed break from the steepness. The path can get quite narrow at times and then, just when we think the rest of the walk is going to be quite leisurely, we found ourselves physically crawling and pulling ourselves up using branches and vines, hopelessly avoiding the nettles. Some of it was quite fun but when the path ended and we had to climb across a huge pile of rocks, which were incredibly unstable, I feared for my life. Our guide managed it with ease and Edmond, with his long legs, was just about alright. I, on the other hand, struggled to reach any kind of stability and came out with quite a few nettle stings. It became quite a bit of a climb, after our rep at the hotel told us it wouldn't require actual rock climbing and that we could do it in trainers, but eventually we came out at a road. A road was a heavenly sight after clambering through the jungle but it quickly became a hill from hell. For the final half an hour, we walked up what is the steepest hill I have ever seen. By this point, I'd run out of water and everything was hurting. Luckily I think the guide noticed I was struggling and so we took a few minutes break every ten or so minutes. It was definitely needed. Finally, we reached the top!

This is the rocky bit I mentioned! The photo doesn't do it justice as to how bad it was. At least you can see how unstable the rocks look. Also, I'm looking at my hand because I had just been caught by the nettles. Yes, all those green leaves behind me are nettles, and I had to climb through them with nothing to hold on to!

Mount Isabel de Torres Peak:

Reaching the top was an amazing experience after what we had achieved. All I wanted to do was collapse, perhaps go get a drink from the cafe before checking everything out. As usual though, our guide was all for rushing us around and took us to a shop owner who took our typical tourist photos. I was so knackered and pleased that I had accomplished the mountain that I couldn't say no and stood there whilst I had my photo taken. Photos finished and of course he wanted to show us his shop, and we didn't want to buy anything. So our guide took us around all the shops. Still didn't want to buy anything. We just wanted a drink. Unlucky, in some ways, for us, it started raining for all the shop owners were keen for us to browse whilst it rained. We were keen to stand out in the rain though. After climbing a mountain when it was around 30 degrees, I needed something that refreshing. With in ten minutes the rain cleared up and all clouds disappeared to reveal some astonishing views.

Here's a photo of Edmond looking very confused as the guy kept telling him to put his arms up in different positions!

At the top of the mountain there is of course the great Christ the Redeemer statue, as the main attraction, some gorgeous botanical gardens, a small paddling pool which is always being refurbished, and somewhere there is a small cave. Our guide appeared to be in a rush and no matter how much we tried to tell him, he was ready to take us back down. It did get to the point where I did feel uncomfortable following him around when I would have preferred to have explored a little more at the top. That said, I was also too knackered to do argue with him and try understand his mediocre English. My Spanish isn't quite good enough yet to have explained what we actually wanted to do. Anyway, he showed us towards the cable car to go down and explained that we would have to pay 200 peso each. We knew about that so that was ok.

That view though! This photo was a screen shot from a video I got on my GoPro. I was physically unable to get my main camera out of my bag, I was that knackered!

The cable car was an experience in itself. There were no other English speakers on board but they were kind enough to let me get to the front with my camera. It takes a matter of minutes to reach the bottom yet it doesn't appear to go to fast. Changing over cables to be lowered it always amusing though because no matter who is in the cable car with you, everyone always woos on the jolts.

• Take plenty of bug spray with 50% deet!
• Wear long trousers as you will get dirty!
• I would advise getting a guide but haggle with them based on everyone together!
• Ask for knowledge about the mountain.
• One 2L bottle of water is just about enough but take something sugary as well.
• Take it slow from the beginning.
• Take hand sanitiser for the top.
• If you don't want to buy anything, avoid the dome at the top and say so straight away. 
• Go in the morning to avoid cloudy afternoons. If there is clouds when you get to the top, be patient and ours clear up after the rain.

Buenos Dias!

Good Morning!

As of today, I have now been back off my holidays for a week and have only just got over jet lag. I always seem to come back of a holiday either needing another holiday or at least a good full week relaxing. I've almost had that this past week, despite the summer job searching - fingers crossed I get something this week. Anyway, now that rest is over, it's full swing ahead with everything and back to working on my blog. I honestly am really excited as this is just one of the many posts I have planned. I have so much to share with you over the next few weeks and then I'm off to Tanzania to climb the world's tallest free-standing mountain, Mount Kilimanjaro! Updates on that to come as well.

I thought I'd begin with giving you a rough breakdown about everything Dominican Republic, however, later I will be doing a proper hotel review and reviews of the excursions to go a little bit in more depth and I'll be able to share more photos of the trip.



Our flight from Manchester wasn't too bad at all. Everything was on time and despite only having the standard seats, there was plenty of leg room. That said, I have small legs. We flew on the Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner with Thomson Airlines which offers a lot more modern technology than most. With TVs on the back of every seat that show every type of movie or TV programme going, including Inception, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, Passengers, The Big Bang Theory, How I Met Your Mother, Arrow, and a lot more. If you're like me and really can't be bothered to watch anything, despite the 9 hour flight, there were always games available or some very odd music choices. The meals were your basic long haul flight meals. We didn't have them. This was the first holiday where we have downright refused to take them off the air hostess but there was no point in giving them to us. We never eat them. Just the smell makes me feel sick. I'd much prefer to have a baguette like they offer on short haul flights. Instead, we went to Uppercrust before boarding and purchased our lunch, after our Burger King breakfast. The worst part about the flight was the air pressure. Normally it doesn't bother me but I came off feeling very stuffy, almost like I was full of a cold. Ed even had a nose bleed completely out of the blue which we put down to the pressure. Once we were off, everything cleared up. That strong smell of humidity hit us and I knew I was back in the Dominican Republic for my eighth time.

Visas on hand, we were straight through security and immigration and easily found our cases. On to our transfer to the hotel which I remember being around an hour. Instead it only took about half an hour and we thought things were going very well until we arrived at the hotel along with another 3 coach loads full of people. I have never seen so many people get dropped off at one hotel. I kid you not, I think the entire flight went there! Despite the large amount of people, it didn't take too long to get checked in and head to our room. One thing I regret was not taking our suitcases with us, instead we allowed the concierge to take them off our hands. Of course, because so many people did the same thing, it took nearly an hour before we received our cases in our rooms. On the plus side, we got a free room upgrade! I had previously been in contact with RIU hotels because of my other posts about some of their other hotels and they said they would see what they could do for my next trip. Nothing was arranged for definite and I hadn't got my hopes up so the surprise was just amazing. The rooms aren't much different. They are bigger with a couch and armchair. Normally what you pay for is the view. It was absolutely astonishing. The room overlooked all the beach front and the beautiful walkway that is part of the hotel. The walkway up to a view point was made mainly for weddings but due to the wind, it became a monumental view point to see the gorgeous surroundings. At night we could see the most amazing sunset from our balcony and if we wanted, we could step out our room and easily get on to the next floor to get a higher view. Other than the view and room upgrade, I received a little present on arrival - some Santo Domingo coffee, known as the fourth best coffee in the world and can cost around $10 for the size bag I got, and a very special VIP RIU mug. I will definitely be using that in my new house at uni! The night finished with us managing to stay up and watch the show. Mainly because it was a mix of Chicago and Burlesque songs. Burlesque is one of my favourite movies and I'll admit, I nearly cried when then began to do a lyrical dance to Bound to You! It was the best beginning to our holiday!


The hotel was all inclusive and offers the main buffet restaurant at lunch and at dinner. Each night, another al a carte restaurant opens where you can go to the steak house, Caribbean restaurant or the Italian. Throughout the day there is an entertainment program that the animation team put on for all guests at the hotel. You can begin with stretching and yoga in the morning or go straight to a game of mini golf. In the afternoon it was horseshoe time and then there was always a crazy game which changed each day. Unfortunately on this holiday, for the first time ever, I did not win anything. Not even a single game of bingo! I was pretty disappointed but I suppose the games were played slightly different than what I remember from previous holidays to the same hotel and the RIU Tequila. There were ups and downs to the hotel as there will always be but I'll explain that in more detail on my full review.


On days where we got particularly bored, we decided to go on a few excursions. Our first one was to Mount Isabel de Torres. After a bit of research at home, I found out there was a walking trail up the mountain and since I had previously done it via cable car, I thought it would be a good idea that myself and Ed trekked up ourselves. It would also be good training for Kilimanjaro in August. Knowing it would take about 3 hours, basically through the jungle, we hired a guide to take us up and when we reached the top there was the Christ the Redeemer replica many flock to see. The trek itself was a lot harder than we expected. Even the rep at the hotel said it was easy enough and that we could simply do it in our trainers and there was no actual rock climbing involved. She was mistaken. There were plenty of times where it was so steep, I was physically on my hands and knees having to pull myself up. It was also quite slippery on the more rocky areas too, especially at the beginning, so I was very glad I wore my proper walking boots. By the end of it I was completely knackered and thankful for two days rest before our next excursion. It was a great experience but not something I would recommend or ever do again.


The next two excursions were much more relaxed. We did the Outback Safari where we were taken out in a big jeep to explore different areas of the Dominican Republic. We were shown a traditional house, plantation, a school, gorgeous river where we were able to cool off, tasted some delicious traditional cuisine (chicken, rice and beans), and then headed to the beach for some body boarding in the afternoon. It was a day full of adventure and something I would definitely recommend it to anyone who is heading out to DR. Although we found out a lot about the history on this trip, we chose to do the city tour of Puerto Plata in our final few days. Taxi companies offer this at a much cheaper rate than booking with a travel company. We were taken through poorer and richer areas where politics and wealth were explained. We stopped of to get some photos of the gorgeous views before heading to the rum factory, a cigar factory, Puerto Plata main town centre area and cathedral, and then the coastline where San Felipe fort is found. We learnt a lot about the history and revolutions of the Dominican people; their wars with the Spanish and feuds with Haitians. It was a very informative day and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Plus we were back at the hotel just in time for lunch, ready to start the afternoon's activities. I'd definitely recommend both of these trips out and will be going into more detail soon, so look out for those posts!


Throughout the final few days we got to know some really amazing people and had some great laughs. Most nights we were in bed by 11 (normally I read my book) as we aren't the sort of people who go out clubbing but the last two nights we were out until 2, maybe 3am just chatting to our new friends. It would be lovely to meet up with them all again. I loved the holiday itself; we had some amazing experiences and the country is beautiful, but it truly is the people you meet along the way that make the holiday. Just wished we had got to know them earlier on in the holiday.

Overall we very much enjoyed ourselves and I'm definitely glad we booked to go. I still miss Mexico though! I would happily go back but perhaps we'd visit the south and Caribbean coast next time. Edmond and I always talk about the trips we will do one day and a big one has always been to island hop the Caribbean. When we do that and we come to the Domincican Republic, we will most likely head straight to the south before heading to Puerto Rico. Doesn't that sound like the dream! One day!

Until then, look out for all my other Dominican Republic related posts. Of course I will be needing to prepare for Tanzania now so keep up to date with what's going on via my twitter or Facebook!

See y'all soon!
- KC xx