So paradise does have some trade offs. Just like every where else. As I said before, it is rainy season and we are not being disappointed. The POP airport was closed for a while yesterday and have not heard anything about today. High winds that make the tree limbs dance and the TV cable lines fall. Power not a problem so far today but we have everything we need to keep everything going.
Poor Rafael, our live in grounds keeper has nothing to do.. well he does but we have found a couple of indoor things that he can attend to. After that, we will set him up with a few DVDs in the empty rental. We have learned how to work the machine and change the English movies to Spanish or French. Rafael is quite happy with the French, being from Haiti, and that we would allow him to sit and watch a few movies.... in his language. We did this last evening and I think he stayed up until after midnight. He knows that this is something special and not to expect this to be an on going bonus.
We are amazed that our Internet connection is almost never affected! Why everything else and not that?
Our housekeeper, Momi, had to wade thru 2 feet of water on the road to get here this AM. We made sure that she had some dry shoes and she has been busy doing her normal duties.
I think that our plans of going out to dinner tonight will not happen. Guess that I should pull somethings out of the freezer.
Let's see. Looking at another 5 to 10 days of this. I feel sorry for all those coming down and find nothing to do. But again, it is not snow and freezing!
And it's a warn rain..... just lots of it.
Friday, January 23, 2009
Thursday, January 22, 2009
Just about everyday... Rain.
We have been having rain. About 2 months so far with only a few days of good sun. The temps are cold for us that have been here awhile being in the mid 70's F range with some mornings dipping below 70. Back in our New England home we would have had the AC on. LOL.
This is nothing new... it is just the season. We can expect the same for another month or so. But be realistic.... it is not freezing or snowing. You can still swim in the ocean or a heated pool in the rain, your going to get wet anyway. And it is a warm rain... sort of.
Some areas are prone to flooding along with some roads so some planning may be in order. A section of our road down the street becomes impassable at times but no big deal. We can wait until tomorrow. Power off and on, same with TV cable. It is all part of living here.
So when coming down in the winter, be a little prepared for some rain and be ready to take advantage when the sun comes out.
After all, it is a warm rain.
This is nothing new... it is just the season. We can expect the same for another month or so. But be realistic.... it is not freezing or snowing. You can still swim in the ocean or a heated pool in the rain, your going to get wet anyway. And it is a warm rain... sort of.
Some areas are prone to flooding along with some roads so some planning may be in order. A section of our road down the street becomes impassable at times but no big deal. We can wait until tomorrow. Power off and on, same with TV cable. It is all part of living here.
So when coming down in the winter, be a little prepared for some rain and be ready to take advantage when the sun comes out.
After all, it is a warm rain.
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
Truth II
We had been coming down to the Dominican Republic for several years. The first few times using a time share program. We soon found a nice little house on the Ocean that we rented over and over. We also looked at other rentals and everything that was for sale. We later bought land down the street and started to build. We hope to be finished soon. Oh please let us be finished soon!
While renting and house/condo hunting we made several observations that most people don't see but take for granted in most of their home countries. I posted about the electrical situation before. How about:
Can I Drink The Water? NO... don't do it. Don't brush your teeth or open you mouth in the shower. When washing vegys, fruits, wiping counters or doing the dishes make sure that you dry them. Unless you KNOW that the water is from a bottle or has been purified into potable drinkable safe treated water. Most places will have bottled water and some will charge extra for it. If renting a house/condo you will have to buy and haul it. Use it to make ice too.
Most places will have a water cistern that stores city water and then is pumped for domestic use. City water is not always reliable and can be off for days at a time. It is not uncommon for an average home to run out of water due to small water storage. Something to check on, along with does the pump have another power source to pump it?
Most bars/restaurants have store ice and bottled water so that should not be a problem.
We installed a purification system for all the indoor taps on the property and our tests come back better then what the EPA standards are. At Villa Samia... go ahead and drink the water. Its free and we have lots.
INSECT SCREENS? I'm amazed how many places do not have insect screens. Nuff said.
GYM. Since we started to promote that we have our own gym (very good equipment I might add) on property... in a room with AC, cable TV and stereo... many others say they have one too. NOT so. They run you down the the local gym in town. Same with tennis and golf that we all have the same access to; we don't have a private golf course and they don't either.
HEATED POOL! In the Caribbean? Yep. We found that when we wintered here, we could not use the pool. Wasn't that part of why we came? Yep. We heat ours and it gets used!
While renting and house/condo hunting we made several observations that most people don't see but take for granted in most of their home countries. I posted about the electrical situation before. How about:
Can I Drink The Water? NO... don't do it. Don't brush your teeth or open you mouth in the shower. When washing vegys, fruits, wiping counters or doing the dishes make sure that you dry them. Unless you KNOW that the water is from a bottle or has been purified into potable drinkable safe treated water. Most places will have bottled water and some will charge extra for it. If renting a house/condo you will have to buy and haul it. Use it to make ice too.
Most places will have a water cistern that stores city water and then is pumped for domestic use. City water is not always reliable and can be off for days at a time. It is not uncommon for an average home to run out of water due to small water storage. Something to check on, along with does the pump have another power source to pump it?
Most bars/restaurants have store ice and bottled water so that should not be a problem.
We installed a purification system for all the indoor taps on the property and our tests come back better then what the EPA standards are. At Villa Samia... go ahead and drink the water. Its free and we have lots.
INSECT SCREENS? I'm amazed how many places do not have insect screens. Nuff said.
GYM. Since we started to promote that we have our own gym (very good equipment I might add) on property... in a room with AC, cable TV and stereo... many others say they have one too. NOT so. They run you down the the local gym in town. Same with tennis and golf that we all have the same access to; we don't have a private golf course and they don't either.
HEATED POOL! In the Caribbean? Yep. We found that when we wintered here, we could not use the pool. Wasn't that part of why we came? Yep. We heat ours and it gets used!
Truth In Advertising!
My wife and I had been coming to the Dominican Republic for over 10 years before we decided to make our home here over 4 years ago. One thing that you learn down here in a short time is the Truth, or the lack of, in advertising. I see it everyday but now know not to expect what is sworn to be what has been promised as the truth.
Why do I bring this up? Because I'm a little odd. I provide what I advertise and work at it. I do give a sad laugh when I here some tourist telling me about what they didn't get and what didn't work. Some having to move from their dream vacation rentals for one reason or another and have no chance for a refund. Let's get down to some very real examples and why I list some of them on our Home Page of Villa Samia. http://www.villasamia.com/
Electricity. Just about every part of the Dominican Republic has back outs. Some daily for several hours. When you consider all that your rental house offers, you had better know the power situation. All those cable TVs, Internet, stereos, refrigeration, lights, fans, AC, pool pump, hot water or any water at all depend on the power. No power, you got nada, nil, zip. This may be fun for a short time once a week. But in some areas it is not when it is everyday for 8 hours per day
Most places boast of 24/7 electricity. But do they? Can they? Two large rental villas near us advertise this. One has a medium size inverter with modified sine wave. The other with a 35Kw generator. What does this mean for you as a renter? Both charge over U.S. $1,000 per night. Granted these are bigger and look fancy... but are they worth it?
Inverters rely of batteries that convert the power to 120VAC for the house. Without a charging source, the batteries run out of power, thus the house. 120VAC will not run the eight 240VAC air conditioning nor the pool pump. Most run a few selected circuits only. Being a modified sine wave makes fans and other items run "funny" and noisily. Inverters do break and batteries run down.
Generators are fine. Well mostly. The other villa only has a generator and only a hundred gallons of fuel capacity. It does provide a full sine wave and 240VAC, but is only a 35Kw. He has run out of fuel several times as well as the generator has broken. It is also too small for what the villa requires for full use so other power problems happen. When the grid power goes out, the generator takes a few seconds to start and provide the juice. In this case the unit is not in a sound proof housing so I can hear it four properties away and over mine (in a sound proof building). Also the smell of diesel can be a little offensive. Just what I want during my vacation for $1,200 per day.
In this last month, both places ran out of power. One with the batteries dead and the other had a broken generator. Their guests had to be moved to another location. I don't know where they went but I do know that from the voices that they where not happy.
When we designed and built Villa Samia, it was for us. This was not a part time vacation home for us or just a rental income. We live and work here and we require power to keep everything going. We would not provide less for our guests and renters.
As the other two rental villa guests where being packed up, our 6 guests never noticed that the grid power was out and that our two inverters, with cross over capabilities, kept everything going with our little wind generator keeping the batteries up. All of our 120 VAC circuits are on our inverters with full power and full sine wave. We did not need to start our generator.... but it is here and ready if and when needed.
With grid, two inverters, wind generator and diesel generator, our lights will never go out. Well, at least the odds are with us.
Next we can talk about.... Can you drink the water? Where is the Gym? Darn that pool is cold!
Why do I bring this up? Because I'm a little odd. I provide what I advertise and work at it. I do give a sad laugh when I here some tourist telling me about what they didn't get and what didn't work. Some having to move from their dream vacation rentals for one reason or another and have no chance for a refund. Let's get down to some very real examples and why I list some of them on our Home Page of Villa Samia. http://www.villasamia.com/
Electricity. Just about every part of the Dominican Republic has back outs. Some daily for several hours. When you consider all that your rental house offers, you had better know the power situation. All those cable TVs, Internet, stereos, refrigeration, lights, fans, AC, pool pump, hot water or any water at all depend on the power. No power, you got nada, nil, zip. This may be fun for a short time once a week. But in some areas it is not when it is everyday for 8 hours per day
Most places boast of 24/7 electricity. But do they? Can they? Two large rental villas near us advertise this. One has a medium size inverter with modified sine wave. The other with a 35Kw generator. What does this mean for you as a renter? Both charge over U.S. $1,000 per night. Granted these are bigger and look fancy... but are they worth it?
Inverters rely of batteries that convert the power to 120VAC for the house. Without a charging source, the batteries run out of power, thus the house. 120VAC will not run the eight 240VAC air conditioning nor the pool pump. Most run a few selected circuits only. Being a modified sine wave makes fans and other items run "funny" and noisily. Inverters do break and batteries run down.
Generators are fine. Well mostly. The other villa only has a generator and only a hundred gallons of fuel capacity. It does provide a full sine wave and 240VAC, but is only a 35Kw. He has run out of fuel several times as well as the generator has broken. It is also too small for what the villa requires for full use so other power problems happen. When the grid power goes out, the generator takes a few seconds to start and provide the juice. In this case the unit is not in a sound proof housing so I can hear it four properties away and over mine (in a sound proof building). Also the smell of diesel can be a little offensive. Just what I want during my vacation for $1,200 per day.
In this last month, both places ran out of power. One with the batteries dead and the other had a broken generator. Their guests had to be moved to another location. I don't know where they went but I do know that from the voices that they where not happy.
When we designed and built Villa Samia, it was for us. This was not a part time vacation home for us or just a rental income. We live and work here and we require power to keep everything going. We would not provide less for our guests and renters.
As the other two rental villa guests where being packed up, our 6 guests never noticed that the grid power was out and that our two inverters, with cross over capabilities, kept everything going with our little wind generator keeping the batteries up. All of our 120 VAC circuits are on our inverters with full power and full sine wave. We did not need to start our generator.... but it is here and ready if and when needed.
With grid, two inverters, wind generator and diesel generator, our lights will never go out. Well, at least the odds are with us.
Next we can talk about.... Can you drink the water? Where is the Gym? Darn that pool is cold!
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