I am going through my pics right now before heading off to Rawlicious, soon.. going to post some now & some more tomorrow or soon. We stayed at the Grand Oasis Marien in Puerta Plata (Silver Port) ..the Silver must be for the sand, white, white, white!!!
I loved the mountains around us.. beautiful Island. ..but a lot of poverty!! The island is split between Haiti & the Dominican Republic. Travelling to Haiti is very dangerous, lots of criminal activity.. not very safe. But I was talking to someone fromt here the week before I left who wants to open a Wellness Center there, and bring health knowledge..and we talked about me coming to teach raw classes.. wow, now that may be some time before that one happens.. and maybe it will be safer by that time, everything changes. : ) I met another woman on the trip who had a little girl she had adopted from Haiti. So she goes to the Dominican regularly for her to be close to her homeland.. (insert lots of coincidences here.. life amazes me sometimes!)
Lots of pics of my fav thing coming up - The Beach!!! I probably got too much of a tan, loved it so much down by the ocean. I grew up near the ocean, its my natural habitat. But I am sure I am supposed to have come from the tropics..hot weather, sun, Palm trees.. Mangoes!! The snack bar at the resort was called Mangoes. : ) All inclusives are pretty much all the same I think. There is usually a big buffet, & I do mean big!!! for breakfast, lunch and dinner.. and then there is a snack bar, sometimes a few with a lot of different foods for in-between when the buffet is not open, and then several Restaurants open for dinner, this place had 4 - Mare (fish & seafood), Santa Fe Grill (Tex-Mex), Les Caraibes (Crepes specailty) and the Rigoletto Pasta Club.. you didn't need a reservation, but should be there early to make sure you get in.. not that I needed to. The restaurants are not vegan-raw friendly.. (you would probably just go with a salad) The best bet by far is the Buffet (El Cayuco Main Restaurant).
I have to admit it was a bit of a challenge eating raw, but just a bit.. there was so much available, that unless you really had it in your head to stay raw, it would have been easy to indulge.. I did slightly.. but there was really lots of raw options.. usually 3 or 4 types of lettuces & greens in the buffet salad bar, one was really quite bitter and looked wild, it was good, and leaf lettuce and romaine & always iceberg. I forgot my Magic Bullet (mini-blender) which was too bad, could have easily brought out greens & fruit and made green smoothies in my room. As it was I went greensmoothieless folr the week. I did drink a lot of fresh fruit juices & smoothies, became friends with the Smoothie/juice bar lady!!
I think I could have been a fruitarian for a week.. its a good thing! At every meal there was always trays of lots of fruit: watermelon, pineapple, canteloup, papaya, passionfruit, mangoes etc etc always,, and always in the snack bar. But there were so many vegetables also, and different salads.. you had to watch the dressings.. next time I would bring some Himalayan salt. They usually had jalapenos, great hot sauces, and I went for the garnishes that weren't getting eaten (what was up with that? lol) It was fun & although it was really a meat-lovers paradise.. it is totally do-able to eat raw at an all inclusive. & I'm sure all those bowls of fruit and salads were inspiring to lots of people.. integration!! its a good thing! : ) (although I couldnt help imaginging few times an all-raw all-inclusive!! )
But it was so fun.. & it felt good to look good, to feel good and have beautiful plates of food ..many plates, I ate a lot! ..it was such a treat to have food made for me!! ..& the look of the cooked, fried food next to the beautiful colorful salads.. raw foods win, hands down!
ps. Natalie asked in the previous post about how one stays raw while on vacation. I liked my response and want to include it here - It takes a bit of focus, knowing who you are, what you want to eat, and be.. etc. Depending on how ingrained the raw lifestyle is in your system, I would recommend meditating on it.. The truth becomes revealed.. and the truth is always the truth and feeling good, looking great, enjoying natural foods is all part of that - or so I believe.
Meditation is Always a great thing!!
& so is eating Raw!!! : )
