Bring On 2017!!!

We hope you have a prosperous and sexy New Year! May all your Tropical Desires come true.

Holiday Wishes

Happy Holidays from Tropical Desires. May your season be warm and merry!

Bruno do Brasil

Out & About

When you get out of the capitol city and venture into the country you get to see quaint towns and scenic views in the DR. You also meet great people and have genuine Dominican cuisine.

Ruben is Ready

Ruben is ready for you at MiamiBoys!

Ambassador Brewster to Retire

United States ambassador James (Wally) Brewster has announced that he will submit his resignation on 20 January 2017 and leave the country with his husband Bob Satawake in search of "new adventures.” That is the day that President-elect Donald Trump will take the oath of office as the 45th president of the United States.

Speaking at a Thanksgiving luncheon at the American Chamber of Commerce in the Dominican Republic on Wednesday, 23 November 2016, the ambassador said "this is probably been the greatest experience that I have had in my life.”

In his closing remarks ambassador Brewster said that he would always fight for the welfare of the two countries and expressed his appreciation for the attention he and his husband had received in the past three years.

In his Thanksgivings Day luncheon, he advocated for the passing of a bill to guarantee equal rights for the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender community. He estimated that 10% of Dominicans are gay.

He said the US Embassy organized 32 Dominican commercial missions to the United States with 1,700 Dominican business people. He said that trade with the Dominican Republic has increased and is now at around US$12 billion. He said the USAID has helped 600 farmers to get their organic certifications.

He said the creating of a LGBT Chamber of Commerce gives the DR access to a billionaire global market.http://www.cdn.com.do/noticias/nacio...nara-el-cargo/
http://eldia.com.do/james-brewster-p...-gays-por-ley/
http://www.elcaribe.com.do/2016/11/2...-20-enero-2017

Javier in the Bahamas

Working Overtime

I had worked in the new office tower in Spanish Harlem for about six months and was already being made to work overtime. Don't get me wrong, the checks were great! It's just that my social life was starting to suffer. I hadn't seen my friends in weeks and I hadn't gotten laid in over a month.

I mean, even the custodial staff, whom I never even speak to or acknowledge, was starting to get my attention. I have never mixed business with pleasure, too risky in the junior executive realm. While I have several peers that wear the hell out of their European-cut suits, assets all on display, I don't have the time or the courage to pursue any extracurricular activities.

Usually when I work overtime there are a couple other juniors in the building. However, tonight I was all alone, except for the cleaning staff. The other staff had opted to attend a company party tonight and work on Saturday. I decided I wanted my weekend off and chose to work on this quiet Friday evening.

After one of my restroom breaks I noticed a small sticky note by the telephone that I hadn't remembered seeing before. It read, "don't forget to handle that job in the media room." The media room was where the graphic artists, marketers and IT personnel worked so I was surprised they wanted someone in accounts to "handle" anything. But hey, put it all on the trainees, right?

As I approached the media room I thought I heard some movement. I looked around and didn't see the cleaning crew and assumed they had gone for the night. I brushed it off and pushed open the door. There, in the dimly lit room, and to my surprise, was one of the newer janitors I had noticed.

Food & Fun

Picnic at the Botanical Gardens The Santo Domingo National Botanical Gardens has organized "El Picnic,” a family day with food trucks, electronic music, art and other cultural attractions for 19 and 20 November 2016. The organizers have announced that DJs Poteleche, Marcos Cabrera, Bubu Vega, Ugo, Bob Hache and Heff Huffner will be playing the music. From 11am. Admission is RD$250 adults, and children enter free of charge.

Street Food Festival in Santiago
Food trucks will be bringing a variety of food to Santiago's Jardín Cabrera Vidal on 3 and 4 December.


For information on upcoming events:http://www.dr1.com/calendar

Azucar Negra

Panamanian Paradise

Conde Nast Traveler:

Graham Greene made the first several attempts to visit Bocas town in 1976. Panama, he wrote, had "persistently haunted my imagination" from childhood, his curiosity fired by the glamour of piracy that lay around Panama in the story of how Sir Henry Morgan attacked and destroyed Panama City.

He was intrigued because it was the furthest point west that Christopher Columbus reached off the coast of Panama, and perhaps because the South American Handbook stated "no tourist ever goes there."

These days people do go there. The archipelago, with its ramshackle main town, verdant rain forests and alabaster beaches, was a raw iteration of an earlier Caribbean tucked twenty miles south of the Costa Rican border. The islands lack of infrastructure, with no electrical grid, had protected them from overdevelopment and kept food and lodging prices low.

One lodge is considered "nudist friendly" and there are two small resorts on Bastimentos, a twenty square mile island with stunning beaches. One of the resorts is hidden on a hillside; the other, steps from a beach.

Bocas town is the capitol of the entire Bocas province. The pace is deliciously slow and seductive. You may sit on the deck behind the Hotel Bocas del Toro as water taxis buzz across the turquoise water to nearby Bastimentos and Isla Carenero.

El Ultimo Refugio, a thatched-roof restaurant leaning out over the harbor, serves up coconut shrimp and cold beer. Aqua Lounge Hostel & Bar is known for its water trampoline. The Red Frog Beach resort has 31 villas to rent or buy (with plans for more), a hostel, an 84-berth marina and a zipline.

Dinner at La Loma may feature freshly caught red snapper with lemongrass tamarind broth, served with coconut rice, braised red cabbage. Dessert includes chocolate from the lodge's own cacao farm.

Cayuco, an ecolodge, opens onto a beach and a vista of blue horizon. Casa Cayuco also has Wi-Fi.

An Acquired Taste

New Airlines To Miami

Start-up carrier Pawa Dominicana is set to become the lone Dominican airline to offer commercial service to the U.S.

Pawa will begin flying twice daily between Santo Domingo and Miami on Nov. 16, the carrier announced last week. They'll compete on the route with American.

In its route announcement, Pawa promised to emphasize the "human aspect" of customer relations.

"We offer the broadest variety of ticket sales channels, in addition to the typical Dominican warmth, both onboard and on ground," the carrier's U.S. manager, Daniel Castillo, said in prepared remarks. "Additionally, our punctuality rate has exceeded 93% during our first year of operations."

On the Miami-Santo Domingo flights Pawa passengers will be allowed to check a suitcase of up to 50 pounds free of charge and carry-on bags of up to 22 pounds. Hot food and open bar service will also be offered, the carrier said.

Pawa Dominicana  began operating in 2007 but ceased flights in 2012, according to the website Airline Route. It resumed operations in August 2015 and now flies to eight Caribbean destinations.

Miami flights are to be carried on MD-83 aircraft.

Breathtaking Beauty

Celebrating

The Tropical Desires blog has an anniversary this month, October 24 (2005). We wish to thank all of you for your support, whether old friends or new readers.

It is our hope that the blog has been helpful to travelers as well as entertaining for mature audiences.
In a time when there is so much drama and calamity the blog seeks to provide a respite from your troubles. Thanks and enjoy!

Fall Break Fantasy

Fall Break 4

Fall Break 3

Fall Break 2

Fall Break 1

Sexy in South America

You can see much more of Rayban at UOMOTV

Jamaican Hood

Vacation Planning 101

Be sure to visit the Travel Info Page for helpful tips when planning your vacation to the Dominican Republic. Support the links for great deals and great experiences!

Nerd Fantasy

Changes in Hotel Industry

dr1: The Colonial City's iconic 104-room Hostal Nicolas de Ovando has been rebranded as Hodelpa Nicolas de Ovando and is now managed by Hodelpa Hotels. The hotel was previously operated as an MGallery hotel by AccorHotels, a French chain.

Hodelpa Hotels, the Santo Domingo-based hotel chain, has been operating another property in the Colonial City, the 54-room Hodelpa Caribe Colonial on Calle Isabel la Catolica.

Located on Calle Las Damas, the Nicolas de Ovando overlooks the Ozama River and is located in the historic palace of the first governor of the city of Santo Domingo in colonial times.

Hodelpa will also be operating the Mercure Hotel on Calle El Conde and the closed Hotel Frances, the 16th century hotel that suffered major damage during excavations as part of the Colonial City restoration program, as reported in Infotur Dominicano.

Hodelpa has three hotels in Santiago (Gran Almirante, Garden Court and Centro Plaza) and two in Juan Dolio (Garden Suites and Emotions). http://www.hodelpa.com/en/

Farmhand Fantasy

Progress or Impediment?

THIS is a very good editorial letter written in Trinidad & Tobago regarding Multi-Nationals and their effect on the local economy and culture.

There has been the same concerns expressed in the DR and now in Cuba as it begins to prepare for an influx of tourists and foreign investors.

Latin Boy Miguel

Miguel can be seen in action at LatinBoyz!

AIDS Update

dr1 reports:
The national branch of the Family Health Society (SFH) says that since the condom distribution program carried out by Population Services International (PSI) was launched, the prevalence of HIV in the Dominican population stands at 0.8%, and the rate of new cases has dropped by 35% since 2003.

A press release stated that the program has prevented 807 deaths, 66,063 pregnancies and helped protect nearly 1.5 million couples a year. http://www.diariolibre.com/noticias/...cion-IJ4803794

Shades of Black & White

Memories

I thought he was a sexy little go-go boy walking around the club with his shirt off and pants sagging. Turns out he was just a sexy little muchacho. 

Art Tours

The Art Galleries Association (AGA) presents the start of its 2016 Galleries Circuit in Santo Domingo on Thursday, 18 August. The art gallery association offers free transport for the event on the third Thursday of each month through December so that art lovers can visit several galleries in a single night.

The event has the backing of the Ministry of Tourism and the National Hotel & Tourism Association (Asonahores). The three-hour tours start at 7:30pm.

For the occasion, the art galleries hold high-quality exhibitions that include well-known artists such as Jose Perdomo, Antonio Guadalupe, Manuel Montilla and Ramon Oviedo. Contemporary artists like Gustavo Pena, Jose Levy, Luz Severino, Miguel Ramirez and Adela Dore will also be featured and the gallery owners will be on hand to give expert explanations.

AGA president Mildred Canahuate has been organizing the event since 2009.

This year 12 art galleries are taking part:
Evaristo Morales: Galeria Bodden, Arawak Arte Contemporaneo and Guillo Perez Arte e Interiores.
Piantini: D'Guillermo and Lyle O Reitzel Gallery.
La Paz: Centro Cultural Mirador.
Gazcue: Galeria Shanell, Galeria Nacional de Bellas Artes and Museo de Arte Moderno.
Colonial City: Colegio de Artistas Plasticos, Mamey and Casa Quien.

For more information and to book a space on the bus, call 809 565-3614

Bruno y Felix

MiamiBoyz has sexy latin guys like Bruno (above) and Felix.

Dominicans In Rio Olympics

The Dominican sports delegation to the Rio de Janeiro Olympics includes 29 athletes competing in 11 sports. The Dominican athletes are competing in: archery, athletics, boxing, cycling road, equestrian, judo, shooting, swimming, taekwondo, tennis and weightlifting.
Luguelin Santos, winner of the silver medal in the 400m dash in the London 2012 Olympics, is the flag-bearer in the opening ceremony on 5 August 2016.
Mark these dates to follow the Dominican athletes.

Judo. Wander Mateo (66kg)
Weight lifting. Luis Garcia.
Weightlifting. Beatriz Piron (48kg)
8 August:
Weightlifting. Yuderqui Contreras (48kg)
9 August:
Johnny Perez (100 freestyle swimming)
12 August:
Athletics. Luguelin Santos (400 meters)
Swimming Dorian McMenemy (50 m freestyle)
13 August:
Athletics. Yancarlos Martinez
13 August:
Boxing. Leonel de los Santos (52kg)
14 August:
Boxing. Hector Luis Garcia (56 kg)
15 August:
Athletics. Mariely Sanchez (200 meters)
Athletics. Jaunder Santos (400 meters hurdles)
16 August:
Athletics. Stanly del Carmen (200 meters)
Athletics. Yancarlos Martinez.
17 August:
Taekwondo. Luisito Pie (58 kg)
18 August:
Track and field. 4 x 100.
19 August:
Judo: Moises Hernandez (80 kg)
Track and field 4 x 400.
Athletics. Mayobanex D'Oleo (Men's 4 x 100 relay)
Athletics: Luis Enrique Charles (Men's 4 x 400 relay)
https://www.rio2016.com/en/dominican-republic
http://www.diariolibre.com/deportes/...-rio-FA4516744

Una Muchacho Caliente

Mucha Carne