Bavaro Princess, Punta Cana, Dominican Republic
The first day in Punta Cana was arrival day so I spent the day flying, arriving, checking in, unpacking, finding the restaurants, and wandering along the beach.
Lying around on a beach all day is not my style – I prefer wandering around with a 300mm lens and photographing wildlife. Walking up and down a beach with a 300mm lens among bikini-clad sun worshippers can get me into more trouble than looking for wildlife so I tend to look for wildlife when carrying the 300mm.
My goal on Day 2 was to explore the grounds to see what opportunities there might be for wildlife photography. Plenty of peacocks and peahens wandered freely throughout the complex. Every tropical resort needs a flamingo or two and this resort was no exception – they had two.
The Bavara Princess grounds can be broken into three or four sections. The front section comprises the reception areas, primary restaurants, smaller pool and hotel accommodation in a landscaped groomed area.
A never ending job: I live in a country where we have seasons and Fall is aptly named. In Canada, in Fall, the leaves coordinate their falling process. In the tropical climate of Punta Cana, I was amazed by how many leaves fell each and every day.
Heading down to the beach , the paths pass through a lagoon strip with boardwalk providing additional routes through the lagoon area.
Came across this small orange-red dragonfly while searching through the bushes behind one of he ponds that encircles one of the restaurants at the resort. Definitely not the spot that most tourists would go! Didn’t have my tripod with me, lighting was terrible and I was getting frustrated. Took at least twenty shots in one location with nothing turning out well enough to keep and then just as I was about to leave the area, I found one on this perch which was in slightly better light.
Since the lagoon area smells like most lagoon areas smell, most people would not spend a lot of time walking in the lagoon area but, since wildlife tends to be in greater numbers in around the lagoon areas at most resorts, I tend to spend more time than average around lagoons.
