I have been so focused of telling the story of how Casa De Compai has been transformed from as run down local rental complex into a welcoming refurbished vacation condo complex, I have forgotten to talk about the reason I started this journey.

Ever since I was a child I loved the clear blue ocean and the stories of pirates I read about. Yes I actually did read as a child , and to this day I am still an avid reader. Another thing that I love about the Dominican Republic is the flora, and trees and local tropical fruits. To me it was exactly as I read and dreamed about as a child. Then, when I was able to travel as a young man to other Caribbean Islands I was really able to imagine living in that part of the world one day.

While I was working at the Trump Taj Mahal the Vice President of Slot Operations would take a small group of slot machine technicians to set up casinos all over the country. One day our V.P. pulled me aside on the casino floor and ask ” Kumpel, you ready for another trip? ” naturally I responded yes, then his next question was ” do you have a passport ? We are going to Canouan!” I said” great, where is that?” “It’s in the St. Vincent and the Grenadines island chain, in the Caribbean ” I was going to get paid to go to the Caribbean, I couldn’t believe it. So the next month myself, the V.P. and three coworkers had six weeks to set up a small casino and a satellite casino. We worked our tails off, but we swam everyday, relaxed on the beach. It was when I realized I wanted to move as soon as I could. This trip also gave me the time to look at property prices and it was a great learning opportunity . Thank you President Trump for for a decent job and giving me the chance to travel on your dime. hahah

Now lets fast forward to 2016, and after spending 8 years coming and going to Sosua, and seeing different parts of the island. I especially enjoyed the campo ( spanish for country) with the terrain. I love it. But there was one thing that was always missing. This missing thing goes back to my impression I got of the Caribbean from the books I read. I never saw a parrot in the wild. Never, not one, and trust me I was looking.

One morning around 6am I hear this shrieking coming from the mango tree across the street, and there is no way I am sleeping through this noise. No big deal, I will get up, make some coffee, sit on the patio, check email, Facebook, then go for a walk on the beach or hit the gym. I can tell that birds are making the racket, but I can’t see them. I do see them fly away, but they don’t have that pause of flapping their wings like parrots, so I don’t know what kind of bird they are, and I can’t get a good look anyway. Well, the next morning, guess what happens. Yup, the racket again, so I get up and start my day. Well, guess what, yup day three, 6am , there is a racket in the mango tree. This time I get my phone and try to take a pic of the birds, by this time I need to know what the hell is waking me up. Even after a night of drinking I am still being awaken. Seriously after about a good week of this every morning I finally get some pictures of these birds. I couldn’t believe it, parrots! You could have knocked me over with a parrot feather , because I haven’t sleep in for a week. haha

After a week of taking pictures these are the best pictures I have. The name of this type of parrot is Hispaniolan Amazon ( Amazona Ventralis). Now that I have seen them and know their call, I see and hear them often. I hear them often in the woods behind Playa Sosua. I often wonder how many times have these parrots been around me and I didn’t know it. It was worth a week of lost sleep to discover something I was missing in my imagine of my new home.