Just another day in pandemic paradise

LA ROMANA, Dominican Republic - April 26, 2020 - PRLog -- Not all families are saddened when a member is stranded and can't fly home because of the coronavirus pandemic.

For 39-year-old Bahraini businessman, Ali Faieq Alzayani, who is stranded in the Dominican Republic since March 20, his family, who are in lockdown in Montreal and friends in Bahrain are avidly following his Instagram daily posts of his adventures at https://www.instagram.com/afz8382/.

"Through a series of mishaps that led to a cancelled flight, while on a business trip in the Dominican Republic, I had no way home," said Alzayani. "I was fortunate to stay with good family friend, Don Charly, and face lockdown together in the luxury resort of Casa de Campo."

He spends his days evading local security for visits to secret beaches and taking long walks through Tarantula infested forests. If he's caught breaking lockdown rules, he's in serious trouble.

He's also learning Spanish, fine tuning his talent for the culinary arts, enjoying fine wine, tequila and cigars on a nightly basis to what he considers are preventive measures against the coronavirus.

"When I arrived at my hotel in Santo Domingo, I was told to leave the city because the government was locking down the capital. I had to drop my business meetings and convinced a local taxi to drive me all the way to the town of La Romana"

On the second day, the government announced that all foreigners should leave the country immediately because airports will be shut down.

"I booked a flight on British Airways flight back to Bahrain. About an hour before it took off, I received a message saying the connection from London to Bahrain was cancelled. This meant, I would be stranded in London where the virus was spreading quickly. I decided to check back into the hotel."

When he went back, staff told him all hotels had strict government orders not to take guests. He had nowhere to go. After a few calls his friend, Don Charly said he could stay with him.

After much convincing with a hefty tip, one of the hotel drivers drove him most of the way to Casa Charly, but still dropped him half a mile walk away. When he arrived, Charly told him there was a nation-wide lockdown.

"I realized, I was stuck in the Dominican Republic for the rest of the pandemic. All in all, it's been an amazing and sometimes crazy experience to escape the pandemic in paradise. I don't envy the many people out there suffering in the real world but hope my plight brings some humor to their daily lives, god willing," said Alzayani.

You can see his daily postings at https://www.instagram.com/afz8382/.