The Dominican Republic will use a $20 entry tax charged to foreign visitors to pay for 8 turbo-prop Super Tucano combat planes. Lawmakers in Santo Domingo have been working on a plan to fund their air force's expansion for almost two years. However, it was not until this week that the plan was approved. The overall cost of the order is $93.7 million. Last year, 3 million tourists came to the Dominican Republic. Similar numbers in the coming year will mean $60 million in revenue from the entry tax.

The Super Tucano is used by many Caribbean and South American nations. It is used extensively in Brazil to patrol the Amazon rain forest and to train combat pilots.

What does this mean for tourists headed to resorts like Punta Cana or to Santo Domingo? Their wallets will be $20 lighter. As far as having any qualms about funding the military, don't worry, unless you like your cocaine. The government has been struggling with drug smugglers who use the D.R. as a stopping off point on the way to more lucrative destinations in the US. The new planes will probably be used for anti-smuggling purposes and to patrol the border with Haiti.

[Via Dominican Today]

This Sunday's Columbus Dispatch travel section is devoted to Caribbean travel. With this morning's post on Caribbean vacations, written before the Sunday paper arrived on my front porch, I'm wondering if I'm getting a message.

One article, "Caribbean offers comfort for less cash" by David Swanson points out an option not mentioned in today's earlier post--Tobago. After reading about all of Tobago's high points, I'm hesitant to let the word out because, frankly, I want the bargains to be there when I show up.

Here's why Tobago sounds fantastic:

There are some advantages to flying a reserve schedule every now and then. I prefer the variety and the thought that just maybe I'll get called out to cover a New York trip to Zurich or Brussels. It's rare, but it has happened before.

For April, I didn't fly anywhere I hadn't flown before, and they managed to use me on almost every one of my available days. Having just arrived home from the Miami and San Francisco trip, crew scheduling already needed me for another early morning departure. This time they had me fly down to Miami and deadhead home on the same day.

It was hardly worthy of a full Cockpit Chronicles. I rode home in the coach cabin and slept most of the way. Fortunately, we're required to have at least one day off every 7 days, and crew scheduling decided I could use one.

This meant that I'd have a small stretch of three days in a row before my month would be over. There's always the chance that a three-day trip could pop up if someone called in sick, but I was pretty sure I'd have the last few days off.

My wife gets nervous when I tell her that there's little chance they could use me. Don't worry, I'll be home to take you and the kids to the airport for your trip to Germany, I'm sure! I figured I'd flown too many hours to be legal for another three-day trip. I should have listened to my wife. She knew I'd get the call.

A plane flying from the Dominican Republic to Canada made an emergency landing Tuesday night in Florida when several of the passengers became ill. When the Air Transat Flight 477 landed at Fort Lauderdale/Hollywood International airport, eight passengers were wheeled off to the hospital as a precaution.

The Center for Disease Control stated that they were not sure what caused the illness but that it appeared to be something the passengers ate or drank. I was tempted to make a comment about the state of airplane food, but it turns out they were all family members who had eaten together before boarding the plane.

Today's flight was a turn (out and back in the same day) from Boston to Santo Domingo, in the Dominican Republic. The airplane was a 767, which is always nice to fly. We're able to fly either the 757 or the 767 using the same procedures and training. I think most pilots prefer flying the 767 versus the 757. It's something we don't see as often and it handles differently -- a little like going from a Honda's power steering (the 757) to a Cadillac (the 767).

We had some snow pass through Boston a few hours before departure but the airplane was already de-iced and ready to go by the time we arrived. Since the flight time was over 8 hours for the day, we had a relief co-pilot (FB) on board. Tom was the FB, which meant he would typically do the walk around inspection while I did the interior preflight. I stayed nice and warm while loading the FMS (flight computer that stored our flight plan and works similar to a GPS) and checking the equipment.

The flight down to Santo Domingo went without a hitch. We talked a bit about what trips everyone would be flying in March. For most pilots, there are two dates around the middle of the month that are almost like Christmas. The first is the day our bid sheets come out and the second is the day we get our schedule for the next month. A bid sheet is a print out of every possible schedule we can fly. It shows the trips and the days you'll be flying them. You simply arrange your preferences in the order you want to fly them and hope someone more senior doesn't pick the schedule that you're hoping for.

This one wasn't much of a mystery to many of you. It's the very unusual Punta Cana airport in the Dominican Republic. It probably didn't help that I blogged about my trip down there. Unfortunately we were just passing through, but I can tell you that the airport looked nice.

Congratulations to Ryan, who guessed it in just 40 minutes.

Join Kent at Cockpit Chronicles which takes you along on each of his trips as a co-pilot on the Boeing 757 and 767 out of Boston.

Perhaps you heard the brouhaha about tainted toothpaste coming from China. This was in the news a few weeks ago. Turns out, a nasty chemical called diethylene glycol was found in Chinese imported toothpaste in the Dominican Republic and Panama. What should be used is glycerin. The chemical, from what I read, is used in antifreeze. Great, I suppose, if you plan to smile a lot in below freezing weather. Then it might come in handy.

This toothpaste finding was not good news for China since they want people to feel like when they come to the Olympics in Beijing in 2008, they'll be able to brush their teeth. Not to mention all the toothpaste from China is sold all over the world. Can you say rinse and spit. . . rinse and spit. . . and rinse and spit?

Most of the time when I've traveled, I haven't worried too much about toothpaste brands when I haven't had my own with me. China is in the process of rectifying their dental hygiene situation. Still, yesterday there was another toothpaste scare. Counterfeit Colgate was found with this chemical in Canada--or supposedly, it was found. There are investigations in the works. Bottom-line, read the label. For a caution about soap, click here.

Even if you love chillin' at the beach thiiiiiis much, sometimes the thought of sitting on the beach for a week doesn't sound like much of a vacation. While it'll probably be fun...it doesn't seem very exciting. And sometimes an exciting vacation is just what we need to get the blahs out of our lives.

If you need to get the blahs out of your life, Concierge has a ton of gnarly adventure ideas to jumpstart your blah-bashing vacation planning. For example:

• Abseiling in the Dominican Republic
• Snorkeling with whale sharks in the Galapagos
• Safariing in Sri Lanka
• Biking through Kauai
• Bonefishing in the Florida Keys
• Hiking Chile's Atacama desert

And those are just a few of the great ideas on the list. Admittedly, many of the ideas seem a bit costly, but you can easily take one of the ideas and tweak it to fit your budget. For example, instead of heading to Chile, you could always go hiking in Big Sur.

Sometime in say, the next three months I am planning to escape to the Caribbean and this year's pick happens to be the island in the West Indies comprised by the two countries we know as the Dominican Republic and Haiti. I want to go to both. As much as I like digging my toes into the sand on the beach while reading the latest top-selling book on all the lists, I also take great fancy in being productive, learning while touring and lending a helping hand. Haiti isn't a place I got ignited about visiting after watching Pitt & Jolie hang around with Wyclef Jean, I'd always wanted to go. Having a few friends that are from there, but have yet to go back and wish very little to go back has always intrigued me. The political climate is no secret to me and aside from all the negative images there is an enormous amount of culture and beauty to be found. I want to find it. In fact, I'd love to have Wyclef take me on a tour similar to the one the Brad & Angelina received and see what's happening with Yéle and Haiti combined.

In regards to the Dominican Republic, I'm looking for beach, sun, fun, dance and more importantly Larimar. Ever since my eyes laid sight on the Pectolite it has become my own "precious" of sorts and I must visit the museum and the mines. I'm told a trip to the mines might change my mind about ever owning a piece of Larimar jewelry, but there is no hiding, running, or turning back now. I want to see the mines.

Yes, my agenda seems and sounds quite set right now, but I've got some weeks to plan and I'm opening it up for some reader recommendations. Like Neil, before he took off for Albania and pooled for some additional ideas if anyone says "don't go" I'll be obliged to ignore.

Make sure you include a respirator or some type of breathing mechanism on your packing list if heading to any of the destinations found on the Blacksmith Institute's World's Worst Polluted Places list. Keep in mind there will be no smelling of roses as you stroll the contaminated paths in Haina, Dominican Republic; Kabwe, Zambia; La Oroya, Peru; or Linfen, China. Instead, imagine whiffing the scents of sulfur dioxide, lead, Strontium-90, cobalt and Caesium-137.

On a very serious note the list is very disheartening and if you take an opportunity to read site descriptions in full it gets even worse. Numbers of the potentially affected population are included as well as types of pollutants (some longer than most), site description and cleanup activity. If you're unable to connect with the dangers of what unusually high levels of any of the toxins noted can do -- the pictures make it quite real. I mean, we're talking some 3,500,000 people in Ranipet, India who could potentially be affected by disgusting, life-threatening toxins found in Tannery waste. This certainly won't be the kind of information you find in tourism brochures or places your might ever consider for a holiday unless you're into nuclear power plants, like Ukraine's ever-so-popular Chernobyl. Chernobyl travel has most certainly been done before, but I wouldn't recommend it. Then again, I'm just another sucker for fresh water and clean air.

via Gridskipper