Good Business is Good Business

In May of 2007, I traveled to the Dominican Republic for vacation. Rosemary and I opted for a safari tour of the eastern side of the DR. Our hotel rep, Jose Ortiz, arranged with his contact, Isaac, who was our tour guide. It was Isaac who made all the difference in our view of the DR.

The MountainView Safari

It was your average safari tour company, an open air truck with a flatbed customized for passengers. We were relatively lucky as we only had 10 people on our truck. The other truck run by the same company was full so every passenger looked crammed side by side whereas we had all the room in the world on ours. After picking up six more passengers at the next hotel, we began our journey.

The route basically followed the coast, passing through a few small towns including Samba. It was a good experience to see what the local towns were like since Punta Cana was mainly all-inclusive resorts. I can safely say these towns are nothing like the USA towns.

Once we passed the towns, we headed on the highway for the foothills of the Dominican mountains. Here, the air began to become cooler if not hot, I suspect due to the elevation catching the ocean winds. Everything was a vibrant green. The tour basically took us into the hills showing what kind of life the average Dominican live, visiting a home, a local school, and a cigar factory.

At the end of the tour, we were taken to a local, unspoiled beach where this story is all about. We all got off the trucks to enjoy a nice swim in pristine waters. When it was time to go, we all got on the bus and headed out, I did not have a thought in my mind about anything, just simply enjoying the good time.

The Hearing Aid Incident

It was later at the hotel when we were getting ready for dinner when my hearing aid was nowhere to be found. Thinking back, I realized what happened. I had taken off my hearing aid to go swimming [Hearing aids are not designed to be waterproof]. I placed it in Rosemary’s bag but did not think to tell her. It was on top of the towel we placed in the bag. When we took the towel out, the hearing aid fell out of the bag and onto the sand.

It was a lesson learned because it was a habit I took for granted. I always placed my hearing aid in my bag every time I went to the beach; my parents taught me this habit. I just did not think to explain this habit to Rosemary so she would be aware as well.

I wondered how we would be able to retrieve it as we certainly did not know how to get to the beach; the only hope was our guide, Isaac. We waited till the next morning to talk to our hotel rep, Jose, who became concerned and placed a call to Isaac. Due to the cell phone reception on the island, Jose explained it would take a few hours to get back to us and let us know what the plan was. We were due to fly out the next day.

Later that night, we got a call from Isaac who was waiting for us at the lobby. He had spoken with Jose and went back to the beach. Isaac told us what happened. A boy found it on the beach but did not know what it was and threw it away. When Isaac spoke to him, he offered the boy a little bit of money to help Isaac find it and they did. Isaac took the time out of his schedule to drive to our hotel and get a hold of us that night.

The Moral of the Story

Needless to say, for an expensive piece of hearing aid that serve no purpose to millions of people, the effort on Isaac’s part was above and beyond to spend some time to search for it and return it to me. This experience taught me two things. I took it for granted that I assumed Rosemary would know what I would do with my hearing aid when I go swimming. The other thing was far more valuable, that the effort of Isaac was what good business is all about.

If you ever go to the Punta Cana region of the Dominican Republic, be sure to ask for Isaac of the MountainView Safari Company. Not only is he proud of his job, he can also give a tour in Spanish, Russian, English, and French. He also has a great sense of humor and truly knows how to make the tourists enjoy their trip.