Wow. What a great trip. We had a blast. 15 days mixing real life in the DR with tourist fun. I was amazed at how easily the kids adjusted to Dominican life. I knew they'd enjoy the amazing beaches, river rafting, parasailing, swimming under tropical waterfalls and staying 4 days in a 4-star all-inclusive hotel. Who wouldn't? But I was wondering how they'd cope with the busy streets, the rapid-fire Spanish, the food, the heat, the third world hygiene and all the other stuff. They seemed to transition seamlessly. It was the best vacation we've ever had.
I need to jot down my thoughts for future recall before they get all jumbled in my scattered brain. I'll organize it all later (maybe). First I've loaded up the pictures and videos I took. These are mostly tourist activities. I never think to whip out the camera with real people. I already regret that.
We left the day after the kids got out of school. We were in the DR for 15 days. We flew from Boston to Punta Cana. On the way down we made the best of a long layover in Newark and took in a fun-filled NYC street fair and visited the fabulous Met. We got into Punta Cana around midnight. It was too late to get a car and head to our destination so we stayed in a cheap hotel nearby.
Day 1 - Sat June 27 - Layover in Newark - NYC Street Fair -
Metropolitan Museum - Late night Arrival at
Aeropuerto Internacional de Punta Cana PUJ - Double wide bus - Empty dark terminal - Follow the Pilots - Tourist tax - Blank forms - Import declaration shake-down - Taxi to
Hotel Green Coast Deluxe - Watchiman wakes Night Clerk - Credit Card problem
The kids first image of the Domincan Rep. We exited the plane directly onto the runway. The night air was warm and humid. A double-wide bus brought us to big empty room with stanchions organized for people to form long lines. It was barely lit. We could barely see. Close to the entrance there was a table with stacks of forms. No airport or immigration staff. But I knew the drill. We grabbed a few blank forms from each stack and looked for a way out. We saw the pilots heading for an exit and followed them. Soon we came to a desk. There's a tourist tax of $10. I remembered this from years past. The guy at the desk took my cash and some blank forms and gave me a receipt. Another guy a few steps away took the receipt and told us to pass through. Onward. We walked past some airport shops - all closed at this hour. We'd lost the pilots by now but we were well ahead of the other travelers. Aside from a couple of cats wandering the terminal we had the place to ourselves. We kept walking. We hadn't checked any bags so I was looking the airport exit and the taxis. But we were funneled past baggage pickup to the Aduana (Customs). The customs official wanted another of my blank forms. He offered to fill it out for me for $10. I declined. When I began to fill it out myself he waved me through. He didn't even take the form. Ten steps later another guy asked to see some other form. I told him in English that we didn't have it. I asked him where the taxis were - again in English. He didn't want to deal with someone who didn't speak Spanish. He waved us past. Done. We negotiated a cab to the hotel from $45 to $20. The kids were getting a crash course on how things work in a lot of places. In the taxi I had time to see how much things had changed. When I lived in the DR, Punta Cana was undeveloped. There were miles of pristine beaches all lined with palm trees. But there was no infrastructure and few people. Now there was a new airport, new highways, and new communities where there were none before. At the hotel we were greeted by the watchiman (guard). He was armed with a cellphone and a rifle. He made a call on his cell and the night clerk came down from upstairs. My first credit card wouldn't process the charge even though I had alerted them I was traveling. The second card worked. As we waited for the card to process a sixty-something Spaniard entered the hotel asking if they had a room. He was with a 20ish looking smoking hot Dominican woman. Hmm. The hotel was fine. The kids were tired and fell asleep quickly. I went downstairs and the watchiman found me an ice cold Presidente. I sat on the balcony and enjoyed it. It tasted great after a stressful day of travelling.
Day 2 - Sun June 28 - Money Change - Get credit card straightened out - Empenadas - Water - Rental Car Chauffeur from El Seibo -
Budget - Crazy damages hold policy -
Punta Cana to Las Galeras -
Coral Highway - Well hidden turnoff for Samana - Lost by the
Faro -
Santo Domingo - Samana Highway - Bayaguana Comedor - Political guys in Samana - Mariana's Nail Clipper purchase -
Las Galeras -
Hotel La Playita - Sonny -
La Playita Beach - Colmados and Super Colmados - Stocking the kitchen for a few days - 2 pounds of Spaghetti for dinner
Francisco and I headed out early to get some errands done. The first thing was to change some dollars into pesos. US dollars are common in the DR and there are money changer places all over. The first place we went was above a colmado, but it was closed. A kid from the store ran upstairs and yelled inside for us to woke up the money changer guy, who apparently slept in a room behind the office. But once he woke up he wasn't able to change our money because he didn't have any small peso denominations. He pointed us to a place down the street. This place was well organised and changed our money in a flash. They also let us call to straighten out the credit card. We went back to the colmado and picked up some cold milk, juice and snacks. It's amazing how many different things colmados sell. Back at the hotel we ate a little breakfast and then tried to figure out where the car rental place where I'd reserved our car was located. The hotel clerk (new shift was a pleasant young woman) didn't know where the address was. She called the rental agency. 'Hi I'm the receptionist from Hotel Green Coast Deluxe. I have a guest with a car rental reservation. Could you tell us where your agency is located?' 'It's on Avenida Barcelo, number 1600', 'Where's that?' 'It's the main street to Bavaro'. 'What's it near?' 'It's near the intersection to the airport'. That sounded kind of far. I asked the receptionist to see if the car rental agency could send a car to pick us up. She liked that idea. ' Can you pick the customer up at the hotel?' 'Sure. We'll send a car to pick him up. Which hotel?' 'Hotel Green Coast Deluxe' 'Where's that?' 'It's on Avenida Alemania Number 1400' 'What's it near?' 'It's near Playa Dona Matilde'. 'Ok. We'll send a driver. He'll be there in 15 minutes'. And so it went. The kids were amazed at how disorganized some things were. But how things seemed to get done despite it.
Day 3 - Mon June 29 -
Las Galeras -
Hotel La Playita - Skin Whitener - Sending the Kids on Missions - Juice Man - Empanada Man -
Playa Rincon - Sand Dollar - Fish Restaurant - Mariana buys beers - Los Tocones - Ice cold drinks - Rough Road to the beach - Mute Vendor lady - Dulce de Mani - River Swim - Gasoline sold in gallon jugs
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| Las Galeras |
Hotel La Playita is an oasis. The gardens are beautiful. Tropical flowers and palm trees. There's a open air bar area, an inviting swimming pool and the guest rooms. We had a downstairs unit with our own little gate and lawn area. There was a veranda with a kitchen on one end and dining area at the other. There was a big room for sleeping and a nice clean bathroom. There wasn't any air conditioner, but there was a good ceiling fan. The manager Sonny was a nice woman who helped us with everything. She even brought me coffee in the morning. We were very comfortable there.
Las Galeras was the perfect place for the kids to transition to Dominican life. It's a tiny little town at the end of the Samana peninsula that used to be a fishing village. Now it's beginning to see some tourists. There are a few small hotels and restaurants geared toward foreigners. Still 95% of the people we saw were Dominicans. It's a safe place. I sent the kids on little missions to get them used to interacting with the locals. At different times Mariana got sent out to buy bananas, eggs and butter. Francisco was sent for water, milk and sodas. They figured out where things were and the value of Dominican pesos. By our third day in town Francisco was operating as an independent teenager. He developed a liking for empenadas (which are delicious). Mariana wasn't far behind. She was even able to buy me a couple of beers!
We didn't bring any sun screen with us. Dumb right? Cuz we're hitting the beach in the tropics. But there's an airport ban on liquids in carry-ons. And we didn't check any bags. Anyway I figured we'd pick some up easy enough in a tourist area. But then I didn't think of it again until we were going to the beach the first day in Las Galeras. It's such a small town, the only thing we could find was Piel Blanqueador (Skin Whitener). Ridiculous. The whitest guy in town buying skin whitener. But it was marked as SPF15, so I figured it was better than nothing. It came in a little make-up jar and looked and felt like lady's skin creme. I knew it was going to wash off right away when we swam. Sure enough, even though we reapplied it a million times, we got scorched. That evening the kids found real sunscreen in a little pharmacy that was hidden on a side street.
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| On the road to Playa Rincón |
Playa Rincón is a picture perfect Caribbean beach. It's just a little hard to get to. From Las Galeras it's a 25 minute drive through the countryside. As we passed through a small town on the way, I told the kids how I'd once visited my buddy Tommy G, a Peace Corps Volunteer back in the day, right here in Los Tocones. Back then the road was atrocious. Now though, it's newly paved. It made for an easy ride in our rented Kia. Progress. But then the road deteriorated. The last mile and q half was brutal. We were driving across gullies and over jagged stones. I didn't mind beating up the rental. I just didn't want us to get a flat tire way out here. But we made it and we were rewarded. Playa Rincón is set along a 2 mile cove. The water is turquoise and the sand is as fine as flour. When it's wet it cakes in your hand. A deep palm forest lays beyond the beach. Yet even as remote as it was, there were already several other cars parked under the palms when we arrived mid-morning. No problem. We had no trouble finding privacy and space to relax. Anyway we spent most of the day in the warm tropical water. I found that I could float effortlessly on my back. So relaxing. The kids tried using the snorkeling mask we'd brought but found there wasn't much to see. Just clear water and pure white sand. We did find a sand dollar. How many pesos is that worth? There were a few huts set up. And a couple of vendors walked the beach. One guy wove a bracelet for Mariana as we talked. A mute woman sold us Dulce de Mani. At the lone restaurant on the far eastern edge of the beach we enjoyed an outstanding lunch of fish over rice with fried plantains. At the far western end of the beach a minor river empties into the sea. We saw local kids swimming there and joined them. The river seemed to come out of a mangrove forest. It was shady here and the cool fresh water felt great after a day in the salt water and hot sun. Refreshing!
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| Playa Rincón |
Day 5 - Wed July 1 - Travel Day with Fun Diversions - El Salto de Limon - Horseback - Waterfall Swim - 2nd Waterfall - Macaws - Las Terenas -
Carreterra Samana -
Santo Domingo - Samana Highway - Juan Dolio -
Guesthouse Juan Dolio - Wilfrid - Supermercado - Juan Dolio Beach - Spaghetti Sauce that looks like Tomato Soup
We approach El Limón from Samana. The road is hilly but it's in good shape. We begin to see signs for excursions to the falls. Two guys on a motorcycle ride alongside the car and the guy on the back is waving and shouting; telling us to stop at their place and see the falls. It's surprisingly annoying. We stop at another place. We negotiate a price and 3 horses and the guides are waiting for us before we're even out of the car. We gather our things, they help us onto the horses and we're off. There's a wide path following a moderate sized river. It rained heavily the night before so it's muddy. There's a stone path in the middle but the horses prefer the mud. We pass a place with dozens more horses waiting and a parking area for tour buses. I'm glad we came early. The kids seem comfortable on the horses. Each has a guide leading them. My guide is Giovanni, a campo kid of 16 or 17. He says that this is good work and his family and neighbors are doing well with the money they earn from the tourism. My horse follows the horse in front. It's easy going. Giovanni and the other guides keep the horses moving. Parts of the trail are very steep. The horses' strength and agility are amazing. And they respond to the slightest movement on the reigns. After 25 minutes of so we're led off the horses. From here we'll walk. There's a little clearing with some vendors and a young woman sitting in a little stand. She's collecting a fee to see the falls. It's funny to see a woman in a government uniform sitting in a stand out here in the woods. The walk from here is down a steep narrow path. The falls are stunning. They're coming off a wide ledge about 150 feet high and falling in a curtain of water. Moss covers the entire cliff behind them. There's a deep pool at the bottom. There are a few other people at the falls, but we have the swimming area to ourselves. The rocks are wet and slippery. I'm glad we're wearing water shoes. The water is surprisingly cool and refreshing. The pool is deep. It's difficult to swim beneath the main flow of water. The current pushes us away. But it's easy to get beneath the lesser flows. It's feels magical being behind the curtain of water. After we swim we take some pictures. A guy puts parrots on the kids' shoulders for a small tip. I follow a secondary path to a a lower waterfall. It's about 40 feet high and would be impressive away from the main falls. Here it's ignored. We return to the clearing and find our guides easily. Larger groups are coming down the trail now. There seems to be a good mix of foreign and Dominican tourists. Giovanni says they get hundreds of visitors every day. What a great business. On the ride back the guides let the kids control the horses. It's been a fun excursion. We're all happy.
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| Salto de Limón |
Day 6 - Thu July 2 -
Guesthouse Juan Dolio - Juan Dolio - Chocolate Croissants - Juan Dolio Beach - Colombian food - Little hotel dogs follow us everywhere - naked kid tries to kill crab on street
Day 7 - Fri July 3 - Travel Day - Juan Dolio to Jarabacoa - Mad rotary - Wrong turn on Luperon takes us towards Haina - Lunch in La Vega - Mountain road - Hotel shopping -
Las Brisas del Yaque - Juice Man - Empenada Lady - Parque de Juan Duarte -
Day 8 - Sat July 4 - Jarabacoa -
Hotel California - Swimming Pool - River Rafting - Rancho Biaguete - Pizzeria - Bingo -
Day 9 - Sun July 5 - Travel Day with Diversions - Salto de Jimenoa I - Suspension bridges with sway - 5 people max - Jarabacoa - Constanza mountain road - Salto de Jimenoa II - Steep walk down - Cool swimming area - return of the Quebec lady with daughter - Comedor with spectacular view - Japanese Dominicans - Constanza traffic mess - Mountain road out of town - Shortcut through Haina meets political parade blocking access to Malecon -
Residenz Vesuvio - Cold beer on the Malecon
Jarabacoa is a town up in the mountains. It's so cool here that they grow apples and strawberries. There are hiking trips leaving from here to go up Pico Duarte, the highest peak in the Caribbean. it's 10,000' above sea level. Wowza! We found Jarabacoa do be an idyllic town. The people appear to be financially better off than in other places. There are a lot of nice cars and some nice restaurants. We found prices significantly higher here. The people were lighter skinned. Francisco and Mariana fit right in.
Since this was a vacation we decided we should have some fun. On our 2nd day in Jarabacoa we went white water rafting. Francisco and I had done the same thing in Maine and had a blast. Mariana had never been. We ended up having a great day. They run it just as they do in the US. They feed you breakfast at the ranch. A bus takes you upriver with the rafts. They serve you sandwiches on the river. You're bused back to the ranch. And they feed you again. The guides were great and the river was steep and fast. There were 6 rafts on the water with groups separated by language. We were in a Spanish boat, with our guide Guillermo and a Domnican couple. We covered a lot of ground and the scenery was gorgeous. It was exciting. Several times we took plunges over little waterfalls; one of them must have been six or eight feet high. There was only one or two short lulls where we were able to jump out of the raft and swim. the mountain water was cold, but it felt great. The rest of the time we were moving fast. We still managed running splash battles with the other boats. Mariana got dunked on a particularly nasty plunge. Guillermo had her out of the drink in a flash and she was unphased. I thought they did a great job running the raft trip. At the end they sold us pictures of our adventure. It was a great day.
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| Rafting the Rio Yaque del Norte |
Jarabacoa is known for it's waterfalls. We reached the lower Salto de Jimenoa by a drive through the beautiful countryside. We walked a long series of suspension bridges before finally viewing the falls, which aren't so impressive. Or maybe we were waterfall spoiled. Jimenoa was dwarfed by the falls we swam beneath in Samana, but the not-so-well maintained swinging bridges made it a fun visit. The higher Salto de Jimenoa is the real deal. These are the falls shown in the opening scene of Jurrasic Park. They're in a lush ravine and fall from 75 meters. The falls are visible from a turnoff from the Jarabacoa - Constanza mountain road (newly paved, fun to drive). From the road we walked down a steep trail for 15 minutes. The falls are impressive. And the pool beneath is a great place to swim. It's surprisingly difficult to overcome the force of the falls to get under them. And when you do the water pounds you hard. Hah. The falls are not very developed. So if you're lucky you may get the place all to yourself. Very cool.
Day 10 - Mon July 6 -
Residenz Vesuvio - Guy on street fixes car for $150RD - Kids hang with kids in Villa Mella -
Metro Subway - Pension - Cuerpo de Paz - Casinos - Cold beer on the Malecon
Welcome to Santo Domingo, oldest city in the Americas. We stayed at a small apartahotel in the Colonial Zone - Columbus' old stomping grounds. I wanted to see how much the city had changed. Yeah it's still dirty and hot and noisy and overcrowded. But it still retains a kind of charm too. There's more traffic. A lot of new development too. I took a ride on the Metro only a few blocks from the Peace Corps office. It's a brand new, clean and speedy underground train capable (they say) of speeds up to 100 mph. It costs around 40 cents US per ride. There's 2 lines so far with 3 more planned. Hard to believe. Above ground I saw signs for American fast-food restaurants, but there's still very few of these in the DR. I walked through Plaza Lama, a modern department store. It was like Walmart. I strolled through the Gazcue and was surprised I could still find my way to the pension after so many years. A woman told me Peace Corps Volunteers no longer stayed there. The 'Malecon' hasn't changed. It's still a park with beautiful cliff views running the length of the city. The big hotels have been renamed. but they're still there with their casinos. It's still lively at night too. Music and people and vendors. We walked down the Conde, an upscale pedestrian shopping area. It's the same as I remembered - Six or eight uninterrupted blocks of shops. The old coffee shop I loved is exactly as it was. I think it's been there forever. Best coffee in the world! A trip to the outlying barrio of Villa Mella allowed the kids to spend a whole day hanging out with Dominican kids their own age. They came back giddy with stories of chickens and goats and baseball and dolls. I'll forever be amazed at how well the kids blended in wherever we went. Of course what I always liked best about Santo Domingo was the people. And I was happy to find they hadn't changed. They're still the most outgoing and friendly people anywhere. Santo Domingo is mostly as I remembered. Only the contrasts between the wealthy and poor seems more dramatic than ever.
Day 11 - Tue July 7 - Travel Day - Santo Domingo - Punta Cana -
Coral Highway - Who's left in Las Cuchillas? - Who's moved - Who's died? - Since when does Casa de Campo charge US$25 per person for Altos de Chavon? - Difficulty finding hotel - Check-In
Occidental Grand Punta Cana - Omar - Pool has Wow factor - Buffet is Magnificent - Rooms are awesome - Picture perfect beach plus seaweed - Perfect powdery white sand
My friend Omar did me a huge solid. Omar was a 12 or 13 year old kid when I lived in Las Cuchillas. He was a campo kid, but he was super bright and helpful. We spent a lot of time together. I can remember cruising the eastern DR with Omar looking for rabbits to start our crianza. He helped me build the cages too. Years later we were reunited on Facebook. Nowadays Omar is director of reservations at a beautiful all-inclusive hotel in Punta Cana. He has a family and home in Las Cuchillas. Omar set us up with terrific accommodations for a silly low price at the hotel he works at. It was a lot nicer than anyplace I've stayed at before and it cost a lot less. Plus we got to hang out when he wasn't working. On my last night there Omar took me to Club Mangu. He got us into the VIP section and we were treated like royalty.
Day 12 - Wed July 8 -
Occidental Grand Punta Cana - Sunrise on Bavaro -
Playa Macao with Francisco - Car return - Lounging eating and drinking at the resort - Steakhouse - Friusa with Omar
A million years ago my friend John and I took an eastern DR motorcycle tour. The highlights were Miches, El Macao, Bayahibe and La Romana. It was a lot of fun and I was introduced to my favorite beach. El Macao is a beautiful sandy beach at the end of a campo road. The beach stretches to the north as far as you can see and to the south until it rises into cliffs - supposed Taino burial grounds. There are endless coconut palms lining the beach and the surf is turquoise. And I do mean surf. El Macao always has a strong wind and decent waves. Back then there was an old guy called Coco who had a bunch of huts under the trees. There were a couple of pitables and chairs and a shared latrine. You could rent a hut or pitch a tent. Or you could just sleep on the beach. Coco would grill fresh fish and get you cold beer. It was pretty good. Now I satisfied my curiosity of what happened to Cocos Cabanas and my favorite beach. Well the dirt road is now paved. Coco's is no more. The foundations of the huts remain, but a hurricane took care of the rest. 'El Macao Surf Camp' is located down the road and dozens of surfers are enjoying the beach. A local couple sell food and drinks. Playa Macao remains just as it was. It's been made a Dominican nature reserve so the hotels can't develop it. Wonderful. So I introduced my son to the best beach in the world. And we body surfed the perfect waves. And it was just like I remembered back in the day.
Day 12 - Thu July 9 -
Occidental Grand Punta Cana - Sunrise on Bavaro - Ping Pong with Francisco - Asian Restaurant -
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| Parasailing over Bavaro Beach |
The resorts keep careful control over the vendors allowed on the beach. They all wear badges and are extremely polite. One of the vendors is offering parasailing rides. We'd seen people parasailing the day before and it looks fun. We negotiate a price. We jump on a boat which will take us out to the parasailing vessel. These guys are well organized. We cruise along the beach and pick up more passengers at other resorts. I don't mind this at all. The launch is fast. The seas are only a little bumpy. It's fun. Eventually there are nine of us. At one of the stops one of the two boat operators gets back on the boat with a jumbo bottle of beer. He's taking it out to the parasailing boat. And that makes me notice that none of us are wearing life jackets. Hmm. Well there really aren't any rules here. It's the DR. When we get to the main boat there's already a boat full of new passengers being loaded onto the parasailing boat. We're going to have to wait. To kill time, they take us out to see a shipwreck on the nearby reef. They say it happened 20 years before. You can still see two sections of the boat hung up on the reef above the water. We buzz back to the parasailing boat and shadow it while the last of the previous load of passengers take their rides. We transfer onto the main boat and the first of our passengers are set into the air. Francisco and Mariana are the second set. They are wearing life vests while parasailing (though Mariana later reports that the buckle was broken). They're sent amazingly high up. They seem to drift over the beach and above the resorts. The boat operator keeps an eye on them and throttles the engine whenever there's any slack on the line. After 15 minutes he sets them down gently in the water - just their legs - and brings them into the boat. The kids have huge smiles on their faces. They had a blast.
Day 13 - Fri July 10 -
Occidental Grand Punta Cana - Sunrise on Bavaro - Tennis with Mariana - Eat - Beach - Pool - Eat - Italian Restaurant -
Club Mangu with Omar -
I'm an early riser and Bavaro faces east so I took advantage of it to see the sun rise. So peaceful. The morning air tastes extra clean somehow. Mariana and I played tennis a little later on a sand tennis court. No kidding. It's super hard-pressed sand. They run a heavy roller over it and re-line it by hand after each use. It played just like clay (as if I know). Then we fell into our resort mode of *stuffing our faces with excellent buffet food, swimming in the bathwater warm ocean, and then rinsing off in the ginormous lagoon pool, [*repeat]. In the evening we went to the Italian formal restaurant. Pretty nice. Later I met Omar for a night out at the on-premises Club. The band on the terrace was excellent. And when we went inside to the club Omar had arranged VIP seating for us. Amazing. It's easy to see why people go to all-inclusives and never leave the resort.
Day 14 - Sat July 11 - Sunrise on Bavaro - Extra late
Occidental Grand Punta Cana checkout - transfer to
Hotel Flamboyan - major come down - short walk back to Occidental for swim and dinner - Flamboyan for sleeping
Day 15 - Sun July 12 - Travel Day - 3AM Taxi - nervous that the guy would show up on time - Early Morning United Flight - ayover Houston - airport food - 2 Gate changes - Logan Express home
Our flight home left Punta Cana at 6AM. It seemed like a waste to pay for the all-inclusive and leave at 3AM so we transferred to a less expensive hotel around the corner. Omar fixed it so that we got an extra late check out on our last day at Occidental. Plus he told the registration clerk to leave our hotel bracelets on when we checked out. This allowed us to come back and use the resort even after we'd checked out - which of course we did. We ate dinner there too. All we did at the cheap-o place was sleep (until 3AM). The trip home was uneventful. We were a little nervous our taxi guy wouldn't show up, but he did. And the flight was fine. We had a lavover in Houston, but it wasn't long enough for us to go into the city. We got home in the evening with no problem.
