Trip Report – Dominican Republic Part 1
My name is David. I am a 27 years old student from Israel who study and live in NY. Recently I and my girlfriend came back from a short trip to the Dominican Republic, which I think must be reported in this website. Trip and adventures over the world were part of my life in the recent years. From the Far East to the deserts of Egypt including N. America, Mexico and Europe I must say that I am an experienced traveler, an experienced bag packer.
The story began with a cheap flight we found to the Dominican Republic. We decided to purchase those tickets but were very disappointed to find out that this Caribbean island is full of All Inclusive resorts and does not have any good Bag Packer scene (I could not find any information regarding the bag packers’ life like camping sites, guests houses that host the typical bag packer etc.), Furthermore we had an impression of an unsafe country (Especially from the Lonely Planet book which recommended not to hitchhike and not to drive a car during the stay in DR).
The bottom line is that we were WRONG, the Dominican Republic is an AMAZING country with HONEST people that will help you whenever you need, and it has the most FASCINATING undeveloped beaches we have ever seen (Better than Thailand, even better than Mexico…). We were impressed by the kindness of the locals; they seem to be happy, patience, and kind in such high levels which I never seen before.
Please read my trip report, it will help you better understand how to get to paradise. Please e-mail me with any question to
dudi_h1@hotmail.com .
Researching the area we found the website DR1 (
www.dr1.com). We posted an add in their forum requesting to know how we can avoid spending time in the crowded beaches trying to find the secluded, undeveloped and remote beaches in the country. The response of Chiri (“Chirimoya”) directed us to the area of Samana peninsula, to the village of Las Garellas, next the beach Playa Rincon. This is the time to thank her for the advice, it was exactly what we wanted, and thanks to her - we found Paradise!
Since our flight had supposed to arrive to Puerto Plata (which is 4 hours away from Samana – Las Garellas) at noon, we decided to drive all the way to Samana, instead of waiting for the next morning to take the bus. Some advised us not to drive this long way (especially not in the dark) since the road is can be risky, especially for a first-time driver, but we decided to drive and we found out that it was a good idea (If you drive slowly and in caution – there is no reason to hesitate). After a price evaluation we decided to rent a jeep (which is important – if you wish to travel in Las Garellas area) in Universal Car Rental agency (
www.universalcarrental.com). A lady called Dairy manages this agency. Frankly, we were quiet hesitance in the beginning regarding this car rental agency, but we found out that this is the best service we ever got. They came to pick us up from the airport (They also dropped us off there, a minor issue which saved us a lot of money and headache), the jeep was in a quiet good condition (except to the 4WD which did not work – make sure to check this out), and comparing to the price we paid I think it is the BEST deal to rent the car from this nice and kind lady. Ohhhh …such a good service.
We arrived to the airport and everything happened according to our plan. The people from the rental agency waited for us (with our names on a signpost), and we made all the necessary arrangements outside the airport. Positive point was that they had our jeep waiting for us in the airport, instead of taking us to their office in Cabarete. In this point we were surprised by the kindness of the local people, seemed to be wired that all the people around us were kind, we were sure that they are trying to get something from us, or trying to make us buy something. Under this impression we began driving east toward Sosua. We found a typical local town which we glad we didn’t stay the night in. We wanted something extremely quiet – and Sosua is defiantly not. We drove through Cabarete and Rio San Juan until we got to Nagua and stopped for a while. A local man came toward us and gave us some bread that, he explained, he just baked himself. Again we suspected that he is trying to get money from us, however he disappeared before we even said thanks, he was a good man that wanted us to taste his bread, that’s all…. Suddenly we heard someone cocking his rifle near us. We froze immediately. Turning our heads toward this guy we saw a local man holding his rifle toward the sky and laughing at us cause we were petrified. We could understand from him that he was hunting some birds in the area, and he was just cocking his rifle to clean it. After we relaxed and were ready to go, the local person kept talking to us in Spanish (Which we cannot fully understand), but we did understand that he want to host us in his home in Nagua. He told us his exact address, and invited us again and again to his house. The immediate response was ‘what does he want from us? Leave us alone….’ But his look on his face and the way he talked to us and suggested to come another time to meet his family… We understood the fact that he was another good man.
We kept driving expecting to get to Samana (or Las Garellas) in about 2 hours drive from Nagua. But…... we took the wrong turn. Instead of going east we took the wrong road south toward San Francisco De Marc. Only after 40 Km we understood that we are on the wrong road. It is mostly recommended to watch the road signs frequently. It will tell you exactly what the following town is and how far it is. Such road signs can be found every 1 Km. We just ignored the fact that we didn’t recognize the name of the next town (Instead of Samana or Sanchez it said San Francisco De Marc. , but we ignored it).
We arrived to Samana around 10:30 P.M., the center was crowded and in the bars people were dancing. It was late, we were tiered, and wanted to get to Las Galeras so badly. We found out that there are 27 more Km to get there. The road Samana – Las Galeras is quiet different from the rest of the way. It is darker, bumpier, less people… we drove slowly… and finely, after another hour we were there. Las Galeras. The only place that was open (11:30 P.M) was this small place near Paradise Bungalow, owned by a French couple. They ran out of food, and could only suggest us dry bread with ham, which was a good solution because we were very hungry! We didn’t have reservations for accommodation in the area and decided to sleep in Paradise Bungalow. We asked one of the locals in the restaurant regarding the place and he said he knows the owner and can get us a room although it was late. He showed the room, and we didn't like it at all. It was not clean and smelled so bad. The shower (if you can call it a shower) consisted of pipe with rust. I think it was their worst room. He requested $25 for the room, and we did not have any choice, it doesn't worth it….
We woke up in the morning very early. A group of constructionists were working outside; their work was loud and noisy. Knocking Knocking Knocking in our heads…. We decided not to request an upgrade but to live the place immediately. On our way to the car, 2 guys working outside requested money for the night we spent in the bungalow. We explained that we paid to the guy showed us the place last night, but it did not help us. The nice guys told us they don't know who this guy was, and we didn't know what to do. They were very nice and told us we have to understand them, we almost pay them again, but suddenly we saw this guy walking by, and we solved the misunderstanding. Very funny.
We found a place to stay. Much nicer, very quiet , cheap and friendly.
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Trip Report part 1
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