New Year's weekend in Samana

Chirimoya · #1 01-03-2005, 09:37 PM

The other day the Chiris headed north to Las Galeras, our favourite spot in the country, and here is my report.

We took the San Francisco route rather than our usual route via Cotui because of concerns about the state of the road between Piedra Blanca and Maimon, and the Cotui-Pimentel stretch.

I can confirm the reports in the other threads that the road is cut from El Pozo, a few kms before Nagua, until Matancitas, just after Nagua. The detour is tough going, about 30-40 mins on dirt tracks through rice fields and small villages. It's to be avoided at night: recently the Caribe Tours bus got held up and its driver and passengers robbed on that stretch.

WARNING! The detour is signposted on the northbound route, but coming back from Samana there is nothing to indicate that the road is cut, so unsuspecting drivers will drive right up to the damaged bridge, turn back and drive several kms back to Nagua, through the town, and out again until Matancitas, where there is no sign to show where the detour starts. Mr Chiri, who is usually a calm and unruffled fellow, was seething with fury at the time lost and having to drive through the ricefields again.

We had a little scare on our arrival at Samana town on Thursday evening. Mr C had started to feel a little dizzy, so we interrupted our trip to Las Galeras and paused for a drink in Le France, our favourite restaurant. He didn't get any better, so we headed for the hospital, where he was received by the emergency staff, put on a drip (what else?) and allowed to rest for about an hour. As state hospitals go, it was not bad at all, and the treatment he got was swift, sympathetic and appropriate. The place was clean enough, and although the equipment was old, it was far better than I would have imagined. The problem was a combination of low blood pressure and dehydration, and to be on the safe side the poor chap needs to get himself checked up here in SD this week.

The weather wasn't great, thanks to EL NORTE, the north wind that affects the north coast in the winter months. Call me aplatanada, but it did not get warm enough for me to want to go anywhere near the beach, let alone the water. We did manage a couple of hours in the shelter of the Land Rover, sitting fully clothed while the children ran around on the sand. It was a little like a typically English day trip to Brighton. I should have knotted the corners of my bandanna and taken a photo of Mr Chiri in his deckchair.

It also rained a lot, mainly at night, which put a damper on the new year celebrations, but we managed to have fun seeing 2005 in anyway.

Las Galeras is looking good, despite the damage from tropical storm Jeanne back in September. There are a lot of new initiatives and many existing businesses seem to have been improved. Most obvious was Paradiso Bungalows which had fallen into disrepair: they've been renovated and the owners have set up a restaurant on the corner which I thought was good quality and value for money. The gorgeous Hotel Todo Blanco is on the market, but still operating. If I had a million dollars...

The most exciting development comes in the shape of a sustainable community tourism project called Guariquen. They've been in existence for a couple of years now - funded by the Italian government and the European Union, and implemented by a group of locally resident Italians - and some of their ideas have now become reality. They carry out training for local people in different aspects of tourist related activities, they've been improving the local infrastructure - water supply, and they've identified a couple of new tourist attractions which enhance the potential of the area. Tourists on their way to Playa Rincon can now visit an 'Iguanario' and 'Laguna Salada' - a small iguana park which will eventually become a small zoo for local species, and a salt lake which we could not reach because the track was too muddy. It looks like an excellent place to visit, but make sure you go when conditions are dry. The project has built a deck and a sheltered area, and it is said to be a peaceful and serene spot. Both sites are managed by local people: the Iguana park by a local community association and the lake by the people who own the land around it.

Guariquen also managed to get funding from the European Union (ECHO) in the aftermath of Jeanne, and rebuilt over a thousand houses that had been destroyed or damaged in Loma Atravezada, a remote rural area beyond Playa Rincon.

I was delighted to sort out a volunteer placement on the project for my Gap year student.

I could go on for much longer about Las Galeras, but I'll stop here.

Happy New Year everyone!

Keith R · #2 01-03-2005, 11:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chirimoya

The other day the Chiris headed north to Las Galeras, our favourite spot in the country, and here is my report.

We took the San Francisco route rather than our usual route via Cotui because of concerns about the state of the road between Piedra Blanca and Maimon, and the Cotui-Pimentel stretch.

I can confirm the reports in the other threads that the road is cut from El Pozo, a few kms before Nagua, until Matancitas, just after Nagua. The detour is tough going, about 30-40 mins on dirt tracks through rice fields and small villages. It's to be avoided at night: recently the Caribe Tours bus got held up and its driver and passengers robbed on that stretch.

WARNING! The detour is signposted on the northbound route, but coming back from Samana there is nothing to indicate that the road is cut, so unsuspecting drivers will drive right up to the damaged bridge, turn back and drive several kms back to Nagua, through the town, and out again until Matancitas, where there is no sign to show where the detour starts. Mr Chiri, who is usually a calm and unruffled fellow, was seething with fury at the time lost and having to drive through the ricefields again.

We had a little scare on our arrival at Samana town on Thursday evening. Mr C had started to feel a little dizzy, so we interrupted our trip to Las Galeras and paused for a drink in Le France, our favourite restaurant. He didn't get any better, so we headed for the hospital, where he was received by the emergency staff, put on a drip (what else?) and allowed to rest for about an hour. As state hospitals go, it was not bad at all, and the treatment he got was swift, sympathetic and appropriate. The place was clean enough, and although the equipment was old, it was far better than I would have imagined. The problem was a combination of low blood pressure and dehydration, and to be on the safe side the poor chap needs to get himself checked up here in SD this week.

The weather wasn't great, thanks to EL NORTE, the north wind that affects the north coast in the winter months. Call me aplatanada, but it did not get warm enough for me to want to go anywhere near the beach, let alone the water. We did manage a couple of hours in the shelter of the Land Rover, sitting fully clothed while the children ran around on the sand. It was a little like a typically English day trip to Brighton. I should have knotted the corners of my bandanna and taken a photo of Mr Chiri in his deckchair.

It also rained a lot, mainly at night, which put a damper on the new year celebrations, but we managed to have fun seeing 2005 in anyway.

Las Galeras is looking good, despite the damage from tropical storm Jeanne back in September. There are a lot of new initiatives and many existing businesses seem to have been improved. Most obvious was Paradiso Bungalows which had fallen into disrepair: they've been renovated and the owners have set up a restaurant on the corner which I thought was good quality and value for money. The gorgeous Hotel Todo Blanco is on the market, but still operating. If I had a million dollars...

The most exciting development comes in the shape of a sustainable community tourism project called Guariquen. They've been in existence for a couple of years now - funded by the Italian government and the European Union, and implemented by a group of locally resident Italians - and some of their ideas have now become reality. They carry out training for local people in different aspects of tourist related activities, they've been improving the local infrastructure - water supply, and they've identified a couple of new tourist attractions which enhance the potential of the area. Tourists on their way to Playa Rincon can now visit an 'Iguanario' and 'Laguna Salada' - a small iguana park which will eventually become a small zoo for local species, and a salt lake which we could not reach because the track was too muddy. It looks like an excellent place to visit, but make sure you go when conditions are dry. The project has built a deck and a sheltered area, and it is said to be a peaceful and serene spot. Both sites are managed by local people: the Iguana park by a local community association and the lake by the people who own the land around it.

Guariquen also managed to get funding from the European Union (ECHO) in the aftermath of Jeanne, and rebuilt over a thousand houses that had been destroyed or damaged in Loma Atravezada, a remote rural area beyond Playa Rincon.

I was delighted to sort out a volunteer placement on the project for my Gap year student.

I could go on for much longer about Las Galeras, but I'll stop here.

Happy New Year everyone!

Ilana, very much enjoyed reading your report. I'm curious, know of any other EU-funded sustainable community tourism projects in the DR? Or ones like it not necessarily funded by the EU? If so, any chance of getting you to post on it(them) in the Environment Forum?

Best Regards,
Keith

Chirimoya · #3 01-04-2005, 08:01 AM

Thanks Keith. I was thinking of doing a more detailed report for the Environment Forum, but I should leave it until we have visited again, taken photos and actually reached the Laguna Salada. I want to find out more about other activities in the pipeline and ask some questions about how they work.

There are some signs here and there proclaiming eco-tourism initiatives but as you know this is an overused buzzword.

The DR and Haiti recently held a joint Feria Ecoturistica in the Fonds Parisien area of Haiti near the Dominican border

Quote:

DR1 Travel News Nov 23rd 2004
DR-Haiti Ecotourism fair
President Boniface Alexandre and Tourism Minister Danielle Saint-Lot of Haiti were present for the opening of the First Binational Ecotourism Fair in the Haitian border town Fonds Parisien. Speaking at the opening, President Alexandre highlighted the common interests of both countries.
The fair opened 20 November and will continue through 5 December.
Niky Fabiancic, representative of the United Nations in the DR, also participated in the opening of the fair.
Attending to represent the Dominican government was Environment Minister Max Puig. For Puig, the fair is a concrete step towards the strengthening of ties and development of the peoples of Haiti and the Dr. He said the fair seeks to bolster the awareness of the importance of nature conservancy of the island and to serve as a platform for the designing of joint conservation plans.
The fair can be visited during the day from the Dominican Republic by driving 14 kilometers west of the Jimani border point. Activities are taking place in the environs of the Lake Azuei in Haiti, a twin to Enriquillo Lake in the DR.
Jose Serulle Ramia, president of the Fundacion Ciencia y Arte, is the organizer of the event. He has been organizing ecotourism fairs in the lesser-known ecotouristic areas of the Dominican Republic for over 10 years now. This is the first time he organizes a similar event in Haiti.
Serulle describes his fairs as “an ode to nature in the name of human development.” “The fair seeks to turn the entire island into an ecotourism destination and we have to cooperate so that Haiti begins to move away from its backward stage and poverty,” he told Hoy newspaper.