What I Did on My Summer Vacation
First, a few thoughts I took away from our first trip to the Dominican Republic.
1) It is possibly the single most beautiful place on the planet. We went from the city to the mountains to the beach, and everywhere we looked there was something remarkable to see. The flowers are overwhelming in their variety and ubiquity.
2) Trash is a big issue. Its constant presence will alone ensure the DR is seen by some as undeserving of respect. After all, it shows many Dominicans don’t respect their own home.
3) El Presidente beer deserves its popularity. Santo Domingo coffee is splendid. So is mangu and mofongo.
4) If good looks were power, Dominican men would rule the world.
5) The Dominican people are for the most part extraordinarily friendly. Even in the untouristed parts – I suppose especially in the untouristed parts – they seem genuinely pleased to meet you.
6) If the Dominican Republic is going to take its place in the 21st century, the 19th century treatment of women by men has got to end. I like flirting as much as the next guy. But when it has no subtlety – when young girls can’t walk down the street without hearing endless catcalls and comments…
Under these circumstances you won’t be able to convince anyone you’ve joined the modern world.
7) Getting anywhere in the Dominican Republic is remarkably cheap, and I would say efficient (eg, compare a New York taxi with a montoconcho). The system – if you can call it that – works.
8) “The Feast of the Goat” was recommended to me for reading while I was in the DR. It enhanced the trip considerably, as did “In the Time of the Butterflies.”
9) There is a short but telling line in “The Feast” about Dominicans and their need for noise:
“Not music. Noise.”
That stuck with me.
10) We always felt safe. Of course, we didn't do anything stupid, like flash cash or wander about in neighborhoods where we had no business. We spent most of our time outside of Santo Domingo. In these small towns we were always completely comfortable and were made to feel welcome.
Okay, here’s my trip report. I’ve purposely made it as brief as possible. Just the highlights and the lowlights.
July 15: Leave Denver at 7:30 a.m., my wife, 17 year old daughter and her 17 year old friend. The wait in the Atlanta airport is considerably enlivened when Shaquille O’Neal strolls by. The girls go crazy.
We arrive in Santo Domingo about 6:30 p.m. local time. I’m stunned by the airport. This is the third world? It’s beautiful and as it turns out, efficient. We’re outta there by 7:15 or so. We grab a cab out front and make our way into the Zona Colonial, the Parque Colon to be specific. We’ll be staying at the Hotel Conde de Penalba for two nights. Unfortunately, the driver can’t find the hotel. No wonder. There’s no sign. But the hotel is great. We wander a little, but return to the hotel’s street café for dinner. My first El Presidente. Ahh.
July 16: One of the hotel’s balcony rooms opens up. From our fourth floor balcony we can see Calle Conde, the ocean, and damn if it isn’t the Washington Monument. We also have a great view of the Zona Colonial. I love this hotel.
After breakfast at the Conde Cafeteria (four breakfasts with coffee us$10.00), we take a long walk around the Zona – all the tourist stuff – the market, Amber Museum, Colon house, Hospital ruins. At the Monastery Ruins, which are locked up, our friend, who is too young to know any better, starts shouting hola! Sure enough, a watchman shows up, unlocks the gates and lets us in. I love people who don’t know any better. It rains virtually the entire time we’re on foot. We end our walk in the funky little back courtyard of a restaurant near the cathedral. The whole thing reminds me of New Orleans when I was a kid – rain, vegetation, mildew. I love it. We have dinner that night again at our café, then wander over to another restaurant for coffee and dessert. The Santo Domingo coffee is wonderful, the desserts less so. We’re discovering the love affair Dominicans have with sugar. The more the merrier. All in all, a great day, with one exception: the girls are exhausted from the attention. Fun at first, no so much after the first 100 shouts and wolf whistles.
July 17: We catch a taxi to the Caribe Tours bus station. As promised, the buses are clean, cool and efficient. Very nice. I have a very high opinion of Caribe Tours until we are preparing to board one of their buses later in the week in Samana. As we’re waiting, the cleaning person enters the bus, broom and cleaning rag in hand. She sweeps it thoroughly, depositing the resulting pile of cups, papers, bags et al. onto the street. Trash is a problem across the DR, of course. You just expect some people to recognize it isn’t just an aesthetic problem, it’s a very serious economic problem. The bus drops us in Jarabacoa, where we check in to the very nice, very cheap Brisas del Yacqui (did I mention we’re shoestring travelers?) That obviously isn’t clear to all as we’re directed immediately to the Restaurant Lena, which I assume is the most expensive place in town. It’s also damn good. We wander the streets till late, having a beer or two at the open bars at the Parque Central. Merengue blares. The beer is ice cold. Good stuff.
July18: We’ve asked a taxi driver to take us to the falls. He pushes for the two lesser, but more accessible falls in town. We insist on Salto Jimenoa Uno. It’s a beautiful walk down – Spanish moss and bromeliads the whole way. Turns out we have the whole place to ourselves, so we hang out for three or four hours. The girls take a swim. Then we walk back up the path, which is very difficult. Maybe a 1,000 foot vertical climb. It nearly kills me, but all in all a successful trip. That night we eat at an unnamed pizza place and hang out in the bars. Very nice.
July19: This morning we toss in with the guagua heading for Constanza via the short route through the pass. We’ve heard over and over how difficult and dangerous this is. Turns out to be great fun – 12 of us stuck in a mini-pickup. And our cargo on top of us. It’s also beautiful. Pass the rum, wouldja, darlin’?
We arrive in Constanza just as the President of the Dominican Republic is leaving. There’s been a campaign rally, and the streets are blocked. There are hundreds of people out waving flags. There’s even a little brass band. And then El Presidente takes off in a helicopter, with two more copters in attendance. Pretty fun. We check into the Hotel Aguas Blancas -- us$20 a night and it’s clean as a whistle. The manager seems genuinely surprised we don’t have any hot water.
We wander around town and find the baseball game. Great time. El Presidente from the snack bar and amateur but intense baseball under the lights on a lovely evening in Constanza (at 5,000 feet, Constanza is considerably cooler than the shore). We wander next door to Comedor Luisa for dinner. Amazing food, amazing price. A real find.
July 20: More wandering around Constanza. We consider going to the falls outside of town. We change our mind. The girls shop. I want to buy a baseball and bat for some of the kids playing in the street. I find balls at five dollars each. The cheapest bat at the store is us$140. I try to convince them they’re crazy. They assure me they aren’t, and I leave. I find a bar just before a torrential rainstorm shuts down the electricity. Serendipity. You gotta love it. We go back to Luisa’s for dinner. It’s amazing again.
July 21: We guagua to La Vega, which as promised, has very little to offer the visitor. We wait for two and a half hours for a guagua that will take us to San Francisco de Macoris. We do this at the insistence of the fellow at the guagua stop who is selling snow cones. He first says one will arrive at 2:00 p.m., then at 3:00 p.m., then 3:30 p.m. Eventually it occurs to me the dude makes a cut off passengers who hop on this rumored guagua. I call a taxi that brings us to San Francisco, which is surprisingly affluent. Where does all the money come from? Major League Baseball? I assume it’s in fact the result of the expansive farmland surrounding the town. We arrive in Samana at 8:00 p.m. Someone offers to get a taxi to Las Galeras for me and stupidly I agree. I spend $30, when I should have spent $20.00. Oh well, I’ll live. We arrive in Las Galeras at 9:00 p.m. and the taxi driver recommends we stay at the Gri Gri. Sounds good, and it works out fine for one night.
July 22: We check in with Juan Y Lolo, who manage a bunch of bungalows in Las Galeras. We settle on the Casa Mariposa – the butterfly house. It’s set in a beautiful garden. And the price is right. The only problem is the shower, which pumps out salt water. We head out for La Playita, the small beach just outside of downtown, but we can’t get there on foot. We slip into the Villa Serena, a very fancy getaway, but they aren’t fooled. So we work out a deal. As long as we “consume,” we’re free to hang out. We consume, having a few margaritas, and jump in the pool and the sea. That night we wander the two blocks into town and have dinner at the Plaza Lusitania’s Italian Restaurant. (Okay. Maybe we’re not the best shoestring travelers in the world. But it’s damn good.)
July 23: We’re heading out to Playa Rincon, but it rains until 4:00 p.m. So we read and laze about. When the rain stops we rent a couple four wheelers and drive to La Playita. It’s a lovely little beach in a park-like setting. We return to town for dinner at a little French place.
July 24: We take the four wheelers out to Playa Rincon, which is nothing short of mind-blowing. The Rio Frio, a little stream that emerges from cold water springs a mile or two back up the mountain, flows into the sea. We order up some fresh grilled fish from a fellow with a little charcoal grill on the beach. Great food. Trash everywhere, of course. After a few hours we wander back into town and turn in the four wheelers. There is in Las Galeras a small epicerie, of all things, so we order up some sliced meat, some Camembert and some French bread. That night we have the best meal we’ve had in days.
July 25: We take a guagua back into Samana where we board the Caribe Tours bus back to Santo Domingo. It takes five hours, and puts us into town quite late. We go to the Gazcue – the Hotel Metur, which I had heard good things about. It’s awful. So we go back to the Conde de Penalba, where we’re greeted like old friends.
July 26: We take a taxi to the airport. Once again I am amazed at not just the cleanliness and the quality of the airport, but its striking design and features. We hop on the 10:00 a.m. flight and … we’re outta there.
Photos to follow.
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Now That's a Report!
I truly enjoyed it and shared it with co-workers. Thanks again. I too am looking forward to the pictures.
