So we're back from DR and with the world's biggest jet lag so if I write something wrong, do let me know
Getting in the country
Luckily we were seated next to the exit of the plane so
el don bought his tourist card and we got thru passport control very quickly. No tips this time (and I think that because there was a BIG line behind us) - Hillbilly: I listened
The baggage belt got "broken" 3 times due to plastic seals getting stuck somewhere but we got our bag and got out of there fairly quick as well. No tips of any kind, no stopping, no nothing.
FFW to Pedernales trip
The trip there was long (we did it by express bus) but Pedernales was nice. The first impression was that it looked like my grandmas' house in another part of the SW. We stayed at
Doña Chava and enjoyed it very much. There were other guests working at the hospital or dental clinic.
We booked a tour with
Jopaka Tours because my mom didn't want to let hubby drive and due to other things not worth getting into right now. It was just us 2 and the guide, Don Marino, stopped wherever I asked him to, to take pictures. He's very knowledgeable of that area and a very nice guy to be around.
They took us to Hoyo de Pelempito (Pelempito from now on) and Bahía de las Águilas (Bahía from now on). With all due respect, Pelempito isn't as interesting as getting there. Now I understood why somebody called that part "The Grand Canyon of the Caribbean", wow wow wow. But Pelempito was very nice too, the one thing that Don Marino was saying is that there was a lot of irreverent morons who damaged some plants by writing something like "
was here" and that the guards who are supposed to get paid for entering the national park weren't there (so we got there for free). Ah well, right?
From Pelempito we headed to Bahía. We made a lunch stop at La Cueva, where hubby ate fillet de sea bass with fries. He got 3 fillets and all of his food was 300 pesos. We brought our own drink. Plus we played with a kitty there
After lunch we spent the afternoon at Bahía. Hubby doesn't like beaches but he did like this one, he even said "if I had known this was gonna be like this, I would've skipped Pelempito and spent the whole day here". That beach must stay the way it is: no AI's, no mass tourism, no jerks littering, no paved road!
The day after we headed to SD.
I uploaded some pictures at: Picasa
Baní and surrounding areas
An ex co-worker offered us a tour to Las Dunas and Las Salinas and everything in between. We started at Parque and Museo Máximo Gómez, then a drive thru Boca Canasta, Sombrero, Quijá Quieta and Matanzas where we had a pit stop to buy something to eat and drink. After that we headed to Las Dunas and had a pit stop at Hotel Salinas. Then we ordered food at Comedor Tinita, to enjoy after visiting the salt mine and Playa Salinas.
We went there on a week day (as of his recommendations as well as Lonely Planet's) and we left with one bag full of garbage....some people! 
Then we enjoyed food for 10 (and we were 5): 2.5 colorao fish, about 8 carite slices, rice, beans, salad, tostones, concón and a 2.5 cold Coca Cola bottle to share for 1650 pesos.
Last but not least was Hermita a San Martín de Porres and Catedral Nuestra Señora de Regla before having a glass of wine at my friend's house and taking the bus back to SD
Some Baní pictures: Picasa
Museo Hermanas Mirabal
Hubby wanted to see the museum after watching "In the time of the butterflies". The museum was quite nice and the guide was very knowledgeable. It was good to see how the sisters lived and their clothes, their art, Minerva's thesis, etc. We got there and back with Caribe Tours.
As a "side trip", we also visited the Aquarium. I was glad to see that it was almost as good as the last time I went there, in 1992.
Getting out of SD wasn't a hassle either, no tips were left or anything.
I have one question, tho, the departure tax, do foreigners have to pay it or what? It was NOT included in our ticket as of the airlines agreement with hubby's work place and he's not paid it the last 2 times we've been there together.
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DR Trip 2009: SW plus Museo Hermanas Mirabal
