My CaRiBbEaN VaCaTiOn

Saona island.

Dominican Republic --- November-December 2000

I'm back from my super journey throughout the Caribbean breeze!! Despite i'd a nice time in the Dominican Republic(DR),it was great being back home! I was missing home like crazy!! Dominican Republic it's a popular Caribbean destination. And grace to tourism it's a 3rd world country in a bright development as i was told about. However, i've saw so much poverty! DR has great climate, nice people, terrific beaches, nice arts and crafts & nice nature spots!! lt's a country full of mountains, rivers, lakes, animals, waterfalls, caves & coral reefs! DR has the highest peak on the entire Caribbean:EL PICO DUARTE!!(Duarte peak) It's 3175 meters high! Unfortunately almost nobody use 2 visit it, and there are almost no excursions there. It lies in such an isolated area!! Like on the top of the world!! To explore it u might need about a week and without local experts help, u'll b lost easily. Then, u'll need 2 take a tend with u b’cose there are no hotels in the area. It’s a national natural park! Sounds exciting, no??DR has about 7 natural parks! I was told that i was the only tourist wanting 2 visit Duarte peak! People mainly look 4 DR beaches and that's all!

Santo Domingo city cathedral, DR capital.


Me in Punta Cana.

Another place i would love 2 visit but had no chance, was the famous SAMANA BAY!! The visits 4 that bay are extremely expensive: 170 US$. Only 4 a one day visit. That means i'll b spending a lot of money, but on the other hand, that $ meant a fast 25 minutes flight!! Amazing! All the excursions were quite costly, due 2 the high petrol cost in DR! Also DR has the famous Chavón river were was moved "Apocalypse now”, and this river YES, I'd the chance 2 visit with my bro-in-law. (My sis and niece didn't wanted 2 go.)That excursion included the amazing island of SAONA as well. (isla SAONA) We could find some turquoise, clean and crystal waters that made my day! I got thrilled with it's waters colors and gold sands. Gosh, i never saw that ocean colors in front of my eyes!!

Our super resort & it's huge pool.

Also i wanted 2 visit ENRIQUILLO LAKE (lago Enriquillo) but it was on the other side of the island, and once again, nobody use 2 visit it. I would like 2 see the crocodiles there; This lake lies 44 meters down sea level. It's a salt water lake, and the lake is so big that has a animal reserve island inside this lake! Well, let's say i'm a nature lover!! But i had no chances 2 explore the island like i wished!!((Being there with my 5 years old niece, wasn't affordable 2 such an adventurous vacation!!))

Our resort beach.

DR is really a big country!! But 4 sure it would b impossible 2 visit all DR in just 15 days!! I know so many people go abroad and almost don't leave their own hotel! DR is about 48000 square kms ,Christopher Columbus discover it in 1492 and called it by LA HISPANIOLA. Today LA HISPANIOLA it's also home of Haiti nation. It's sunny and hot all year round! With a medium temperature of about 26"C ! I love sunshine and warm days, but indeed too hot weather make me feel lazy & down!! Oh, we got some rainy evenings there!! But the funny of the tropical countries are the rains. They fall during about 10-15 minutes and then they are over. We also got thunderstorms almost every night. Crazy, ugh!!

Chavón viollage & it's river. All the way to arrive at Saona island.

Me at Saona island.
Our hotel was located in Punta Cana. The hotel was amazingly delicious despite all my complains. We (me, my sis, niece and my bro-in-law)) were there in a ALL INCLUSIVE vacation. That means we could always drink and eat all we wanted. All was included!! The bad aspect it is that we end up eating and drinking 2 much!!! A detail: we were told not 2 drink water except bottle water! I saw a lot of wasted food!! And i remembered about all the people without food 2 keep alive!! How unfair!! The hotel had many included activities like beach volleyball, aerobics in the beach, gym in the smallest swimming-pool, water basket-ball, Ping-Pong, tennis...also we had + activities but those we had 2 pay. (Tennis at night, all the motorized water sports, aquatic sky and parasailing!) We had 3 swimming-pools there ,i mainly used the biggest one which was just in front of my own hotel room. It was a terrific pool with so many space 2 swim in!! l wanted some aerobic and step classes, but there was no one, except in the beach itself! We could also try windsurfing, snorkeling and kayaking only 1 hour/day. Oh, we could try scuba- diving 4 free 2, but just once!! The huge hotel had 2500 tourists and 1700 employers! Amazing, isn't it?!!

The colors of Modelo market in Santo Domingo,DR capital.

My 1st trip there was the visit 2 the capital of DR: SANTO DOMINGO. That was on the 27th Nov. ,and we had 2 woke up at 5.00am!! This actually wasn't 2 hard as in the tropics the sunrise is around 5.30am!! And i used 2 jump into bed before 11.00pm. The trip 2 the capital was quite long, it took us 3h30 2 get there by bus. I was delighted 2 hear some jazzy radio station in my little Sony radio during the bus trips! Because in Punta Cana area was only 1 radio station available and boy… it was so boring: it had MERENGUE 24h/day!!! MERENGUE is the national music, but i hate and got fed up!! Santo Domingo is DR's capital, but still is a 3rd world city! There, we made some cultural visits like 3 EYES CAVE (Cueva los 3 ojos) which i loved 2 visit!! Also we had a great lunch in a typical restaurant: i ate so many bananas in DR!! They used 2 cook them in so many ways...My God, and i loved all of them!! After lunch it was shopping time!! Actually i was so excited about it!! I hadn't many $ 2 spend in, but after all i'm not the kind of person who need much $ 2 feel cool! I went 2 DR mainly thinking about buying some typical semi-precious stones called LARIMAR!

Inside the Alcazér de Cólon,Santo Diomingo.

DR it's the only place on earth where we can find Larimar!! I also bought black coral 2 make rings and earrings with them. I end up buying souvenirs 4 my beloved godson,4 mum and me!! Also i bought something 4 my great painting atelier mate Helena, like a Larimar stone and a "camiseta" (T-shirt) with a nice Taino draw.(TAINOS are the native people of DR!) I loved some of their art pieces. But all were too expensive!! Also i bought a letters opener made in Caoba. (CAOBA it’s DR wood!!) Santo Domingo city wasn't too exciting except 4 the shopping at MERCADO MODELO (Modelo market) I also made some shopping near my hotel's area, at Plaza Bávaro (Bávaro square) "REGATEAR" (Bargain) is normal in DR!! It was a funny experience after all!! On 27th Nov. we’re back 2 hotel at around 8.00pm, it was a long but quite interesting day!!

Sunset at Punta Cana beach & sunrise from my bedroom. :)

Our 2nd and last excursion was made to Chavón river and ISLA SAONA.( Saona island) This was on the 29th November. I had 2 wake up at 5.30am, along with the sunrise! Unfortunately; and this was the big hell, the bus left the hotel 1h30 later than expected!! B'cose almost all the excursion persons--All Portuguese!!-- were late, they were all lazy people and stayed in bed up the time we were supposed 2 leave the hotel!! I felt so revenge but our guide decided 2 wait 4 them!! Then they entered the bus like if nothing happened! l was furious! They were all from the south area of Portugal. These guys were so noisy!! Anyway it was a great day and the excursions places were cool! Especially the descent of the Chavón river in a speedy LANCHA (Launch) was quite exciting! Boy, i never experienced that! The launch was so fast that i thought i would b pulling out!! It was so fast that i couldn't dream of taking any picture while inside the launch. I'd 2 put my hands on the launch and…… God helps me!!! It was a pity i missed so many nice spots 2 photograph! But once we reached SAONA island i took some great photos indeed! We were just about 2 hours there; The enough time 2 b in the beach and have lunch. l wished i could visit a big salt lake in Saona, but…no chances!! The island is quite big and it’s another natural reserve too. We landed in a bigger boat with a MERENGUE dance quiz (bahhh) and we also visited a little fishing village called Bayahibe. Another quite poor but cozy village. That day we were back 2 our hotel around 7.00pm! I recall some cities we saw like San Pedro de Macoris (big city, but undeveloped like the whole country!), La Romana (The biggest DR resort which have it's own airport, and where famous people like Julio Iglesias have a home!), Higuey ciudad (Higuey city)

3 ojos caves.(Cuevas Los 3 ojos)

I must remember nice people i met like Janira. She was our vacation assistant there. She helped us with all the excursions and vacation matters. JANIRA is a pretty funny woman who live in Sosua city, north of DR! I hoped we could b in touch by e-mail! I sent her 3 or 4 e-mails but never got a reply!! Plus, i loved 2 practices my Spanish all these days and see how i still manage the language!!

Me in Saona island & Saona wild beach view.

The tiring aspects of those trips are the long hours inside airports and the flights!! Oh yeah, i 4got 2 tell ya about my "normal" days there in our resort. I used 2 wake up around 6.00am but didn't left bed before 7.30am or 8.30am, it depended on my mood. Our desayuño (breakfast) at OCCIDENTAL FLAMENCO BÁVARO RESORT was from 7.00am up 10.00am. Then, time 4 some walk around the beach or any close hotel. (MELIA PARADISUS hotel, was really a dream hotel which we used 2 reach walking trough the beach. It was just a 15 minutes walk from beach. We visited this hotel twice & loved it's own tropical gardens, and the decoration was just amazing!!); We used 2 go shopping at Plaza Bávaro. (Bávaro square) I used 2 take a 1 hour sunbath every morning too. This was up around 11.30am. At 12.00am i was gladly jumping in one of our 2 swimming-pools. At 1.OOpm ALMUERZO time (lunch time), i loved the hotel's food. Especially the BAJO IN CALORIAS (Low calories) plates were delicious!! Afternoons were a bit lazy as well... relaxing, writing letters 2 my pen pals and reading my DR guide. CENA (dinner) at La Giralda buffet started at 7.00pm. Or at 9.00pm if we had any reservations 4 anyone of the other resort restaurants. (We had some there with Italian food, Mexican…) U'll probably find strange if I tell u that at about 9.30pm i used 2 b at my hotel's room watching TV...but it was the truth. We all were very tired, and b4 midnight we were already sleeping!! It was quite a smooth time spent in DR! If u wanna know more about DR, just have a look at : "Dominican Republic -The rough guide" by Sean Harvey, published by The Penguin group-Rough Guides. lt's a great book! I took a lot of photos there, obviously!!! I'm just a photographer freak!! I really had a superb time in there!! Hopefully I’ll return 2 DR!!!

Alcazér de Cólon, Santo Domingo.