A tip I have about this place — 6 months ago
We just came back from DR with the best impressions and the feeling that in 7 days we managed to see just a tiny bit of it …
We booked with Thomas Cook an all inclusive package and stayed at the Grand Catalonia Dominicus in the Bayahibe area close to La Romana. This was the cheapest way to come there from Europe.
The resort was really nice and the beach just wonderful (the best we saw on the island) but it was a pity to spend more time in the resort with tourists instead of traveling the country and seeing the real thing …
So we rented a car and went off …
AVIS, HERTZ, EuropCar, National and the rest had exorbitant prices where we asked… (180 USD for a small Jeep) We finally rented a small Ford 4×4 from www.seaandsunrc.com located very close to the hotel in Dominicus for less than half the price others asked (50€/day).
Driving was not recommended (even strongly advised against in the hotel) but coming from Greece it looked quite ok with just a need for an open eye to avoid quite deep potholes in particular at night when cars would just flash their big lights on you to say hello.
(Just a funny thing that almost caused us an accident is that red light when there are any are placed after the crossing you are supposed to stop at. Being used to stop at the light i ended up stopping at the middle of the crossroad…)
Our main guide was our Roughguide of Dominican Republic and a good map …
We wanted to visit Punta Cana and Bavaro as it was a top 10 destination according to the guide… The only thing we saw were 10ths of kilometers of fence and walls … resorts the one next to the other with no obvious way to go on the beach from any where if you were not a resident of these resorts … we ended up at the village of El Cortesito in Bavaro the only non resort access to the coast … It was like a hurricane had hit very hard on the coast … with shops half wrecked boats brought ashore and palm trees uprooted half floating in the sea… Nevertheless tourists where walking on the shore and locals were joking and dancing on Merengue, and swimming in the wild waters … a very surreal scene …
Driving from Higuay to punta Macao we saw beautiful little villages or settlements along the road, constituted mainly of colorful wooden little houses.
Arrived in macao police forbid us to access the beach because of the very dangerous waves … They were really impressive … the full might of the Atlantic beating on the beach! We were very happy to stay on the Carribean side of the sea … in Bayahibe area!
During the night just a couple of these village wooden houses had electricity … the blackness and the people living in the dark was impressive…
People seemed to enjoy life despite the obvious poverty and lack of the essential … We never felt threatened nor looked badly even though even the cheap camera we had represented 3-4 months of salary for most of them.
The only thing we regretted was that we missed out on our trip to do the much famed Whale Watching in Silver Banks north of DR where over 10000 whales assemble from January to March each year in the mating season. The tours were departing from Samana city. To get there from Bayahibe we had to drive to Sabana Del Mar and then take a ferry to Samana. The issue is of course that the ferry mentionned in the guide is a plain passenger boat … not a car ferry. To drive to Samana was not an option either (8-10 hours each way). Leaving the car on Sabana del Mar and just taking the boat to Samana was not an option either as the tour was coming back after the last boat to go back had already left.
The most exciting overall was the GAGA ceremony and dance that we followed in a small settlement of sugarcane workers in Batey las Cejas close to Higuey till nightfall… It was an amazing experience hard to describe …
Flocks of people danced in a monotonous rhythm, criss crossing the settlement back and forth led by an old horse rider. Some where falling in trance while dancing and singing, people were dressed in all kinds of funny colors and clothes, many where playing percussions and blowing large metal keyless horns painted in pink …
There were actually 2 groups with their own leaders each dancing their own rhymes but the volume of singing and tension rose to almost fighting when they met face to face …
These ritual dances are said to have Voodoo roots…
Being the only Europeans or even white there, we left at night fall…
Overall I sure hope to go back and visit the rest of the country as well…
It is a pity that development seems to be limited into mega resorts, with lush and luxury and tons of food thrown away when most of the people in the country side seemed to lack the very essential …
The contrast is huge
I am sure that most of the tourists in DR are resort people never wondering off the resort if not on tours organized by the hotels leaving their money to foreign big business settled on the pristine beaches of the country with very little of this money going to other Dominicans than those actually working in the resorts …
The best place for snorkeling we saw was Catalina Island, (did the tour with Casa Daniel in Bayahibe, half the price we were offered in the Hotel)
We also did a Trip to Isla Saona, supposedly a part of the National Park del’ Este …
Nevertheless tourist installations on the Island leave a very serious mark on this beautiful Island, with garbage mountains being burned just behind the kiosks and Cantines put up for tourists …
Nevertheless it remains a place of great beauty worth being visited …
Will post pictures asap
