chris_the_crow / Christoforos Korakas

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

This is a short guide I compiled for a friend based on my own experience … hope this is of help.

Tips for Cuba

Take with you

1) A good map of Cuba (as detailed as possible 500.000/1 is a minimum) as they are not easy to find in Cuba
2) A guide (Lonely planet, DK or Rough guide) as recent as possible
3) Cuban Music! Amazingly enough we had very hard time to find any “old” Cuban Music as they call it there … meaning Buena Vista Social Club type of Music … They sell every where modern type salsa …Music is important if you plan to travel by car (check to see that the car you rent is fitted with a CD player … otherwise an MP3 player plugged with an FM transmitter (about 30 USD in any IT shop) could do the trick as you can pick up the signal and listen your MP3 music from the radio on board
4) Take with you basic Meds , bug repellent and of course sun block cream (35+)
5) American express is forbidden in Cuba. Other cards work but dollars work better … make some at a bank in Havana. Money in Cuba is the Peso … they have the Peso Convertibile (1 peso= 1 dollar) and the peso Cubano (1.00 EUR = 41.2829 CUP) … but Tourists are not supposed to use it … US dollar works everywhere / Euros only in big hotels
6) A second suitcase to carry the stuff you are going to bring back!! See at the end…

Where to stay (if you want to see Cuba)

You should stay in Hotel Nacional for the first couple of nights there in Havana city (80/90 USD a night usually) … try a nice mojito or other cocktail late afternoon in the internal garden with the live (Cuban of course) music playing … The front desk is very helpful and can make reservations and suggestions … on about anything. Don’t miss also the Cigar shop of the Hotel where there is usually a very good torcero that rolls cigars to be sold on the spot … ask him to roll you a panatella and smoke it on the spot !! Spectacular taste … buy from him the cigars he rolls!!

For the rest of the journey through Cuba you can stop everywhere it pleases you … and just ask for a ”casa particular” basically you stay at locals that have a room for guests … they provide the clean sheets, a bathroom and most of the times breakfast and even Lobster in the evening …

for casas particolares see
http://www.webhavana.com
http://www.particularcuba.com
http://www.casaparticularcuba.org

Its perfectly ok to see 3-4 places (casas) before you make you mind … and it is worth doing that in most of the cases … some guides also refer to good casa particolares, usually full though probably because they are in the guides.
Stay away from the Hotel Horizontes Chain … expensive and for tourists only … very bad service usually

All inclusive “don’t go out” type of resorts in Varadero and other places are not to be considered if you want to see Cuba …Staying at locals is much better, very safe and cheap (20$)

How to get around

There are trains and buses but it is rough … It is of course a good way to meet locals (haven’t done it my self).
The best way is to rent a car in la Havana (there is an agency next to the Hotel Nacional) The most reliable company with the largest service network in Cuba is Transtur … a plain vanilla Hyundai rents for about 50$ a day. Not a very good match to the fantastic old American cars you can see everywhere but was much cheaper to rent and more reliable, the later being very important for a long trip in Cuba…

Make sure you ask for a map of Cuba with all the Transtur service stations marked. We blew 2 tires so make sure there are good spare tires (2 is better) and a working hand crane and tools to change it. Locals will stop by and help out in need!
Try to bargain a bit, especially if you take it for many days. better reserve in advance as prices rise depending on car availability
With nice Cuban music and a stock of cigars … this is a road trip not to be forgotten!

Be careful driving in particular by night … there is no lighting on the road (even highways) and often locals still travel on the highway with buffalo or horse drawn carriage / wagon!!
There are so few cars in some places that locals just play baseball on it…

There are no sign posts on the road, so a good map is essential (a compass could be handy as well if you are adventurous). The best way I to ask locals … given that you speak some Spanish of course (English is spoken by few in Havana and other major cities)

Places to see

Havana is very beautiful… take some to stroll in the Malecon (sea front) the place de la cathedral and neighbouring areas (Havana Vieja) are very nice … Go in the afternoon In place de la Cathedral , grab a nice mojito and enjoy the live music played by Las Piscinas … if they are still performing there … a real bliss

Trinadad further in the south is amazing … you need to stay there a couple of days and go out at night in casa de la musica or casa de la trova

Santiago de Cuba must be fantastic as well but we didn’t manage to get there by car. One way would be to drive down there and come back by plane to Havana, and then go see a bit of the north as well (Pinar del Rio) .
There is a crocodile park the La Boca Crocodile-Breeding Center, in The Zapata Peninsula National Park… where you can taste crocodile mezze ;-)

What to eat

Lobster, Lobster , Lobster … so cheap you wont believe it (we paid 20 dollars I think) and gorgeous …
Cubans have an art for drinks … not so much for “haute cuisine” …
There are some very high class restaurants in la Havana, serving European style cuisine but I prefer eating lobster in small family owned restaurants…
Restaurants tend to close very early (9 – 9:30)

Night life

There is plenty in la Havana … some very chick and expensive some more popular … both are fun (avoid the casa de la musica in la Havana only … too noisy and expensive)
Otherwise most towns have music nights and cafes … you should ask for casa de la trova or casa de la musica … they also sometimes play live on the main square or dance places and people just drink and dance … this is where you get your free salsa lesson ;-)

Generally Cuba is very safe … some marriage proposals are to be expected but that’s about it … in Havana as in any big city things are a bit different but again very safe (much more than the average big European city) and police is everywhere, you will notice that once locals start talking to you and are driven off by some other Cuban guy …

There are few beggars in big cities … they usually ask you to buy them food from the supermarket for their kids then they sell it back to the supermarket …

Where to swim

I think Playa Larga (close to The Zapata Peninsula National Park ) was really nice … I would definitely stay away from Varadero and the such … nothing Cuban about them … the only people you get to know is other tourists like you but much older usually …

What to bring back

Of course Rum and Cigars! : the “Habana Club 15 Años Gran Reserva” very rare and very expensive outside Cuba… Cigars are sold on the street as originals for half price … it is better to buy I guess in the factory (Partagas is my favorite) or in hotels in cigar shops … Locals smoke local cigars … Usually a cigar sell for tourists at 2-5 Dollars a piece (Partagas) to much more of course depending where and what you buy … locals buy 26 cigars with a dollar!! (They are not to be compared of course in quality with those for tourists and export…)

Go to the open-air market and fairs (Havana, Trinidad etc) and buy papier-mâché toy cars, music instruments and fabulous necklaces made of beans!!! (1 $ a piece)

There is also an Art market in la Havana where local artists sale their paintings and old books … great fun!

I am sure you are going to have a great time!!

Oh! and don’t forget to bring a camera and a lot of storage cards!