History
The
Dominican Republic (in tourism now called Dominicana) occupies the eastern
two-thirds of the island of Hispaniola, sharing this large, lush Caribbean
island with its neighbor, Haiti. Columbus
called hispaniola “The fairest land eyes have ever seen.” For many years,
this was an important post for gold and forest exploitation by the Spaniards,
but its importance diminished as colonization extended to the richer areas
of the Americas. Hispaniola has been dominated at different times by the
Spanish, French, Dutch, Haitian and occupied Twice by the United States.
It
is the second largest island of the Greater Antilles, covering an area
of 75,000 square kilometers. Most of the coastline its pristine, undeveloped
beach. Its topography goes from the highest elevation,
Pico Duarte, 3175 meters above sea level, to the lowest point, Lago Enriquillo,
44 meters below sea level.
CLIMATE. Warm year
around, with balmy tropical breezes.
Average temperature is 78 degrees.
COMMUTING. Seven airports
serve the country. Las Americas
International in Santo Domingo, Cajuiles in La Romana, Punta Cana International,
Herrera also in Santo Domingo, Barahona International, La Union in Puerto
Plata and Santiago airport in Santiago.
Most
tourist centers are served by good two lane highways.
There are several lines that crisscross the country, the most important
ones being METRO and CARIBE. There
are also “guaguas” which travel at high speed and pack passengers like
sardines. These have no bus stations, and can be waved
down along the roads.
Rental
cars available at the airports, hotels or by calling in the offices listed
in the telephone directory. Motorbikes
are commonly used and can be rented around the tourists resorts.
You may drive in Dominicana for up to thee months with a valid
drivers license from your country of origin.
Driving is done on the right side of the road, and the internationally
recognized signals are posted at regular intervals.
CURRENCY. National
currency is the peso currently exchanged at a ratio of 16.70 pesos per
U.S. dollar. Most establishments
will accept payment in dollars, buts you may change into local currency
at the exchange bank posted in the hotels or in any local bank. At present there is no black market.
ELECTRICITY. Electricity
is 110 volts and 60 cycles. There
are sporadic blackouts. But most
hotels have their own generators. Having a flashlight handy is a good idea.
POPULATION. Population
stands close to the 12 million mark, though final official results of
the recent census have not been made public, the city of Santo Domingo
is claiming there million inhabitants.
INDUSTRIES. Many FREEZONES
Operate in the country. The products
there manufactured are only for export many important international firms
operate here. Tourism is the country’s greatest revenue producer followed
by the sugar industry tobacco, coffee, salt, fruits and vegetables. Textiles, cotton and crafts are becoming important
for the national economy.
POLITICS. The
Dominican Republic is a democracy with presidential elections every four
years. There are three legislative
bodies: the Presidency; the Congress, composed of Senators ad the Judicial
Department. There is political
freedom as can be attested by the many parties contending for supremacy
in the forthcoming elections in May 1994.
FRUITS
AND FOOD. The Dominican
Republic produces many fruits. In
addition to the traditional tropical varieties of bananas, oranges, grapefruits,
pineapples, limes and lemons, there are sapotes, passion fruit, crab apples,
sweet lemons, grapes, watermelons, many species of mangos, avocados, nisperos,
olives, melons and a hundred others. The best place to see this array
of fruits is the Mercado Modelo in Santo Domingo or the open market of
the town where you are staying.
The
traditional Dominican meal at noon is what is locally known as the bandera
(the flag), which consist of rice, beans and meat.
Dominicans also like to eat platanos (a type of male banana which
must be cooked) in its many presentations, boiled, fried, baked, mashed
or chipped. Yucca, from which casabe (Indian bread) is
made, is also very popular. The favorite meat of Dominicans is roast pig
or goat and fried chicken flavored whit herbs and soaked in rum.
SPORTS.
Dominicans
are keen on sports and have contributed in a significant manner to major
leagues over the years. Basketball,
windsurfing, tennis, volleyball and golf are actively practiced.
Cockfighting
is a sport that has placed the country among the world’s top three.
RELIGION. There is
complete religious freedom. The
are churches of many dominations as well as many synagogues. Check with
your tour operator or in the telephone directory for listings.
MUSIC. The national
dance is the merengue, a rhythm that spawned from the Native American,
Spanish and African music culture. It was considered a barn dance not
accepted by society until the mid-fifties, when Dictator Trujillo brought
it to ball room status. It took
the world by storm in the eighties when Juan Luis Guerra revived the pambiche
version of what is dance and melody.
GAMBLING. Is a way
of life. Dominicans test their
luck in a dozen ways Lottery vendors set up shop in the parks and streets
of the towns. With the fracatan,
one can become an instant winner by scratching the surface of the carton.
This
is fast becoming the Number One gambling scheme in the country.
Many hotels have elegant casinos, slot machines and other traditional
forms of betting.
TIPPING. Meal tickets include a ten percent service
fee, but it’s customary to leave an additional tip if your feel you were
well served.
CREDIT
CARDS. Mont hotels
and restaurant accept all major credit cards.
DEPARTURE
TAX. There is
AE US$10.00 departure tax. For non-residents.
LANGUAJE. The official
language of the Dominicans Republic is Spanish, though English, French,
German and Italian are spoken in most hotels, restaurant and by tour guides.
THE
PEOPLE. Dominicans
are happy-go-lucky people who look at life through rose-colored glasses. They are friendly and hospitable with a bubbly sense of humor. The roster of famous persons who have left
their indelible mark in the fields of science. Music, politic, sports
and the arts increases every year. We
can mention designer Oscar de la Renta, playboy Porfirio Rubirosa, the
Alou Brothers Marichal and George Bell in sports, Carlos Piantini, composer
and director of the National Symphony Orchestra, Miguel Marcano Santana,
an entomologist of world renown with more than a hundred discoveries to
his credit, Maria Montez of the movies, and Juan Luis Guerra, undisputed
king of the merengue, just to name few.
SANTO
DOMINGO-CRADLE OF THE AMERICAS. The
Island of Hispaniola with Santo Domingo as its capital was the site of
the first European settlement in the New World. It was the cradle of America
from where all future expeditions of conquest set out.
It claims the first university, the firsts stone house, the first
mint, the first palace, the first cathedral, the and a myriad other first
buildings and enterprise, many of which can still be visited restored
to its original splendor as hostals, restaurants and museums.
NIGHT
LIFE IN SANTO DOMINGO COLONIAL. La
Plaza Maria de Toledo in front of the Alcazar, Columbus` son’s Castle
from where he ruled as Viceroy of the New World, is a grand outdoor esplanade
where several restaurants shows, recitals and other nighttime entertainment
promise a good time. Live and
recorded music.
The
Avenida de Puerto, an avenue that runs along the banks of the Ozama river
in the Colonial zone, is the meeting place for Dominicans who want to
take in the cool evening air and dance outdoors to the beat of merengue.
At night, the El Conde street restaurants pull out their tables
and chairs for romantic soirées.
A
walking tour of Colonial us to the XVI century, as shadows of 500 year
old edifices recall the intrigues and vicissitudes of an expanding world.
During
a the day, Santo Domingo Colonial is a beehive of activity specially in
El Conde and Duarte streets, where stores compete to present the best
offers. Art galleries and museums abound. The Mercado Modelo is the place to see and
buy what the nation produce. Here
you will find a plentiful variety of fruits and vegetables while the second
floor and adjacent houses have the most complete selection of Dominican
arts and crafts. Have fun bargaining. The asking price is never the final price.
SANTO DOMINGO COSMOPOLITAN. Santo Domingo has grown to over three million people
and expanded several kilometers beyond the Colonial Zone. Among the interesting places to visit outside
the Colonial Zone is the Plaza de la Cultura, where we find a grouping
of museums, including the Museum Del Hombre with its pictorial history
of the island from the time of the aborigines to the present. The Art Museum has a vast collection of works
by masters and contemporary artists.
The public library building contains many books; paintings and
data pertaining to the country and literature in general History Natural
and the museum of Anthropology are interesting places to visit. The Teatro Nacional (national theater) holds
center stage at Plaza de la Cultura.
It is an imposing marble and glass edifice where there are nightly
performances.
The
seaquarium in the outskirts of the city is designed so that the visitor
can walk under and around the marine life captured there.
It contains many Caribbean water inhabitants including white sharks. The Zoo houses animals from many countries
in natural surroundings.
The
Botanical Garden flaunts the beauty of the tropics.
It also has an exquisite Japanese garden with a tea house and an
orchid pavilion reputed to vie favorably with the best.
Those
who like to “shop `til they drop” may find exactly what they are looking
for in the city’s many shopping centers which sell locally made clothing
and wares and imported goods from all parts of the world.
Los
Tres Ojos, a natural cave formation with four separate bodies of water
is a wonder of stalactite and stalagmite formations surrounded by splendorous
tropical foliage.
The
Columbus Light House, where the remains of the Great Admiral are encased
in an imposing mausoleum of marble and onyx, is a grandiose edification,
which also contains interesting memorabilia from the
period of conquest.
SANTO
DOMINGO COSMOPOLITAN AT NIGHT.
There seems to be as many discos and night entertainment centers
as there are people, each catering to a different type of clientele.
The Water and Light House, which can be visited by day, can best
be appreciated at night when a million lights blaze the sky in the form
of a cross.
Among
the most interesting places for kicking up dust are two underground caves
now turned restaurant –discos, the Guacara Taina and very good food.
The
Malecon, called by some the largest disco in the world, is really the
boulevard by the sea in Santo Domingo where dozens of dance halls, restaurants
and discos offer food and entertainment.
This is where most residents of Santo Domingo welcome the new Year. Not be overlooked are the excellent restaurants to be found in the
city specializing in food from various parts of the world. Check with your director or look them up in
the WEB MAP DIRECT.
Warning: it is crime in the Dominican Republic to have,
bury or sell drugs. Anyone suspected,
accused or guilty of this crime risks meeting the hard arm of the law.
LA ROMANA –BAVARO – PUNTA CANA.
A popular axiom says that when god closes a door,
he leaves a window open, and important sugar plantation and processing
center developed by the Gulf and Western company.
When sugar prices plummeted in the seventies, La Romana took refuge
in tourism and developed what is perhaps the ultimate tourist destination.
The
contracted Pete Dye to design what many considered the best 18 hole golf
course anywhere, the also buil a replica of a colonial village, now an
artist hub, where among other interesting things, we find the famous school
of design Altos de Chavon. The Amphitheater of this village, with seating
for 5,000 spectators, was inaugurated by Frank Sinatra Millionaires from
many parts of the world have buit majestic villas here. Hotels with every imaginable comfort art to
be found, as are marinas, yacht club, equestrian centers, all amid exuberant
tropical gardens and Punta Cana, two magnificent resort areas in the easternmost
part of the island have miles of paradisiac beaches and modern hotels
that cater to the visitor’s every desire.
It has an entertainment center and all water sports. Of the country by good roads, and to the word by a modern international
airport. It is the place to go
for endless sun and fun.
BARAHONA: Barahona is noted for its diversification of
climate and 100 kilometers of Technicolor beaches. This list also home of the reverse gravity point. It is an important agricultural center and
the only place in the world where the semi-precious stone larimar is found.
CIBAO.
The Cibao is the country’s most important agricultural region.
Among the many cities here is Santiago, a teeming industrial center
and a diversified shopping arena. In
the Cibao, we find the highest mountain in the Caribbean, and pine forests
of inestimable beauty.
PUERTO PLATA –PLAYA DORADA. Puerto Plata is a small seaside tow on the North Coast
of the Dominican Republic dotted with
gingerbread homes, a central park with its turn of the century
kiosk from where the town’s people are entertained on Sunday afternoons
by Municipal Band. It is fringed
on the North by the mighty Atlantic and on the south by its landmark Isabel
de Torres Mountain. Little remains
of XVI century edifications, except the Saón Felipe Fort, now a museum
open to visitors.
This
Was a refuge for pirates and corsairs and site of many historical events,
like the writing of the national anthem and the signing of the U.S. troop
withdrawal after the 1916 intervention.
It is an important port serving not only the province but the entire
Cibao region province but the entire Cibao region and where cruiseships
also make regular calls. Puerto Plata is the home of Brugal rum, the
chocolate manufacturing plant, the match factory and an important arts
and craft center amber mine of Jurassic Park fame, supply the country
and the world with this coveted semi-precious stone.
Playa Dorada is the golden beach and golf resort where a dozen
hotels cater to the ever increasing number of visitors who flock to the
North Coast looking for sun and sand, casinos, shops and good times for
which Playa Dorada is an endless reservoir.
Many restaurants tease the palate of the most demanding gourmet,
while a variety of stores offer such diverse items as fur coats, locally
made clothing, perfume, liquor. Works
of art, and trifles. All this engulfed in verdant extravaganza.
COFRESI
–COSTAMBAR.
Costambar
is a residential community of rolling hills specked with beautiful stucco
and red title roof homes five kilometers from Puerto Plata.
It has a shallow water snow white beach, a nine hole golf course,
a five star hotel, aparthotels, equestrian facilities and breathtaking
ocean view. Il also has a few
restaurants and shops.
Cofresi,
two kilometers from Costambar, is a thriving community of lush vegetation
and a one-kilometer beach, where one can find star hotels and attractive
guesthouses, excellent restaurants while still retaining its enchanted
forest charm.
LAS TERRENAS –SAMANA. A popular saying upholds that when God thought of
creating the Garden of Eden, he had Samana in mind. The exhuberance of its coconut forest that extend for miles and
line to meet the sea presents a soul-stirring panorama. More than thirty kilometers of soft white sand
line its shores.
One
of the many Samana beaches bursting with bursting with Caribbean flair
is Las Terrenas, an idyllic setting for a perfect vaction.
Its charm has lured many to settle there and it is fast becoming
a small European Community where food and pastimes of the Old World prevail.
The
island of Cayo Levantado stands a few kilometers away from the mainland
surround by peaceful turquoise waters and sundreched pristine beaches. It is reached by boasts that make the traverse every few minutes. This is a paradisiac enclave served by a four
star hotel that provides all creature comforts and amenities.
Samana
holds the distinction of hosting the humpback whales’ yearly pilgrimage
to these waters where they mate and reproduce during the months from December
to March. They can be seen spouting away from the shore
or for a better look there are excursions that bring you within touching
distance of the whales.
The
peninsula of Samana is a safe harbor for pleasure boats.
Also reached by boat from Samana is Los Haitises National park,
an awe inspiring chain of caverns that extend for miles, many of them
decorated with pictographies that
date back centuries before the European involvement. Here you find impressive
mangrove forests and much tropical marine life including star fish and
sea horses.
