Making Like Snowbirds in Dominican Republic

After working our way north along the Lesser Antilles, we moved on to the Greater Antilles. We spent a month in the Dominican Republic, a popular winter destination for Canadians.

Santo Domingo

We started with a week in the capital Santo Domingo. It is a sprawling city of four million people. Our apartment was in the upscale Piantini District, about 8 km from the Centro Historico. Though only 8 kms away, getting into downtown took half an hour or more. Much of the drive was through congested, poor, rundown neighbourhoods. Not areas visitors would want to venture into.

The Centro Historico is a beautiful restored old section of the city with museums, churches, galleries, stores and restaurants. There is ongoing work restoring more buildings and streets. Many people worry about safety in foreign, especially poor, countries. If some thug was stupid enough to try rob you in the Centro Historico, the biggest danger wouldn’t be from the robber. It would be the crossfire from the many Policia Federal, Policia Turistica, Policia Municipal and Seguridad Privada patrolling the area.

Since the trek into downtown was so arduous, we spent most days exploring our own neighbourhood. We took our lives in our hands every time we went out. When traffic gets congested, motor bikes turn the sidewalks into extensions of the road. Pedestrians scramble to avoid getting hit. (George had to wait until Las Terrenas for that.) Crosswalks and pedestrian lights are mostly ignored. Red lights are merely a suggestion. Multiple cars will run a red light blasting their horns for oncoming traffic to stop.

There were some high end – and expensive – malls and shops nearby. We weren’t interested in shopping but at least the stores were air conditioned. More interesting was the Botanical Garden. It is 400 acres (about half the size of Stanley Park for Vancouverites) of green space in the city. We enjoyed walking amongst the trees and flowers. The 33 degree heat was a bit much though so we gave up and rode the miniature train.

Playa Bonita – One of the Best Beaches in the World

At least according to National Geographic. It ranked Playa Bonita one of the top ten beaches in the world. After the bustle of Santo Domingo, we headed to the beach for a week of quiet and relaxation. Playa Bonita is along a quiet, palm tree lined bay. There’s a handful of restaurants and not much else. The nearest supermarket was 3-1/2 kms, a walk we unintentionally made one day. A motoconcho (motorcycle taxi) driver convinced us both to hop on the back of his moto to get home.

Somehow we ended up with two freeloaders living on our patio. One was an affectionate but demanding cat, the other an old dog that needed a good brush and bath. They tolerated each other except when it came to sharing food. Our grocery budget took a hit.

Las Terrenas

After a week at Playa Bonita we moved a few kilometres east to the main town of Las Terrenas, where all the action is. Las Terrenas is still a bit of a frontier town. It’s past the broke-backpacker stage and into the budget-minded retirees stage. There are a lot of luxury apartments under construction though. In the next few years the character of the town is bound to change.

The streets are noisy with motorbikes, quads and dilapidated gravel trucks. Despite the hustle and bustle on the street, the miles of beaches are empty. Las Terrenas has no all inclusive resorts. Long-term visitors (predominantly Canadians) mostly stay in self-catering apartments. Everyone, except us, rents quads to get around town. The streets are jammed with them. It was amusing to see a quad roaring along driven by a 70-something year old woman from Mississauga (or maybe Chicoutimi), beer in hand.

Driving the Samana peninsula was fun. The roads aren’t bad, except for the monster speed bumps every few hundred metres. Driving was scary though, thanks to the insane moto riders making U-turns in front of us, careening towards us the wrong way and simultaneously overtaking on the left and right sides. Helmets haven’t been invented here yet and drinking and driving seems common.

The beaches around Las Galeras at the eastern tip of the peninsula have the finest and whitest sands of any beaches we’ve ever seen. Yet they were practically deserted. Where are all the sunseekers?

Salto El Limón

El Limon waterfall is a popular day trip. As we approached the trailhead a moto driver flagged us down to tell us (1) the road ahead was closed, (2) there was no parking, and (3) we couldn’t hike in because of the heavy rain, so had to hire horses. We ignored him. The road was open, there was parking (though we had to pay a guy 200 pesos to park on a public road), and we easily hiked in.

It’s a 2.5 km uphill hike to get into the falls. Most people hire horses and guides. Seeing the terrified looks of novice riders coming back down the steep trail, we made the right choice. It was a pleasant forest trail with four shallow river crossings. The last few hundred metres was a steep downhill to the base of the falls. To the surprise of people who’d paid to ride in, horses had to stay at the top.

On our way down, a twenty-something guide coming up with two exhausted, unfit guests stopped us. He told us we shouldn’t continue because we wouldn’t make it back up. Maria asked how he knew we wouldn’t make it. He replied “I can see how old you are”. He’s lucky he didn’t get the carbide tip of a hiking pole in the eye. After a good blast from Maria he beat a hasty retreat. For the record, it was not a tough climb up. It was only a 75 m ascent. The falls were certainly worth the hike.

The Moto Accident

And yes, George did get hit by a motorcycle. He was crossing a busy one-way street near our apartment. The first break in traffic he started to cross, but forgot to look both ways. He was hit by a motorcycle going the wrong way on the one-way street. The driver swerved enough that George only got sideswiped. A few bruises and scrapes but nothing serious. Always listen to your mother – look both ways before crossing the street.

The last stop on this adventure

When we left Canada in January, we had no return ticket. By the time we got around to looking for flights home, airfares were insane. It took a few weeks of daily searching to find something in our price range. The only available date was a few days after we had originally planned to return. We couldn’t extend our apartment in Las Terrenas, so decamped to Playa Juan Dolio, a beach resort close to Santo Domingo airport.

People of Santo Domingo escape to Juan Dolio on weekends. The beach is lined with hotels behind high walls. We spent the weekend laying on the beach surrounded by big, boisterous Dominican families.

Riding a Motoconcho Through Downtown Las Terrenas