So I've returned to the land of ice, snow, cold, and generally shitty winter weather also known as Canada. I'm safe, sound, disease free, and generally had a good time. That said, there are some lessons that should be passed on:
Beers discovered:
Presidente (Dominican Rep.) - Good the first time. Also good served at minus 5. Otherwise...
Bohemia (Dominican Rep.) - Definitely does NOT to justice to it's namesake - no self respecting Bohemian would drink this swill.
Prestige (Haiti) - First lager I've ever tried that tastes as good luke-warm as it does cold. Just for the record, it tastes good cold.
Liquors Discovered:
Brugal Anejo (Dominican Rep.) - The Dominican Republic's answer to Lambs amber. Tastes about as bad too. This doesn't even go down well with coke.
Brugal Extra Viejo (Domincan Rep.) - A significant upgrade over the Anejo, goes very well with coke, and can be drank straight up as well.
Barbancourt Reserve Speciale (Haiti) - Aged 8 years in oak barrels, quite bluntly, this rum kicks ass - and I don't like rum.
Everything else has already been covered previously. Read it if you want.
Anyhow, that concludes the public version of my trip. Keep checking in, as I'll update as regularily as there's an interesting story to tell, or I feel like voicing my (intelligent, witty, and valuable) opinion on something. Te Salut.
Showing posts with label Dominican Republic. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Dominican Republic. Show all posts
Sunday, February 3, 2008
Monday, January 28, 2008
Pedernales - beach day
So we begin again. As with Haiti, there are three ways to get from Santo Domingo to Pedernales. You can fly, you can rent a car and drive yourself, or you can take a guagua. A guagua is like a bus, only the air conditioning doesn't work, there are more people than seats and your seat mate might, if you're travelling alone, be a live chicken (actually, that was the seatmate of the guy across and a row ahead of us on the way up). On the plus side, it's relatively cheap.
Seven hours on a bus after leaving Santo Domingo, with a couple stops along the way to eat, piss, and for the cobrador to flirt with some of the girls we drove past, we arrived on the edge of nowhere - the town of Pedernales, DR. Actually, the town itself, while small, isn't uncivilized. There are a couple of hotels - we stayed at the pink one. Specifically, the hotel was called the D'oLeo Mendez, and was was quite comfortable, reasonably priced, and clean. The food in the restaurant was excellent, and the staff took good care of us while we were there.
Bay of Eagles, from about 150 ft up
That being said, the hotel was NOT why we went to Pedernales. The reason we went to Pedernales is a wonder called Bahia de las Aguilas (sp?) - the Bay of Eagles. On the shore of the Caribbean, in the middle of a national park lies one of the most beautiful pieces of virgin wilderness I have ever seen. Water so clear you can see 20 ft to the bottom - from 150 ft in the air, bordering on a pristine white sand beach, marred only by the holes of sand crabs, separating ocean from a desert unique in that it is full of life - both plant and animal. Of particular note are a couple of rare species of iguana, as well as an in-desert wetland home to some 20 species of unique birds.
The desert
The trip from Pedernales to the bay can be done one of two different, equally stunning ways. On one hand, you can take a motoconcho (motorcycle transport) to get a boat to take you over water to the bay. This is the faster method, however the boats are, apparently, somewhat dodgy. Alternately, there is an overland route, which is a couple of hours by motoconcho. We elected to take the overland route, and were thus introduced to Vladimir - a Pedernales local, and also a knowledgeable and entertaining guide. The trip was on the whole uneventful (no accidents) and, simultaneously amazing. We went for 15 km down the highway, and then proceeded down dirt roads and trails, through a couple of villiages and the national park until we got to the bay. On the way, I discovered the perfect location to buy a little bit of land for a beach house. I'm in the process of looking into that. Vladimir gave us the lowdown on the local scenery, as well as some of the wildlife that we passed (including a couple of sightings of one of the rare iguanas).
See. Rare iguana.
That said, there is a sad note. Unfortunately, a French resort firm is looking to expand into this location. I have no objection to resorts, or corporate expansion, however there are some places where it isn't entirely desirable. This is one of those places. Fortunately, action taken by the Dominican government, and backed by a group of locals stopped the French expansion cold in this region. That being said, I still see a future for tourism in this remote slice of paradise - but tourism of a different kind.
Personally, resort-type vacations are not my cup of tea. That's fine, everyone has their preferences. The concept of eco-tourism/adventure tourism has always appealed to me, and this region is ideal for this style of expansion. Between the desert, and it's unique eco-systems, the bay itself, and the local version of the grand canyon (heard about, but sadly, not seen), there is opportunity here for both nature lovers, and adventurers at once. Anyone who knows me knows that spending a day bird-watching doesn't interest me in the slightest. That said, taking a motorbike into the canyon, or doing some mountain climbing/hiking most certainly does. Whats more, these services are all available to those who desire them from locals, and at reasonable prices besides all that. I believe that this island has the space for both resort-style tourism, and an alternative to that - Pedernales and the Bay of Eagles belong in the latter group.
For those of you who don't believe I was on a motorcycle.
Seven hours on a bus after leaving Santo Domingo, with a couple stops along the way to eat, piss, and for the cobrador to flirt with some of the girls we drove past, we arrived on the edge of nowhere - the town of Pedernales, DR. Actually, the town itself, while small, isn't uncivilized. There are a couple of hotels - we stayed at the pink one. Specifically, the hotel was called the D'oLeo Mendez, and was was quite comfortable, reasonably priced, and clean. The food in the restaurant was excellent, and the staff took good care of us while we were there.
Bay of Eagles, from about 150 ft up
That being said, the hotel was NOT why we went to Pedernales. The reason we went to Pedernales is a wonder called Bahia de las Aguilas (sp?) - the Bay of Eagles. On the shore of the Caribbean, in the middle of a national park lies one of the most beautiful pieces of virgin wilderness I have ever seen. Water so clear you can see 20 ft to the bottom - from 150 ft in the air, bordering on a pristine white sand beach, marred only by the holes of sand crabs, separating ocean from a desert unique in that it is full of life - both plant and animal. Of particular note are a couple of rare species of iguana, as well as an in-desert wetland home to some 20 species of unique birds.
The desert
The trip from Pedernales to the bay can be done one of two different, equally stunning ways. On one hand, you can take a motoconcho (motorcycle transport) to get a boat to take you over water to the bay. This is the faster method, however the boats are, apparently, somewhat dodgy. Alternately, there is an overland route, which is a couple of hours by motoconcho. We elected to take the overland route, and were thus introduced to Vladimir - a Pedernales local, and also a knowledgeable and entertaining guide. The trip was on the whole uneventful (no accidents) and, simultaneously amazing. We went for 15 km down the highway, and then proceeded down dirt roads and trails, through a couple of villiages and the national park until we got to the bay. On the way, I discovered the perfect location to buy a little bit of land for a beach house. I'm in the process of looking into that. Vladimir gave us the lowdown on the local scenery, as well as some of the wildlife that we passed (including a couple of sightings of one of the rare iguanas).
See. Rare iguana.
That said, there is a sad note. Unfortunately, a French resort firm is looking to expand into this location. I have no objection to resorts, or corporate expansion, however there are some places where it isn't entirely desirable. This is one of those places. Fortunately, action taken by the Dominican government, and backed by a group of locals stopped the French expansion cold in this region. That being said, I still see a future for tourism in this remote slice of paradise - but tourism of a different kind.
Personally, resort-type vacations are not my cup of tea. That's fine, everyone has their preferences. The concept of eco-tourism/adventure tourism has always appealed to me, and this region is ideal for this style of expansion. Between the desert, and it's unique eco-systems, the bay itself, and the local version of the grand canyon (heard about, but sadly, not seen), there is opportunity here for both nature lovers, and adventurers at once. Anyone who knows me knows that spending a day bird-watching doesn't interest me in the slightest. That said, taking a motorbike into the canyon, or doing some mountain climbing/hiking most certainly does. Whats more, these services are all available to those who desire them from locals, and at reasonable prices besides all that. I believe that this island has the space for both resort-style tourism, and an alternative to that - Pedernales and the Bay of Eagles belong in the latter group.
For those of you who don't believe I was on a motorcycle.
Saturday, January 19, 2008
... and after yesterday’s advice about not being a tourist...
I really must recant: sometimes, being a tourist can be fun - although as one who hates wearing shorts and sandals with a passion, I have a slightly easier time blending in than most tourists do - there is something to be said for wandering around a strange city seeing "the sights" with friends, a camera, and a couple bottles of water where necessary.
After spending the last post on Boca Chica beach, this post was spent wandering around Ye Olde Citye (ok, this Olde Englishe spelling of things is getting a little ridiculous now) of Santo Domingo with Alex and a friend of ours from her J-school, Julie. After getting Julie from the bus station in the late morning, we decided to take a walk down the Conde and into the Colonial district of Santo Domingo. There are certain historical sights that are not to be missed in this region - not the least of which is Diego Columbus' house.
For the uninformed, Deigo Columbus was (we think) Christopher Columbus' son. A note of caution here, for the lack of an historical guide (offered, but declined for reasons of cost efficiency), some of the historical data posted here is the result of studious thought and discussion between Alex, Julie, and myself. This being said, daiquiris and pina coladas go very well on hot days in the tropics, so who really knows how accurate our "studious thought and discussion" actually was. Anyhow, Diego Columbus had it pretty good, all things considered - some people get a car for their sweet 16, he got a country. This as a secondary benefit to being able to respond to "my daddy's a fireman" with "yeah, well MY daddy's a conquistador".
For the uninformed, Deigo Columbus was (we think) Christopher Columbus' son. A note of caution here, for the lack of an historical guide (offered, but declined for reasons of cost efficiency), some of the historical data posted here is the result of studious thought and discussion between Alex, Julie, and myself. This being said, daiquiris and pina coladas go very well on hot days in the tropics, so who really knows how accurate our "studious thought and discussion" actually was. Anyhow, Diego Columbus had it pretty good, all things considered - some people get a car for their sweet 16, he got a country. This as a secondary benefit to being able to respond to "my daddy's a fireman" with "yeah, well MY daddy's a conquistador".
After seeing Columbus Jr.'s house, we went up to this nice little restaurant nearby for lunch. Another word of advice about not being a tourist - don't eat at "tourist" restaurants. The food is generally overpriced. The row of restaurants out front of Columbus' house are such a selection of restaurants. Their food was good, if overpriced. Anyhow, after lunch, we continued strolling around the city, taking in an ancient ruin of a cathedral, and noting with distinction the sheer capacity it had for housing pigeons.
It almost reminded me of Nathan Phillips Square - except that the pigeons exist for naught except for shitting on Christopher Columbus, who, having realized his mistake points eternally towards India with a look of "Oh shit!" etched permanently on his stony face. Another kilometer and another bottle of water, we came to our last destination of the afternoon's excursion - Mercado Modelo (market). This is a huge place full of little shops, selling essentially the same thing, at between 2x and 4x what it's actually worth to dumb tourists who don't know how to haggle, and at approximately what it is worth to locals, and smart tourists who do. We were, apparently somewhere in the latter group, as the only person who bought anything was Julie, who got earrings of some kind for about 1/5 of their tag price.
It almost reminded me of Nathan Phillips Square - except that the pigeons exist for naught except for shitting on Christopher Columbus, who, having realized his mistake points eternally towards India with a look of "Oh shit!" etched permanently on his stony face. Another kilometer and another bottle of water, we came to our last destination of the afternoon's excursion - Mercado Modelo (market). This is a huge place full of little shops, selling essentially the same thing, at between 2x and 4x what it's actually worth to dumb tourists who don't know how to haggle, and at approximately what it is worth to locals, and smart tourists who do. We were, apparently somewhere in the latter group, as the only person who bought anything was Julie, who got earrings of some kind for about 1/5 of their tag price.
So no trip to Latin America would be complete without a couple of random guys playing classical guitar and singing to you over dinner on a windy terrace - at least if the movies are to be believed. Little did we know, the movies were actually telling the truth about that one. After our afternoon's exploration, we decided to visit this neat little pizza joint on the Conde called Segafredo. As a side note, I will happily recommend this place to anyone who is curious - doubly so with Monday night happy hour. The food was excellent, reasonably priced, and even entertainment in the form of two random guys playing classical guitar and singing in Spanish over dinner on a windy patio. We even had a mangy (but very, very cute) stray dog lying at our feet listening whimsically to the music along with us. Actually, the music was beautiful, and suited the ambience quite nicely as well. To top this off, we created a new drinking game. Short version: take turns reading something aloud - we used the drinks menu for a certain sense of irony - but use only long vowel sounds (ie: "Vodka Martini" becomes Vohdkeh Mehrteyeneye, and "Strawberry Daiquiri" becomes something utterly and completely unpronounceable). Whenever someone screws up, they take a drink.
"Oh shit" list for visiting the Dominican Republic:
1) Oh shit, this isn't India.
2) (looking up in the sky at pigeons) - Oh shit.
3) Oh shit, I hijacked a public car.
4) Oh shit, I'm a tostone. (never mind)
5) Oh shit. I haven't got 4 grand to spend on anything never mind dinner. Oh. Wait. That's in pesos.
Notes on being a tourist in Santo Domingo:
Calle el Conde - a kilometer-long street just outside the Colonial District full of merchants, restaurants, and the like. There are great bargains to be had here for the enterprising tourist; however, just for the record, the $33 (USD) Rolex watches are counterfeit.
Current exchange rates from American to Dominican currency: $1 USD = 33 Pesos. There are a lot of people who will change your money. Know what the current exchange rate is before going into the street and using this particular service.
Public cars are the local equivalent of public transportation - a combination of all the worst qualities of a taxi, a bus, and the TTC subway during rush hour, in your friends 1984 Toyota Corolla. The good news is that they're exceptionally cheap (12 Pesos), and relatively efficient.
There is also a small Chinatown in downtown Santo Domingo. This small region serves no noticeably useful purpose, but does serve as a nod to the ever-expanding Asian population here.
If you've managed to lose your towel in the crowd, you can purchase attractive counterfeit wrap skirts roughly half-way down the Conde on a side that isn't east.* While not the same as a towel, it can, for the purposes of most sensible hitchhikers, serve many of the same functions as one, and looks very nice if you are/are traveling with an attractive female companion. If you are lacking an attractive female companion, I would recommend not engaging in the services of those available for hire in this particular city.
*I can't actually tell you what side of the Conde the above store is on, unfortunately, Alex is directionally challenged. Fortunately, you will probably be able to find a counterfeit compass for $5(USD) to go along with your equally counterfeit Rolex, and counterfeit wrap skirt for yourself or your (hopefully not counterfeit) attractive female companion mentioned above. You can assuredly take that whatever direction the needle on the fake compass points is non-North.
Thus ends the lesson. By this time next post, I'll be in Haiti. I'll put up pictures whenever I have internet access that's fast enough to upload them. Cheers.
Monday, January 14, 2008
Santo Domingo in two days - how to avoid being an obvious tourist in 5 easy steps.
Step number one: don't be white. Yes, I mean that if you are white, you will be assumed to be a tourist. This is one area that I can't really change except by getting a tan - more on that later.
Step number two: don't wear shorts unless you're on the beach. I have yet to see a local here wear shorts except on the beach, and if you're caught in public anywhere except a beach in shorts or sandals, you're a tourist.
Step number three: Oh, fuck it. The rest is pretty straightforward - all summed up in not asking stupid questions, and not acting like Americans.
To be fair, there are certain advantages to acting like a tourist - namely, when locals ask you for money for no obviously acceptable reason, "no habla Espanol" is a perfectly acceptable response.
On the flip side, not attracting the "hey look, it's a tourist" sort of attention is definitely not a bad thing.
Other interesting things - spent yesterday at the Boca Chica beach, outside Santo Domingo. Fairly stereotypical Caribbean beach - lots of people, hotels, salesmen, etc. That being said, we also had our own, personal bus-boy, beach chairs, etc. We also managed to rent a peddle-boat, and headed out to some off-shore mangrove groves, and did some snorkeling. Saw some fish - some even colourful - lots of wildlife, and a random local acting as the "flagman" on one of the other peddle-boats. Note to self - random guys wandering with their dicks hanging out is equally disturbing when abroad as it is at home.
Step number two: don't wear shorts unless you're on the beach. I have yet to see a local here wear shorts except on the beach, and if you're caught in public anywhere except a beach in shorts or sandals, you're a tourist.
Step number three: Oh, fuck it. The rest is pretty straightforward - all summed up in not asking stupid questions, and not acting like Americans.
To be fair, there are certain advantages to acting like a tourist - namely, when locals ask you for money for no obviously acceptable reason, "no habla Espanol" is a perfectly acceptable response.
On the flip side, not attracting the "hey look, it's a tourist" sort of attention is definitely not a bad thing.
Other interesting things - spent yesterday at the Boca Chica beach, outside Santo Domingo. Fairly stereotypical Caribbean beach - lots of people, hotels, salesmen, etc. That being said, we also had our own, personal bus-boy, beach chairs, etc. We also managed to rent a peddle-boat, and headed out to some off-shore mangrove groves, and did some snorkeling. Saw some fish - some even colourful - lots of wildlife, and a random local acting as the "flagman" on one of the other peddle-boats. Note to self - random guys wandering with their dicks hanging out is equally disturbing when abroad as it is at home.
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