Relaxing in Punta Cana

Punta Cana is one of the most famous destinations in Dominican Republic, since it has natural white sanded beaches (unlike some beaches in San Juan area), being that some say that the best beaches in DR are situated here, in this touristy area. There are a myriad of resorts and hotels in Punta Cana, ranging from moderate to pricey solutions. Most of them are All Inclusive resorts and offer a whole bunch of services, including golf greens.

We stayed at the Melia complex, which has two hotels: the Caribe and the Tropical, with several pools, a great beach and lots of restaurants, which I recommend as good value.

Punta Cana proved to be a good choice, not only due to the quality of the beaches and resort, but also because of its location, which allowed us to visit a lot around, sometimes on organized tours and sometimes on our own, using public transportation.

While in Punta Cana, we took some time to relax and enjoy the beach, but also to visit some places as day trips in organized groups, from which I'd recommend:

- Altos de Chávon and Isla Saona (available as a whole day trip from the resort);
- visiting a sugar cane plantation and some inner island landscapes and villages, with a brief visit to Higüey, the district's main city (also available as a package in a day trip from the resort).

Apart from the tours above mentioned, we also went to another visit to Higüey with the company of a guide that we meet at the hotel. In this case, we went by public transportation - bus. Some say that usually it isn’t recommended to leave the resort on your own, but we had no problem at all (actually, we were with the guide). Public buses are very cheap, but take a long time to get to destination as there seems to be no rush or stress in local people to be in schedule. It is all much laid back, which feels so good on holiday time.

Quick Tips:

Some advice for those travelling from Europe:

- Plug/energy adaptor: For those traveling from Continental Europe, the energy is different in Dominican Republic. In Continental Europe we have 220v and in DR it works with 110v. Apart from this, the plug has a different shape, so don't forget to take a converter. If you only use a shape adapter (but not energy transformer) your appliances won't break but will work much slowly. I tried to charge the camera batteries and it took much longer than at home. But no harm done, just take in account that it make take more time or work slower than usual.

- Camera: Don't forget to take a camera! Make sure you take enough films with you, since the ones you buy there are more expensive and are exposed to high temperatures and humidity. If you haven’t got a protection bag for diving with your camera, I also recommend taking one (or more!) of those discardable cameras to shoot in water. I know that photos aren’t of great quality, but better these than none.

- Clothing and bags: Don't forget a backpack, which might be useful if you’re planning to travel around or sail. If you're sailing you might want to pack a beach towel or if traveling around it might be useful to carry some water or food. In both cases don't forget the sunscreen, the photo equipment, and a hat! If you are a "male" and you are staying at an all inclusive resort you will have to wear trousers or kakis (not jeans) at the "à la carte" restaurant. For the buffet restaurant I guess there is no "dressing code". Ladies, relax, virtually everything is allowed.

- Sunscreen and medical supplies: I was advised to take my own medical supplies, since they may be hard to find. The recommendations were - some analgesic (for headache and other pain), something for diarrhea, something to put at bugs' bites (namely mosquitoes) and some kind of stronger medicine for sore throat or cold. Obviously if you regularly take some medication you should take that into account and not forget to take them – such as allergies.

- Repellent: Don't forget to take some spray or stick to keep the mosquitoes away from you. They can be pretty annoying and let you felling itchy.

Best Way To Get Around:

Going on an organized day trip from the resort might be a comfortable and safe choice. Public bus also proved efficient (but not fast) and safe.

But, never ever, try to drive in Dominican Republic - before traveling, I read in many guides that Dominicans drive without a license and that we weren't advised to rent a car and go on our own. That's true!!! There are almost no traffic signs and nobody respects the few existing ones! Drivers just horn on crossroads and expect you to get out of their way. So, even if you find a pedestrian crossing be very careful. And if you hear someone horning you'd better stay out of their way quickly!

It is a comfortable resort, spacious enough. It is a resort with two Melia hotels - the Tropical and Caribe - that share restaurants, swimming pools, and beaches. I think both hotels are just the same quality, only decoration is different.

The rooms have the usual you’d expect in this kind of resort: air-conditioned, ceiling fan, mini-bar, TV, huge and comfortable beds, safe box, balcony, and a separate area inside the room with tables and comfortable chairs. Room was always clean and we had no problem at all during our stay there.

In this resort you can find several restaurants whether buffet or à la carte. The options are varied, meaning that you won’t get tired of always going to the same place during your stay there. The food is good, not outstanding, but it is varied with lots of different plates to choose from. In the buffet restaurants you will eat international food and the à la carte restaurants are thematic: Japanese, Mediterranean, Italian, Mexican, sea food, and Asian. Breakfast is very good; I still remember the pancakes with hot chocolate and the freshly made fruit juices.

Nights at the resort might be animated, and suit all preferences. The options are:

- the bar, where you can listen to music and have some nice drinks;
-the casino for those who like gambling or enjoy that kind of place; notice that in the case of the casino, the All Inclusive contemplates the entrance on the casino, only;
-the disco, to enjoy the music and dance till late night.

At the resort you may find varied sports infrastructures, such as a golf green, tennis courts, or non-motorized water sports (Kayaking, windsurfing). Also available, is the chance to dive, as usually resorts have a diving school that not only teach people to dive but also organize day trips to nice locations to dive.

When traveling to Dominican Republic, you can’t miss the beaches – that is the reason for going there. The white sand, the warm water, the Caribbean colour and the palm trees...how I miss it! I visited some deserted beaches and they were even more fantastic. Not a soul in sight...just a few crabs playing around in the sand. It was really great!

The colours are indeed great, as well as the temperature. I was surprised to see that there were waves on every beach I visited around the island...I guess I had seen too many "idyllic" photos in traveling brochures. Every time I went to the beach - no matter it was in the hotel or far away in any deserted beach - there was wind. Not that I was bothered about it, I even enjoyed since it made the heat more bearable.

The calm, transparent, blue (green?!) waters are good for snorkeling. You can see lots of small fish, and in some places nice coral reef. So, as to fully enjoy the potentialities of this wonderful country and beaches, pack your equipment, and don’t forget a good sunscreen - Watch out for sunburns on your back, as you might get one easily while snorkeling: it is so beautiful down there that you might loose track of time.

Isla Saona is situated in Parque Nacional del Este, a protected park. The island is easily accessed by boat, as it isn’t hard to find locals eager (€€!!) to drive tourists there. Anyway, you'll probably find a lot of offer in the resort concerning organized tours, so everything is arranged for you, no need to worry.

Isla Saona was discovered in 1494 by Cristovão Colombo and it was named after the first sailor who saw the island - his name was Savones and the island was called Savonesa. Its previous name (in Taino) was Adamanay. The island is about 110 square km (around 25 km long and around 5 km wide) with around 3000 inhabitants, and the main localities are Mano Juan and Catuano, the former a fishing village and the later a Marine location. The island's beaches’ sand is very white and the water is warm and blue. With an average temperature of 26ºC all year round and 13 hours of sun every day...I guess I wouldn't mind living there!

Parque Nacional del Este is not only this little bit of sea that we visited plus Isla Saona: it's an enormous area also on the main island of about 430 square km! Hot climate and dry weather...no water streams due to the high porosity of the soil, and the park is covered with a subtropical forest, a dry forest, and a transitional forest. Oh, since it's a protected place is not populated. When traveling by boat to Isla Saona we visited a part of this protected park - the swamps.

While in Isla Saona we took the afternoon to enjoy its sandy beaches and warm sea. It was a fantastic afternoon, preceded by a nice meal - fish and sea food - in the restaurant by the beach.

Altos de Chavón, or Chávon Arriba, is a village that recreates a 16th century Mediterranean village, with a church, amphitheatre, park, houses, art gallery, restaurants, museum, shops, disco, arts school, and artist's studios. It all began in the '70s when Charles Bluhdorn, CEO of Golf & Western Corporation, had this idea of building a village on top of River Chavón as a birthday present for his daughter. The construction works begun in 1976 and they used materials such as coral block and terracotta. Nowadays this village hosts an arts school and many of its houses are inhabited by students (from all over the world).

This village has astonishing views over River Chavón and the Caribbean Sea; its surroundings are rather green, since it was built in the middle of vegetation. Altos de Chavón is located at about 100 km from Santo Domingo (Dominican Republic's capital).

Main places to visit: Amphitheatre, the river, Regional Museum of Archaeology, Art Gallery, S. Estanislao Church.

The amphitheatre is an amazing set and it frequently houses live concerts from renowned artists; actually, it was inaugurated in 1982 by Frank Sinatra and Carlos Santana.

The River is River Chávon and it is known worldwide because some scenes of movie Apocalipse Now were produced there, as well as Rambo.

Dominican Republic is much more than beaches. The island landscape is varied, ranging from the white sanded beaches to the mountainous green interior. We booked a visit to the "interior" of the island on a 4wd vehicle, which allowed us to go off the beaten roads and discover both the landscape and the small villages. At first, we were so surprised at the sight of luxurious green hills. There was green everywhere and the landscape was almost mountainous. The temperature is not as high (fortunately) and there is a kind of mist everywhere. The vegetation is thick and completely different from the palm trees we were used to see on the beach.

While visiting the inner island, we were shown a typical house. Houses are somewhat apart from each other, and made of wood, some of them being very colourful. Usually houses consist of a living-room connected to the kitchen, and one or two bedrooms. Not too big, but all the family fits there and seems to be happy. Around the house you may find a kind of warehouse/outside kitchen and lots of trees – fruit trees, cocoa, and coffee. The fruits, cocoa, and coffee grown from those trees are for family's consumption. We soon discovered that the house that we were visiting was the driver's house. He introduced us to his nice family - wife and kids - and showed us around. We had a nice explanation about local fruits grown at their house - papaya, mango, and banana - and where given some to eat. Fabulous, tasty fruit! We were also shown how they "manually" produced their own coffee and cocoa. That’s an interesting process, although it requires some work. I ended up buying some homemade coffee and cocoa. Delicious!

Cocoa "fruit" grows from the trees. In the photo you can see that they grow in a different way, well, I found it different since I had never seen any of these trees where fruits grow in the log. When fruit is mature, they catch it and then a treatment they make some balls of cocoa and store it that way. When they want to use it (to make chocolate) they grate it in the amount they need and use it. It smelled so good and tasted delicious!

This family, as many others, also grows their own coffee. When coffee beans are mature they put them into to oven to toast it and later grate. The Dominican way of making coffee is: they boil water and put the coffee inside a fabric bag with a stick. They pour the water over the bag and they roll the stick until it presses the coffee. They repeat this operation several times, until they consider coffee is ready to drink. They used to say they made the best coffee in the world. Being from Portugal, I found it very tasteful but weak, as I am used to stronger coffee.

Higuey is a city situated somewhat near Punta Cana, and it is the capital of La Altagracia Province. We ventured on a public bus and visited Higuey for an afternoon. Visiting this city by ourselves, we managed to have a real feel of authentic Dominican lifestyle, and not only the idyllic beaches and landscapes that the guides showed us before. Looks like that "real life" is so different from the things we had seen so far on the island.

Markets are a place I like to visit, as I enjoy seeing food and habits. The market I visited here left quite a "big" impression on me, mainly the smell, as it wasn’t pleasant at all. Habits are undoubtedly different, and butchers, for example, hang the raw meat on front of the shops leaving it hanging there the whole day. The main reason for the smell, is that there isn’t a sewer system and water and garbage run on the street on the open air. There is also a part of the city that is tourist oriented – a lot of souvenir shops, mainly hand crafts and cigars.

In Higuey it is worth mentioning the Cathedral, the city’s main must see. Seen from the outside the Cathedral looks like just concrete and it is very discrete – unless I hadn’t learnt about it before I probably wouldn’t have noticed it when walking around the city. In fact, this Cathedral is made of concrete and isn't painted, so it is grayish (it has a modern look). But when I entered it I was so surprised - it has beautiful stained glass that, when the sun is shining through, giving a beautiful color to the inside. On the altar there is a fabulous work of Virgen de la Altagracia, made with gold, diamonds and other precious stones. It is so valuable, that it has been stolen (but fortunately it was later recovered). So, to avoid further "temptations" it is now locked inside a special glass. After visiting the cathedral, and as you leave, there is someone asking for money to the cathedral. A kind of "post-paid" entrance, and without warning, I don't remember how much did I pay but I think they leave it for you to decide how much you want to give.

One major economic activity in the inner island is the sugar cane plantations. You can see huge plantations (farms) where the green sugar cane fields extend for kilometres and kilometres.

The owners of these farms have installations for their workers, mainly Haitians. Haitian men come to Dominican Republic in search of work and bring wife and children. These sugar cane farms have all the required infra-structure for families: houses for workers, school for children, and basic health care system. Mainly, all their life is there: women take care of house and children, men work in the plantation, children attend farm's school, and when someone is ill they go to the farm's doctor. Actually, this is the official version I was told by our guide. Nevertheless, I’ve also heard about Amnesty reports about the exploitation and lack of conditions of these farms.

The sugar cane grows in these farms, and occupies huge extensions of land: sometimes it looks like reaching the horizon, as everywhere you look you see sugar cane. When sugar cane grows, men cut the cane with a proper instrument, a kind of blade, and put it in a "carriage" that is pulled by some kind of cow or ox. When "carriage" is full, the animal pulls that load (guided by worker) to a central warehouse. This warehouse is equipped with machines that help to unload "carriage" and weight the sugar cane, that is then placed inside the warehouse.

The sugar cane is used to produce rum, the Dominican Republic's typical drink. Everywhere you go you will find rum, plain or mixed with something. When we visited one of the plantations, the driver took us through the plantation showing worker's way of living. Then we visited the harvest and the warehouse and were, obviously, welcomed with rum (plain or with Coke). Also, they offered us fresh sugar cane pieces to taste.

. The water
Everyone traveling from Europe or North America is advised NOT to drink water, unless it's bottled. Even though in some places they might say the water is properly treated for drinking I was told that its mineral composition is different from ours and this may cause diarrhea and other stomach disturbs as well. So, you'd better stick to bottled water, just in case. I was even advised about the quality of ice - they say that if it is "manufactured" from tap water it will have the same effect as if you drink that water...I guess I was lucky and got no diseases at all even though I drank a lot of drinks with ice.

. Coral and Shells
With the purpose of protecting local fauna and flora there are some restrictions concerning coral reef and some kinds of shells. So don't be tempted to grab some little bit and take home, since it can be nasty for you if they find out about it on the airport. I was also told to be aware of some vendors who might try to sell you this kind of products. Actually I can’t remember exactly what is forbidden or allowed, so you'd better ask for some information in your hotel before diving.

. Strong sun
The sun is very strong so you must be very careful with sunburns and dehydration. Be sure to always apply a good sunscreen and drink plenty of liquids during exposure to sun (not alcohol though!). Even on cloudy days there are a lot of sunburns. If traveling around, don't forget that the sun has the same affects as when you're lying on the beach or by the pool. Sailing or snorkeling exposes you to very strong sun, so better be even more careful.

. Mosquitoes
Pretty annoying! Sometimes you don't notice them and then...bingo! You just notice the bite and the hitch. I was told that mosquitoes "appear" near the sunset time and by the water. I wasn't particularly affected by them, but some people complained a lot. Just in case, pack a repellent.

. Merengue
Dominicans are joyful people. There is music everywhere; their local music is called merengue and every "excursion" organized for tourists will be animated by music and merengue dancing. Merengue is a Latin and animated music, and to dance merengue you must swing your hips with small steps. Merengue is danced by two people together.

. Bartering and shopping
Watch out where you buy your souvenirs. Some places where guides drive you are more expensive than others. Anyway it is recommended to barter, especially if it's a street vendor. Sometimes you can pay part in currency and then offer the vendor something - like a T-shirt, some merchandising...just in case take with you some pens, or airbrushes or watches or T-shirts that contain adds. One of the vendors was trying to negotiate on my husband's perfume! Sometimes you get to pay just 1/3 or 1/2 of the price initially asked by the vendor. In regular shops, such as hotels, you are not supposed to argue the price.

. The school
While travelling around we visited a local school. Children were all very polite and gave us a great welcome. As you may see in the photo, they all wear a school uniform. It is somewhat funny to see that in such a "Caribbean" laid back place. In a country that is so poor, where streets may impress you since they don’t have basic hygienic rules or equipment (according to European and North American standards), where everybody is joyful and seems to be always partying, where children play bare feet in the street...and suddenly you enter a classroom and they are all so "immaculately dressed up". It was nice to see.

. Fishermen's village
We had the opportunity to visit a typical fishermen's village. As you can see in the photo, the houses are small and made of wood, and not luxurious at all. There are no basic equipments such as gutters, or current water, and the streets are just made of "ground". In spite of all this, they were all polite to us and seemed to be, like everywhere else, quite joyful and relaxed people.

. Language
The main language is Spanish. Dominican Republic was colonized by Spanish conquerors, and the language remained in use. Previous to the Spanish conquests the local inhabitants were the Taino Indians, with their own language and culture, which later vanished. The accent is different from the one you hear in Spain and some words may even have a different meaning. Watch out for that!

. Religion
Dominicans are Roman Catholic. Dominican Republic was colonized by Spanish conquerors that brought their religion to the island. Nowadays a major part of the island population is Roman Catholic. On this island you can find one of the major catholic religion basilicas - it is situated in Higuey, the capital city of La Altagracia Province.

. Currency
The Dominican Republic's currency is the Dominican Peso. If you're travelling to some touristy spot or resort you may pay almost everything in dollars (USA). Usually they have the prices marked for both currencies. When I visited DR (year 2000), in Europe each country still had its own money. As there is a "Spanish tradition" to this country and lots of Spanish tourists, they also market the prices in pesetas (Spain's currency at the time). Right now in Europe the currency is the Euro. I guess prices will also be marked for Euros, and it may as well be possible that they accept Euros.

. Wood
There are lots of wooden goods, mainly some sculptures (Taino Indians replicas) that represent fertility, happiness, and other "wishes". They all have a handmade look. There are also animals carved on wood, as well as people. Some of them are just plain wood, some other are painted in some bright colours. The advantage of this kind of recuerdo is that this wood is light weighted and easy to carry.

. River stone
There are numerous objects made of varied stones, mostly statues of people and animals. It's very common to find in DR lots of statues made of a green stow, called river stone. The form in which the statue is "finished" varies – polished or not polished, being that some pieces alternate on both giving it different colours. These stone objects, although nice, are heavy and more difficult to carry home.

. Fossil wood
Looks like stone, not too heavy and not cold, but it's fossilized wood. Looking closer at the objects you may still see the wooden designs. Usually you can find statues of people and animals in this material.

. Paintings
All over DR you will find colourful paintings of local customs (or not). Watch out for the vendors. They will try to persuade you that they are canvas with oil paintings and to demonstrate they will throw water at it without damaging. Not true in most cases. They use some kind of fabric and use water paintings, and then apply varnish on it so it looks like oil paintings. Just bear in mind this when bartering the price. I bought some paintings, not for the real value as "work of art" but because I liked their colourful designs (I usually buy something for my home when travelling).