Destination: Dominican Republic
Dominican Republic (DR)
is on a tropical island paradise in the Carribean Island
chain. The island is lush with vegetation and has been
maintained, but does not have complete contemporary civic
services like good drinking water. This was very surprising
to me after travelling to Hawaii, and in a real way I found
this deeply disturbing given all it would take is a little
extra investment in public services. However no one takes a
vacation to complain the entire time, so it's best to listen
to your tour facilitators and
"Don't Drink The Water".
This was not the first negative piece of information I received
before arriving at my hotel room on the first night, however
after going to Hawaii I conceived I should experience a place
that is not entirely paradise. Given Haiti is located on the
same island, it is not a wonder to me that DR is a very
different kind of paradise. It would appear that DR has been
faced with many more problems over its existence than Hawaii,
and it is a shame that the island has not been better maintained
and cared for. I wouldn't recommend DR for the faint of heart or
those expecting paradise, because it isn't the kind of paradise
that comes without a threat. This became immediately obvious the
first night as I slowly realized not knowing Spanish really did
place one at a certain disadvantage with many different things.
If you book a larger resort to stay at this should alleviate
many concerns, however I should not wonder that no matter how
nice the resort that is arranged, there will still be some
lingering possible problems. This has everything to do with the
legacy of colonial development, and if you read into the islands
history you will discover more. Before the first day was over
we were discovering many oddities, met several Canadians with
similar concerns, and even a Canadian who had wound up in the
hospital on his first day there, but now you
MUST enjoy senoir!
Catalina Island
The trip to
Catalina Island
was an amazing and ethnically
Dominican experience. The island was so nice and the tour
staff so much fun, that this tour tops all excursions I have
taken while on vacation. Whatever you do don't stay at some
horribly rotten hotel room and forget how amazing the
caribbean should be. Of course safety should be your first
objective, but after the first night and morning discovering
that nearly everyone was looking to upgrade their rooms due
to obvious issues... I was prepared to book a bunch of tours
and enjoy the Dominican, instead of getting caught up with
how wrong everything appeared to be. Catalina Island was the
first tour that I booked, and I was so glad I did.
The catamaran boat ride to Catalina started off by cruising
by Casa de Campo,
which is a resort well known in DR for international
celebrities, the wealthy, and famous people. During the rest
of the journey crew members demonstrated a dance and got
people into an open middle section of the catamaran dancing
to Dominican rythms. Catalina Island itself is alot like
Gilligan's Island, a flat land with Palm trees all around.
On the island we did everything including swimming, jetting
around on intertube pulled by boats, snorkelling, Latin
American dancing/games, and BBQ with drinks. Basically an
all out Island Party. If the life is being sucked out of
your vacation and you need to push it into the next gear,
try booking this trip with a good tour company and you will
not be disappointed. This must be the opinion of the tour
operator as well because the tour didn't stop there, no
after the island they took us on a beautiful tour of
Altos de Chavon
in the very rich Casa de Campo resort area. If it wasn't
clear by the description of Michael Jackson owning a house
here the trip to Altos de Chavon would stun anyone.
A re-creation of a mediterranean style European village
that was done completely in stone, and includes a very
gothic looking ampitheater, that only the best of the best
are booked to play at.
