Last weekend I made my way to Santo Domingo again using a completely overfilled Guagua (minibus). Dominicans are extremely friendly. Instead of letting me out at the usual stop in Santo Domingo, the Guagua driver was so nice to give me an extra 5minutes ride and dropped me off at the city center – close to my hostel.
Santo Domingo like most cities has it’s beautiful areas, like the zona colonial or the botanic garden, and the “not-so-great-spots”. On my first day, I decided to take a walk through the city heading to the national park „Los Tres Ojos“ (The three eyes), as I believe you get to know a city or even a country best while walking around. However, I was suddenly stopped by a police officer telling me that I cannot walk here alone as it is too dangerous, and after some talking, he offered me a free ride.
I had been on a scooter before, but a motorcycle with a police officer in front of me was a new experience for me. I have the impression, as many times, that local people exaggerate the threat to ensure, in case something happens (even if the probability is low), they are not „responsible,“ as they had warned you. Throughout my stay in the Dominican Republic, I felt safe; even when walking alone through tiny streets or in the evening after sunset. But yeah, some say I look Dominican or Brasilian, so with blond hair or when you obviously look like a touri with a city map in your hands, things might be different. Catcalling is an issue. However, men here understand the meaning of „no“. If you do not want to dance in a Club or give them your number, they will leave you alone, and they are not starting a discussion with you or similar. Even when you take an Uber to get back home, the driver is waiting until you have entered the house. Of course, walking around alone in the night outside the busy areas of zona colonial is something I do not recommend, but that is a general recommendation valid for many many countries and cities around the world.
I think it is a pity, that many tourists, especially from the US, have cancelled their vacation and even re-organised their weddings to avoid coming to the Dominican Republic because of the recent deaths of some tourists. I do not want to downplay the deaths. Yes, it is tragic, and I feel sorry for all people affected by this. Tourists have been dying in other countries as well, and there were not such huge media outcries or increased travel warnings. Both in Punta Cana, Bayahibe, etc. the hotels were quite empty, maybe 2-5 people were lying on the beach, the restaurants aren`t crowded at all. At the moment they are not as many tourists as usual also forcing the hotels to grant huge discounts.
Letˋs come back to my visit to the park „Los Tres Ojos“. The park is a mixture of caves and cenotes — a beautiful place to relax with lots of benches to sit down and enjoy nature. On my way back, I was honestly too lazy to walk and took a motoconcho (motorcycle taxi) – inspired from my previous ride – back to Zona Colonial. Here you can find many museums and lovely colonial architecture and cooplestone streets. On the Plaza Colon (Colombus Plaza) you also find some cute cafes and restaurants, where you can enjoy the day viewing over the beautiful plaza with its antique street lights and listen to some music.
On Sunday evening there is always live music around the ruins of the San Francisco. Many locals come here. I have already noticed that on the beaches, Dominicans all have a cool box made of Styrofoam, and so they used to bring their drinks to the concert, the beach etc. – which is, of course, cheaper than buying the stuff there. You can spend the evening just listening to the music and watching the dancefloor, or if you know the basics of bachata, merengue or Salsa, you can hit the dancefloor yourself.
During the week, I took Spanish classes and dancing classes. The most crucial thing I have learned: Dominican Salsa is entirely different from Cuban Salsa, however in the clubs (e.g. Parada77 or Onnos) the guys mainly dance Cuban Salsa unless they have learned dancing „Salsa de Salón“ in a dance school. So instead of improving my Cuban Salsa, I had to start from scratch, but I at least I caught up very quickly with the others and now know, what „Paseo,“ „Vuelto Cinco“ etc. are.
My stay in the Dominican Republic is coming to an end, though I could easily spend another month here, exploring more beaches and the countryside. Before heading to Costa Rica next week, I decided to spend the weekend at another beautiful beach in Las Terrenas. From here excursions to the waterfall „El Limon“ or to Las Haitises national park can be booked easily.
Wanderlust 