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You can lose everything, but nobody will take away what you saw and what you experienced...
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Mar 16, 2022 10:00 PM Around the village, along the coast...
There are many little shops in La Caleta, it seems that many people lives here from the commerce. Shops are poor, with limited number of goods. Lotteries are popular here, even in the small village you can find many Lotto points. The sea was quiet rough today when I was walking on the sharp rock of the coast. So much garbage around! It seems that nobody is cleaning the areas outside the beaches. New guests appeared in my empty hotel: from Germany and France. We were listening to Latino music around the pool till the late evening...
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Mar 15, 2022 10:00 PM Nice walk to La Romana
The suburb La Caleta, where I live now is some 5 kms west of the central La Romana. You can reach the downtown by motocycle taxi for 100 pesos or by junk minibus gua-gua paying 40 pesos. But I was walking because I like to meet the people on the way, to see their life and to exchange smiles. La Romana is not an elegant and well developed city. Locals appreciate most the huge supermarket Jumbo. Apart of it there is green main square with the city hall and the church of Santa Rosa de Lima. Crawling the streets you can find the samples of old Caribbean architecture - small and colorful wooden houses. On the main squeare you can also find few modern sculptures (I like most the bull opposite the city hall. I went as far as the river bridge. The miniature port is located in the mouth of the river. The Port is empty today. I believe that my ship will appear there the day after tomorrow!
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Mar 14, 2022 10:00 PM By bus to La Romana
Santo Domingo do not have universal bus terminal. Intercity buses are departing from differents points on the city map, depending of destination. I easily found the "Express La Romana" stop. Ticket for 2-hours ride costs 210 pesos and the bus is not bad: it has a/c and the driver appears in the white shirt! We were going via tollway - first charging post is just before the airport junction. I expected nice views along the coast , sorry not much. First nice beach was visible in Nueva La Romana. The driver was so nice to drop me on the outskirts of the city on the junction to Caleta. I was walking with my bag 4 kms to reach my Sol Azul hotel near the beach. The hotel is nice and almost empty, with on orgy of bougenvila flowers aroud. A little paradise. Except the internet connection which is weak and only around the bar. But Angela smiles so nice! Let's enjoy!
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Mar 13, 2022 10:00 PM Mercado Modelo & Amber Museum
Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. Main market on Monday should be open... I went there in the morning looking for the folklore and fresh fruits and... I found only the rows of souvenir stalls. At the time there was only one tourist - me! The vendors offered me Dominican cigars - 4 dollars per piece after long bargaining (no, I do not smoke). T-shirt cost 5 dollars. You can find some vegetable stalls on the streets just behind the mercado, bot the choice is limited. You can buy cana - the sugar cane from the carts - see picture. So I went to visit the Amber Museum. Who knows that they mine the Amber in this corner of the world? Yes, they do! The museum, located at the bottom of the San Francisco ruins is very nice organized and worth a visit. They charge 2 dollars entry fee. Discounts only for the locals... In the afternoon I was strolling along elegant Malecon - coastal promenade with the old ramprts, monuments and palms. There is little beach right at the ship's entrance to the port, but a lot of comunal garbage is sailing on the waves too. I bought a big papaya for the lunch, paying 100 pesos - it will be enough for two days!
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Mar 12, 2022 10:00 PM Sunday in Santo Domingo
No sun today and "only" 26 deg Celsius. I can take a breath! Santo Domingo was thr first city established in the New World. It was walled around - few gates and parts of the walls remained till now. Pedestrian' only Conde Street cuts the old city end to end. Many local painters offer here their works on the sidewalks. The heart of the Zona Colonial is a shady square of Parque Colon. Imagine that on Sundays a lot of musicians is coming here to practice on the open air. Their instruments produce great cacophony :) in the corner of the square the First Cathedral of America stands. There was service inside, but I did not see there a crowd of believers. There are nice houses in the narrow streets, but my impression is that the place is more dirty than 20 years ago when I was here for the first time...
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Mar 11, 2022 10:00 PM Faro a Colon
Dominicana was the first island (and land in general) discovered by Columbus. To commemorate that the rulers already at the beginning of the 20th century eanted to build on the hill a special building - mausoleum called Faro a Colon - Columbus' Lighthouse. The structure was finished only in 1992 . It was funded by the Latin American states and the cost was 70 million dollars. I approached concrete construction from Parque del Este. It is back side and two walls rindefe the high prison rather thenaua piramid. In fact the building has a shape of the crowned cross. In the center (the entrance at the moment is free) there is rich tomb of Colon (the Dominicans say) Scientist say that the body of Columbus is in the cathedral of Sevilla - they checked DNA.
On the ground level of the faro there is cultural museum showcasing objects not only from American countries but from the countries from the whole world. For sure worth to see!
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Mar 10, 2022 10:00 PM Tres Ojos Nature Monument
From my hotel there is only about 40 minutes walk to the Monument National Tres Ojos - Three Eyes. This is monument of the nature. You pay the entry fee for foreigners 200 pesos and step down to the cave. Three eyes are three little lakes in the caves. The color of the water is unusual. First lake is most impressive. The second (Damas) is the smallest one. In the third is surprise: little timber ferry awaits to take you (50 pesos extra for the round trip) to the other side where, after 100 m walk you will find yourself at the bottom of the deep, green cenote. What a wonderful surprise! In the caves there are stalactites of different size. The place is absolutely worth 200 pesos paid for entry!
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Mar 09, 2022 10:00 PM Aquario National
Today, after the morning walk under the palms of Malecon (that's how the call coastal boulevard) I went to the National Aquarium of Dominicana. Even in the ticket office they want to make their little business on the tourist: for extranjeros ticket cost 5 USD, but they wanted me to pay 300 pesos... Well, once you are inside you will see sea turtles and the - in the pavilions a lot of aquariums of different size with the fish from all over the world. The most imposing is probably one with the sharks and mantas. Separate pavilion is dedicated to the freshwater fish with species taken say from thecAmazon. Glass tunnel is built under the biggest aquarium but the walls are to dirty to enjoy the view in full. Anyway - once you are here it is worth to take a look...
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Mar 08, 2022 10:00 PM Santo Domingo Este
My little hotel "Setup" stays without any sign on the corner of the coastal boulevard called Avenida Espana. Dominican Rep does not like the backpackersuch so it is not easy to find something cheap. I pay here 30 dollars per clean and roomy single with bath, tv, a/c and fridge. The room has a balcony and substantial breakfast is included. Today I took a long walk along the boulevard till faro de la Marina slim lighthouse. National Aquarium in on the way (5 USD entry for the foreigners, half of that for locals) and OLE supermarket where you can change your currency to dominican pesos. They pay 54,50 pesos per dollar and only 58,80 per euro. Your passport must be shown for euro. Police with long rifles is present near aquarium, bur onward the street is almost empty, so I was watching around carefully just in case... The coast on this stretch is sharp and rocky with some mice views. It was 7 kms walk in the heat - not bad! The next will be tomorrow...
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Mar 07, 2022 10:00 PM Long flights to Santo Domingo
My good friends offer me overnight stay and early morrning lift to the airport. Thanks so much Asia & Jurek! In the check-in hall already before 5 am I found long line to Air France desk. Bad organization! I was waiting there more than an hour to get the boarding pass and then running through the security to the gate. Uff! Fortunately they were waiting for the last passengers! The flight to Paris was delayed 30 min an they served as a breakfast only 3 biscuits, juice and coffee (!!) In Charles de Gaulle airport the bus took us to the terminal F for covid and passport control. Then anothet bus to the gates M in terminal 2E. I was on time to board my flight to Santo Domingo. They checked obligatory Dominican QR code. I had nice neighbor on the plane. It took us more than 9 hours to reach destination with one hour delay. But they served hot meal and unlimited wine, even champagne. Airport in Santo Dom is small and poor. long line to immigration (you must declare the hotel) Then the customs - Polish passport is not the good one so they sent me for full screen of my luggage! Hot (28 deg) and high humidity outside. No public transport to the city - taxis (25 usd after bargaining) are the only option. Palms along the coast - it is about 25 kilometers! In the tiny hotel they do not speak English!
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