AtomRepública Dominicana ~ 16 Jul 2007
The journey to Española on which the Dominican Republic makes up one half of the island (the other half is occupied by Haiti) was long and ardurous and involved a flight through Toronto. The trip itself was a pretty vanilla trip -- one with lots of beach, good food, oceanfront walks, and not a lot of history, which saddened me because the República Dominicana has a rich, interesting, and volitile history that we missed out on.
In one big historic nutshell, the D.R. was one of the first places visited by the Santa María (Columbus) in 1492, and was the home of the first permanent European settlement, La Navidad. From this point on the island of Española became an important focal point in the push to colonize the Americas.
Like mentioned above, the República Dominicana has a volitile history dating back hundreds of years. Originally the island was occupied by the Taínos people before a litany of invaders arrived: the Spanish, French, Haitians, Spanish Again, Haitians Again, independence, Spain Again, independence, the United States, and finally, independence and an era of dicatorship that has only ended within the last 40 years.
DOMINICAN REPUBLIC STATS
- Population: 9,507,133 (growth rate: 1.4%)
- Capital: Santo Domingo de Guzman
- Geography: The Dominican Republic (Spanish: República Dominicana) is a country in the West Indies that occupies the eastern two-thirds of the island of Hispaniola; Haiti occupies the other one-third. Hispaniola is the second largest island in the Caribbean, Cuba (to the immediate West) is the first. To the immediate East is Puerto Rico, separated by the Mona Passage.
- Government: The democratically represented government is divided principally into three branches. Executive, Legislative, and Judicial.
- Currency: Dominican Peso; 1 CAD = 8 DOP (approx.)
- Language: Spanish
- Religion: More than 90 percent of Dominicans are professed Roman Catholics.
- Cities: Santo Domingo de Guzman and Santiago de Los Caballeros
PUNTA CANA
La Española ~ 27 Nov 2008
"There are great shocks on this vehicle... for 1968." -- Chris. A very apropos statement. As it was, we were careening down a bumpy highway, weaving our way through mopeds, motorcycles, trucks piled...
Los Cocos ~ 29 Nov 2008
"For your own safety do not stay under the palm trees in the gardens, this could be dangerous. Please use just the paths of the hotel." -- Hotel Service Guide At some point on the ride to our hotel...
Los Bichos (the Tiny Beasts) ~ 30 Nov 2008
"What's wrong with this place?" "What do you mean?" "We've been here almost 4 days and everything is missing. There's no roaches, no bats, no rats, no spiders, no lizards...
Los Centros Turísticos (Resorts) ~ 09 Dec 2008
I find that with the resorts they're all basically the same except each one has it's quirks. The last resort we were at had beach towels galore but you couldn't find shampoo. Here (the Palladium) ou...
Early Morning View ~ 10 Dec 2008
In the mornings I would get up to watch the sun rise and enjoy the tranquility of the beach. As I wandered around men in green uniforms with brooms and rakes would walk up and down the beach and cle...
Las Mariposas (Las Hermanas Mirabal) ~ 14 Dec 2008
"Slivers of glass, twigs, and dirt remain caught in the braided length of hair that rests in memorial today in a small home in the Dominican Republic -- the hair, cut lovingly by a woman from the he...
Sun, Sand, and Surf ~ 28 Dec 2008
"The beaches in the Dominican Republic are unspoiled Caribbean jewels that sparkle in the island sun. The country boasts almost 800 miles of coastline, featuring some of the most stunning sands in t...
Blue Bike ~ 19 Feb 2009
Not quite the Blue Urban Bike program, in the Dominican there were blue bikes peppered around the resorts that could be used by staff to get from point A to B quickly. All were onesies (one speed) a...
Seaside Collectables ~ 26 Feb 2009
The little collection above is what people were trying to sell us on the beach in Punta Cana. We certainly weren't interested because (frankly) there's something rather macabre and non-eco-friendly ...
Comidas Deliciosas ~ 05 Mar 2009
There's one thing I failed to mention about the Dominican Republic: that the food was pretty darn fantastic. Even little Miss Makenna (a.k.a. Miss Frugivore) was in seventh heaven with all the exoti...