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vibrant paintings which you can purchase locally, also beautiful jewellery which include amber and
larimar.
At night, if you’re looking for something with a lively atmosphere then Playa Dorada is the place to be as it has a few casinos if you’re feeling lucky! But if you’re not in to any of that then there is always the bars and local hotel discos where you can dance the night away!
The Dominican Republic appeals to all ages as it has something for everyone, for the younger ones there is an unforgettable experience when swimming with dolphins at ocean world near Puerto Plata.
If you want to go for the hottest time of the year then the best time to go would be June thought to October as the temperature is just below 32 C, but if you’re wanting something a bit cooler then November through to May would be the better months for you.
Beaches
The Beaches of the Dominican Republic. A special place where nature's treasures remain unspoiled and the simple joys of easy living are still easy to find.
Here, in the heard of the Caribbean, you will discover more than 1,288 km of Coast line with the most beautiful beaches of the Caribbean in all different styles. Find white sandy beaches, diving attractions and unspoiled nature all around the island.
Arts
While visiting the art galleries, you can appreciate and discover authentic native art which is not the pseudo-primitive art that abounds in other Caribbean islands but more akin to Dominican’s innermost nature. The exportation of works of art is not prohibited.
Crafts
In both rural and urban areas, our people’s collective artistic expression is usually manifested in the production of crafts. A variety of native crafts can be found scattered throughout the city’s business areas and shopping centers.
Places of special interest are: Mercado Modelo, Plaza Criolla, El Conde Street, Las Atarazanas, and Casa de Bastidas, where a wide choice of crafts made by local artists are sold: horn, wood, leather, snail, shell, amber and larimar articles; pottery, ceramics, basketry, embroidery and locally manufactured cotton fabrics. But, don’t leave the country without a typical mahogany and guano (dried leaf from a palm tree variety) rocking chair, already packed for easy shipping.
National Theater
If your stay in Santo Domingo coincides with the theater season, try to attend a performance. The Teatro Nacional is a modern building constructed in the heart of Plaza de la Cultura.
The main auditorium has capacity for 1700 persons accommodated in comfortable seats designed with an imperceptible difference in size and placed in such a way that the spectator may view the stage from any position. Its modern modulated acoustics system is capable of faithfully transmitting to the entire auditorium a whisper uttered on stage.
Enjoy Dominican and International spectacles in this fascinating theater and be part of the Dominican and International art transmitted through these modern and comfortable facilities.
Music
Dominicans have a great liking for dance. A French observer, Father Labat, who arrived in 1795 when Spain ceded the island to France by the Treaty of Basle, commented in this respect: “Dance is in Santo Domingo, the favorite passion, and I don’t believe that there is a anywhere in the world a people more attracted to dance”.
Here, to this day, it is customary to rock and sing lullabies to children before they fall asleep. The child grows up amidst singing games, and the practice of singing before starting school work continues. The adolescent peasant sings tunes, plenas, and cantos de hacha (axe songs) in the conuco (plot of land for cultivation). He sings while praying and when he falls in love; hence the custom of singing serenades to profess his love to his beloved. And when in the countryside a child dies, they sing the baquiní.
Of all the rhythms that enrich our folklore, the merengue is the people’s expression; and, as a popular expression, it varies from generation to generation in the same measure our lifestyle changes.
We are happy people that vibrate to the rhythm of its vernacular music; and that, as the ditty from a carnival song says: “…dance in the street by day, dance in the street by night”. Everyone who hears a merengue vibrates with us to the contagious rhythm of the güira, the tambora (small drum),and the accordion.
The güira is a typical Dominican instrument that consists of a grater made of latten brass in the shape of a hollow cylinder that when rubbed with a scraper, emits a buzzing rhythmic sound. Our Indian population used it in the areíto, (Indian ceremonial song and dance). They made it from the attractive fruit of the gourd, from which they extracted the pulb and then scraped it to later rhythmically rasp it with a forked stick. There are still pericos ripiaos that use this type of güira.
The perico ripiao, minimal music expression, is composed of a three man group that interprets vernacular music. The Dominican tambora owes its peculiar sound to having on one side, the skin of an old male goat, tempered with native rum, and on the other, the skin of a young female goat that has not given birth.
- scientific research - sanctuaries
- national parks - protected areas
- natural monuments - wildernesses
These categories cover many lagoons, river estuaries, islands and bays.
The Dominican Republic has an important number of sites which include 16 national parks, nine natural monuments and six scientific reserves, for a total of 67 protected areas that include panoramic routes, recreational areas and ecological corridors, all of which are under the direct supervision and control of the Dirección Nacional de Parques (the National Parks Office).
Armando Bermúdez and JosÈ del Carmen Ramírez, both pine forests on the mountains of the Cordillera Central are the only remaining areas of extensive forest in the country, as two-thirds of the virgin forest have been destroyed since the discovery of the island by Columbus. Fire and the small holdings by landless peasants can account for such loss. The protection of these parks has averted the complete disappearance of the forests predicted for 1990. A pilot reforestation project was started near San JosÈ de las Matas, under Plan Sierra to add to this effort.
The Isla Cabritos National Park in Lago Enriquillo -the smallest in the system between four and 40 m below sea level- is a unique environment. The original vegetation was lost either to timber collection or to the goats and cattle which once grazed there. New secondary vegetation has been identified including 106 species of plants, and 10 types of cactus. A large crocodile population, an endemic species of iguana, and other reptiles populate the island. 62 species of birds have also been identified: five aquatic, 16 shore, and 41 land birds. 45 of these are native to the island. Among the birds sighted or heard are the manuelito (Myiarchus stolidus) and the great hummingbird (Anthracothorax dominicus), the querebebÈ (Chordeiles gundlachii), best heard at dusk, and the cu-cú (Athene cunicularia) that sings at dawn and dusk, and nests in an excavated hole in the desert.
Los Haitises, located on the southern coast of the Bay of Samaná, is an unparalleled coastal region, endowed with mangrove swamps, caves and strange rock formations emerging from the sea (mogotes). Cueva del Angel, a cave with many birds, a humid tropical forest, and mangroves is a frequent tourist stop.
Parque Nacional del Este, which includes Isla Soana, is on the peninsula south of San Rafael del Yuma. Its highlights include remote beaches, samples of pre-Columbian art on the walls of its cave system, and the habitat of the now scarce paloma coronita (crowned, or white-headed dove, Columba leucocephala), the rhinoceros iguana and of several turtle species. A study conducted with international funds has found that tourist-oriented activities do not give the proper importance to environmental concerns, and that uncontrolled visits by hundreds of people greatly disrupt the internal micro-climates and the bat population. Likewise, motorboats contribute to spoil the beach areas with fuel and lubricants that affect the habitat of manatees, dolphins, turtles and iguanas and pollute the waters.
The Montecristi National Park -on the Haitian border, to the Northwest- contains marine and land ecosystems, a coastal lagoon, Laguna de Saladillo; dry subtropical forest and Cayos Siete Hermanos (the Seven Brother Keys) in the southwest. Sierra de Bahoruco, an important mountain range, is a forested highland with 52% of the orchids found in the Republic, and many species of birds. The southernmost tip of Barahona, also in the southwest, has the Jaragua National Park (mostly dry forest), which includes Isla Beata (Beata Island).
The Scientific Reserves encompass lakes, patches of forest and Banco de la Plata where every year humpback whales migrate from the Arctic to spawn their young.
In 1996, President Balaguer created new protected areas that are now off-limits for hotel or housing construction. National parks were established in Lago Enriquillo; Bahía de Calderas is now a national monument to protect the ecosystem in the dunes of Las Salinas, the largest sand dunes in the Caribbean; Bahía de Luperón in Puerto Plata and Cascada del Limón in Samaná are also national monuments; Laguna Rincón in the East is has become a protected wildlife area; and has the anthropological reserve of las Cuevas de las Maravillas in Boca de Soco, which runs 15 km along the San Pedro de Macorís road on the way to La Romana. Several panoramic roads were created along scenic routes and El Puerto - Guaigui, Playa AndrÈs, Boca Chica and Cayo Levantado were designated national recreation areas.
A number of other panoramic roads, botanical and zoological gardens (see Santo Domingo), aquaria and recreational parks, and sites of historical interest (La Vega Vieja and La Isabela) have also been designated as national parks.
Dirección Nacional de Parques - DNP is at Avenida Máximo Gómez, Santo Domingo (Apartado Postal 2487, T4724204). A visit to forest reserves requires a permit from the DNP or from the authorized administration office at each park. The cost of the permit is RD$50 (US$3.95), which does not cover the boat fare for visits to Los Haitises or Isla Cabritos. A DNP publication, Sistema de áreas protegidas de República Dominicana, describes each park and gives details on how to reach it (US$12).
The Anthropological Reserve of Cuevas de Borbón in San Cristóbal was extended in 1996 to protect the El Pomier caves threatened by limestone quarrying. These caves have an enormous archaeological value, with over 4,000 wall paintings and 5,000 rock drawings. The 590 pictograms in Cave No. 1 rank it as the most important cave painting site in the Caribbean region. The cost of admission is RD$5.
The National Botanical Garden and the Museum of Natural History, in Santo Domingo, have a full classification of the country's flora. It includes 67 types and 300 species of orchids found on this part of the island of Hispaniola as well as a number of gardens that specialize in their cultivation. The most popular are Oncidium henekenii, Polyradicium lindenii and Leonchilus labiatus. The Botanical Garden holds an annual orchid show. Caoba (mahogany) is the national plant. There is a wide variety of palms, some of which grow only on Hispaniola.
The Dominican Republic has become a popular bird watching destination. The national bird is the cotica parrot, which is green, very talkative and a popular pet though now subject to protection. Other birds seen include several types of parrots, hummingbirds, the guaraguao (a hawk), barrancolí and the flautero. Mammals on the island include the hutia, an endangered, endemic rodent, the also endangered manatee whose habitat is located in Estero Hondo. |
