DK Travel : Dominican Republic

The Dominican Republic is a country of surprising contrasts and extraordinary variety. From the chilly peak of the Caribbean’s highest mountain to some of the region’s most delightful beaches, the country boasts lush valleys, spectacular waterfalls, and sun-baked deserts. The past and present also blend in a fascinating mix of colonial buildings and modern hotels, sleepy rural villages and lively tourist resorts. The people, too, reflect a kaleidoscope of influences — Spanish, African, indigenous — creating a culture that emphasizes both creativity and fun in the fields of music, sport, and art.

Parque Nacional Jaragua

The park comprises the most southerly tip of the country, the Pedernales Peninsula, as well as Isla Beata, an uninhabited scrub-covered island. Covering more than 500 sq miles (1,293 sq km), this is the biggest of the national parks, comprising dry limestone studded with cacti and other desert vegetation. This terrain is home to a huge array of land and sea birds, iguanas, lizards, and bats. The best way to get a sense of its natural importance is to contact the national park office at the village of Oviedo, for the boat tours of Laguna Oviedo.
Parque Nacional Los Haïtises

Sánchez is probably the most convenient starting point for a day trip to this wild and isolated nature reserve. A boat departs daily, crossing to the Sabana de la Mar fishing port, where hired guides can lead a boat trip to the small part of the park that’s open to visitors. Here, you’re confronted by one of the country’s most unique landscapes: hump-shaped hillocks rising out of the water and covered with dense tropical vegetation. These strange mogotes , along with mangroves and rainforest, shelter a variety of flora and fauna.
Parque Nacional Los Haitises

Inhospitable mangrove swamps and rocky terrain mean that the Taino sites can only be accessed through an organized boat trip. Caves within the park have extensive drawings, including scenes of hunting, birds, whales, and various faces.
Parque Nacional Monte Cristi

Divided between a series of offshore islands, a mangrove delta, and a large inland expanse of desert badlands, the national park shelters a profusion of wildlife, including crocodiles, turtles, and innumerable bird species. The most accessible and interesting part is the flat-topped mountain of El Morro, the imposing outcrop that looks like a sleeping camel. You can walk up some steps from the national park office through a cleavage in the mountain, reaching an isolated beach below, from where it’s a relatively short swim to Isla Cabrita. The sea around Monte Cristi is said to be full of shipwrecks.

El Morro, Parque Nacional

Cactus, Parque Nacional
Parque Nacional Monte Cristi

Most of this sprawling wilderness comprises desert and hard-to-reach mangrove swamps. But the large humpback mountain of El Morro is easily accessible from the park office, offering a great walk through a cutting onto the beach. This is the place to appreciate the Northwest’s ecosystem.
Parque Submarino La Caleta

Best known for its diving among offshore wrecks, this park also contains an excavated Taino cemetery, discovered on the beach in the 1970s. A display of skeletons reveals that indigenous communities preferred to bury their dead in a crouched fetal position, in anticipation, apparently, of being reborn.
Parque Zoológical Nacional, Santo Domingo

An expansive 400-acre park of tropical gardens and water features, the zoo is home to tigers as well as more local fauna such as flamingos and the elusive Dominican mammals, hutías and solenodons . Children will enjoy spotting creatures in sympathetically landscaped compounds as well as riding in the shuttle train.
Pastelitos

Small but tasty pasties or turnovers filled with a savoury center of minced beef, chicken or cheese.
Paul’s Pub & Cybercafé

This joint, open until midnight, serves steak, seafood, and curries. The bar’s at your service till late too, with German beer on draught. There’s live music at times.
Pedernales

Pedernales is quite literally the end of the track, the final Dominican outpost before crossing over into Haiti. This remote settlement of one-story concrete buildings huddled together, is hardly a conventional tourist destination. But the place is not without interest, especially on Mondays and Fridays when the no-man’s-land between the two countries is the scene of a large open-air market. The village’s beach is also worth a visit, and from here it’s usually easy to walk over the border.

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