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The biggest town in the region, the port of Barahona is the gateway to the South-west’s natural attractions. A broad seaside boulevard runs the length of the town, and the narrow streets around the Parque Central have some nice old buildings. The advent of an international airport in the 1990s encouraged some tourist development, including a beach-side resort in the town itself. But few visitors confine themselves to Barahona, preferring to explore the coastline to the south and the two nearby national parks.

Probably the country’s most intriguing natural phenomenon, this huge saltwater lake is eerily atmospheric in its spectacular natural setting. The lake also forms an inland ecosystem, with its mixture of saline water, ancient fossils, and varied wildlife. Chief among these are the American crocodiles that inhabit its main island, the Isla Cabritos.

Filled with fresh rather than salt water, Laguna Rincón, near the village of Cabral, is another surprisingly large lake, the country’s second biggest after Laguna Limón. You can get close to the water on the small road from Cabral which skirts the lake, but the best way is to take a guided boat trip (see Boat Trips). The lagoon and surrounding land forms an officially protected Reserva Científica (Scientific Reserve) and is home to a colony of freshwater slider turtles, found only on the Hispaniola Island.

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.

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.

A wild and rugged range of mountains that march westwards over the Haitian border, these impressive peaks make up the Dominican Republic’s second highest sierra. It was in this impenetrable tangle of mountains, valleys, and forests that the Taino leader Enriquillo (see Enriquillo (1498–1535)) assembled his rebel forces and held out for 14 years against the Spanish. Now designated a national park, the range is covered in dense pine forests and subtropical rainforest. There are few passable roads, but it’s theoretically possible, with a sturdy jeep, to drive along the rough track from Pedernales to Aguacate.