Moving to Santo Domingo has resulted in some quite major changes for myself, Hannah and the dogs. Among some more challenging moments, there is one beacon of light - or green - in the city that is a relative oasis: Parque Mirador Sur.
Grass: a rare sight in Santo Domingo
The park was created in 1970
The capital of the DR is probably the biggest city we have lived in together. It definitely is the place that has felt most like a city. Busy, dirty, noisy. And that is just the street that we currently live on.
A common sight in our area, even though there are a lot of bins (the blue tubs in the right of the picture)
This intersection becomes very busy in the afternoon and evening
We also have been placed in an apartment, which is a new experience for Mini and Maxi. No garden with animals to entertain them for hours on end. No garden in which to toilet freely. No stimulation, essentially, which means that they are very animated whenever there is noise coming from the hallway. Our door is opposite the lift. There is therefore a lot of animation, usually in the form of barking.
We invested in a 'puppy patch' for the girls to use as a toilet: they prefer sitting on it...
What's behind the door?
Trying to walk the dogs is particularly challenging. The temperatures here are high, with the real feel and humidity increasing the heat stress. During the day, the ground is too hot for them to walk on. This, in addition to the business, noise and quite frankly filthy streets, mean that the dogs don’t really want to walk anywhere. There is one patch of dirt within 500 metres of the apartment at which we hope they do their business. Not ideal when they need to be taken out multiple times a day.
I have no idea about the bin collection schedule, but bins almost always seem full
There's a pavement under there somewhere
We are nothing if not creative and resilient, however. One example is putting the dogs into backpacks and walking them 1.5 kilometres or so to the ‘nearby’ park. Over two very busy roads. I’ll talk about driving another time, but that is an added stress.
Maxi enjoying life in the backpack
Mini taking in the sights from up high
But let’s focus on the positives. That park is called Mirador Sur: “south viewpoint”. If you reach certain sections, and squint a little bit, you can see the sea, so possibly, technically true. But the park is so much more than a viewpoint.
The road you can see on the left is usually closed to vehicles, allowing it to be used for exercise
This pond is next to a restaurant
Not all green spots are green - that top green section on this map is the Olympic Centre, which has almost zero grass
Its size, for one thing. Mirador Sur is quite narrow, but stretches for 5 kilometres across the western side of Santo Domingo. It is described as the ‘great green lung’ of the capital - as there aren’t many green spaces in the city limits, it isn’t hard to hit that description. But it is green, full of trees, and wonderful.
Sources I found suggest there are 77 types of tree, and over 34,000 trees, in the park
This tree is sometimes referred to as a 'flamboyant tree'
It’s the place to take your dog. There is an official ‘dog park’ about halfway through the park, which has become more accessible since we got a car. In between her not being nice to other dogs, we managed to get Mini to run up and down the bridge.
It has a few different structures, but mainly is a space where your dog can be off the lead
Queen of the Bridge
Parts of the park are named after one of the country’s most famous politicians: Dr Joaquin Balaguer. He was the 41st, 45th and 49th president of the Dominican Republic. The revered leader used to go for walks in this park to maintain his health. That legacy has been built upon hugely, as exercise is the main reason most people use the park.
Lots of sports...but not the national sport - baseball is banned in most parts of the park
I ran with a group one Saturday morning - we met at 5:30am, and had started running at 5:50am
On a map, it looks like a road bisects the park horizontally. In reality, it is the southern edge of the park, as the limestone rock drops off sharply after it. The road is used by cars at certain times on weekdays, but the rest of the time it is closed to road traffic. 2 lanes are reserved for cyclists, one for runners and walkers, and one…for rollerbladers.
The length of the park road is 5 kilometres
It is mostly unshaded, meaning you are in the sun if you run later
This is my running oasis. It is the lifeline for many other athletes as well. This place is busy in the mornings. When I say mornings, I mean any time after 5am. Running at a time like 9am is insane in this heat.
Sunrise during a run
Just the 97% humidity for a Saturday morning run...
Taking the idea of Central Park in New York City, Mirador Sur is an area of nature within a concrete jungle. It’s an area of cleanliness within a city of trash. It’s an area of peace within a city whose volume is often turned up to 11. We are hoping to move apartments to be nearer to the park: it would transform our feelings about Santo Domingo.
An aerial view from a local website showing the scale of the park
