Dominican Republic: Live from the Vegetable Bowl

October 31

Hello everyone!

One of the reasons for moving to Santo Domingo from El Salvador was to have the chance of living close to the Caribbean Sea. Even though we were only about 30 minutes away from the Pacific Ocean when living in Santa Tecla, we didn’t go nearly as often as we thought we would. 

Quetzal sculpture on the Malecon

Part of the food market at Ciudad Ganadera

It turns out, we probably won’t be visiting the Caribbean Sea that often either. Not in Santo Domingo, at least. Many reasons for this, but the main one being that you don’t really want to be in the sea here. Choppy waters and piles of plastic pollution put paid to that.

Santo Domingo sits along the Caribbean Sea

Rubbish pile in the water off the Malecon

It’s nice to walk along the shoreline, mind. Much of the capital’s shoreline on the western side has a long section of pavement above the rocks. Others may call it a promenade, a boardwalk, a corniche. Much of the Spanish-speaking world calls this a malecón.

It stretches about 12 km to the Colonial Zone

Some of it is a bit away from the main road

I’ve been down here a few times: mainly for running, and once to eat and discover that most people here think eating at 7pm is very early. But this Saturday morning was our first time taking a stroll along the shore.

Running past Obelisco Macho in the
half marathon earlier this month

Eating a meat plate at La Parrilla steak house -
the Malecon and sea are behind my head

The Malecón was built in the 1930s and became a popular spot in the 1950s, when a large number of casinos and hotels were built with views of the nearby ocean. Those, along with the two large obelisk monuments, are much closer to the Colonial Zone than where we walked with Mini and Maxi.

Less visible: chicken bones that Jack Russells are keen to savour

As well as Obelisco Macho, there is also Obelisco
Hembra elsewhere on the Malecon

Once we got going, it was an enjoyable walk. There are a lot of intriguing things along this long stretch of road. Closer to the Colonial Zone, there is an amusement park and a fort. Just on our little stroll, we passed a go-kart track (that seemed to be hosting some sort of fitness competition, complete with people dressed in Halloween gear) and some oversized chairs that were inexplicably facing away from the sea.

Definitely want to go-kart in the future!

Their view was...a busy road

Apparently a popular pastime is to bring your own plastic chair down to the front, cross the road (which is very busy on weekdays) to go to a corner shop known as a colmado, buy some beers, again cross the road, then toast your survival by sitting in your plastic chair (facing it the right way) with your beer, watching the sun fall and the noise level rise.

The colmados mostly have green signs due
to sponsorship by a beer company

Kids' playground

The reason we were near the western end of the coastal walkway was so I could investigate a new place: Ciudad Ganadera. Essentially, a local produce market. 

Grassy section of the Malecon

Across the main road from the Malecon is the 'food market'

Well, that’s what I thought it would be. When we got out of the car, the first thing we saw was a stadium. Google Maps tells me that it’s a horse riding field. There is a concert there, according to a large banner.

I wasn't VIP enough to get in. I didn't try, in fairness.

Around the side there was a herb and plant section

I wanted to go as the pop-up produce market in Santa Tecla’s Ministry of Agriculture complex, across the road from where we lived, was genuinely one of my favourite places in El Salvador. I could practise Spanish whilst buying local produce at a better price and a much higher quality than in the supermarket.

Tecla's fruit and veg stalls

Huge haul, all for less than $10

We’ve found the quality of produce in Santo Domingo’s supermarkets to be a mixed bag. Our nearest supermarket, Nacional, has mostly decent fruit and vegetables. It is a slightly higher price than at other supermarkets such as Bravo and Sirena, but a much better quality. Low bar, mind.

I couldn't find a picture of our Nacional - this is a recently built one

One thing they do well and at good value are
avocados - this was less than $1 and creamy

So I was intrigued to see what this large local produce market would be like. It has some items that are harder to find, such as purple cabbage. It did have some nicer-looking tomatoes, and dozens of halved squashes (probably ones that didn’t make the Halloween cut).

Colourful!

There are also many meat stations.
Near the fruit and veg, naturally.

Most of the prices, however, were the same if not slightly higher than in the supermarkets. Global inflation has made prices rocket, I know that. We are living on an island, so in theory there are ‘island prices’ attached to items (I don’t buy into that, as this is a pretty large island with diverse terrain, but that’s a different story). But I don’t think 4 smallish tomatoes for a dollar makes a lot of sense. I don’t think many of the prices make sense.

Plenty of green plantains for sale!

This collection of meat is just over $35

We may not be visiting the ‘City of Livestock’ that often whilst living in Santo Domingo - ultimately, not worth the drive. The Malecón, however, will probably come into the rotation for dog walks and hopefully soaking up some stunning Dominican sunsets in the future.

Santo Domingo's southern shoreline

Fish market in Ciudad Ganadera

The view's the other way!

As the Sun sets, life on the Malecon gets going...

Love you all,

Matt

Dominican Republic: Swinging in Punta Cana

October 23-25

Hello everyone!

The Dominican Republic receives an average of over 11 million tourist visitors per year. The majority of them don’t go near Santo Domingo, the capital and my current home. The most popular region by far is the most eastern section of the country: Punta Cana.

Golfing at Hard Rock Hotel, Punta Cana

Sign at the beach. I didn't see it. I didn't see any beaches.

For a long time, there was nothing here. Isolated, undeveloped, covered with jungle. In the 1960s, a young Dominican man called Frank Ranieri teamed up with some American investors to build a hotel called the Punta Cana Club. From that point, the region transformed into what it is today: the most visited location in the Caribbean.

Probably had the palm trees, but not the golf green

The building site behind is one example of
continued construction in the Punta Cana area

Punta Cana isn’t actually that far from Santo Domingo (less than 200 km). We decided to take our first trip east, braving the Friday traffic that had us crawling along the road heading out of Santo Domingo.

Punta Cana is the eastern tip of the island of Hispaniola

An internet picture of Santo Domingo. The way people drive here,
I wouldn't dare lose focus for a split second to take my own photo!

When someone thinks of Punta Cana, they likely picture beaches and ocean. Where we stayed…wasn’t that. It was arguably better, one of the nicest AirBnBs I have ever stayed in.

A very open, spacious living room

The rocking chairs next to the pool got used a lot!

Halloween is here, which some houses seem to be 'celebrating'

We weren’t coming for the ‘typical’ Punta Cana experience, you see. We were here for one its other touristic magnetic pulls: golf. The number of courses in this part of the Dominican Republic is in double figures. It brings a lot of golfers, particularly Americans, down to the Caribbean.

No shade on Americans here: we played with Rob
from Chicago on Sunday and he was lovely

The driving range at Iberostar, which is a Spanish chain

I knew that there were a lot of North American tourists who popped down to Punta Cana, and it gave me a preconception of what to expect. Something similar to Playa del Carmen in Mexico: gringo town without a single semblance of authentic local culture. I’m not sure if Punta Cana is like that, because we didn’t really go into Punta Cana.

Santa was visiting the community where we stayed

This is as close as I got to my stereotype: a photo in the toilet of a golf course

Whatever that might be, actually. I couldn’t actually figure out where this vision of ‘Punta Cana’ existed. It seemed to be a bit of a sprawl, all roads and no central node. There is an area called Cap Cana, which has a small marina and a slightly Disneyfied vibe. Maybe that is the ‘centre’? My guess is that perhaps people base themselves at their all-inclusive hotels, so there’s no reason for there to be a main area of hubbub.

Its coastline stretches up to about 50 kilometres

I didn't take a picture at this restaurant, called
Noah's - too busy eating delicious seafood

Wherever they may be, the huge number of visitors bring with them what I would describe as American prices. This is definitely reflected at the two golf courses we visited, with the cheaper one being $180 for 18 holes. You do get other things included in that, but that is $10 a hole. Luckily, if you play like me, that’s less than $2 for each time you hit the golf ball.

Golf carts were included

What we got through sheer luck were coconuts that they
were bringing down from the trees - many in our group thought
the water made them play better. It didn't work for me...

Far luckier for us, and the reason we can actually afford a weekend like this, is the fact that nationals and residents of the Dominican Republic don’t have to pay these prices. Having a residency card, which I received a couple of weeks ago, allows you to register for an app called Fedogolf. Paying the joining fee - approximately $100 - gives you reduced rates at the courses. So the course that was $180 actually cost me $55. Signing up paid for itself.

The magical money-saving app

Another course price dropped from $195 to $80

The first of those courses also has an American connection: the hotel it belongs to is called the Hard Rock Hotel. This opened in 2010 and is enormous, with almost 1800 rooms. We didn’t get near the hotel itself, as its eponymous golf course is closer to the main road. Still has some clues about the connection, mind…

The entire Hard Rock Hotel Complex

The sign in front of the driving range

Hard Rock’s course was apparently designed by Jack Nicklaus, history’s most successful male golfer. The course was enjoyable, though I’d have been worried about staying in one of the rooms along the fairway. The complimentary golf cart was appreciated as the mercury rose and clouds dispersed soon after our 7:30am tee time. It also helped keep our beers cold, which is always good!

My drives often go left - luckily I drove pretty well and
kept the people in the hotel rooms safe

Humidity was pretty high in the morning

When the sun was out, the weather felt quite fierce

We were allowed to sneakily play as a group of 5 here, which made it a lot more fun. We were briefly joined by a litter of cats, who seemed keen to explore the snacks within our golf cart. A group of players behind us seemed keen to join us, as they once hit tee shots when we were on the fairway, with one ball landing a metre from our golf cart. 

Far from a snail's pace was our speed, even as a fivesome

Another fun hole filled with potential hazards at Hard Rock

The rules seemed stricter at the other golf course we visited on Sunday morning. At Iberostar Bávaro Golf Club, we were forced to split into a 3 and a 2. This course definitely had a more manicured look than Hard Rock, though I enjoyed both equally.

The Iberostar Group was founded in 1956

Their hotel in Bavaro was created in 1993,
their first outside Europe

The golf club opened in 2009 - I'm glad they
kept many funky trees that are far older!

Iberostar’s signature hold is a par 3 with the green and immediately surrounding rough cut into the shape of a starfish, plonked onto a large tranche of sand. I’m pleased to say that I did not end up in that sand, managing to squirt my shot onto the bottom of one of its arms. I also didn’t end up in the water at the beautiful par 3, whose green sits behind a pond. I avoided that by about 50 centimetres, my ball hitting the rocks immediately above it and thankfully bouncing on forward rather than back into the drink.

An internet picture of the hole

View from ground level

Hole 16 has a viewing platform behind it

I’ll be back in Punta Cana in December, as its airport has a direct flight to the UK. I imagine I’ll return a few times whilst living in the DR, hopefully giving myself the opportunity to find the ‘real Punta Cana’. Admittedly, what I found in terms of golfing, I really, really liked.

Hitting out at Hard Rock Hotel

Enjoying a relaxing afternoon in our AirBnB

Wonderful weekend!

Love you all,

Matt