Ahh another Newbee

Eco-

New member
Jan 12, 2012
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Greetings and such...Doing the online forum thingy for years I hate to be the newbee with stupid questions but I guess that is me today. After doing the Jamaica/Mexico thing for a few years I need something else...hence booking a trip to the DR with no knowledge of the island except what I have read here for the past day or so. As a traveling writer/photographer I'm rather comfortable in "3rd world" countries but I do have a few questions:

1. Arriving in SANTIAGO at 3AM, is there anything to do...will there be taxi's and such? Along the same lines, I guess I need to kill some time before checking into a hotel/motel/holiday inn.

2. With islands being tricky in size and roads being what they are...how far away is Haiti, the capital, the east coast?

3. The approx cost per day for a driver/escort that speaks English since I'm on a 30 day mission to increase my Spanish from 3 words to "enough to buy me a beer"? Actually if you have a good trusted driver PM the contact info or post it here.

4. The average/typical cost of um paying off....tipping a police officer for a traffic infraction?

5. The local phone thingy....are the phones simm cards, can I bring an unlocked one, how much do they cost...and how much for a couple of weeks for limited use?

6. The transport thingy, are there route taxis/buses (assuming so) and in which case how do you know the routes and costs?

7. Walk in rates for lodging...is this a benefit like in other places or maybe a sucker fee since my Spanish is limited?

8. In reference to the thread on here about food poisoning, I only eat fruits and veggies and the whole thingy about getting it from that sort of foods sort of disturbs me. Is this complete bullsh!t or do I need to be I guess careful?

9. In reference to the safety thread, my importers should have my 2 glock 40 cal guns, one belt feed 50 cal and 3 parrots that sing sweet songs about a melody, is that enough? Kidding....but that thread was entertaining....

I'm sure I will have more questions....being a newbee...such is life and thanks for answering any of the ones I posted so far.
 
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PeteyPablo

Bronze
Apr 30, 2011
726
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Welcome!

In the time it took you to type all that, you could have searched ;)

SEARCH is your friend! With that being said, yes there are always taxis at the airport(s).
 
May 29, 2006
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8) One of my favorite Dominican treats are the Baditas, in particular the papaya("lechosa") ones after over-indulging the night before. Loaded with electrolytes. If you like smoothies made with condensed milk and lots of sugar, or freshly made fruit juices there will be plenty of options for you. Fresh pineapple juice, esp over ice, is pretty amazing.

The DR is a haven for produce. There's the expected tropical fruit, but there are also grapes, strawberries, corn, potatoes(similar to Yukon Gold),mushrooms, plum tomatoes, squash, basil, numerous peppers (from sweet to VERY hot), and eggplant in the mix. For a country about twice the size of Vermont, the selection is pretty good.

There are some veggies that are hard to find in quality such as carrots(which tend to be HUGE and flavorless) and lettuce(which doesn't keep well in the tropics). I could also never find red onions that were any larger than a tennis ball (if even that big). Europeans sometimes complain that parsnips are unavailable.

My main concern with eating uncooked produce is cross contamination from raw meats prepared on the same cutting board.
 

PICHARDO

One Dominican at a time, please!
May 15, 2003
13,280
893
113
Santiago de Los 30 Caballeros
Greetings and such...Doing the online forum thingy for years I hate to be the newbee with stupid questions but I guess that is me today. After doing the Jamaica/Mexico thing for a few years I need something else...hence booking a trip to the DR with no knowledge of the island except what I have read here for the past day or so. As a traveling writer/photographer I'm rather comfortable in "3rd world" countries but I do have a few questions:

1. Arriving in SANTIAGO at 3AM, is there anything to do...will there be taxi's and such? Along the same lines, I guess I need to kill some time before checking into a hotel/motel/holiday inn.



At 3:00 am there's nothing to do in Santiago but to head to your place of sleep... Or depending on the mood and need, pick a street "escort" and head to the non-sleeping lodges (plenty to pick from). Other than that, loitering around the monumento seems to make it for some people...





2. With islands being tricky in size and roads being what they are...how far away is Haiti, the capital, the east coast?


Haiti is far away, since the road to there is not the miles that matter but the time of day, week, traffic and huelga time (strike) you picked to make the trip. All in all you can be at the border from Santiago (Dajabon crossing) in a mere couple of hours and 1/2 (or extra hours if things are very bad on the road), from there to ANY place inside of Haiti add the rest of the day just to "arrive"...

The trip to SD city (capital) again depends on the time, day of the week and traffic conditions (night and rain is a no-no), but a good driver can get you there in about 2 hours more or less depending on the factors indicated and how much of a defensive driver is behind the wheel (or not) ...

The east coast is the farthest out, with travel times that seem to defy the logic of distance/time/speed of travel... I all depends on what God forsaken tourist trap you want to visit there.







3. The approx cost per day for a driver/escort that speaks English since I'm on a 30 day mission to increase my Spanish from 3 words to "enough to buy me a beer"? Actually if you have a good trusted driver PM the contact info or post it here.


It varies on the type of service and hours per day this hiring will incur. It can be from as cheap as USD$ 25 to as high as they guy's greed can outperform your wallet. There's plenty of DR1 members that make use of "trusted"driver than can guide you here to the right man for the job...






4. The average/typical cost of um paying off....tipping a police officer for a traffic infraction?

The more generous, the faster you can be on your way. Just don't try it with the green suits AMET!
But it can be anything you grab from your pants for a quick dash...






5. The local phone thingy....are the phones simm cards, can I bring an unlocked one, how much do they cost...and how much for a couple of weeks for limited use?

There are ones that work with the cards (best of the lot) and others can use your unlocked non SIM phone as well. The rates vary from one company to the other, but it all depends how much a heavy user you end up to be, pick a prepaid plan that will do it for you. And also depends if you need a data plan for your laptop and internet stuff over your phone!

You can check one of those companies here:

Claro – La Red Donde Todo es Posible





6. The transport thingy, are there route taxis/buses (assuming so) and in which case how do you know the routes and costs?

Too many to list and no destination/origin provided in your question. There are plenty of bus services (small and big) and the rates are fixed for the location serviced.






7. Walk in rates for lodging...is this a benefit like in other places or maybe a sucker fee since my Spanish is limited?


This is a question I can't answer much about, since I never walked in for lodging in the DR when I traveled in country. My guess would be that it's rather less expensive to reserve over the phone than to show up at the front desk...







8. In reference to the thread on here about food poisoning, I only eat fruits and veggies and the whole thingy about getting it from that sort of foods sort of disturbs me. Is this complete bullsh!t or do I need to be I guess careful?


Common sense guides you on this one! First thing is that there are good and bad bacteria populating your food and stomach. Given how your stomach will be a newcomer to the DR diet, precautions are the order of the Day.

Same with the water! It takes a while for your stomach to build up a good healthy colony to counter the effects from the local microbes...





9. In reference to the safety thread, my importers should have my 2 glock 40 cal guns, one belt feed 50 cal and 3 parrots that sing sweet songs about a melody, is that enough? Kidding....but that thread was entertaining....

I'm sure I will have more questions....being a newbee...such is life and thanks for answering any of the ones I posted so far.


Safe as any big city anywhere in the world, save for Somalia or Mexico...
 

Eco-

New member
Jan 12, 2012
23
0
0
@ Petey, every forum needs that one special person who has to respond with the "search" comment, thanks for being that special person....yeah I'm kidding...

@Peter, thanks for the info about the variety of fruits and veggies! Would it be safe to assume that anything I bought at a market and cut up myself would be safe to eat? I'm sort of the low budget type of person that's happy spending money supporting road side fruit/veggie vendors and making an uncooked mixed salad with nuts for meals.

@Pichardo, "non sleeping lodges"=? Would these be a safe place to rent I would assume by the hour to store my luggage and or get a couple hours of rest instead of booking formal lodging for just a few hours?

Thanks for the descriptions in regards to travel times. I sort of assumed what you said as I have traveled islands before but didn't want to rule out some traveling just in case an island had fast moving highways and such. Your reference to "tourist traps" on the east coast, the touristy things are what I want to avoid. What part of the island would you recommend for someone that wants to explore nature and such without being on a tour bus full of...um tourists?

Thanks for your other answers as well.
 

PICHARDO

One Dominican at a time, please!
May 15, 2003
13,280
893
113
Santiago de Los 30 Caballeros
@Pichardo, "non sleeping lodges"=? Would these be a safe place to rent I would assume by the hour to store my luggage and or get a couple hours of rest instead of booking formal lodging for just a few hours?

Thanks for the descriptions in regards to travel times. I sort of assumed what you said as I have traveled islands before but didn't want to rule out some traveling just in case an island had fast moving highways and such. Your reference to "tourist traps" on the east coast, the touristy things are what I want to avoid. What part of the island would you recommend for someone that wants to explore nature and such without being on a tour bus full of...um tourists?

Thanks for your other answers as well.

These are safe to anything, but I hardly can say you'll be able to rest much (too much coming and going outside) there. About the rates? You're better off renting a room at a local hotel if you need to stay overnight than one of these. But if only for a couple or hours it will be ok.

The highway speed is not detrimental, but it's more like how fast you want to go and your knowledge of where police and military often carry check points and traffic duty.

The east coast is by far the latest in the tourist map, but there are some jewels like Santa Barbara de Samana (las Terrenas, etc...) Cabeza de Toro and such.

If you want to have a good time with the least tourists aboard then by all means head to Barahona! You get mountains, forests and beach in the same package. The prices are modest to cheap (still) and the views are amazing. Head to a town called Paraiso (paradise) with a stunning beach, river and forest. Make sure to visit "La confluencia" while in Paraiso! There's also a town called El Quemaito with a great beach, not to mention the river!

The town is now a mixed type of community made up of Dominicans and Haitians. You get to see and experience the "old" Dominican Republic in small towns like this one.

If you head to Pedernales from there (close by), you can visit Bahia de Las Aguilas in the Jaragua National Park. It's a beautiful place to see while it keeps virgin from development. There to see and explore a bit around is the town of La Cueva and also not too far distant the Lago Enriquillo with Iguanas so big that it will make you thing you walked straight into hatchlings of Jurassic Park.

There's a ton of places to visit without having to get skimmed from the all too common tourist traps. The whole Punta Cana area is made up and aimed at your pocket, even the local town has turned into the game as well. The prices are insane when compared to other places around the country.

The north coast of the DR suffered this calamity long ago when hoteliers and biz became all too specialized in trapping, all to their own demise. When Playa Dorada was launched in earnest by the early 80's, locals made it a required stop. Nowadays the story is quite different to then.

The other non tourist trap that's still affordable to enjoy is to head to Jarabacoa from Santiago!
 

Eco-

New member
Jan 12, 2012
23
0
0
Thanks Pichardo, I sort of booked the cheapest flight since my plans of returning to Jamaica got side railed and I need all the help I can get... The last thing I want in a vacation is higher prices and tourist spots....your tips should help.

Any lodging suggestions in Barahona?
 

PICHARDO

One Dominican at a time, please!
May 15, 2003
13,280
893
113
Santiago de Los 30 Caballeros
Thanks Pichardo, I sort of booked the cheapest flight since my plans of returning to Jamaica got side railed and I need all the help I can get... The last thing I want in a vacation is higher prices and tourist spots....your tips should help.

Any lodging suggestions in Barahona?

Just so you now where your heading in the area:
Southern_Dominican_Republic-2.jpg


We never went to hotels or rentals in our trips to the area, we traveled by 4x4 and camped outright.

A quick search of Barahona, Paraiso, etc... will bring about a trove of info here on DR1! Try it!