FL Podiatrist and son search for lost city of gold in Dominican Republic

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chicataina

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FL Podiatrist and Son Search for Lost City of Gold
Doctor John Mina of Lee County is a podiatrist by profession, but he's an explorer and adventurer at heart. Starting this Friday, Dr. Mina, his 17-yr. old son Tony, and eight other veteran explorers, will head into the jungles of the Dominican Republic, looking for a 'Lost City of Gold'. "When you have a passion to discover, only an adventure will quell it," Dr. Mina told WINK News. "It is a rush, very exciting, to un-earth something that no human hands have held for maybe 2,000 years!" he added.


Dr. John Mina
The Minas will fly to the Dominican Republic, and will become the first foreigners officially invited by the government there, to try to find the lost city of Bartholomew Columbus. He was the brother of Christopher, and travelled to what we know as Hispaniola in the late 1400's, on Columbus' second voyage to the new world. Bartholomew found gold in the jungles of what is now the Dominican Republic, and he founded a city near the site of the gold. Later though, he abandoned the area, and nobody has found the city since then. "We will have metal detectors and old maps. We hope to find some artifacts that will tell us, this was the settlement," said Dr. Mina.
Source: WINK News [6/16/10]
 
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suarezn

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They are too late...the city of gold is Cotui and Barrick Gold already "found" it.
 
Hillbilly

Hillbilly

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You gotta be kidding me!!! What a fool! And of course the DR gummint is eating it up.
Jungle? Where???
I'll tell you where: No place that Bartolomeo ever set foot in is now unexplored!!

This is pure cockamamy bull doo-doo....Total crappo...and a major waste of time and resources.

Maps? Of what??? Gimme a break!!

HB
 
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DRob

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Some guys will do anything to get away from the missus for a few weeks in DR....:bunny::bunny::cheeky::cheeky::cheeky:
 
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suarezn

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DRob said:
Some guys will do anything to get away from the missus for a few weeks in DR....:bunny::bunny::cheeky::cheeky::cheeky:
Click to expand...

Haha...I can see it now...Uh, Dear I'm going to The DR in search of gold...and I'm not coming back until I find some. My map tells me I need to look in Sosua or Boca Chica area. BTW I may need you to wire me some money if / when I run out. You know these expeditions can become real expensive...
 
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Lambada

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www.ginniebedggood.com
A man of many........talents

'In addition to singing doo-wop, John Mina is a podiatrist, has five children, does community theatre, is a Rotarian, and a published science fiction author'. (emboldening mine)

John ?Wopp? Mina


'Dr. Mina chuckled when the subject of Indiana Jones came up, but he said, he does have some Jones moments. "In Mongolia, I went to a flea market known for thieves. I bought a carpet there, and suddenly, all these men surrounded me. One big guy started hitting me in the chest and clearly, they were going to pick my pockets'. (again emboldening mine)

Local Doctor and Son to Search for 'Lost City of Gold'

Does the US Embassy know this man is coming here.............??:cheeky:
 
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el forastero

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I would think that Parque Nacional Armando Bermudez might be close to jungle - parts of it are classified as "subtropical rainforest" which many people would call "jungle". I very much doubt that much of the park has been explored, especially if guides are involved - they would probably stick to their known routes, and in and out in half a day or so to avoid any problems for visitors. I'd be willing to bet that other than a few park rangers, darn few people have ever been anywhere in this park that isn't very close to a trail.

Entry to the park supposedly requires a government guide and registration, which could be called government sponsorship if the government made all of the good Doctor's arrangements to come and do a look-see. It's not far from the ruins of Columbus' Fortaleza de Santo Tomas (near the present-day town of Janico) which Caonabo attempted to destroy. Caonabo came from his base at Juan de Herrera near San Juan de la Maguana to attack it.

Other than erecting some signs, has this historical site ever been explored by people looking for artifacts? Did Columbus build another fort somewhere farther in, that was unrecorded in their journals? They did keep two different journals of some parts of their voyages to present to the folks in Spain, probably to dress up their voyage in order to get funded for the next trip.

If you read some of the historical accounts from the 1490's , natives would bring gold to Santo Tomas from up to 25 miles away (10 leagues in the literature of the day). What they referred to in their writings as "Cibao" was also probably the Cordillera, and not the current Cibao valley.

As far as the question of a waste of time and resources? Some people call tramping off into the wilds fun, and some don't. I think the DR would go a lot farther in promoting tourism with things like this to do than slapping up yet another cheesy A.I. with all-you-can-eat-and-drink buffets and animation teams. Adventure tourists would line up to spend probably 5X what they would spend for a typical A.I. A week in the wilds, with a clear head and clean environment, and no nagging vendors nipping at your heels? What's that worth? Not everyone is enamored of beaches.

Good luck to the Doc. If nothing else, he will have spent a week or so going where few others have gone, and these kinds of places are getting scarcer and scarcer on this big ball of dirt we call the world. It sure beats treating smelly feet all of the time.
 
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London_Calling

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"I think the DR would go a lot farther in promoting tourism with things like this to do than slapping up yet another cheesy A.I. with all-you-can-eat-and-drink buffets and animation teams." Certainly true - but I would suggest that the DR chooses its "promotors" with care - John Mina is clearly "another wannabe reality show nut".
 
Hillbilly

Hillbilly

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As far as the question of a waste of time and resources? Some people call tramping off into the wilds fun, and some don't. I think the DR would go a lot farther in promoting tourism with things like this to do than slapping up yet another cheesy A.I. with all-you-can-eat-and-drink buffets and animation teams. Adventure tourists would line up to spend probably 5X what they would spend for a typical A.I. A week in the wilds, with a clear head and clean environment, and no nagging vendors nipping at your heels? What's that worth? Not everyone is enamored of beaches.

I agree with this statement, wholeheartedly!

HB
 
cobraboy

cobraboy

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el forastero said:
As far as the question of a waste of time and resources? Some people call tramping off into the wilds fun, and some don't. I think the DR would go a lot farther in promoting tourism with things like this to do than slapping up yet another cheesy A.I. with all-you-can-eat-and-drink buffets and animation teams. Adventure tourists would line up to spend probably 5X what they would spend for a typical A.I. A week in the wilds, with a clear head and clean environment, and no nagging vendors nipping at your heels? What's that worth? Not everyone is enamored of beaches.
Click to expand...
Adventure tourism and ecotourism are kissing cousins in the travel family. MotoCaribe is classified as an "adventure touring" company by then Travel Industry Pooh-Bahs.

Problem is those tow segments make up barely 12% of all international tourists, so there is no volume to tap into. It's a boutique industry with high costs and modest margins.

Demographically they appeal to the under 35 crowd. The problem there is those folks have less disposable income than the empty-nest crowd.

Eco/Adventure tourism is a niche, not something any economy can count on.
 
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Expat13

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cobraboy said:
Adventure tourism and ecotourism are kissing cousins in the travel family. MotoCaribe is classified as an "adventure touring" company by then Travel Industry Pooh-Bahs.

Problem is those tow segments make up barely 12% of all international tourists, so there is no volume to tap into. It's a boutique industry with high costs and modest margins.

Demographically they appeal to the under 35 crowd. The problem there is those folks have less disposable income than the empty-nest crowd.

Eco/Adventure tourism is a niche, not something any economy can count on.
Click to expand...

It sure has put Costa Rica on the map equating to increased tourism...CR beats DR hands down for gringo visitors. This is unfortunate as i have lived in San Jose as well and it far lacks the infrastructure and things to do as compared to SD.But where they kill us is; no real electricty problems, much easier to do, or set up businesses, cheaper cost of living, and get this, i had my passport natorized by a lawyer in 10 minutes for 10usd for two copies. Here my quotes ranged from the embassy at 1700peso for 1 and 3 biz day wait to DR lawyers ranging from 3000-4000 pesos. I could go on and on but no need they are completely different lifestyles and to each his own.
 
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