I just got back for the DR and had a wonderful time ... I spent time travelling by guagua and carito and loved it , sometimes uncomfortable, but always interesting and full of adventure. Dominicans would probably think me mad as they wont get the fascination I hold for this mode of getting around, but for me it s the real deal. I went from Santiago, to Sosua to Gasper Hernandez , on to Joba arriba and the most beautiful road views I d ever seen en route to Tenares then back to Santiago.. all in one day....I m going back in April and am trying to do this route ... Santo Domingo to Punta Cana.( just to see what all the fuss is about with this place!).. then to Higuey, to Seibo, Monte plata to Bonao, across to Constanza and up to Santiago... do you think this is doable with guaguas? I want to avoid the big tour buses... no flavor, no ambiente....any thoughts form anyone, any tweaking on better towns to visit/ sleep over en route?
- Thread starter amstellite
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guaguaing around the Dominican republic.............
Good for you! I did the same many years ago. When you get off the inter-city highways and onto the campo byways you will meet sterling, if simple, people. You'll always find a place to stay if you need one, a welcoming meal everywhere. You'll also meet the occasional educated and well-travelled minimalist who, realizing the world has little better to offer, has gone Galt by coming back home.
The guaguas are only the middle of the transport chain:
—— big inter-city busses > smaller inter-town busses > guaguas > carritos > camionetas > motoconchos
The camionetas on the dirt roads in the campo are the most fun — if it's not raining.
The guaguas are only the middle of the transport chain:
—— big inter-city busses > smaller inter-town busses > guaguas > carritos > camionetas > motoconchos
The camionetas on the dirt roads in the campo are the most fun — if it's not raining.
well, it's a bit like taking a dominican who's never been out of the campo to tokyo with metro, glass elevators, escalators inside shops and so on. nothing exiting for local residents but super cool for a visitor 
dominicans would think of you as mad for enjoying guaguas because for them it's daily living. they have no other choice. and boy oh boy, would they prefer to do the same road in the comfort of own car.
i kinda get what you're saying. when i first moved here i traveled in guaguas all the time and i enjoyed it. it was always a cool adventure to see how many people can fit inside and what strange things they travel with. still, i am glad i changed that for driving a car.
dominicans would think of you as mad for enjoying guaguas because for them it's daily living. they have no other choice. and boy oh boy, would they prefer to do the same road in the comfort of own car.
i kinda get what you're saying. when i first moved here i traveled in guaguas all the time and i enjoyed it. it was always a cool adventure to see how many people can fit inside and what strange things they travel with. still, i am glad i changed that for driving a car.
I recall that in the 1980's, the usual mode of transport from Barahona to San Juan de la Maguana and from Sosua to Las Terrenas was not by guagua, but by pickup truck. If it rained, the passengers had to hold a tarp over themselves.
I recall a trip from Rio San Juan in a pickup truck that had a leaky master cylinder. Of course, I did not know that at the time. I was going to Las Terrenas. The driver would stop every so often and add fluid. Eventually, we got to the place where the road turns off to go over the mountain to Las Terrenas, and the driver told me to get off and take a motoconcho. It took about half an hour to get him to deduct for the portion of the trip that he could not complete, because driving over the mountain with no brakes was even too insane for him. I think that the amount was what would have been $3.00 US, but I did not have enough change to pay for the entire trip and was pretty sure he would refuse to make change, and keep the whole larger bill. I was on a budget at the time,and this was before ATMs.
Strangely, he kept threatening to call the police. Like he is going to want them to hear that he is hauling people in a pickup truck with leaking brakes. Finally, he gave up, and went off cussing. I got some approving looks from the remaining passengers who for some reason were going on to wherever the next place selling brake fluid might be, probably Sanchez.
Within a half hour, a guagua appeared and I managed to get to Las Terrenas before dark, which was a good thing, because there was no light there except for people with "plantas". I think the electric lights came in 1990.
I recall a trip from Rio San Juan in a pickup truck that had a leaky master cylinder. Of course, I did not know that at the time. I was going to Las Terrenas. The driver would stop every so often and add fluid. Eventually, we got to the place where the road turns off to go over the mountain to Las Terrenas, and the driver told me to get off and take a motoconcho. It took about half an hour to get him to deduct for the portion of the trip that he could not complete, because driving over the mountain with no brakes was even too insane for him. I think that the amount was what would have been $3.00 US, but I did not have enough change to pay for the entire trip and was pretty sure he would refuse to make change, and keep the whole larger bill. I was on a budget at the time,and this was before ATMs.
Strangely, he kept threatening to call the police. Like he is going to want them to hear that he is hauling people in a pickup truck with leaking brakes. Finally, he gave up, and went off cussing. I got some approving looks from the remaining passengers who for some reason were going on to wherever the next place selling brake fluid might be, probably Sanchez.
Within a half hour, a guagua appeared and I managed to get to Las Terrenas before dark, which was a good thing, because there was no light there except for people with "plantas". I think the electric lights came in 1990.
One of the most memorable experiences in my life was traveling by guagua in Punta Cana to experience the local transportation, a very cheap way to get around -- consider difference of RD$20 to US$25 by taxi!. It was when the bus went from Macao through El Salado south to Higuey. The bus went through rural area with small towns and stopped to pick up about 20 little school children in their uniforms who just packed in the bus with all the other commuters. The bus driver apparently routinely boarded the children and then would go dropping them off on the road to Higuey. The trip was free for the school children who behaved very well.
Go for it! The main downside with public transportation is that it is very time consuming, but it is a wonderful way to experience the Dominican Republic.
Go for it! The main downside with public transportation is that it is very time consuming, but it is a wonderful way to experience the Dominican Republic.
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Ok - just to clarify - I am assuming your trip by "guagua" was bus trips around the country, correct?
(I used to take the bus all over the place in the US - cheaper than the train and got to see a lot - but I have not had the experience in the DR as of yet.)
I ask because my wife and her family call our jeepita (small SUV) a guagua quite often - probably because it can carry several people and it is bigger than a carro... Often, I have to guess at the context in order to know if they are talking about our car or an actual bus
(I used to take the bus all over the place in the US - cheaper than the train and got to see a lot - but I have not had the experience in the DR as of yet.)
I ask because my wife and her family call our jeepita (small SUV) a guagua quite often - probably because it can carry several people and it is bigger than a carro...
Often, I have to guess at the context in order to know if they are talking about our car or an actual bus Ok - just to clarify - I am assuming your trip by "guagua" was bus trips around the country, correct?
(I used to take the bus all over the place in the US - cheaper than the train and got to see a lot - but I have not had the experience in the DR as of yet.)
I ask because my wife and her family call our jeepita (small SUV) a guagua quite often - probably because it can carry several people and it is bigger than a carro...
A guagua is a bus, yes. And it can be a jeepeta, a camioneta, or - as in your case - a jeepetica. It's all about context.
Guagua is pronounced GWAH-GWAH for the sound buses made long ago with their ah-oogah horns.
Today the expression is most commonly used for the ubiquitous vans for 8-12 passengers. They carry lots of cargo and people — I’ve ridden with up to 23, not counting chickens. They have a cobrador, a boy who takes money and pushes passengers into place not unlike the pusher in Japanese trains.
Guaguas travel fixed routes and don’t leave their stations until nearly full. Along their route, sort of like their ah-oogah ancestors, the guaguas stop and signal remote farm dwellers of their availability with a beep-beep instead of an ah-oogah, ah-oogah.
Carritos (mostly battered Toyotas) in the cities have take up the same cry. That's why the cities sound like old recordings of Paris streets. It's not the private drivers, it's the carritos. They pause at every person on the sidewalk that looks idle, and they give a double beep to see if they have a fare. It's quite a noise problem since there are more carritos than private cars, and they pause about 8 feet off the curb, just enough to tie up two lanes of traffic for every block that they advance.
Today the expression is most commonly used for the ubiquitous vans for 8-12 passengers. They carry lots of cargo and people — I’ve ridden with up to 23, not counting chickens. They have a cobrador, a boy who takes money and pushes passengers into place not unlike the pusher in Japanese trains.
Guaguas travel fixed routes and don’t leave their stations until nearly full. Along their route, sort of like their ah-oogah ancestors, the guaguas stop and signal remote farm dwellers of their availability with a beep-beep instead of an ah-oogah, ah-oogah.
Carritos (mostly battered Toyotas) in the cities have take up the same cry. That's why the cities sound like old recordings of Paris streets. It's not the private drivers, it's the carritos. They pause at every person on the sidewalk that looks idle, and they give a double beep to see if they have a fare. It's quite a noise problem since there are more carritos than private cars, and they pause about 8 feet off the curb, just enough to tie up two lanes of traffic for every block that they advance.
This is a handy little website for the OP. Lists the bus (guagua) times from one place to the other and how long the journey takes. It is in Spanish but not hard to work out.
Lista de Paradas de bus, treny ferry en Repblica Dominicana
Matilda
Lista de Paradas de bus, treny ferry en Repblica Dominicana
Matilda