- Thread starter dv8
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2x1 offer for teleferico
Timed to end with the arrival of fresh meat off the cruise ships. Be interesting to see if the criminals will cooperate with pleas to leave the tourists alone. Even the politicos of Sosua are bracing for the influx just in case a few husbands can slip away for a day on the links, maybe visit our House of Culture or the Jewish Museum.
numbers
They can only take 12 persons every 15 minutes... I don't see how they can offer any service to tourists from a cruise boat. It'll probably have 10 times more people travelling by road in a minibus to the top of the mountain, than in the teleferico...
They can only take 12 persons every 15 minutes... I don't see how they can offer any service to tourists from a cruise boat. It'll probably have 10 times more people travelling by road in a minibus to the top of the mountain, than in the teleferico...
great observation about the carrying capacity. when Bert and Martha take the little termites to Great Adventure, they know the lines are going to be long, and they set aside the day to endure the waiting times. it does not matter to them, because they planned the trip from last spring, and that is par for the course. they have all day to dick around, doing nothin but occupying spots in a line. that is their thing for the day.
when some guy gets off a cruise ship, and has a few hours on shore, the last thing he needs is to get on some long line, waiting for 50 people to move forward per hour. heck, he could be back on the boat doing any number of other things which do not involve forming a queue.
you know, folks, carnival has been organizing land excursions for decades. they all know there is to know about capacity of each trip. a 100 people cannot go to brugal factory at the same time, nor to gregorio luperon museum, nor to dive in sosua bay. there is a reason why they sell few POP excursion, under different names and with slightly different plans. and they even mention in some descriptions that "you may not enter all the attractions". they can take a group of 24 to teleferico and while set A goes up the mountain, set B has pee pee break or gets a fria.
I did the Teleferico once I think about 8 years ago. I guess it was nice, it killed a few hours of the day. I don't remember there being much to do when you got to the top of the mountain. A couple of whoa what a view, walk a bit and I was ready to come back down.
there is a restaurant. not much of a view, really. there is a parking lot in the front and the building is just slightly down the hill. i found this photo of aerial view of teleferico, the restaurant is the building in the lower right corner:
the food is crap and the service is some of the worst i have ever seen.
i think the place is beautiful but it is semi abandoned, like most "attractions". the restaurant has really dumb setup that does not fully utilize the potential of the place. food is nasty and servers are as welcoming as hammerhead sharks swimming in chum. there used to be few pools with fountains, all unusable now. top of the mountain is is a gorgeous botanical garden but to make it interesting they'd have to clean the area properly. get water attractions to work again, build a small museum pavilion, even with just replicas of items, presenting short story of POP and with a shop where you can buy photos, art, canvass bags with puerto plata related motives and so on.
personally i think teleferico is a terrific place for weddings and celebrations. the view is stunning, the air is fresh. a fine example of how this sh*t is done is monserrate in bogota.
personally i think teleferico is a terrific place for weddings and celebrations. the view is stunning, the air is fresh. a fine example of how this sh*t is done is monserrate in bogota.
Go beyond where most people are taken, and you will discover a new world atop Mt. Isabel de Torres. Highly recommended for hikers. I was privileged to tour the park with architect Benjamin Paiewonsky when commissioned to do a story on the park. Paiewonsky also designed the very lovely botanical gardens of Santo Domingo. That was at least 10 years ago, and a renovation was being considered. He had not been back himself in years. But the overgrowth of the vegetation was and is majestic.
If you take the time to really hike the park (take about two hours to walk the trails on top), you will discover a world where the vegetation is giganteum. The same shrubs, plants and trees we know in the rest of the island bloom to enormous proportions. It is chilly up there, I would believe even in the heat of summer. There may be mist. You have to be an observer to note the colors, the shades of green, the variety in leaves and flowers… It is not boring… it is a natural masterpiece.
If you take the time to really hike the park (take about two hours to walk the trails on top), you will discover a world where the vegetation is giganteum. The same shrubs, plants and trees we know in the rest of the island bloom to enormous proportions. It is chilly up there, I would believe even in the heat of summer. There may be mist. You have to be an observer to note the colors, the shades of green, the variety in leaves and flowers… It is not boring… it is a natural masterpiece.
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this is just crappy little town of puerto plata. campo con luz, how capitale?os call it. but a good, knowledgeable guide can make all the difference.
About 25 years ago I went on it with my dad. We had to wait a good half hour before getting the ride up and then had a nice time checking out the gardens on top. It got to be about 3PM and when we went back, there was an even bigger line. But off on the side was this road, so we thought we'd "just walk down"..
About a half mile down a very steep hill the road suddenly turns left, but we've reached the point of no return. About three miles later, we finally get to the nearest crossroad and manage to flag down a pick up truck. When my dad asked how far to POP, he said something like 15 miles.. We had circled around to the back side of the mountain and it took at least a half hour to get back to POP after paying the truck driver to take us there. At one point, there was a bridge that looked like it was about to collapse, but the driver just said, "no problem" and went over it. One of my favorite times with my dad...
About a half mile down a very steep hill the road suddenly turns left, but we've reached the point of no return. About three miles later, we finally get to the nearest crossroad and manage to flag down a pick up truck. When my dad asked how far to POP, he said something like 15 miles.. We had circled around to the back side of the mountain and it took at least a half hour to get back to POP after paying the truck driver to take us there. At one point, there was a bridge that looked like it was about to collapse, but the driver just said, "no problem" and went over it. One of my favorite times with my dad...
Dolores mentioned that if you spend 2 hours walking the grounds, and if you are an admirer of botanicals, then there is spectacle to be had up at the top of the mountain. dv8 mentioned how crappy the restaurant is. i am astonished by how bad the quality of food is in locations such as these. heck, if you walk for 2 hours, you might get hungry. the stuff at the location is not fit for human consumption. the recurrent problem is that the people who get these concessions more often than not have no idea of how to provide worthwhile fare for customers, but get the spots as a favor, or political payback.
I walked the paths for a few and I guess if you like looking at plants you would enjoy it. The fountain pool water was green from algae.
I looked back at the pictures I took. We were getting on the Teleferico at 11:54 AM and coming back down 59 minutes.
After that we drove to Cabarete for lunch, then returned to hotel in Puerto Plata. It was something to do to kill the day. If I was in the area with someone who has never been I would take up the 2x1 offer.