We are always trying to improve MotoCaribe's tour routes to give guests much greater exposure to the "real" Dominican Republic, those areas off the tourist grid where the local culture is richest and less spoiled by outside influences (a tough task!)
A couple of weeks ago she and her better half agreed to meet with us after dropping Mom CB off at SDQ to show some of the southern coast west of San Cristobal (FWIW, San Cristobal is a horrid town.)
And show us she did!
The afternoon was spent touring the area by car, offering some welcome additions to our SouthWest tour.
Generally, we go to the SW by the El Baden/Medina bypass from Autopista Duarte, past La Toma, a stop at Cuevas del Pomier and on to get on the southern autopista at San Cristobel to Bani. That 33km stretch of autopista is boring and dangerous because of multiple crossroad access, commercial trucks, varying vehicle speeds...and often high winds. We stop at the big Chinese parada east of Bani for lunch, interesting but somewhat forgettable.
But we don't take that stretch of autopista any longer.
Instead Grace & Mani gave us an excellent alternative: after only 7 short km on the autopista, we get off at the El Limon-Duveaux exit, ride a mountain road to 506 and on to an excellent beachside lunch at Golden Beach Restaurant on Playa Palenque, then past Nizao and Punta Catalina (where the huge new power plant is being built, want a sight!!!), and rejoining the end of the autopista at Bani!
We took that route, first time, last week. It takes an additional 1.5 hours to arrive at Las Salinas, but what a great addition to the tour! We can cut the additional time down by at least an hour by better time management, route knowledge and ordering lunch ahead.
Alter Ego, thank you so much! I'll have some special coffee for you when it's ready!
A couple of weeks ago she and her better half agreed to meet with us after dropping Mom CB off at SDQ to show some of the southern coast west of San Cristobal (FWIW, San Cristobal is a horrid town.)
And show us she did!
The afternoon was spent touring the area by car, offering some welcome additions to our SouthWest tour.
Generally, we go to the SW by the El Baden/Medina bypass from Autopista Duarte, past La Toma, a stop at Cuevas del Pomier and on to get on the southern autopista at San Cristobel to Bani. That 33km stretch of autopista is boring and dangerous because of multiple crossroad access, commercial trucks, varying vehicle speeds...and often high winds. We stop at the big Chinese parada east of Bani for lunch, interesting but somewhat forgettable.
But we don't take that stretch of autopista any longer.
Instead Grace & Mani gave us an excellent alternative: after only 7 short km on the autopista, we get off at the El Limon-Duveaux exit, ride a mountain road to 506 and on to an excellent beachside lunch at Golden Beach Restaurant on Playa Palenque, then past Nizao and Punta Catalina (where the huge new power plant is being built, want a sight!!!), and rejoining the end of the autopista at Bani!
We took that route, first time, last week. It takes an additional 1.5 hours to arrive at Las Salinas, but what a great addition to the tour! We can cut the additional time down by at least an hour by better time management, route knowledge and ordering lunch ahead.
Alter Ego, thank you so much! I'll have some special coffee for you when it's ready!