Just got back from another great trip to DR. Flew into Santo Domingo and rented a car for our drive up to Las Terrenas. Reserved the car on-line with Europcar. Got to the counter and proceeded to duke it out with the counter agent over insurance, as expected. I lost both rounds decisively and ended up getting most of the insurance since this was our first driving "adventure" in DR. Hit the road in a Nissan XTrack. It was the Nissan or a fairly new red Mercedes crossover. Call me crazy but chose the Nissan. Didn't need the extra attention (and limited ground clearance) the red Merc would provide.
The air conditioner was broken in the car rental building, so my wife and I were sweating by the time we got our of there. The counter agent was dressed with a shirt, tie and, yes, a sweater!!! A subtle observation I couldn't help but make.
Made a beeline for the toll road North to LT. Immediately found myself starting wide eyed at an oncoming truck in my lane, performing an ill advised passing maneuver. How dare he!! Hah hah. We've been in DR enough to understand how they drive, so tucked over against the wall, shrugged, and continued on. Game on for the drive to Samana!
Nice uneventful drive up the toll road and arrived safe, albeit a bit road weary. My thoughts on the car rental and driving adventure include the following.
1) Would rather leave the driving to a local, so next time we'll most likely get a cab, then rent a quad or something in LT. We were advised some folks rent the car in SD, drive up to LT, drop the car at Europcar in LT, then re-rent for the trip back to the airport. Much cheaper than renting for the whole stay. But you may still need to rent something if you want to get around locally. Almost a no-win situation.
2) Driving in DR is simply insane. I have experienced driving in the Far East, where the concept is sort of like the Bruce Lee concept of water "flow" (i.e. if you want to exit or whatever you just sort of elbow your way to the exit), sort of like a river. In the West it is very rules based, of course (lanes, lights, turn signals, etc). The DR is sort of a hybrid of the two (i.e. we have lanes and such, and we suggest you use them, but it is not really necessary).
3) The actual roadway is a sort of social center for Dominican life, and all the dangers that go with that.
4) Driving at night is much worse than daytime.
5) Speed humps pop up with absolutely no warning.
6) Guagua's rule the road. They don't give a damn. Had to do a full reverse at a four way intersection because a bus driver wouldn't yield.
7) And other stuff most of you are probably very aware of. :0)
Continued.....
The air conditioner was broken in the car rental building, so my wife and I were sweating by the time we got our of there. The counter agent was dressed with a shirt, tie and, yes, a sweater!!! A subtle observation I couldn't help but make.
Made a beeline for the toll road North to LT. Immediately found myself starting wide eyed at an oncoming truck in my lane, performing an ill advised passing maneuver. How dare he!! Hah hah. We've been in DR enough to understand how they drive, so tucked over against the wall, shrugged, and continued on. Game on for the drive to Samana!
Nice uneventful drive up the toll road and arrived safe, albeit a bit road weary. My thoughts on the car rental and driving adventure include the following.
1) Would rather leave the driving to a local, so next time we'll most likely get a cab, then rent a quad or something in LT. We were advised some folks rent the car in SD, drive up to LT, drop the car at Europcar in LT, then re-rent for the trip back to the airport. Much cheaper than renting for the whole stay. But you may still need to rent something if you want to get around locally. Almost a no-win situation.
2) Driving in DR is simply insane. I have experienced driving in the Far East, where the concept is sort of like the Bruce Lee concept of water "flow" (i.e. if you want to exit or whatever you just sort of elbow your way to the exit), sort of like a river. In the West it is very rules based, of course (lanes, lights, turn signals, etc). The DR is sort of a hybrid of the two (i.e. we have lanes and such, and we suggest you use them, but it is not really necessary).
3) The actual roadway is a sort of social center for Dominican life, and all the dangers that go with that.
4) Driving at night is much worse than daytime.
5) Speed humps pop up with absolutely no warning.
6) Guagua's rule the road. They don't give a damn. Had to do a full reverse at a four way intersection because a bus driver wouldn't yield.
7) And other stuff most of you are probably very aware of. :0)
Continued.....