I'm a frequent lurker, but finally thought I'd post to report on a recent trip. My husband, daughter (2 yrs) and I recently returned from a 2 week trip the D.R. where we stayed at my husband's family's home in San Cristobal (Madre Vieja Sur). Are there any other expats or frequent visitors to San Cristobal on this board? I havent seen much mention of the town here.
Our trip went smoothly, except we tried Spirit Airlines for the first time, and I think it may be the last time we use Spirit. Our bags were delayed until a day after we'd arrived in Santo Domingo, so we had to drag our butts back to the airport which was no fun. Then on the return flight, we were waiting for about an hour for our bags to show up so we could go through customs. Then our flight to DC was delayed 2 hours, and our bags were delayed another hour at the carousel in DC. Other people on our flights had similar experiences and said they would think twice about using Spirit agian
A little background: After a term-abroad in high-school I fell in love with the country and have been going back periodically ever since. During my travels I have stayed in hotels for a night or two, but I've mostly stayed with host families from well-to-do, to very humble. I'm very familiar with taking a "bath" with a bucket of water and a scoop, life with intermittant electricity and water, and using motores, guaguas (busses) and conchos (public cars) to get around. My in-laws have dubbed me an honorary Dominican. I don't think I deserve that title (I won't eat chicken feet, Mondongo (tripe stew), or bacalao (salt-preserved fish) and, speaking of food, I'm at a loss when it comes to cooking most Dominican dishes), but I do like to think I know more about Dominican life than the average turista.
During this trip we stayed over Christmas and New Years. We spent most of our time hanging out in San Cristobal, around my husband's old neighborhood. San Cristobal is a town about 1/2 hour to 45 minutes west of Santo Domingo. It's probably most well known as the birthplace of Trujillo (dictator from 1930-1960's), and the home of La Toma, a large pool fed by natural spring water built by Trujillo. San Cristobal is like most of the DR, lots of people barely getting by, some extrordinary wealth, a pervasive lack of municipal services (water, electricity, trash). But, also like most of the D.R. the atmosphere is very laid-back, the people are very friendly and full of life, there's always bachata, merengue, salsa or regeton blasting from somewhere (sometimes all at the same time).
We visited over Christmas/New Years and enjoyed ourselves a lot. Dominican "Nochebuena" (christmas eve) is celebrated as a big dinner with the family, and gifts are not exchanged until Kings' day around Jan. 6th. New Years is brought in, again with the family, but usually outside with the whole neighborhood, and with lots of fireworks! My poor daughter was terrified of the fireworks.
We went to our favorite beach several times. "Cocolandia" is about 45 minutes south/west of San Cristobal. It is not a popular tourist destination, and even many san cristobalenos don't know where it is (I think it's better known as Palenque lejos) but it is a nice place to spend a tranquil day playing in the waves or under the shade of almond trees. There are a group of guys who rent out chairs and tables (even if there are plenty of open chairs, if you sit down in one you are expected to pay, or order food and drinks from the restaraunt) and serve as your waiter. Food from the restaraunt is good, but expensive (up to RD$800 for lobster, $2-400 for regular rice/beans chicken). We brought with us the typical Dominican beach lunch of spaguetti and rice, but ordered lots of Presidente from the bar. The water is lovely, but the beach is a dark sand and rocky in spots, so if you're looking for the perfect white-sands beach this may not be for you. Try Boca Chica, or the north shore beaches. However if you?re tired of people chasing you down and trying to braid your hair, or sell you the best conch shells or souveneirs or aphrodisiacs in the D.R., you might find Cocolandia a breath of fresh air.
Najayo beach is a little closer to San Cristobal on the same road. There are more restaraunts and bars than Palenque/Cocolandia, and the eats are a little more affordable, but the beach is rockier and it is usually more crowded. The crowd is mostly Dominican, but a crowd is a crowd nonetheless.
During our stay lots of Dominicans warned us about the increase in crime and delinquency. We had no run-ins or bad experiences while we were there.
If anyone is interested in staying with a host-family in the DR for an experience away from the resorts, let me know and I'll try to hook you up. In a year or two I'd like to start a B&B either in San Cristobal or closer to Palenque, but that is just a dream....
Our trip went smoothly, except we tried Spirit Airlines for the first time, and I think it may be the last time we use Spirit. Our bags were delayed until a day after we'd arrived in Santo Domingo, so we had to drag our butts back to the airport which was no fun. Then on the return flight, we were waiting for about an hour for our bags to show up so we could go through customs. Then our flight to DC was delayed 2 hours, and our bags were delayed another hour at the carousel in DC. Other people on our flights had similar experiences and said they would think twice about using Spirit agian
A little background: After a term-abroad in high-school I fell in love with the country and have been going back periodically ever since. During my travels I have stayed in hotels for a night or two, but I've mostly stayed with host families from well-to-do, to very humble. I'm very familiar with taking a "bath" with a bucket of water and a scoop, life with intermittant electricity and water, and using motores, guaguas (busses) and conchos (public cars) to get around. My in-laws have dubbed me an honorary Dominican. I don't think I deserve that title (I won't eat chicken feet, Mondongo (tripe stew), or bacalao (salt-preserved fish) and, speaking of food, I'm at a loss when it comes to cooking most Dominican dishes), but I do like to think I know more about Dominican life than the average turista.
During this trip we stayed over Christmas and New Years. We spent most of our time hanging out in San Cristobal, around my husband's old neighborhood. San Cristobal is a town about 1/2 hour to 45 minutes west of Santo Domingo. It's probably most well known as the birthplace of Trujillo (dictator from 1930-1960's), and the home of La Toma, a large pool fed by natural spring water built by Trujillo. San Cristobal is like most of the DR, lots of people barely getting by, some extrordinary wealth, a pervasive lack of municipal services (water, electricity, trash). But, also like most of the D.R. the atmosphere is very laid-back, the people are very friendly and full of life, there's always bachata, merengue, salsa or regeton blasting from somewhere (sometimes all at the same time).
We visited over Christmas/New Years and enjoyed ourselves a lot. Dominican "Nochebuena" (christmas eve) is celebrated as a big dinner with the family, and gifts are not exchanged until Kings' day around Jan. 6th. New Years is brought in, again with the family, but usually outside with the whole neighborhood, and with lots of fireworks! My poor daughter was terrified of the fireworks.
We went to our favorite beach several times. "Cocolandia" is about 45 minutes south/west of San Cristobal. It is not a popular tourist destination, and even many san cristobalenos don't know where it is (I think it's better known as Palenque lejos) but it is a nice place to spend a tranquil day playing in the waves or under the shade of almond trees. There are a group of guys who rent out chairs and tables (even if there are plenty of open chairs, if you sit down in one you are expected to pay, or order food and drinks from the restaraunt) and serve as your waiter. Food from the restaraunt is good, but expensive (up to RD$800 for lobster, $2-400 for regular rice/beans chicken). We brought with us the typical Dominican beach lunch of spaguetti and rice, but ordered lots of Presidente from the bar. The water is lovely, but the beach is a dark sand and rocky in spots, so if you're looking for the perfect white-sands beach this may not be for you. Try Boca Chica, or the north shore beaches. However if you?re tired of people chasing you down and trying to braid your hair, or sell you the best conch shells or souveneirs or aphrodisiacs in the D.R., you might find Cocolandia a breath of fresh air.
Najayo beach is a little closer to San Cristobal on the same road. There are more restaraunts and bars than Palenque/Cocolandia, and the eats are a little more affordable, but the beach is rockier and it is usually more crowded. The crowd is mostly Dominican, but a crowd is a crowd nonetheless.
During our stay lots of Dominicans warned us about the increase in crime and delinquency. We had no run-ins or bad experiences while we were there.
If anyone is interested in staying with a host-family in the DR for an experience away from the resorts, let me know and I'll try to hook you up. In a year or two I'd like to start a B&B either in San Cristobal or closer to Palenque, but that is just a dream....