Pico Duarte guides
I don't know about the best, but I can tell you what I did. I went to La Cienaga up the road from Jarabacoa by motoconcho. We met a guide on the road. It's a small town and guides hang out on the road. Even though it was only about 11 AM, he said it would make more sense to begin the hike at dawn the next day. My guide was Luis, but the arrangements were made by a guide named Julio, in whose house I stayed in in Cienaga.
We moved fast. Left around 7 AM, reached the dorms at La Comparticion around 2:30 PM, left the mules and went to the peak by 4 PM, back to La COmparticion for dinner at 5 PM. I ascended by foot and rode the mule on the descents. The next day we left around 8 AM and got back to La Cienaga around 1 PM. Mind you, I was *running* down the trail. It's a beautiful trail. I did a little less than half on the mule's back, but it didn't strike me as a hard trail.
The trip cost $100 for the guide and mules, and I paid about 400RD for more food than I needed, plus 100RD entrance fee, so it cost about $115 total. I slept in a ratty sleeping bag of my guides in the rat-infested dorm shelter in La Comparticion. I would recommend getting a tent if you can. It was cold at night in La Comparticion, even in the shelter. I didn't need my coat for hiking but I was glad to wear it at night.
Our hurry didn't do us any good. I was hoping to hitch a ride on a vegetable truck to Santiago that afternoon, but it didn't work. Ended up spending another night in La Cienaga and taking a guagua in the early AM. The hardest part was getting in and out of La Cienaga.
It might be worth it to hire from Jarabacoa or the beach, just to get the transport into and out of La Cienaga. With guaguas the trip Cienaga-Jarabacoa-La Vega-Santiago cost about 150RD = $5, but there aren't many guaguas on the Cienaga leg.
I hope this helps.
Ken
