Moving to the Baharona Area

Nattalie

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Mar 2, 2009
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Hi,

My family and I (husband,me, son-15yrs, daughter- 3yrs, son-1 year, and possibly my 17-year-old daughter) will move to the Baharona area from the U.S. in September of '09. We bought several acres on top of a hill. The land is fairly wild and has many fruit trees but no house or amenities. We may build there, but for now we would like to find place to rent.

Does anyone know what the rental situation in the Baharona area is? Approximately how much for how large. Is it hard to find a place that is very close to the ocean? Is all the water in that area rough?

Are there any other Americans or English speaking people living in that area?

I'd appreciate any advice.

We are excited and a bit nervous about the adventure. We realize that it will not be paradise and that we will stick out and be easy targets for some. But we have also met some really wonderful, loving people there. We see this as an opportunity to grow and learn as a family and as individuals.
 

Hillbilly

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Jan 1, 2002
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I can't for the love of God understand the WHY of your move, but the first thing you had better do is learn the name of of the place: Bara hona (the H is silent!).

I hope you have a lot of money. And patience. And, oh by the way, what of your children's educations>/?? There are NO schools worth speaking of in the area that can remotely prepare them of a US college...As for cultural life, you have picked a desert.

Good people, yes. Very intelligent people, yes again, some of the brightest, but the ones I know got out of there as fast as they could....

Sorry, but I can't see this working...I am sitting here arguing with my 42 year old son abut this move. I jst cannot fathom why you would remove your children from the US and submit them to the utter cultural wasteland of Barahona, when you do not speak the language (How is your Haitian Creole??), know nothing of the place and have no place to live??? It seems totally absurd to me, and I live here, know Barahona, have many friends in the area, and still do not go there unless I have to...

HB

As for rentals, you'll have to go there and see about that, I doubt that you can do it over the internet, nor would I advise you to do so...no matter what they say...
 
Nov 25, 2008
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the only way to know how much rent is going for is to actually visit and look,

pain and suffering is what your children will be exposed; think about the capitol, santiago, puerto plata is your looking for beaches
 

J D Sauser

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Nov 20, 2004
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Hi,

My family and I (husband,me, son-15yrs, daughter- 3yrs, son-1 year, and possibly my 17-year-old daughter) will move to the Baharona area .....

I can't for the love of God understand the WHY of your move...
what of your children's educations>/?? There are NO schools worth speaking of in the area that can remotely prepare them of a US college...As for cultural life, you have picked a desert.

Read and re-read Hillbilly's advice! Better yet, copy it a hundred times by hand... once every day.
Hillbilly is NO hillbilly at all, don't let yourself be fooled by his pseudonym... his suggestions should get you thinking, at least for the sake of your children.
I know you did not ask but...
Their (your children's') possibilities and thus chances in life in the DR are very limited, if they were to grow up and study in Santo Domingo or Santiago... but around Barahona they may be limited to what your couple of acres on that hill may bear... as long you get to keep it, that is. Yes, it is your children, but then, it is their future that is at stake.
I can understand that people who can afford to, would break out of the rat race of developed countries. But keep in mind, we are full of people here who would give their everything to get a shot a getting the kind of education you children could get in your country.


There are few expats in the South West. Few I have heard of, have been successful at staying there over a long period. On the other side, it makes that region so attractive as it is still pretty natural and so very, very Dominican. Yet, let's not overlook the fact that the drug biz, corruption and crime has found it's way into that region too... maybe because it's so "disconnected" from the rest of the country.
Some expats have "lost" their land to powerful army people who wanted their land of finca and after long fight given up.
The campo is also not all that peaceful and safe as it may seem. A lot of "justice" is carried out by the use of machetes. Even locals from the capital, attracted by cheap finca prices and the outlook of even cheaper labor have stories to report nobody would care to read about before bed time.
While a lot of folks will prove incredibly nice, friendly and willing to help, some people may surprise you thinking that because you are Gringos, you have money (lots of it! Actually you DO... you can afford to buy you land, build your ranch and set yourself up), and that thus you don't really need the livestock you are raising on your acreages... and just steal it and maybe even keep in on their field next to you. What'ya gonna do? Who you gonna call, huh?
In other words, if you manage, my hat off to you, you would be very tough folks.

My cousin here has a woman from the South (Bani). I just showed her this thread and translated it to her and asked what she thought about what your chances are. She laughed, shook her head in disbelief and went off saying: "... 'tan pasao eto gringo!" Would you like for me to translate this for you?

... J-D.
 

Lambada

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Mar 4, 2004
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My family and I (husband,me, son-15yrs, daughter- 3yrs, son-1 year, and possibly my 17-year-old daughter) will move to the Baharona area from the U.S. in September of '09. We bought several acres on top of a hill.

I have only visited the DR and Baharona once.

You bought land & decided to upsticks and move on the basis of one visit? For an adult couple on their own that might be deemed foolhardy. To bring children into the equation is, in my view, irresponsible; apologies if I offend but I don't know another way of putting it. But, your time for asking for advice would have been before you made the decision. All we can do now is to wish you well, which I do unreservedly. And advise you that you cannot get a weapons licence until you have residencia.

If you have the opportunity to rethink this decision, please take it.
 

Nattalie

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Mar 2, 2009
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Wow! I didn't expect to get such a negative response from so many, but I appreciate it just the same. All of your concerns are valid and some of them especially so.

Let me first explain why some of the issues do not concern me that much.

Yes, we do have a few Dominican connections. My husband has traveled to the DR once each year for at least 15 years. He sponsored a food program for impoverished children in Baharona. I am the one who has only been there once. We have only been married a few years.

We both speak Spanish, not as fluently as we'd like, but we get along. I do know how to pronounce the name of the town. No, I do not know French or Hatian Creole, but we can learn.

Education for the children-- I plan to homeschool my 15-year-old and also have him attend the local school (to be immersed in the language). He is a freshman now. The quality of education here (West Texas--desert) is mediocre at best by national standards. I believe I can do a better job. I am an English instructor at our local university, and my husband has two Master's degrees. My eldest daughter graduates from highschool this May and has already taken the SAT. She will be going to college in the U.S. soon. The other two are babies and can be taught at home as well.

I am concerned about healthcare and saftey. Perhaps, we are being foolish. We are going to give it a try. We may not be able to handle it, and I do not want to put my children in a dangerous position. We felt that living in another country that speaks another language would give them a greater world-view and make them bilingual, something that most Americans are not.

Gun license is a good idea. Machetes are scary. (That is understatement, of course.)

Culturally remote--we have some experience with that. We live in a small town in the West Texas desert with a population of 6000. The closest Wal-Mart is an hour away. The closest Starbucks is 2.5 hours away as is the closest large grocery store. But, that is still nothing compared to what we will experience in the DR.

My husband and I did spend about 3 days in the campesino about 10 to 15 min from B. We were in a small shack that we shared with a local. We felt pretty safe. We were thinking of bringing a good tent and camping out on our land while we search for a suitable rental. Would that be extremely dangerous? Perhaps, I should again urge my husband to fly out to the DR this summer to look for rentals. He wanted to save the money for the move.

What is the best way to search for rentals in Baharona? From the real estate section forum, I saw that it can be quite capricious.

Again, thanks for your comments.
 

Chip

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Jul 25, 2007
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Education for the children-- I plan to homeschool my 15-year-old and also have him attend the local school (to be immersed in the language). He is a freshman now. The quality of education here (West Texas--desert) is mediocre at best by national standards. I believe I can do a better job. I am an English instructor at our local university, and my husband has two Master's degrees. My eldest daughter graduates from highschool this May and has already taken the SAT. She will be going to college in the U.S. soon. The other two are babies and can be taught at home as well.

I wouldn't bother sending your 15 yr old to public school here in the DR as what he already knows will be more than what the teachers have been exposed to. Home schooling is the only option for you in the Barahona area. If you want to have your kids learn Spanish the correct way hire a tutor and they will certainly have time to practice speaking as you all will be immersed in a Spanish speaking environment.

I am concerned about healthcare and saftey. Perhaps, we are being foolish. We are going to give it a try. We may not be able to handle it, and I do not want to put my children in a dangerous position. We felt that living in another country that speaks another language would give them a greater world-view and make them bilingual, something that most Americans are not.

Foolish could be a good word for what you are doing as healthcare in the boonies is marginal at best. Be prepared to accept that the outcome of any emergency medical situation will be death as the closest facilities may not be sufficiently good. People die here all of the time here in the public hospitals in the boonies for lack of equipment and sufficiently experienced doctors.

As far as safety goes, it is a fact that foreigners who live in isolated areas are much more likley to be robbed or attacked as they are seen as outsiders and are ALL are believed to be rich. If you want people to think other wise, build a typical Dominican wood slatted home with coorugated metal roof and don't own a car. Also, don't have more than one tv and use motorcycles for transportation.

My advice to you is if you really value your families health and education first is to look for a place in SD or Santiago that has access the aforementioned and also live in an established community. There are plenty of communities that are onm the outside of towns that are in sufficiently rural areas and if you want to farm you could buy a plot close by and have a Dominican watch it for you for RD6k a month.

best of luck

chip - santiago
 

Lambada

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I think the question about the Dominican connection was probably hoping to elicit a response that you had family here.

Let me first explain why some of the issues do not concern me that much.

I can now understand why you might have such a positive outlook. The people your husband would have met on the food programme would doubtless have all been very pleasant and probably grateful for his efforts. It's the others we're trying to warn you about! If your husband partnered with any Dominican organisations in this effort, has he got contacts which might have some influence? People who could 'almost' be viewed as family? I'm assuming not because they would be helping you on the rentals, rather than you having to ask here.

Camping out in a tent on your land would NOT be advisable in my view unless you have some sort of armed protection, like a guard. Which kinda negates the joys of camping a bit.....:cheeky: It wouldn't be advisable for a couple of adults, let alone children.

I'm assuming you've checked the title to your land & all that sort of stuff is ok? Just that if anyone else had an eye on it, that would make it even less safe.

As you've got Spanish, have you been reading the Barahona papers for local news? Link here if you're not familiar with it:
Peligra vida de estudiantes de escuela del Arroyo, a Barahona, debido a cables de alta tensi?n que pasan por encima del plantel : Cuatriboliao.Net

Read the national papers too: Al Momento has a section on Barahona news, article about drug consumption here
Gobernador Barahona dice preocupa auge de trafico y consumo drogas
Almomento.net :: Periodico Digital Dominicano

You're obviously not going to rethink your decision so all we can do is wish you well & hope these links help a bit.
 

destinationbarahona

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Nov 22, 2008
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@natallie
Sorry, I am a german guy and my english is not perfect.
You give me good reminders 9 years ago! I was the one who fight against a lot of warnings. You go to the DR? You are stupid, nuts, crazy...
Still I am here, 2 times robbed. With a hell of good luck sometimes. And real help from real friends.
So I know about things what can happen!
Whom have sold you the land? Title? Deslinde? What was the price /m??
Here you get Finca land from 50 UScent up to 3 USD. Depending where, how much and so on. Just check if you not get robbed already here!
You are allowed to construct there? Do no think: oh, Dominicans set up a house wherever they like! You are not dominican! You are white meat! Fresh! This cow everybody like to milk.
Friends? Like they said: as long as you help, you are the nice one. What happen, when you are blank? Nothing to give, but maybe to ask for?
And forget people who say: Uh I know, I am the one...just talkers.
I know a very big investor. He has real friends, even polititans and officers. Also 2 Generals gave him the business-card, if he need help.
You get screwed, you like to ask them for help? Wellcome in the DR! A lot of excuses pop up! In this case-you know-you must understand.

I will answer you to your questions.
Security: Barahona is far from civilisation. And a gun licence. Forget it for the next 2 years. First you need your residencia permanente!! And now they do not give licences as easy as before. Health insurance.
I will not tell you: Take this or that one. Find out yourself. Here is the ways:
go to the best clinics in the country (Hospiten for example). Ask the administration which insurance they accept and what they prefer! Than you knw where to go. And again: Hospiten only accept 3 local companies, but only the highest one. In my case: Adult, male, 48 years old = 2300 RDS per month. Now just calculate what it will cost for your family!
And yes, we have clinics here. I will not name one, but my dominican wife said after one visit there: ever again, not even for my dog! Be prepared.
Land uphill? Where? You need a good 4wheeler than. Costly. If you think to survive the first month in a tent to save money - better stay home.
This is a beautiful area. I fall in love every day. But: the nature is quiet dangerous too. Moscitos will not kill you and spiders and snakes are nice and disapear fast. Cienpies? Just let them bite you. Water? electricity?
This area here is, where no law exists!
Example: A guy hit my car with the motorcycle. I called the Amet. Amet like to controll documents and the guy like to drive away. I catched him a few blocks later again and stopped him rough. New Amet comes. We go to transito. They said: Oh, Saturday, we do not work! Sorry. This guy use no helmet, he does not follow the police advise, he create an accident. He had no papers, no insurance. On monday I go again to transito. The guy was not there and everbody was surprised that I show up again. (Does this ****...Gringo not understand?) Thuesday. THe police looked for that guy. We went to the fiscal. And the question was: What is my damage? I said: Just scratches on the bumper, but he have kicked the law i many cases in the ass and I like to get him the multas for that. Answer: No damage, no problem.
The guy could go. Later I find out: he is working for the sindico, a good friend of a politian. And I thought I get my right. NO. Here you get told every day: You must understand! Here we are in Barahona.

Rental situation. Ask your "friends" to find you an apartment. Or house.
I asked 2 times a guy (called himself Real estate agent). He neverfulfilled the promises. No responsability. Contract not valid. More stories about that one?
You must find out yourself and via dominicans. If you go, be prepared to pay double rent! And: here in this region they like to charge you the rent for 6 month upfront. + 2 month deposit. Means: You pay a lot of money upfront. If you find ou that you have infiltrations, the Inversor does not work or any other problems: you know, here you are in Barahona!

Welcome. Just be prepared! The distance to the Pricesmart/Carrefour/Nacional in SD is also just 2,5 hours away. Just around the corner. And if you are used to qualitiy and international products: Don't think you get it here! Good meat? Go to SD!
To have yourself here, to live the dream, you have to accept a lot and pay for it. I wish you that your dream comes true and do not end in a nightmare.

Ah, beaches: Quemaito is quiet calm and Bahoruco some places. San Rafael will get a wavebraker and sand (promised for 2007!). You see, we are in Barahona. A lot of words - but the reality is like a shower with icecold water!

Send me a PN and I will name the funny real estate guy, nothing for all.
 

roks33

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Jan 21, 2007
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Dear Natalie,

Maybe you want to sell your land to me? I buy your land for about 25% what you payed, haha.
The responce of the German was really good and true.
All the reactions were right, but you have to do what you want.
Ofcourse many people will (try) steal your money, but this is education, also you will have many friends the first period.
Healthcare is not that bad, and education could be better, children learn easy the language.

Some years ago I came for the first time to Barahona and stayed for 10 days in a hotel, in this period I went walking/speaking around just to rent a house, also with concho's.
At the moment, depends what you want, rental will be between 5000-50000.

Camping in the mountains, I wouldn't do, because of the cienpies.

If you want you can send me a PM maybe I can give you some advice.

Success.
 

Hillbilly

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Jan 1, 2002
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I feel sorry for you!

You seem to have that sparkle in your eye of some religious fanatics..."God will provide", well here God sometimes forgets to provide and really bad things happen...

For example the Senator from Barahona, No? (Noah) Sterling V?squez, has a son in jail for his participation in the massacre of seven Colombians last August....Can you imagine that??? Can you imagine that nearly every campesino in the Deep South around the coast is an expert at retrieving drug packages from the sea??? or that they know how to get them to market??

If it were just you and your new hubby, I'd say, go for it.. but with kids no way...

The worst of West Texas in 300% better then the best of Barahona!! You DO have a Wal-Mart, you DO have electricity, you DO have television, You DO have mail service, you DO have doctors that actually went to medical school. You do have little "marts" at the local gas station...and you have roads to get there...And you have cops that are smart, trained to protect and serve...and you can sleep with your doors unlocked in many places.

Get real!! I think there is not a person on this board that has ever seen me this negative about a move....Let them speak up...You are heading for disaster. (Check some posts by "aguayo" and see some of his issues...and he is close to Puerto Plata, a civilized area!!

Sorry, but like the sign says "You've been warned!!"

No more from me...

HB
 
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whirleybird

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Feb 27, 2006
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Hi. This is not Whirleybird this is Matilda using WBs computer!!!! Am up here visiting the frozen North!! Anyway I have a finca in Barahona in St Helena. I assume yours is in La Guasara. I adore it there and one day we will go and live on the finca. I adore the place and the people. However, I am married to a Dominican who was brought up in la loma in Barahona. All of his family are there. We both speak spanish and creole. I too am concerned about Health care there, and the remoteness of our finca which is an hour up to the top of the mountain up a very rough track. What will I do if I run out of Brugal?

Anyway my husband's family live there - professionals - engineers and architects and speak english. When I get back to the deep South I will look up their phone number and pm you. I know they will be more than pleased to help you in any way they can.

Good luck

Matilda
 

J D Sauser

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Nov 20, 2004
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Culturally remote--we have some experience with that. We live in a small town in the West Texas desert with a population of 6000. The closest Wal-Mart is an hour away. The closest Starbucks is 2.5 hours away as is the closest large grocery store. But, that is still nothing compared to what we will experience in the DR.
Yer next WalMart is about 15 hundred miles from Barahona. Really, your next "real" super markets are in Santo Domingo... what, 3 or some hours of not so save roads East.
Starbucks is not really what I would rate a "culture"... but, cafe at least, you'll be able to get nearby, and good one too.
Really, as others pointed out, it's not so much about WM and cafe, but about schools and emergency health care, financial safety (ownership) and last but not least your physical safety and future outlook for your children. Your 15 year old form the mediocre West Texan school, could probably teach at the local university, IF only there was one.
Finally, a town of 6000 in Texas, even if half of them may be Mexicans... well... will still beat many fold the number of English speakers in the whole greater region of your "finca" (since that was one of your initial questions).

We were thinking of bringing a good tent and camping out on our land while we search for a suitable rental. Would that be extremely dangerous?
This may sound humorous but I would be inclined to predict that one day you may wake up (if you're lucky) to marvel at the sky and find out you're tent has "disappeared" while you slept in it.
No "kibbutzim" on the hills of Barahona, please! :D
People which have a little more than their own bare life to protect, like to sleep behind concrete block walls with steel protections on their windows... IF they can afford them, that is. Again, you may not bring many belongings along on your move as to US or even West Texan small town standards... but even if you were to come here naked, there will be those which would never believe that these Gringos locos up on that hill, really don't have money or at least "things" they don't deserve to keep.[/quote]

Perhaps, I should again urge my husband to fly out to the DR this summer to look for rentals. He wanted to save the money for the move.
There are many things which come to mind you ought to urge your husband. I don't want to be judgmental over you all and/or your state of mind. Let me just try to put it like this: Your questions and statements seem to indicate that you have a very, very but VERY... erm... "romantic"(?) view of what life in the DR is like. This is not Tahiti before it was discovered by the tourist industry.
As some mentioned and I also hinted, the drug business will be happening right around you... with all the works! Lack of education will make it very difficult for your future neighbors to talk and argue out problems you all might (actually WILL) run into sooner or later in a civilized manner (thus hints like: Machetes, guns, missing tent, missing life stock... your land been pulled away under your feet like it was a carpet... etc. Your and/or your children's life being at stake...). I know, West Texans, just like most Texans, cherish their constitutional right to bear arms... but trust me... we're not talking about the same situations and arguments.

What is the best way to search for rentals in Baharona? From the real estate section forum, I saw that it can be quite capricious.
Around Barahona? On-site. There is very little Real Estate geared towards foreigners around there and the few things would only be close to the sea. You ought to find rentals in housing designed for locals at quite low prices once you overcome landlords trying to take you for being foreigners.
I think you ought to be able to find something for as little as 3000 Pesos a month. But then, don't expect much electric power, running water or even Internet service. Since upper class homes with some way of having 23/7 power and water will be scarce in the region, they in turn may be surprisingly expensive.[/quote]


Again, thanks for your comments.
Thank you for saying thanks while you have obviously been surprised by what you have rated as negative comments.
I admire your open mind, so to even only contemplate our comments, suggestions and advice and even welcome more, even when some of it may have seemed judgmental of you, your family and mindset.
Others have ASKED (you did not initially) and immediately refuted the advice and suggestions given when it was not matching what they WANTED to hear.

We certainly wish you luck, knowing you will need it, but quite convinced it won't be sufficient, especially for your children.

... J-D.
 

senorblanco

Member
Jun 11, 2006
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Amazing thread, really.
I have just returned from a visit to Barahona today and found it to be remarkably beautiful, romantic and quite simply, paradise.
I live on the North Coast and have for about 4 years.
First Nattalie, I would beg you to listen to the advise you are being given.
These are not random posters with private agendas. These are all Gold members. Gold members who have 1,000's of posts EACH, 1,000's each! Look at their posts over the years. They always defend the DR to the death and get pretty riled up when someone bad mouths this country. The truth is they are not bad mouthing the country at all. They are simply giving their real, honest, hard learned wisdom to someone who needs it desperately. We were all like you before me moved here, all the same dreams and romantic notions.
Number 1. You were corrected as to the spelling of Barahona, not Baharona, in the very first reply and told that the first thing you need to do is get that right and in your follow up post you wrote Baharona again.
You didn't listen. I hope you have listened to all the other advice, all of it!
And it was good advice given when you were told to read it all again, re-read it 100 times.
I live in Cabarete which is probably the safest place in all the country, gated communities, tons of gringos investing tons of millions of dollars, and still there are horror stories everyday. Even here when you have a small problem, legal or personal with a Dominican you can end up dead. NO JOKE !
If you have been reading DR1 for more than 2 weeks you may have read about the terrible murder/torture/rape of a couple who had been here for close to 20 years.
This is one of the many examples of what living/survivng in the DR is all about.
You have been given huge amounts of feedback by the best of the best.
My advice would be to follow your dream, I did and wouldn't change it for the world.
However you need to do things correctly or your dream will become a nightmare.
Live in the Capitol, in a gated community. Get a feel for life here, a real feel.
Go out to your campo on weekends, take your time.
As for living in a tent? OMFG, absolutely not !!!
Meet the foreign hotel owners and really pick their brains.
It makes no sense to "live" in Barahona (well try to live).
You have a campo up there, not a place to raise a gringo family.
I loved it in Barahona but moving there ( and moreover the campo) full time, with kids simply sounds like a poor choice.
Your idea about "saving a few bucks" by living in a tent with your family on the top of a mountain in Barahona shows that you are not even remotely close to being ready for that kind of a move.
Why not live in the Capitol for a few years while you work on giving your dream a chance to become a reality?
Buenas suerte la verdad!
 

John Black

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Jan 29, 2009
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Barahona is beautiful. Buy a land there, yes. But for vacation house or for long-term investment. Or buy the land for your retirement house to stay there in 15 years. But don't move there now to live there permanently. Save your kids, please...
 

BabyBlu

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Jan 20, 2004
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Hi! I would never try to tell some one not to move here (unless they're moving down for a guy) but your kids will be so miserable in Barahona. Everyones advice is on point, Beautiful place for a weekend getaway, but thats about it.

If you want to live in the DR you could look into Santo Domingo, Santiago, or the north/east coast. You could still live the "country life" but still have supermarkets, hospitals, and schools near by.
 

Marilyn

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May 7, 2002
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I can't stay away form a post about Barahona. Sad to say, most posters are right even though I resent the way they put Barahona down, the reason Barahona is the way it is is precisely because our government has forgotten the south and only looks that way when hundreds die for one reason or the other.

About Barahona, I wouldn't dream of living there, but then, I wouldn't dream of living in Santiago or Puerto Plata neither (sorry HB), porque "capital es capital y lo demas es monte y culebra". If you want to give it a try, then do so, if it doesn't work out then pick up and leave. I went through the same when I moved from NY to Santo Domingo, and it's been 8 years already and I have no plans to leave.

There's a supermaket in Barahona close to the parque central which surprised me with the quality of the products offered. About meats I wouldn't worry since you can get fresh beef, pork and poulty daily from local vendors and at better prices, just ask around where they killed a cow or pig and go get your fresh meat; but don't even think of going bowling, shopping, to a mall or to the movies, because there ain't none to go to, there's really no social entertainment for teenagers since most nightlife is made for adults (discos, clubs and billiards) but then again if you will be living in the hills I"m sure you won't be looking for night life since lights out on the hills (loma) is 7pm and bed time is 9pm at the latest.
 

Chip

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Jul 25, 2007
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Santiago
porque "capital es capital y lo demas es monte y culebra".

No offense, but I've lived in towns in the US that had less than what we have here in Santiago. We have malls and movie theatres and more are coming. I honestly don't know how anybody can put up with the capital and all that air pollution and traffic and the fact that everybody de veldad machuca el espa?ol. :glasses:

Barahona is for sure monte y culebra but we in Santiago have much more, in addition to the prettiest Spanish spoken here in the DR, poi supuesto.
 

Ezequiel

Bronze
Jun 4, 2008
1,801
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Hi! I would never try to tell some one not to move here (unless they're moving down for a guy) but your kids will be so miserable in Barahona. Everyones advice is on point, Beautiful place for a weekend getaway, but thats about it.

If you want to live in the DR you could look into Santo Domingo, Santiago, or the north/east coast. You could still live the "country life" but still have supermarkets, hospitals, and schools near by.

The kids won't be miserable they will love it, they will be free like birds, most of the time kids LOVE to live in the DR, because of the freedom to be outside the whole day playing like kids not LOCK 24/7, because it's too dangerous or too cold or too hot.