The Isabel de Torres Park is really a natural scientific reserve entrusted to the care of the National Botanical Garden since its opening in 1975, almost 30 years ago. A board comprised of Puerto Plata citizens ensures that funding is available for the attraction’s continuous upkeep.

There are nearly 15 small brooks and streams in its area and vegetation is subtropical found at medium height mountain level. Trails lead to the discovery of the forest under the forest. Enormous ferns, overgrown flowers, fire-red gingers and giant hibiscus peak through the rain forest’s shield. While the park seems vast, the winding paths easily encourage the visitor to explore and discover the 135,000 square meter park area in great detail.

There is poetry in the silence of the mountain, as well as in the spontaneous songs of the free- spirited birds of over 30 species that make their homes there. Birdwatchers will be able to spot the woodpeckers, the swooping maura, honeycreepers, parrots, limpkins and red-tailed hawks, each vying for celebrity on the wide stage of this mountaintop park.

There is poetry in the sun peaking through the majestic 100-year-old yagrumo, royal palm, tamarind, Hispaniolan mahogany, copey, mara, pinon, coconut and almond trees. While the red flowers of the poinciana trees are sure to leave a vivid impression, a harder to define memory is that feeling in the air that entices visitors to think they could live there forever in the name of restoring their vitality. A backwards glance gives you the spectrum of the striking Cordillera Septentrional, the second highest mountain range in the country, where the fossils that lent the region the name Amber Coast many years back are buried.

Slow down to hear the poetry of Isabel de Torres. Its scenery and tropical rainforests are the key to a magical visit..