With the start of Air Canada’s flight nonstop from Toronto to Samana’s International Airport, the destination is now closer for Toronto and Montreal residents. The November launch of the new JetBlue route from JFK International in New York is another alternative for an easy flight to Samana.
Travel writers have begun to feature stories on the destination. Mark Stevens, writing for The Star focuses on Los Haitises, the peninsula’s main nature reserve.
The first impression is not unusual. He paints the landscape, writing:
“Islands grow up almost straight out of the water. A surreal caravan of great camel humps of land plods toward the eastern horizon. They are clad in vegetation in many shades of green; liana vines hang down and sway in the wind from heights of 200 ft. The vegetation is so thick on shore, you feel like you’re in the middle of the Amazon…
“Directly overhead nest a flock of frigate birds, throats red as Macintosh apples. Off our beam, a hundred pelicans float on the water.
“Our skipper guides the boat into a green tunnel, a mangrove swamp where the branches meet overhead, where the arching roots and glittering water make you feel as though you are entering the nave of a great cathedral. And we haven’t even seen the caves yet.”
www.thestar.com/travel/caribbean/article/1296763–in-the-dominican-republic-los-haitises-is-home-to-huge-nature-preserve