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Santo Domingo, The Dominican Republic
Punta Cana, The Dominican Republic
2020 (3.5 days)
Welcome back to 3WishesTravel! Unlike most of my posts, this blog comes one week after my visit to the Dominican Republic. If you follow our Instagram, @3WishesTravel, you got to see first-person live updates of this trip!
Make sure to follow us to see live updates on my next trips, including Puerto Rico next month. You can also see my upcoming trips on the new "Upcoming Trips" section of 3WishesTravel.com!
Now, let's go to the Caribbean and visit the Dominican Republic! 🧞♀️💜✈️
Table of Contents
Hotel and Flight Info 🏨✈️
This trip was my first visit to the Caribbean. The Dominican Republic was an extremely beautiful island filled with amazing food, intriguing culture, and unforgettable nights. I flew United Airlines out of Newark International Airport, an hour and a half drive from Philadelphia. After a 3.5 hour flight, we arrived at the Las Americas International Airport, outside of Santo Domingo. This flight costs $254 roundtrip. Uber is extremely cheap in Santo Domingo, with the average ride only costing $1-3, and the Uber from the airport costing $9. Airbnbs throughout the island cost an average of $40 per night, making this an affordable getaway.
Total Cost Flight + Accommodation: 4 days & 3 nights = $375
History and Background📜
First settled by its indigenous population in 650 AD, the Dominican Republic has a history dating back centuries. The Taino people, descendants of the Arawak indigenous people, lived across the island in a vibrant society that was deeply spiritual and produced some of the highest quality clothing weavers in the world. More can be learned about the Tainos people here. Christopher Columbus arrived on the island in 1492 during his first voyage to the Americas. A strongly Catholic island, the Dominican Republic gets its name from Saint Dominic (Santo Domingo de Guzman), founder of the Order of the Dominicans. The capital of the Dominican Republic shares this Saint's name, Santo Domingo. Today, over 10 million people live on this 18.7K square mile island.
Walking Tour of Santo Domingo's Colonial Zone🚶♀️
The first thing we did after arriving in the Dominican Republic was to take ourselves on a walking tour of historic Santo Domingo. The oldest part of the city is referred to as the Colonial Zone (Zona Colonial), which is proudly touted as the oldest European settlement in the Americas and has been designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Zona Colonial was established in the 15th century by Bartholomew Colombus, the brother of Christopher Colombus. Unlike in the US, which has seen a step away from Colombus Day and removing statutes honoring the explorer, the Dominican Republic has many, many monuments named after Christopher Colombus and his family. As an American, it felt unusual celebrating this extremely complicated historical figure. I encourage you to read more about this interesting cultural difference and how Dominicans think about Colombus in a blog post by a fellow traveler, Carey from Nomadic Experience.
1st Stop: Parque Colon
The first stop on our walking tour was Parque Colon, or Columbus Park. Within the park is a massive statue of Christopher Colombus along with the oldest Cathedral in the Americas, pictured to the left. This park is not only a historical wonder, it is also a boisterous center of town with people dancing, music playing, cafes and sellers surrounding the park. This is also an important center of town used for the celebration of many cultural and religious events. Parque Colon is a great starting point in the center of town for our historical adventure of the Zona Colonial.
2nd Stop: Parque Independencia
The second stop on our tour brought us to Parque Independencia, or Independence Park. Before we walked into this monument, we were stopped and asked to take pictures with the soldiers guarding it, seen to the left. There were similar soldiers at most other tourist sites. Although I never felt unsafe on the island, these soldiers guarding tourist spots definitely made the island feel even safer.
As you can see in the slideshow below, Parque Independencia is a vast monument slightly reminiscent of Washington DC. The orange/brown stone wall at the entrance to the park is part of the original fort built in the 16th century. Much more recently, in the 1900s, this site was transformed into the grand monument it is today. The large gray building at the other end of Parque Independencia is the Altar de la Patria, or Altar of the Fatherland, where the graves of the Dominican Republic's founding fathers rest. These men, known as "Los Trinitarios", are honored with statues within the Altar. Duarte, Sanchez, and Mella are national heroes for helping the Dominican Republic gain its independence and end the Haitian occupation of Santo Domingo in the 19th century. Along the walkway to the Altar de la Patria, you can see more important figures in the Dominican Republic.
3rd Stop: Calle el Conde
Between these first two sites is Calle el Conde, the first commercial street in the New World. Even today, this street is a very popular shopping area with vendors lined up to sell their wares. This is a great place to pick up souvenirs, but make sure to haggle the price! In the Dominican Republic and many other countries, it is expected that you "haggle" or argue the price of a product you are trying to buy. The first price shop owners give you is much higher than they are expecting to actually get, and you must politely, but sternly, argue down the price. As someone who has spent a lot of time in the Middle East, my haggle game is pretty strong. My go-to tip would be to take whatever price the shopowner gives you and cut it in half as a starting point. Happy haggling :)
4th Stop: Cathedral Primada de America $2
Finished in 1540, this is the oldest cathedral in the Americas. The Cathedral Primada de America is a Gothic-style Catholic church dedicated to St. Mary and serves as the Cathedral of the Archbishop of Santo Domingo. Located off Parque Colon, for a small entrance fee, visitors can go inside, accompanied by an audio tour, and experience the grand scale of this Cathedral. One of the most striking features are its vaulted ceilings, over 50 feet high. The main altar is in the center of the Cathedral surrounded by beautiful artifacts. There are also many side altars with paintings, chapel rooms, and even gravestones of past archbishops. To this day, the Cathedral Primada de America still serves as an important location for official ceremonies and important religious events.
5th Stop: Alcazar de Colon $2
Alcazar de Colon was built at the beginning of the 16th century for Diego Colon, the son of Christopher Columbus. Diego became governor of the Indies in 1509 and built Alcazar de Colon to serve as his palace. In its glory, the Palace had more than 50 rooms, gardens, courtyards, and hosted important meetings. Today, about half of the rooms have been restored. The Palace also holds many European medieval and Renaissance-era works of art. Alcazar de Colon is an iconic part of Santo Domingo's historic landscape.
Exploring the Rest of Santo Domingo 🌇
Besides seeing the many historical monuments in the Colonial Zone, we also explored other parts of the city!
National Palace
Although we were not allowed inside, the National Palace was still amazing to see from the outside. The National Palace houses the Executive Branch of the Dominican government. The inside of the palace is over 18,000 square feet and matches the grand and luxurious exterior. The Palace is heavily guarded by the military, but the guards were extremely nice and even offered to take pictures of us outside the Palace. This is a quick stop, but definitely something you do not want to miss.
Sambil Aquamundo Aquarium $5
The Sambil Mall in Santo Domingo is one of the best malls on the island. Inside, there are stores, gyms, an amusement park, and even an aquarium. This is a more unique tourist site, but it served as a fun end to our day. The Aquamundo Aquarium is primarily geared towards children, but we had an amazing time exploring this large and diverse aquarium. Every type of fish you can imagine are within these walls. They also had parrots! The whole experience with the lights and decorations, makes you feel like you are underwater. We loved tapping into our younger sides and exploring what the sea had to offer. The bright color also made for some amazing pictures.
Los Tres Ojo $3
Los Tres Ojo, or The Three Eyes, is a large complex of 3 limestone caves just outside Santo Domingo. This site was originally used by the native Taino people for religious rituals. Today, it is a peaceful tourist site where you could spend an entire day exploring. In the largest cave, you have the option of riding a rope powered boat across the cave's water and see it's open-air portion. Take the time to visit all of the three caves as they offer a unique experience in each. This was our last stop before the airport and it proved to be a relaxing way to take in the natural beauty of the island before we left.
Punta Cana🌴
We took the public bus from Santo Domingo to Punta Cana for $4 one way. The bus took around 3 hours but was very comfortable. For our first day in Punta Cana, we had a beach day planned, but sadly the weather had other ideas :( Although it rained, we still had an amazing time exploring the nearby souvenir markets. Punta Cana is much more touristy compared to Santo Domingo, so be aware that prices will be much higher and there is no Uber available.
4x4 Experience $50
This was definitely my favorite part of our trip. Around 8 am, the tour company picked us up outside of our hotel and took us to the company's main activity hub. Once there, we met our amazing tour guide, David, who would serve as our leader throughout this adventure. After a quick safety speech and showing us how to drive the 4x4, we were off! It was surprisingly easy to drive the 4x4, and super exciting. Our first stop was Macao Beach, a crystal clear blue beach that also had sellers offering their animals for pictures. We paid $5 to take pictures with a monkey named Obama, which you can see below. Our next stop was a coffee and chocolate plantation where we got to see how these products are made fresh from the beans grown nearby. After a chocolate and coffee tasting, we went to a freshwater spring where we got to refresh and clean the mud off. Although I am not an experienced swimmer, I jumped into the spring and despite my fears, survived this jump. After a quick drink, we got back on the 4x4s for the final time and headed back to HQ. This was a high energy adventure through Punta Cana's beautiful nature that was worth every penny.
A Note on Safety
The Dominican Republic has been one of my favorite places to visit in the world. Although I almost had my phone stolen, I would be honored to return to this island. I did want to give a warning though. Similar to any large city, it is important to use your street smarts and avoid walking at night, even if you are a group of women. Also, be sure not to walk with your phone in your hand like most Millenials, including myself, are known to do. This note is not meant to scare you, actually the opposite, but please do remember to practice common city safety measures.
I hope this helps you create your own Dominican adventure. All pictures are taken by me, and check out our Instagram @3WishesTravel for more, including live updates for my future trips! I will be in Puerto Rico next month so make sure to give us a follow for live Puerto Rico Updates! If you are thinking about your own visit to the Dominican Republic, contact us and we will plan your entire trip for you!
Special shoutout to Vesta and Jose for guiding us through DR and welcoming us so warmly❤️
Subscribe below for an alert when our upcoming posts in new locations are published! If you have any DR recommendations, feel free to comment below! I would love to hear them :)
- 🧞♀️💜✈️
Sources
godominicanrepublic.com
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