Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic

It was an early morning taxi ride to the Montego Bay airport for our Inter Caribbean flight to Kingston, Jamaica enroute to the Dominican Republic. The domestic portion of the airport is in a small unsigned corner of the airport with lots of mossies and no air conditioning, quite unlike the international section. We had to fly back to Kingston and transit there to reconnect with another flight to Providenicales in the Turks and Caicos Islands. There are not many seats at Kingston for all the waiting passengers so it is an uncomfortable wait. The best thing was that our bags were checked right through to Santo Domingo so we didn't have to lug them about.

Once in Provos, as the locals call it, we had to wait on the tarmac for an agent to escort us through the airport as they have no transit lounge. The airport was full of holiday makers either arriving on the island or transiting to somewhere else. It was chaos as we had to have our hand luggage x-rayed and remove our shoes about 3 times. The whole time we were escorted everywhere by the agent in and out of the queues of bewildered passengers. We had to buy a tourist card for US$20U and it gave us a multiple entry visa for 30 days. The agent didn't speak Spanish so the people from the Dominican Republic had no idea what was happening. This all meant we were late leaving on our flight out.

Through Expedia, John had managed to get a ticket online for a shuttle bus to drop us at our hotel in the old part of Santo Domingo. It was half the price offered by the taxi drivers.

The hotel room was a bit small for our week long stay so we negotiated for a bigger room. We were two streets from the walking street in the old city so it was a handy location and safe to walk about at night.Unfortunately the hotel decided this was the best time to start demolishing the terrace bar area and renovate it to make a karaoke bar, so it was pretty noisy during the day. The place was a bit mouldy and damp as it rained everyday so it was not as comfortable as we would have liked but it was all we could find at the time. We got a local breakfast of green bananas fried with butter, topped with cheese and accompanied with sausage. The tropical fruit was also most welcomed every day.

Vertical garden on side of car park building facing walking street

The Dominican Republic has 11 million people with 3 million in Santo Domingo so it is a crowded place. After the devastating hurricane in Haiti, the DR is having a lot of problems with illegal immigrants from there.

Waling street

We took our time visiting the UNESCO World Heritage sites and its historic buildings. Our first walk along the Malecon or beach promenade was an eye opener. It stunk of urine and human faeces and there were piles and piles of plastic rubbish floating on the waves and all over the banks to the sea.

Rubbish munched up to bits in the ocean

The Malecon is promoted as the place  for tourists to go but it was gross. Trucks with diesel fumes and loud engines roared by the open air restaurants and homeless people stretched out on the seats in the parks to sleep off their hangovers in the 29 DegC temperatures and the 80-90% humidity.

Christopher Columbus's son's house

We enjoyed some of the museums. At the Palacio Virreinal Museo Alcazar de Colon we saw how Christopher Columbus's son lived when he founded the city. A lot of the furniture is not original but a replicas of what they would have had. We were able to hire a headset and have a commentary as we moved from room to room. Luckily we made it without any huge tour groups coming through at the same time as us.

The renovated fort

There was a great supermarket near us and we could buy hot food or fresh fruit and wholegrain bread and Spanish wines and local beer. It was a real treat to eat things we are used to and visited it everyday. A lot of the food items are imported from the USA.

John got an infected throat from swimming in the pool in Montego Bay and it made him very lethargic so we only ventured out after he had rested and felt up to it. We were able to use some of the medication we carry and buy others at the supermarket to get him more comfortable. There never seemed to be a worry that it may be malaria, zika or some other major illness as he had no rashes, fevers or joint aches. However he did manage to pass it to me but I had a fever one night and was fine the next day. It was good to be able to rest up and not have to be off catching buses or planes to different parts.

We had been in touch with our Uruguayan friend who has been working in Haiti and was passing through Santo Domingo on his way to holiday with his father on the coast. We tried to meet up with him at the bus station but we missed him as he was delayed and that was such a shame. We had stayed in his apartment in Asuncion and didn't get to see him there either. So, it will have to be another place and another time.

Lots of cruise ships call into Santo Domingo and often large groups of tours would flood the place during the day and then it would be quiet again at night as they headed off. As it is the low season a lot of restaurants are looking for customers and want to give meals without the required government taxes. We tried a local place and ate local dishes of chicken, rice and green bananas. When we needed some fresh vegetables we went to the Chinese restaurants in Chinatown and for a change we even tried a Mexican place for a bit of spice and tacos.We were surprised there are not more spicy dishes here.

Part of the old city walls

We were able to chat online with Kerri, Adam and the kids. John used the time to get our online flights onto a USB stick and get them printed off ready for the onward trips.

There is always music playing here. There are some bars that open into the street. Usually a counter runs the width of the room and the shelves behind are covered with toilet paper canned foods and bottles of rum for sale. The music is loud and men sit on plastic chairs astride the drain between the road and the footpath playing dominoes. Inside the bar the men and women dance cheek to cheek while others sit on stools or lean against the counter drinking rum and singing. It is like this all night and on weekends. Pretty much like what we expect Cuba to be like.

Next stop, back to Providenciales in the Turks and Caicos Islands.