| Tips and photos of unusual, out-of-the-way Dominican Republic attractions, posted by real travelers and locals. Map |
 | Dominican Republic Off the Beaten Path | Tips 1 - 10 of 121 |  |
 Mountains near Jimani & border
with Haiti by ChristinaNest, 4 more photos
We went to a local beach called Playa Najayo, close to San Cristobal and Barahona. to get there we drove past sugar-cane plantations and poor villages.
We went to Jimani, a town at the border with Haiti. We decided to buy some Haitian rum, and were allowed to cross the border to the market on the other side without showing any ID!!
We stayed for two night at the Cacique hotel in Barahona, well, that was part of the experience too!
We saw the Indian cave, iguanas, and crocodiles and birds at Enriqillo Lake, and it was great. But another part of this experience was meeting the poor and friendly people of the Sounth and their way of like.
I would definately like to do that road trip again. Leave a Comment
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The lagoon is small and has a prolongued river-like shape. When the water level is low you can see the roots of the trees. Shaded by those trees with weird roots and with a lot of birds flying or hiding, this lagoon is a strange fairy-tale place. It's like entering a darker, older world. And then, after the short boat trip you emerge into the open and enter the sea, and again it's so bright and hot. Then the boat takes you to the small Cueva de las Golondrinas (a cave with a lot of swallows) and on the way back you can bathe in the sea or the lagoon.
We took a boat trip from the small town of Rio San Juan which can easily be reached from Puerto Plata/Sosua/Cabarete. Boats can also be taken from the small beach right next to the 'mouth' of the lagoon.
This place is more popular with the locals so you don't see big crowds of tourists. Still, it's worth to see this dark lagoon and the Swallows' cave, and then you'll have the chance to swim both in fresh and sea water on the same trip. Leave a Comment
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 tire fun by jodssmile
They truly need and appreciate them!
Baseballs and gloves fun things too.
Then you have empty bag to bring souvenirs home! Leave a Comment
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 Sugar cane plantation by micas_pt
The owners of these farms have installations for their workers, mainly Haitians. Haitian men come to Dominican Republic in search of work and bring wife and children. These sugar cane farms have all the required infra-structure for families: houses for workers, school for children and basic health care system. Mainly, all their life is there: women take care of house and children, men work in the plantation, children attend farm's school and when someone is ill they go to the farm's doctor. Actually, this is the official version I was told by our guide. Nevertheless, I’ve also heard about Amnesty reports about the exploitation and lack of conditions of these farms. Leave a Comment
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 Cocoa by micas_ptLeave a Comment
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 Resort by micas_pt
The Dominican way of making coffee is: they boil water and put the coffee inside a fabric bag with a stick. They pour the water over the bag and they roll the stick until it presses the coffee. They repeat this operation several times, until they consider coffee is ready to drink. They used to say they made the best coffee in the world. Being from Portugal, I found it very tasteful but weak, as I am used to stronger coffee. Leave a Comment
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 Machines at farm by micas_pt
When sugar cane grows, men cut the cane with a proper instrument, a kind of blade, and put it in a "carriage" that is pulled by some kind of cow or ox. When "carriage" is full, the animal pulls that load (guided by worker) to a central warehouse. This warehouse is equipped with machines that help to unload "carriage" and weight the sugar cane, that is then placed inside the warehouse. Leave a Comment
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 Sugar cane plantation by micas_ptLeave a Comment
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 At his house by micas_pt
We were also shown how they "manually" produced their own coffee and cocoa. That’s an interesting process, although it requires some work. I ended up buying some homemade coffee and cocoa. Delicious!! Leave a Comment
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 The South West region by marielexoteria
This zone is better to go to if with a tour or with someone who can communicate in Spanish, because English isn't as widely spoken as in the other (heavily) touristic areas. With that said, that doesn't mean that if you're perseverant and armed with a Spanish-English phrase you won't go a long way!
This is one of the parts where I spent most of my childhood visiting family and friends, which is sort of why I don't have many tips or pictures so as of now I can only show my Baní and San Juan pages.
(Sorry for the bad map.)
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