Saturday 27 Apr, Dominican Rep day 4: Road trip to Santo Domingo.
Early start this morning as we have a long day ahead of us. Which starts with a long drive (2h40’) to the capital Santo Domingo. It’s the first city of the New World and the old center looks like it has to be ticked, so we are up for the journey.
The drive is equally pleasant as yesterday, on decent roads and going through tidy villages. Such a nice change to the eye from the previous islands. No piles of junk, no wrecked cars everywhere. All neat and clean to the best of their possibilities despite their meager income. Considering their very limited resources, they are doing a great job. It must be in their culture not to want their houses to look like gypsy dwellings.
And although it’s only 7am on a Saturday morning, the villages are already buzzing. Hundreds of scooters running around, each one loaded with its cargo in either huge side baskets or tied on the back. An island of doers, not lazy bones for sure. Such a different culture! We haven’t seen this sort of scene or behavior since Vietnam.
Once off the Samana peninsula the road cuts south, directly across the island. We get to see a bit of everything. In the lowlands we see agricultural fields with rice and other unidentified crops, then in the limestone “karst” mountains lush vegetation. And we can’t get over how green it all is, and how tidy and clean. The road itself is impeccable, not a single pothole, crash barriers in all the right places (and none is destroyed), all very well maintained. Hardly any traffic and lots of police cars. Such a pleasant drive. The best road we’ve yet been on in the Caribbean. And before we know it, we are in the outskirts of Santo Domingo, where the scene changes quickly from rural to city.
We aim for the colonial quarter (Zona Colonial) and we quickly find parking right next to a pedestrian area, Calle El Conde. Perfect. Let exploring begin! Souvenir shops everywhere, and lots of police, army, and tourist security officers. Hm, not sure if we should be worried or happy to see so many of them with their guns and batons.
But the atmosphere is fantastic and we are suddenly relaxed after our long drive. And with the Spanish architecture surrounding us, feels like we are in Europe.
After few steps we come across a nice square, Parque Colon, with Palacio Consistorial and Catedral Primada de America. On the corner of it there is an old hotel, Hotel Conde de Penalba, with a Paris-like terrace where we stop for the usual “let’s start with a break” routine, a good coffee and a delicious breakfast. And to watch the world go by. The square is not busy so overall is a calm and peaceful place. Very nice. Doesn’t last for long though. As the day progresses and we return to the same place, it is a completely different scene: lots of street vendors, musicians and tourists, so we caught it at the perfect time in the morning.
Then it’s time to stretch our legs, following the historic walking route which covers most of the objectives. Catedral Primada de America (Basilica Cathedral of Santa Maria la Menor) is the first cathedral of the New World set by Christopher Columbus in 1514 and is the oldest one standing in the Western Hemisphere.
Then stroll on Calle las Damas which holds the title as the first street in the Americas, and is lined with historical buildings from the original settlement of Santo Domingo.
A visit to the Fortaleza de Santo Domingo, the first military complex of the American continent, overlooking Obama River, reveals a temporary exhibition where we read some interesting facts on Dominican Rep history.
Alcazar de Colon (Columbus Royal Palace) was built under Diego Colon, the first son of Christopher Columbus, when he became the first governor of the West Indies in 1509.
Each of these landmarks made an interesting stop but we didn’t spend a long time in either due to our very short time to visit the city.
The streets in the colonial area have a certain charm to them, with small old tidy houses, most having entries guarded by bougainvilleas and small gardens in the back. Not the colorful Caribbean theme, it’s mostly white houses. And not overdone like San Juan in Puerto Rico. It all feels very real.
We walk the area back and forth and when the heat nearly melts us mid-afternoon we retire for refreshing drinks under the shade of a tree and have another session of watch the world go by. Busy world.
Late afternoon we aim to drive around the city and see what else is outside the colonial area. But the traffic is insane and after few attempts we give up. Pity, it would’ve been nice to see the Santo Domingo beach or the more modern part of the city.
We plot the route back to Marina Puerto Bahia, and after we fail to join a highway we end up in an even busier area, with hundreds of street vendors and improvised shops right under the elevated auto-piste (the highway that we should have been on!) With truckloads of anything and everything, from flip flops to dining chairs. Maybe it’s the Saturday market, or maybe that’s how this place is on daily basis. Crazy busy with busses, taxis and scooters weaving in all directions like liquid flow filling in the voids.
When finally out of there it is again a 2h30’ drive back home. Fast and pleasant on the highway, but a bit tiring through the villages where scooters seem to rule the road, driving with no lights on. That, in combination with the full beam headlights from the incoming traffic, got us quite tense by the end.
Back at Cloudy Bay at 8pm we return the hire car and have a quiet rest of the evening aboard. It’s been a lovely day. A much easier drive than expected and we are so glad we didn’t miss the old town of Santo Domingo. Tomorrow we depart this marina for new adventures.