It gets hot in the DR and well, you’re not always near a beach to cool off. One of the great ways to get around that minor problem is the Kaskada Water Park (Kaskada Aqua Park) in  Santiago.

Pools: There are two main swimming pools, one in front of the grandstand and the other attached to one of the bars. Both are good for lounging around and taking a swim. One of them had a low and a high platform to dive from.

Water Slides: There were 6 water slides. Three that required tubes and three that did not. (more…)

I know one of the first things I like to now about an area is what type of music they listen to. To understand a Dominican’s taste in music you first to understand a Dominican’s mentality towards music.

There are few things in this world that Dominicans love more than music and dancing. Both music and dancing are heavily ingrained in the day-to-day life of a Dominican.
Unlike the US and many other countries, you are not going to find too much music that you can’t dance here.

I have several times tried explaining to different Dominicans that much of the music in the US is not meant for dancing, but they don’t seem to understand that thought. Right about at that point in the conversation, I get a look of pure confusion. They are thinking, Music without dancing? What’s the Point? With that being said pretty much all the music here has a heavy beat.

The music that you will probably hear the most of is Merengue and Bachata. Below is a brief description of each. (more…)

It’s a small town (60,000 inhabitants) in the central part of the Dominican Republic. It’s a place from which it is easy to get pretty much everywhere, you can take the gua-gua and in 2 hours you are in Puerto Plata, it is 2 hours to Santo Domingo, about 40 minutes to Santiago and about 3 hours to Samana.  City itself has very little to offer unless you are there in February. It’s a month of Carnival, one of the oldest Dominican traditions. (Check our website for updates and photos in February.)

If you happen to visit La Vega any other time, there are basically two things you may want to see:

1. 

   La Vega Cathedral

   The Cathedral – it is situated next to the main park, impossible to miss. It’s a grey, concrete building, a mixture of Gothic and neo-industrial styles. Nothing impressing I am afraid.

2. The ruins of the original city of Concepción de la Vega (now called La Vega Vieja) It was founded in 1495 by Bartolomeo Colombo at the Concepción fortress, which had been built by Christopher Columbus in 1494. When we arrived at the place we realized we were the only tourists. The entrance fee is 50 pesos. Even though the guide books say you can have a tour in different languages, the guide spoke only Spanish. He showed us the ruins of the Fransiscan monastery explaining where the library and bedrooms were. He also showed us the graves of the Taínos (pre-Columbian inhabitants of the Bahamas, Greater Antilles, and the northern Lesser Antilles). He mentioned that there was a custom to bury them in a fetal position. (more…)

The Good news: Yes you can have Internet connection in the Dominican Republic and you can expect to get a pretty good speed. The DR has some of the most state of the art 3G equipment in the world and it covers a good share of the island.

The Bad news: They seem to have some issues getting it configured properly. Hopefully that will improve in the future.

There are a variety of ways to get an Internet connection. Which one you choose will depend on the speed you need, how long you wish to have it, and how much you are willing to pay.

Hotels: If you’re just staying for a couple weeks it is best to choose a hotel with WiFi. Many of the hotels and “All Inclusive Resorts” offer this to their guests. You can ask before booking your hotel to see if they offer this, but it is unlikely they will be able to tell you how fast it will be. The Internet is pretty new here and not many people seem to understand bandwidth.

There are other options….. (more…)