As expected Hurricane Irene inflicted quite a bit of damage to the DR. Irene slowly moved past Puerto Plata as a category 2 hurricane lashing the area with sustained winds up to 95 mph. More than 100 families were evacuated from the Puerto Plata area and moved to improvised shelters. At least 14 houses were destroyed by the sea. A canal also overflowed in the LA Javilla area engulfing several houses and causing the evacuation of at least 15 families.

Landslides caused by the heavy rain were found on the Luperon Highway connecting Santiago and Puerto Plata causing traffic issues on this heavily used route.

Schools reopened

Both public and private schools were closed yesterday due to the hurricane. While for the most part they were reopened this morning, in some areas there are still hard rains and winds keeping schools in a few areas of the country closed.

Santo Domingo

Two of the rivers in Santo Domingo burst their banks (more…)

American Airlines has announce it will wave change fees for passengers affected by Hurricane Irene. This allows passengers to rebook their flights to specific location from specific dates.

Flights from these locations can be rebooked.
La Romana/Casa de Campo, Dominican Republic (LRM)
Port-au-Prince, Haiti (PAP)
Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic (POP)
Punta Cana, Dominican Republic (PUJ)
San Juan, Puerto Rico (SJU)
Santiago, Dominican Republic (STI)
Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic (SDQ)
St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands (STX)
St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands (STT)
Tortola, Beef Island, British Virgin Islands (EIS)

These are the applicable dates. (more…)

Customers traveling through Tuesday, August 23 to/from Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic may rebook flights through August 27 –

NEW YORK, Aug. 21, 2011 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ –

Credit: PR NEWSWIRE

Due to inclement weather forecasted to impact the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico areas, JetBlue Airways (Nasdaq: JBLU) will waive change/cancel fees and fare differences for Customers traveling through Tuesday, August 23, 2011 to/from the following cities:

• Puerto Rico
  • San Juan (SJU)
  • Ponce (PSE)
  • Aguadilla (BQN)
• Dominican Republic
  • Santo Domingo (SDQ)
  • Santiago (STI)
  • Puerto Plata (POP)
  • Punta Cana (PUJ)

Customers may rebook their flights for travel through Saturday, August 27, 2011 by calling 1-800-JETBLUE (538-2583) prior to the departure time of their originally scheduled flight. Customers with cancelled flights may also opt for a refund to the original form of payment by calling 1-800-JETBLUE (538-2583). Original travel must have been booked on or before Sunday, August 21, 2011. (more…)

Luggage thief has gotten bad enough in the Santo Domingo airport – Las Americas (SDQ) that two of the air lines have made a formal complaint. Air France and Jet Blue have both asked the Las Americas International Airport to halt the thief of their passenger’s luggage.

Although apparently this has gotten much worse over the last few weeks, this is a constant problem with DR airports. During my travels back and forth I have had many things stolen from my checked in bags. Having items that I have carefully packed to keep from breaking are unwrapped and put back in the luggage bag haphazardly so they will break is also common.

There are also the carryon luggage checks where items that have passed though several other checks are now considered too dangerous as you are heading into the DR. Very common complaints on that one are hair curling irons and Hair Straightener Irons or flat irons. Usually that means they confiscate the item.

Unfortunately there is no good way around this problem. (more…)

Although most of us like to take our frozen refreshments in the form of piña coladas, and daiquiris while visiting tropical islands sometimes an ice cream will hit the spot. The Dominican Republic has a number of different ice cream brands to choose from including Haagen-Dazs, Baskin Robins and the local favorite Bon ice cream (Helados Bon). So which to choose?

Haagen Dazs

As far as taste goes there is little competition for Haagen-Dazs. We recently stopped by a store in Santiago and yes it is just as good as in the States but also just as expensive if not more. A dish with three scoops of ice cream some cookie garnish and some caramel topping went for about $10 USD. Excellent ice cream but probably not somewhere I would go regularly.

Haagen-Dazs is also only available in a couple of the largest cities Santo Domingo and Santiago. Santiago was not listed on their website, but yes there is a store there which means there could be other locations that are not listed and I have not found yet.
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The Las Colinas Mall is a multi-story mall located on Ave 27 de Febrero in Santiago. They have both escalators and an elevator to get between the different levels.

Jumbo Super Market

The Jumbo Supermarket in the Las Colinas Mall is kind of like a Wal-Mart in the US. You find just about everything there. Food, liquor, clothes, household items etc. They also have a good bakery and a cafeteria style food area.

Their bakery is very good. We tried a couple different styles of fresh baked bread as well as several pastries. One of our favorite pastries was a custard cone with about a cup of very good flavored vanilla custard in a flaky pastry cone. They also had some very good fruit pastries. This will likely be one of the locations we will stop by regularly in the future.

Las Colinas Food Court

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Once again Cholera is spreading on the island of Hispaniola. This time we are seeing more in the Dominican Republic. Depending on the report you read there have been either 15 or 23 deaths due to the disease. While this probably still isn’t a sufficient reason to avoid coming to the DR it’s good to review the precautions you should take.

There are several main areas that you should be cautious about; the water, fresh fruit and vegetables food from street venders, food from other restaurants, food from resort restaurants. While you can never be guaranteed to never have a problem, being careful will greatly reduce the chances of you having problems. If though you find you are having heavy diarrhea or vomiting when you are visiting any country it is good to get yourself checked out quickly, waiting can make it take longer to clear up.

If you do think you got something (stomach pains, diarrhea, vomiting) try finding a private clinic or hospital. (more…)

In most cases the Dominican Republic celebrity watch finds the stars visiting the DR beaches or checking out the DR nightlife. In this case though we find a star doing humanitarian relief. Angelina Jolie, goodwill envoy for the United Nations, was in Haiti Tuesday the 8th 2011 visiting Haitian Children in Port-au-Prince. This visit followed a visit on the 7th to the Dario Contreras trauma hospital in Santo Domingo treating another group of Haitian children.

As part of her visit to the Dominican Republic Mrs. Jolie met with the Dominican Republic’s President Leonel Fernandez.
On August 27 of 2001 Mrs, Jolie was named the UN Goodwill Ambassador and has since visited various locations like Kosova, Nambia, Kenya, Thailand, Colombia and Ecuador.

Angelina Jolie and her also famous husband Brad Pit founded the Jolie/Pit Foundation in 2006. Their foundation donated $1 million to Doctors Without Borders to help in relief efforts after the 2010 earthquake in Haiti.

Dancing is more of an institution that a past time here in the DR. Walk down the streets in the evening (if it is safe in your area) and you will hear music coming from dozens of different sources. While often the night club music (there will be at least a couple in every town) dominates the night air, much of the music will be coming from houses lining the streets.

As you pass by even the 2 year olds are learning to shake their booties to the music. Parties and gatherings are usually dominated by dancing. You pretty much see it everywhere.

So it is no surprise to see the First International Bachata Festival being held in Santo Domiingo February 24 – 27 2011. (more…)

Isolated cholera case originating in Haiti is successfully diagnosed and treated in DR. Punta Cana, Santo Domingo, Santiago, Puerto Plata, La Romana, Samaná welcome visitors.

SANTO DOMINGO, Nov. 18, 2010 — The Dominican Republic (DR) Ministry of Tourism reassures visitors that the isolated case of cholera contracted in Haiti by a citizen visiting his family in that country has been diagnosed and successfully treated at a hospital in the Dominican Republic (DR). Due to careful DR monitoring and prevention systems, the 32-year-old Haitian construction worker who returned to the DR last Friday with symptoms of the intestinal illness, was quickly hospitalized and is in stable condition. (more…)