A point of interest if you are needing to get some things done today. The ministry of Labor has made today a holiday to commemorate the birth of Juan Pablo Duarte. Duarte is considered one of the founding fathers of the Dominican Republic. There is a province named after Duarte as well as at least one street named Duarte in almost every town and city in the Dominican Republic. You can also find a statue of Duarte at the Monument to the Heroes of the Restoration in Santiago.

What this means if you are needing services today is that (more…)

Two of the most popular scooters in the Dominican Republic are the Yamaha Jog and the Yamaha Axis. The Jog comes as a 50cc and the Axis as either a 90cc or a 100cc. While there may be other engines available for the axis, I haven’t seen them.

If you read my previous article on Yamaha bikes you will find a recommendation to go with one of the larger wheeled commuter style bikes. I still recommend this to be a good idea if you are in one of the more crowded cities or plan on doing any traveling between towns. The reason I have been researching the scooters more is for my wife.

Advantages of a scooter

The scooter does have some advantages, the main ones are that they are lower to the ground and so a little easier to control and they are lighter. These two advantages make these ideal vehicles for women just wanting a quicker easier way to get around town. And thus starts my search into the world of scooters.

I strongly prefer to go with one of the larger bike manufacturers. I have found while trying out bikes that the far cheaper scooters that you will find new here are all from china. As I’ve tested bikes from China I found that (more…)

If your planning a trip to the Caribbean you are likely hoping to get a good exchange rate on your money. The exchange rate from US Dollars to Dominican Pesos has varied between 35 pesos to the dollar to about 37 pesos to the dollar.

Right now (11/16/2011) you can exchange your dollars for pesos at 38.9 pesos for the US dollar. If you are currently living in the DR or if you are planning a longer vacation that extra couple pesos can add up, so this is a pretty good time to get some money converted.

If you’re not too sure on how you want to bring money over from the US to the DR you might want to check out our page on Getting Money In the DR for a few tips on how much money to bring in cash, travelers checks etc.

In the wake of closing over 100 stores in North America, they now have plans to open a new store in the Dominican Republic. Office Depot’s Vice President Ernst Wessel is quoted to have said “Office Depot is excited to open our first store in the Dominican Republic and we are looking forward to expanding our footprint in the Caribbean territory. We’ve had considerable success with our franchise model in the Middle East. We believe that the Office Depot business is particularly suitable and attractive as a franchising concept for certain territories and we are actively looking to grow this part of our business in a number of overseas markets.”

Office Depot is a global supplier of small business products and services ranging from paper and paper clips to office furniture, computers and commercial electronics. The Dominican Republic store will be opened in Santo Domingo at (more…)

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

(more…)

If you plan on living in the DR for a while you’re going to need furniture. Furniture stores are actually pretty easy to find in almost any of the smaller towns and in the larger towns you will be able to find high quality items. First step is to decide what you want to spend. If you are only going to be here a few months to a year, some of the cheaper furniture might fit your needs otherwise choose the higher quality furniture, cheap stuff will start falling apart quickly.

Plastic Furniture

Plastic chairs, and tables are extremely common in the DR. Most people have a stack of them somewhere so they have places for visitors to sit. While these are about the same price or at times even more expensive then wood furniture, they also last longer and can be easily stacked to get out of the way.

Wood Dining Sets

(more…)

One of the questions people have when visiting a foreign country is how to access their money. Should you bring cash, travelers checks, or rely on ATMs? Can you pay for things by credit card? Where can you use Travelers Checks? Can I pay in US Dollars? How do you exchange foreign money? All important questions that can greatly affect your vacation.

Travelers Checks: While it might be good to have some, very few places accept traveler’s checks in the DR. That means you’re going to have to get them cashed and converted. There are occasional money exchange locations that will take travelers Checks but most will not. Likely you will have to go to a bank and get them cashed and converted. That is a bit of a hassle.
(more…)

During one of our beach vacations we stumbled upon a rather interesting sight. I bet you didn’t know there is a Wal-Mart in the DR! Well, it’s true (sort of), and we have pictures for proof. Now don’t expect the usual array of household items, electronic, automotive, garden and other items we’ve all come to know and expect while shopping at this retail giant. And the prices here were not exactly what I would call “mark down”. The DR Wal-Mart is a little more … well let’s say “Local”.

Ok, it’s probably not an official retail store but we did find it rather entertaining. And if you squint your eyes well enough so you block out the rest of the surroundings and only see the sign, you can almost get that nostalgic feeling with this little taste of back home (well, almost).

Have you ever felt like a T.V. program or a radio station turns up the volume of their commercials? Sound cars are exactly what they sound like cars that make sound. You will hear one here even if you are here for only a week or two. These cars are exactly like the T.V. commercials except that they take it to a whole new level.

The sound cars are usually advertizing anything that you can imagine. You’ll hear them talking about a new type of deodorant or a promotion that they have in one of the different cell phone companies. You can often hear them belting out Claro promotions.

Sound cars are one of the more important forms of advertisement here. This is because many of the people here are too poor to have a TV where you would see your normal forms of ads trying to get you to buy their product. This is the same problem for radios which can end up costing about twice the amount that you would pay for them in the United States. (more…)

What could be better than free minutes for your cell phone? OK, well I can think of a few things, however it’s still nice to get something that you use a lot of for free! Something that it is good to know is Claro gives “bonus” minutes when you purchase refills of a higher dollar (or peso) amount. often it seems tempting to just buy the minutes you think you’ll need and pick up more when you need them. Seems reasonable when here in the DR you can buy your Claro, Viva, and Orange minutes at almost any comado. Usually in increments of 50, 100, or 150 pesos. But there are advantages of buying higher amounts. Bonus Minutes! (more…)