Dominican Republic trip

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Last month I had a quick photo trip to the DR for a day. Images here are from the north-central coast to the south-eastern coast. I tried to give a good idea of what the general landscape is like. The colors are kind of funky because of the haze and we were up at 9000 on the way in.

The route, "X"s indicate where the images are - click on any of the pictures for larger sizes

Puerto Plata on the north coast of the DR:



This is a cluster of hotels/resorts and Casinos west of Puerto Plata's airport. The hotels are in a fenced compound with armed guards at the front entrance on the main road (near the right of the picture) and along the beach. By armed, I mean they patrol holding shotguns. Visitors are each checked as they enter the compound. Some of the hotels are all-inclusive resorts and visiting is kind of like being on a cruise-ship:


More of the northern coast:


Just west of the city of Puerto Plata at 9000ft, things start to get rural very quickly. The river (Rio) Sabaneta meanders to the coast:

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The landscape quickly changes even more toward the center of the country - and it's weird. Miles of tiny hills pop up just south of Puerto Plata and persist for about 60nm of the trip.








Thr first sign of urban civilization after the mountains is Hato Mayor:

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...but most of the plains areas have farms/plantations, and settlements presumably occupied by the farm workers.

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We stayed at the Casa de Campo resort area just east of La Romana on the southern/Caribbean coast.

The airport is relatively new (it was previously located along the water - now it's located a few miles north of the resort), the FBO is first rate and "just like home". The "commercial" terminal and "general aviation" are split from each other. Everything is low-key with very friendly service:





The resort itself is geared toward the Yachting, golfing, horse, and tennis crowds. They also have a shooting center with skeet, trap, and sporting clays - and hold world class competitions.

Shooting center:


Part of the golf course along the western border of the resort (shortly after sunrise):


The hotel complex - the swimming pool, main restaurant, and reception are located in the large complex of white/block-roofed buildings in the middle. In the lower-right corner is the "Lago Grill" where a buffet breakfast and lunch are served daily (it's a tropical-style thatched roofed open-air building):

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For this trip we requested rooms in the hotel. They ended up getting us "luxury" rooms with golf carts included (for transportation, not for golfing). The rooms have the typical "mini bar" (full of stuff), a large HD LCD TV (with standard-def programming), Bose "Wave Radio", couch, easy chair, full bath and dressing area, balcony, and WiFi broadband internet (for an additional cost). Peak season (Jan-April) they're $345/night, summer season is $215/night. The rooms are in town-house style blocks of 6 rooms (3 up top, 3 on the bottom) with a "carport" for the golf carts.

My room was in the building just about dead-center of the frame:








Our rooms had a "golf course" view. My room didn't quite have a view of the Caribbean but it was there. This is from my balcony, the houses in the middle like where our rooms were:

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The resort has several very good restaurants (depending on your taste, of course). The main restaurant is near the hotel lobby and was just a few minutes walk from the rooms. I had an 8oz NY strip steak for $30. My other half of the crew had the cheap meal, a 12oz filet for $29. That actually was about average for cost - nothing is cheap.


At the base of those steps are a couple of different swimming pools. This one had an in-pool bar under the roof in the picture. Seating for the "bar" were underwater around the island/bar.


Slippers? Well, after getting back from dinner I thought something was different in my room. I found two pillows on the couch then I noticed the bed had been "turned down" and slippers set out. I also had a bucket of ice next on the bar, and the shutters were closed and locked. That was part of the "luxury" apparently. No ice machines either; they bring it when they turn down the beds or you call room service for it (at no charge).

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La Romana - these give an idea of what the city looks like. Driving makes even our most hectic highways seem calm and relaxing. They mostly drive on the right...mostly...but we were regularly passed by passenger busses and cabs. Lots of small motorcycle traffic too. Expect to see some interesting cargo on the bikes.

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Back to the "Casa de Campo" area. It was really hard to get decent pictures that day because it was so rough, I think the winds were gusting into the 30s - whatever it was, it was rough.

First the river the runs along the east side of the property. The Rio Chavon has some wonderful scenery and is used for boating excursions. If you look carefully you'll see the palm trees in the lower-left are really blured from the wind. If the palms are bluring in a picture like this it must be windy!






Along the top of some cliffs that overlook the river is "Altos de Chavon". It's a modern replica of a 16th century Mediterranean village and opened in the early 80s. It has restaurants, bars, a church, an amphitheater, and other businesses. The opening (in 1982) featured a Frank Sinatra concert.

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At the southern end of the river is the Caribbean and the resort's marina. It too has a "Mediterranean" theme with shops and ample room for your yacht (!). You can also get Starbucks coffee there or catch a movie at the mall.





Here's a closer view; the "courtyard" is also open-air restaurant seating (one part of it is a Chinese restaurant, and it's pretty good).



Flying along the Caribbean coast of Casa de Campo reveals some expensive real estate:








...and the beach. Nice water and sand, it has a restaurant by Le Cirque (on the left side)


That's all!

hnjngo

Lol i just found this, but what were you shooting with on the plane?

ChrisJ

Definitely missed this one last year... beautiful place.

Those bumpy hills must be fun to trek through. In one of those shots, it looks like a bison-shaped hill. I love the cows crossing and the boats carving up the river.

Do you know what the fenced off area is in the city in this shot? http://photos.smugmug.com/photos/833038602_Spjjv-L.jpg

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hnjngo wrote: »

Lol i just found this, but what were you shooting with on the plane?

Thats ok, I missed the replies!

These were all with a Nikon D300 and mostly a Nikkor 135/f2.8Qc (manual focus), a couple were with a Tokina 12-24 I think.

ChrisJ wrote: »

Definitely missed this one last year... beautiful place.

Those bumpy hills must be fun to trek through. In one of those shots, it looks like a bison-shaped hill. I love the cows crossing and the boats carving up the river.

Do you know what the fenced off area is in the city in this shot? http://photos.smugmug.com/photos/833038602_Spjjv-L.jpg

Thanks... it's a cemetery, or whatever the appropriate term is for one with tombs like that is. There are a lot of political and advertising signs posted all around it.

FlyNavy

Nice pics. I love the DR.