Never before written truth about the Dominican Republic

Vacation Dominican Republic

When we decided to travel across the pond, it was a pity not to use the opportunity and visit some of the exotic countries. There were various options: Cuba, Mexico, the Bahamas, but this time the choice fell on vacation Dominican Republic in July. Hurray!

This is one of those trips where you have to be a part of one of the resorts, especially if you’re coming here and booking the accommodation for the first time.

I did not know what to expect from all of this, I didn’t have any prejudices either…my head was filled with some assumptions only.

I spent a long time thinking about which side of the Dominican Republic I should show you. Every side of the popular Dominican Republic is very pretty, vivacious, fiery, full of smiles, dance, and music, but only some them are a bit sad.

What’s behind those happy faces and the doors they close behind them when the work day is over in one of the resorts if they are not far away from their homes already.

More about which types of luxury we enjoyed inside the resort alone you can read in some of the next posts.

How to leave the resort?

This is the question I had been asking myself a few months before taking off. We’re not one of those tourists that stick to the resort and don’t budge. What’s more, this is our first time being a part of some resort with an all inclusive option.

That’s what had been worrying me the most. I thought I would be bored to death.

When I was asking around how and where to get out of the resort walls the most frequent answer I got was “You don’t” because “there’s only squalor, misery and poverty and nothing more”.

Squalor, misery, and poverty I can see in my own country, and that doesn’t stop me from moving freely.

I was not satisfied with their answer.. so I moved on…

One of the ways out was with the help of the agencies that take you touring. We asked a few of them and concluded that there were more than enough organized sightseeing tours for our 8-day stay.

I went camouflaged, of course 🙂 (see my truck) because their stories scared me to death beforehand 🙂

If you asked me now after all that I saw there and been through if I would do the same thing, my answer would be “YES”.

It seems unimaginable to me to wander there all by yourself, without a guide or some Dominican that you know. It’s not as if you go to rent a car agency, take a car and a map and go sightseeing from one point to another. So stick to the organized tours which you have more than enough, at least for the first time.

What’s behind the walls of the luxurious resorts

Magnificent and untouched nature.

Ok, the climate is not really to my taste, because the humidity is 90% on 30°C temperature. So you should wear lots of cotton clothes and drink lots of water, too. That’s when I started liking the air conditioning 🙂

But because of this, everything is green, rich and relaxing.

Imagine Ferdinand (famous cartoon) under this tree.

This is where the Anaconda movie was filmed, for sure.

Bad economic situation

Unfortunately, I felt really sad watching everything else…it’s a state of overall poverty. Most of the population is on the brink of the material existence. To make matters worse, the same population has to support refugees from Haiti that come in everyday.

https://www.facebook.com/Putovanjesaukusom/videos/1206630099447165/

Towns with poor infrastructure and overcrowded streets.

The most common means of transport is motorcycle.

Or a pickup with an open back part…because then more people can fit

They have public institutions as well, but they don’t have as many members as those in the other parts of the world.

https://www.facebook.com/Putovanjesaukusom/videos/1206630139447161/

This is how a police station in a rural area looks like

Bank or casino?

Unfortunately casino.

They are visited by a large number of young people who are trying to find better luck in the life.

Maybe they are using a wrong way!

If you dive a bit into the villages, most often, the images aren’t as promising. The houses are built of mud and wood. Of course, there are some richer homes made out of bricks, but you can rarely see them.

Instead of numbers on houses, the mailman distinguishes them by colours. In that way, he takes the mail to the El Salado village, to the blue house.

And this is how a supply chain looks like in small places

Education in development

I found out that the Dominican Republic government in recent times has been investing a lot in education and schools. In a way that can help a lot in the development of the Dominican society and economy.

https://www.facebook.com/Putovanjesaukusom/videos/1206630246113817/

The state in which I found it was pretty challenging. The state has provided schools, with a not so bad infrastructure, and the kids can go to school, but don’t have to. The parents are those who decide if and when they will start school. So, you can see kids born in different years attending the same class.

Another discouraging fact, for me, is that the state doesn’t review the situation among children, that is, how much of those who started school, have managed to finish it.

You could give a donation for their schools, and that’s what we did. As the hope dies last, I hope that this beautiful child will find some better life tomorrow.

Until the information about better education come to life, the children there will most often spend time behind the barbed wire of the school yard, so to speak:

or on the street

pleading for happiness of USA $ 1

And what do some people do to survive?

They cultivate the banana plantations

Export cocoa

As well as coffee

They process it, too

But even when you go through all of that, see it with your own eyes and learn something from their destinies…you know what stays etched into your memory the deepest…

Happiness and joy

Their happy faces, smiling and beautiful even though their lives are full of challenges.

Bright and musical spirit

They are the type of people who in any given moment can start singing and dancing, they don’t need a reason for something like that.

https://www.facebook.com/Putovanjesaukusom/videos/1209473629162812/

And what sense of rhythm do they have… if only I had at least 0,5% of what they have.

And afterwards, it’s time for…

The Caribbean sea

It’s worth traveling half the world for these sunsets.

And in order to come again and be a part of that culture and spirit in the hopes of having some of those magical things transferred onto me, I first have to leave them with a heavy heart…And so, after 8 beautiful days in the Dominican Republic, we had to return home the same way.

But I must admit, for the first time I was glad to be born just where I was.