The Dominican Escape

Description

WE REQUIRE A MINIMUM OF 6 ADULTS FOR THIS TOUR

After picking you up at your hotel in a comfortable van with a/c, we’re gonna make our way direction Macao, north side of the Punta Cana region. We’re gonna visit the beach of Macao, the only public beach in Punta Cana, but before that, we’re gonna make a quick stop in the local community of Macao to visit a local “colmado”.

The “colmado” is simply a Dominican institution. It is typically a small grocery store for basic foodstuffs, cleaning products, toiletries, soft drinks, beer, and rum. The colmado is extremely important in today’s Dominican Republic and it is still the most common small business in the country. They also have cultural, recreational, and political components. In the evening, particularly on the weekends, some colmados function as a meeting place for the neighborhood’s men and women. They chat, joke, play dominos, drink beer and rum, and listen to popular music. Some colmados have a couple of chairs and perhaps a table, or a place right outside in the shadow, and they play music. The colmado has always been a key site of popular culture here in the Dominican Republic. We’re gonna stop few minutes here, maybe enjoying a good Dominican coffee or just to chat a bit and start feeling the Dominican atmosphere.

It’s beach time! As said we will continue our trip reaching the beach of Macao. This beach is today the only public beach in Punta Cana, not owned by resorts. The beach attracts a good mix of both locals and tourists and you are free to settle down wherever you like. Macao Beach is known for being a popular surfing spot. On weekends and especially on Sunday is a local’s favorite spot and you’ll find it very crowded. Dominicans love to come here and spend the afternoon drinking and eating with their family or friends. Being a public beach be ready to face many vendors trying to sell you any kind of stuff, from local souvenirs, jewelry, photos with a parrot or a monkey, or inviting you to eat at their restaurant. We will share a drink all together here while you’ll have the chance to see how Dominican life develops at the beach and how locals fish and work here to get some money to face the day (Bring along some cash in case you want to purchase souvenirs or services from beach vendors). 

After learning a bit about how the local life develops close to the coast is time to discover how the Dominicans live in the countryside. We’re gonna move direction to Higuey, the biggest city in the area, passing through sugar cane fields, fruit plantations, ranches, and rural villages where our
guide will give you extensive info regarding the local flora and fauna, but also regarding the typical day to day life. We’re gonna stop in the small community of “El Penon” to visit a local elementary school to better understand the country’s public education system and meet the children (You can bring school supplies as well if you’re up to and give them to the school or leave an offer to help the local community).

Continuing our trip, we’re gonna now experience a bit of the local life in the city. Higuey is the largest city on the Dominican Republic’s East Coast. We’ll take a stroll on the main street and observe the day-to-day activity in the city: the colmados, cafeterias, shops, and their vendors. We will visit the “San Dionisio” Church, constructed over 500 years ago, as well as the Basilica of La Altagracia, the largest and most important church in the country.

At this time of the morning, you should start getting hungry, so what’s better than a typical Dominican street food snack? “Empanadas” are among the most widespread snacks all over Latin America and the Caribbean. The name comes from the Spanish word “empanar” (to fill), and
they are basically a half-moon of flaky crust filled usually with beef, chicken, or vegetables that you can either bake or fry.
Empanadas can be eaten for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. In the Dominican Republic, they’re usually fried and eaten for breakfast adding some sauce on top, like ketchup, mayo, or hot sauce. We’re gonna stop in a typical food truck to buy some and eat them accompanied by a glass of beer.

The last stop will be the local market where will finish our tour surrounded by endless new tastes, smells, sights, and sounds. Have your camera ready! The local market offers better prices than the classic supermarkets so for low-income families is the place to go to buy food, clothes, etc. After that, we’ll get back to the van and we’ll make our way back to Punta Cana.

Cigar, Chocolate and Rum Factory (optional)

If you’re interested in bringing home some typical products like cigars, chocolate, or rum, on our way back to Punta Cana we can add an extra stop with the duration of 1 hour around to visit a certificated shop where you can buy authentic local products, including demonstrations of the making process and free tasting. We suggest the Don Lucas cigar factory in particular if you are a cigar lover.