Santa Domingo March 2006
We are off to Santa Domingo to catch a flight back to Florida. There are closer airports in Puerto Plata and Santiago which we could have used, but the best deal to Florida for us was with Spirit to Fort Lauderdale. We had wanted to visit the capital anyway, so we decided it made sense to fly out of Santa Domingo.
Getting to Santa Domingo is very easy. The bus leaves Luperon every day around 130 pm and takes you directly there, but with many stops picking up and dropping off passengers. The route across the island goes through the mountains and is very pretty. We arrived in Santa Domingo about 5 pm and had plenty of time and light to find our way to Betty’s hostel.
Many of the boaters in Luperon had recommended Betty’s place. Although the rooms are set up for groups, when Betty doesn’t have one booked, she rents the rooms out to couples. Our room(s) had 10 single beds and one private bath, just for us. The rooms are incredibly clean, beautifully decorated with Betty’s art and very secure. Betty provides a wonderful breakfast too!! The hostel is right in the colonial district, and the music and partying do go on until midnight, but we didn’t mind.
We arrived Saturday afternoon, spent all day Sunday and Monday touring the historic buildings, churches, enjoying people watching in the many outdoor cafes. We even were able to see another canival parade, similar to La Vega but much larger and more controlled. We did a lot of walking, a little shopping and really enjoyed our time there.
Tuesday, noon, our cab took us to the airport and we were off to Florida to pick up our car (left there last fall), visit Bev’s parents and then drive home to the cold north. What we do for family!!