Waterfront, Santo Domingo
So there we were, on our second day in the Dominican Republic and without any leads on a rental car. Somehow we needed to make the 2.5-hour journey to the Samaná Peninsula the following day. I'd already begun to wonder what the odds were that we wouldn't find a rental at all.
Fortunately for us, the lovely Hotel Atarazana had a computer for guest use and we were able to easily search the location of car rental companies. They all were about 3 miles away near the waterfront.
Before starting on our mission we decided to eat breakfast at the same place we'd been to the night before, Restaurante El Conde, on the plaza. This time we managed to snag a table outdoors.
Scotty, channeling his inner Johnny Depp
For simple breakfast food, the meal was pretty awesome; I got scrambled eggs with cheese, Scotty got the same with ham, both with toast. We each had a café con leché (coffee with milk), which always seems to taste so much better than coffee with cream at home. And we shared a glass of cold passionfruit juice (jugo de chinola)... so refreshing in the tropical morning which was already heating up to around 80˚F.
Scotty and I agreed that the eggs really do taste so much fresher and which we thought probably had to do with the fact that in many (all?) Latin American countries they aren't refrigerated. (Side note: I seem to have a bit of a complex about pulling out a camera to take a picture of my meals in restaurants, so I'll have to work on that and leave the goodness up to imaginations for now.)
After breakfast it was back to the business of finding transportation. We decided to start walking in the direction of the rental car companies (all seemingly in the same neighborhood) and see how far we got before getting a cab.
The sun was very, very hot as we trudged along the concrete sidewalk. I'd worn my old, least favorite flip flops so of course my feet started getting torn up about halfway there, wherever "there" was. But we pressed on, stubbornly refusing to get in a cab and I, to attempt to communicate where to go when we really didn't know.
Not sure what this was all about...
Eventually we came across Dollar Rent-A-Car and went inside the tiny office to a blast of cold air. It felt so nice. But again, we heard pretty much the same thing they had told us in the airport: they were sold out. And a look around their lot confirmed it. We watched dejectedly as the a person who had been in the office before us (with a reservation) drove off with their last rental car. Even the rental car agents shrugged and told us we could try Alamo down the road, but that it was the busiest week of the year. Which was why I had a reservation to begin with, of course.
We arrived at Alamo after what seemed like another hour of walking and repeated our plea for a car. At first the girl told us no, they had no cars. But as we stood there looking forlorn and inquiring whether we could come back at any other time, she must have either took pity on us or wanted us out of the office and agreed that perhaps, she might have a car that we could pick up first thing the following morning. No matter that it would cost us nearly three times what the original reservation had been for-at that point we felt lucky to even get a car. Also, the rental would have to include full insurance coverage, a necessity in the Dominican Republic we now understand, regardless of whether one had their own coverage through a credit card or other insurance policy.
We left in a state of tentative triumph, hoping that a car would indeed materialize the following day, but glad to have a printed reservation in hand.
Celebrating... with bandages for my feet
On the way back to our side of town, we decided to walk along the waterfront side of the road.
The breeze from the ocean cooled us down and we decided to stop for celebratory drinks at a waterfront restaurant.
On the beach below, we could see local kids playing in the surf, enjoying their holiday off from school.
But not too far away from them, we also spotted a bunch of trash washed up on the beach.
Around town I'd also noticed a lot of trash, in some places more than others. Certain neighborhoods appeared very well kept; others, not so much.
Immaculate, touristy neighborhood near in the Zona Colonial
Waterfront buildings (the red one is a strip club)
I still wouldn't have traded the experience for an all-inclusive resort, but if I learned anything in the first 24-hours in Dominican Republic, it's that traveling independently in a developing country is sometimes easier said than done.
One thing to note: I felt very safe walking around Santo Domingo. As you can see, we dress pretty far from flashy, especially during the day and never were bothered by anyone despite being gringo tourists. The most attention we were paid was being beeped at by a series of taxis on our "rental car walk".
Next up, Las Terrenas, on the Samaná Peninsula!
Waterfront, Santo Domingo, DR
No comments:
Post a Comment