Stepping to Merengue

Operator PRESS TOURS Village IFA OCEAN VILLAGE BAVARO The resort is surrounded by lush, well-tended Caribbean vegetation, 3 beautiful swimming pools, 3 restaurants scattered around the resort including one on the beach, excellent and varied cuisine not to mention the various fruit cocktails. The resort also has à la carte restaurants by reservation, always included in the all-inclusive package: 1 with Mexican cuisine, 1 with Japanese cuisine and 1 with superior cuisine with refined and distinctive notes. The beach is enchanting; compared to other nearby resorts it was the most beautiful and largest, lined with many palm trees. The only downside of this resort are the rooms; they did not match the operator's description at all, they were of a lower standard and definitely with a bleak, barely working bathroom.

We start our relaxing holiday with a good deal of anger but then we resolve the situation with various negotiations and explanations, also because we weren't the only ones complaining. Now, enough, I want to enjoy this holiday. I had dreamed of this holiday in this land for a long time, which for one reason or another had always slipped away, but now we are here. Dominican Republic, S.Domingo, la Isla Bonita, la Isla Hispaniola.........how many names swirl around this place where........it is always holiday time, names that make us dream of something unique and fantastic, where the warmth of the sun can warm even the soul and create a unique atmosphere. Incredible beaches with postcard palms accompanied by a sweet musical rhythm that makes your whole body vibrate with "Merengue" steps.

It's the pleasure of living a holiday full of hospitality and welcome from the local people who take you by the hand and lead you to visit the most enchanting places on this island. The city of S. Domingo with its colonial style, chaotic but beautiful with its St Mary's cathedral, the Columbus Lighthouse where they say the remains of Christopher Columbus are found, the colourful Washington Monument rising on the Malecon, the museums and the spectacular Los Tres Ojos caves. Another spectacular little town is Altos de Chavon, a replica of a 16th-century Mediterranean village but built in the 1970s in coral stone with charming little lanes lined with hibiscus and bougainvillea; it's said to have been a gift from a father to his beloved daughter. It overlooks a steep slope above the Rio de Chavon river, where we take a boat that will carry us to Isla Catalina.

Here the wonder of nature reached its peak, the waters even more crystal-clear than at our resort and, to complete this beauty, the typical fishermen's houses. Small wooden houses in bright colours, each different from the other, dazzling white sand and lush palms; here we really see how lively and hot this country is. Another stop is the island of Saona; we reach the fishermen's village of Bayaibe to board, we continue to the natural pools where we find splendid starfish, then we reach the island. Just as beautiful as the previous one. And now relax; the only touch of liveliness and movement is dancing, which you simply cannot do without here; the body just goes and the entertainers are so engaging and good that by the end of the holiday we had become good Merengue dancers.

The Caribbean atmosphere and especially that of S.Domingo is unique and overwhelming: the music, the dancing and the local people transport you into a unique, engaging dimension, into a special rhythm. A country that you must see at least once in your life, a country that at the end of the holiday sends you home with a great charge of energy.