I’ve traveled in Latin America enough to recognize some basic similarities. First, I must qualify this post by saying I feel comfortable in the region and have always loved the places I’ve visited.

On this cruise, the ship visited Puerto Plata on the north shore of the Dominican Republic.  The ship docked at the newly constructed port of Amber Cove, a pretty port located 3.5 miles out of town. With access into town on a busy highway, it is not safely walkable in my opinion (as I had seen reported).  We’ve been to the Dominican in the past – but only to Casa de Campo, the famous golf resort. At that location we rented a villa which came with a heavily armed guard during the night (a bit disconcerting at the very least). At the resort, the three golf courses were wonderful, service attentive, and the setting beautiful and tranquil.

This trip, there was no time for golf and we chose to head up into the mountains. Like every other Latin American town there are lots of signs of construction. But you never know if the building is going up, being torn down, or simply abandoned – it can be very hard to tell. We took off in an open-air vehicle and immediately got stuck in traffic, next to a gigantic new truck with the loudest most obnoxious horn I’ve ever heard and a very big old utility truck spewing toxic diesel fumes. It was awful. Finally, we turned off the main road. Our route took us past the requisite small tiendas, stands selling helados, lush untamed greenery, and, unfortunately, a lot of trash along the rough, uneven uphill road.

During the parts of the drive that surrounded us with nothing but a tangled mass of vines, palms, and many other tall green trees, I tried to filter out the bumpy road and channel images inspired by the Green Mansions book of my childhood. 

It took us about 45 minutes to get up about 2500’ to the top where we visited Parque National Isabel de Torres, with wonderful vistas of the city below, a gondola to sea level, and a replica of the Christ the Redeemer statue in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The main features of the park are the beautiful, landscaped gardens and it was lovely to walk around the paved paths and boardwalks. It was very interesting to see the cave where they say the ocean starts (pictured above). I’m not sure I understand how that is possible, but that’s what they say. The gardens were enjoyable, the area around the replica statue, not so much. There were vendors selling tchotchkes and young men haggling to arrange pictures in exchange for a few dollars.

On this day we happened to be in port with four other cruise ships. Alarming! One of them docked at our port, was a Carnival ship with more than 6,000 passengers. In the town of Puerto Plata three more ships were docked, one each from Celebrity, Regent, and NCL. There were so many people in the city center it was hard to move. Plus, they seem to have some annoying rule here, that tour groups must enter shops. Our guide literally had us speed-walk through several; we were in and out in a flash. The only spot where we lingered was one serving samples of their delicious Dominican hot chocolate in small ceramic cups.

It’s a historic city and looked interesting with Colonial and Victorian architecture, and I was disappointed not to be able to explore and experience it. But, I couldn’t wait to get away from the crowds.

Puerto Plata was designed in 1496 by Christopher Columbus and his brother. I wonder what they would’ve thought of it on this day.