Santo Domingo: The First City in the New World (The History)

The Dominican Republic shares the Island of Hispaniola with the country of Haiti to the West.

Santo Domingo, capital city of the Dominican Republic, is the oldest continually inhabited European settlement in the Americas, having been founded in1498 by Bartholomew Columbus, brother of Christopher. The picture of the bust to the left is of Bartholomew and is located at the beginning of the wide, pedestrian only, street of El Conde. The city has a long and fascinating history, having been victimized by pirates, overrun by slaves, re-named by a dictator and more. It is a city where history comes to life! It is a city of 'firsts".

The Catedral Basilica Menor de Santa Maria: First cathedral in the New World. Diego, Christopher Columbus' son, set the first stone in the church in 1514.
Below is a view from the side entrance of the roof of the church. I must have been sitting in the Plaza for an hour, when I looked up and saw this cannonball up there. It looked stuck in the roof at first, but as you can see, it's just sitting on TOP of the roof and propped up by a few bricks. I quickly tried to assess where it might fall if it rolled off and thought moving to a different park bench a good idea. I was told later it was a shot fired from the boat of the notorious pirate Sir Frances Drake in 1586.

The Pantheon on Calle Las Damas is guarded day and night by the military. It houses the remains of the first teacher, the author of the first national anthem, the first bishop, the first mayor, and the first governor of the New World. The guards stand unmoving and motionless for two hours and then are relieved by another guard. Honestly, I thought this guy was a statue when I first entered the building.

First Fortress in the New World

First hospital in the New World

First University in the New World

First paved street in the new world: Calle Las Damas (Street of the Ladies). It was named in 1509 because of the number of women who would accompany Maria de Toledo, niece of the Spanish King Ferdinand and the wife of Diego Columbus, as she walked up it to church every Sunday morning from her home (picture below) known as the Alcazar de Colon or Castle of Columbus. The ladies close proximity to Maria reflected their standing in the social hierarchy. Diego built the castle right on the Ozama river and made the large, spacious, plaza in front so that all goods brought up the river to Santo Domingo could be displayed and viewed from the second story of his home.

You could spend weeks in Santo Domingo and still not have enough time to see everything in all the museums, historical buildings, and plazas. This is the place where the European invasion began. Cortez planned his invasion of Mexico from here. Sir Francis Drake, forcibly made the city his home for a few months and after looting and pillaging (he even stole the church bell some say), he was off in search of riches elsewhere, leaving the city in a smoldering ruin. The country endured the dictator and ruthless tyrant Rafael Trujillo for 31 years before he was assassinated in 1961. Civil wars and fights for independence from France, Spain, and Haiti, have all contributed to the rich history of this city and the country. It's not just a city of "firsts"....it's the oldest European city in the NEW WORLD! That's a lot of history!

Santo Domingo: First City in the New World (The People)

Although the history alone is fascinating in Santo Domingo, the people make strolling around town lots of fun too! There is much more to Santo Domingo than some really, really, old buildings. Look at the smiling faces! The boy on the right with the shoeshine kit called me over and asked me to look inside the cannon he was leaning on....so I did. There was a cannonball stuck in it about a third of the way down! The Dominican people of all ages are proud of their heritage and will happily share with you these little "secrets" that aren't in the guidebooks.

The gathering place for the locals is in La Plaza de Colon, adjacent to the cathedral. These guys in the picture above hang out there everyday...getting their shoes shined...I wasn't close enough to eavesdrop, but there was a tall tale being told. Just look at the expression on the face of the guy on the left!

There is almost a carnival air about town, especially when the kids have a break from school.
The mobile candy stores follow them around town.

The picture on the left is not of candy apples, but HUGE candy cherries. Yum! When this guy comes by with his tray, shopkeepers will leave their stores unattended to run out and grab one. They cost about 2 Dominican pesos..about a nickel !






















A favorite past time for the young and old alike is playing with and feeding the hundreds of pigeons that live in la Plaza de Colon. Couples in their wedding gowns and tuxedos pose for wedding photos in front of the church and at just the right moment, the photographer makes the birds fly with a stomp of his foot. I admit it was great fun to watch.

The kids below, mostly the boys, spent at least an hour one afternoon, probably side tracked on their way home after school, holding out food in the palms of their hands to the pigeons and when they were just close enough, they reached out and grabbed them! The handsome young man in the middle of the picture below offers a white bird out for me to hold.

Santo Domingo is a great people watching city! Peace out!

For My Friends With Paws

You may well wonder why I have chosen this particular subject to write about after having just returned from the Dominican Republic. The well treatment of the homeless animals where we travel has always been a major concern of mine, plus I contracted a serious illness my last week there and had a LOT of time to think about how the Dominican Republic and the people differed from other Latin American countries.... Oh, all right....who am I kidding? I'd like to pretend I was thinking of such philosophical things but, like I mentioned, I was really sick, full of strange medication, couldn't string words together to make a sentence, slept for sometimes 32 hours straight during which I would have the wildest, most vivid, dreams I have ever had....all about dogs! Big dogs, little dogs, spotted dogs, striped dogs, dogs playing the tuba in fields of daisys, my Aunt Vennies singing chihuahua, dogs wearing capes, talking dogs, (Gee, I thought they would never shut up!), dogs I knew, dogs I didn't , my first dog 'Dixie", and on and on... But they all seemed happy and content in my dreams. So, there. That's the real reason this post is about stray dogs. A message, if you will, from the deep recesses of a dog lovers delirious mind.

The Dominicanos treatment of the stray and homeless dogs that live among them IS a direct reflection of the Dominicanos gentle and compassionate nature. The dogs are allowed everywhere. Cab drivers sit on the curb and share their lunch with them. Waiters in restaurants never chase them away. They are never abused in any way. A tourist kicking a dog would result in some very angry words from the locals I'm sure. These strays behaved like none I've seen elsewhere. They don't fight each other, and they are comfortable and secure enough to fall asleep even on the wide pedestrian street of El Conde, in Santo Domingo. ( picture above)

"Animals are now more than ever a test of our character, of mankind's capacity for empathy and for decent, honorable conduct and faithful stewardship. We are called to treat them with kindness, not because they have rights or power or some claim to equality, but in a sense because they don't; because they all stand unequal and powerless before us." Matthew Scully - Dominion: The Power of Man, The Suffering of Animals, and the Call to Mercy (suggested, yet disturbing, reading)

I'm almost jealous of this little guy below asleep under a coconut tree on the beautiful beach at Las Galeras.

Here's how you can help homeless animals a little here at home and it won't cost a thing! You may have seen an email going around letting people know about the Animal Rescue Site. Go to their website at www.theanimalrescuesite.com/ (First you have to give them a valid email address, which only takes a few seconds, and they do NOT send unsolicited emails to the address.) Then, book mark or put the site into your favorites, go there daily, click on the purple box and .6 bowls of food is donated to the shelter. It only takes a minute. I hope you'll make it a part of your day. Please tell everyone you know. If we all collectively click the purple box everyday, it will make a real difference! Some other sites you might like to look at are http://www.animalsvoice.com/ They have some spectacular photos! For the horse lovers Another Chance for Horses at http://www.ac4h.com/ and this great site for the Wild Spirit Wolf Sanctuary http://www.inetdesign.com/candykitchen/ and www.bestfriends.org is a sanctuary for all animals!

Monkey Business

You gotta love 'em! Monkeys do the darnedest things! With their human like hands they can get into all kinds of mischief. The sign above makes me smile every time I see it because I have no doubt that if someone left their car unlocked and the keys in the ignition one of the monkeys could and would drive off in it! I complained one time to the owner of a lodge in Ecuador that the monkeys, (spider monkeys for the most part) were getting into my hut and rummaging through my belongings when I was out on the river or hiking...and I mean they were unzipping my bag! He asked me, "Do you have any cookies..candy... fruit...in your room? Well, yessss, I did...but... He threw his arms in the air in exasperation at my answer and ended the conversation abruptly with, "Then I can do nothing!"

The monkeys got in at night too as evidenced by what I would find in the morning, usually on my bed. It was more than a little disconcerting to feel a hairy tail brush against my face in the night. I got used to it though and even stopped screaming after a few nights. The owner of this lodge was very nice, despite his inability to give me a good nights rest, and he loved all the monkeys that would visit the lodge.

They are not pets, nor are they fed, and they are free to go anytime. This little capuchin seemed pretty used to people. At dinner each night, when he saw me heading to the dining area, he would jump on me, crawl under my shirt, and then pop his head out of the neck hole and stay there, peering around and sometimes snoozing....for hours. Cheeky monkey!

The Jungle Place in between Akumal and Tulum is a great place to visit when in Mexico. You can read about their monkey sanctuary here http://www.jungleplace.com/ . They are doing wonderful work there for sick and displaced spider monkeys in that area.

Here's a photo of one of my smaller friends at The Jungle Place when she was five years old wearing a monkey "bracelet" (Ixchel) and last year, barely seven years old, just after a thorough head inspection for insects by Luna and Maya. She's a monkey child!

Aren't we all?

I'll be away from a computer for a few weeks while I go a whale watching in the Dominican Republic. (Yes, you CAN get away from a computer!) Hopefully, I'll figure out how to post video when I return. Until then....stop monkeying around and start planning an adventure!

The Village of Tortuguero

The beachs of Tortuguero are isolated and uninhabited for long stretches of coastline. You can really get that Robinson Crusoe feel there. However, there is also a village by the name of Tortuguero, which can be translated Land of the Turtles, because of the green sea turtle migration there to lay their eggs each year. It is a small and quiet town, located between the sea and the canals, where cars do not exist. The only way to get there is by boat or small plane, and the planes aren't flying in right now while repairs are made to the airstrip. The population is around 700. The people who reside there use bicycles and their feet for getting from one side of town to the other...not that far. Below is a picture of the main street and a few of the houses. Doesn't everyone have a satellite now? The green structure is the town's administration building. There's a window air conditioner! Wow! Someone very important must work there!

If you are interested in independant travel, this website, http://www.tortuguerovillage.com/ is intended to increase awareness of the resources, locally owned micro-enterprises, and opportunities the actual town of Tortuguero can offer a visitor, student, or tourist. This is a project developed by the local governing body, with support by two Peace Corps Volunteers, and of course the entire community of Tortuguero. You can find out lots of information here to plan a visit on your own. If you would like to visit the town, canals, and park, but feel more comfortable with a bilingual guide, yet still avoid traveling with lots of people, which often makes you feel like you're in a herd and sticking out like a sore thumb, send me an email. We never travel with more than six participants!

If the Rubber Boot Fits...

With an annual rainfall of 160-200 inches or more, Costa Rica's rainforest trails would be impossible to hike without rubber boots. (In comparison, the annual rainfall in SC last year was 34 inches!) In fact, according to The National Meteorological Institute (IMN) Costa Rica’s 2008 rainfall is set to make history, accumulating more annual rainfall than it has seen in more than 60 years. This makes for a LOT of mud. In late August, considered one of the least rainy months in the Tortuguero area, I was walking along a trail, hopping from one solid looking spot to another, when I literally sank up to the top of my boots in the mud. I pulled and pulled, but I was stuck in there but good! Finally, I had no choice but to pull my feet out of the boots and leap out in my stocking feet into the brush off the trail. Hilarious when I think about it now...looking back at those boot tops just barely sticking out of the ground with no occupant inside them! The problem was the boots were too big and I couldn't get them unstuck without my feet slipping out. So, take your time and try on a few pair before you choose one to hike in.

The wet ground makes for viewing animal tracks easy though. Here's a very large Baird's tapir print. I must have just missed him! Looking at the size of the print it must have been close to 100 pounds or more. Just a youngster...most newborn tapirs weigh from 15-25 pounds. An adult Baird's tapir can tip the scales, weighing in at 700 pounds or more!

Trekking into the wetter, marshier areas also provides some great bird watching. I watched the bird in the picture below for a long time as it preened in the trees over a small flooded area. I was really quiet so as to not disturb, but he looks really ticked off! I believe it is a boat billed heron, but the bill and head are too blue. Can anyone help me identify it? Whatever the name, it was a magnificent bird!

Turtle Watching in Tortuguero, Costa Rica

The enormous green sea turtles return to the beaches of Tortuguero every August and September to lay their eggs. There are no roadways here and all transportation is by boat or small plane. Last August the planes weren't flying in because of repairs to the air strip. So, I had no choice but to bus it three hours from San Jose to the river docks where I could get a boat to the remote lodge where I was staying. It was an early morning departure (5:00 AM), sans breakfast, the last hour of which was on a teeth rattling, bumpy road, but the moment the boat left the dock, I was in heaven! Speeding along the narrow waterways, slowing down for groups of herons and anhingas of course, and even stopping a few times to watch a three toed sloth and a group of spider monkeys, I felt privileged to peer into this vast rain forest...just from the edge. A trip to Latin America is never complete for me without sighting some wildlife. Tortuguero does not disappoint. Cayman and crocodiles sun on the river banks. Macaws fly above.

The biggest thrill though is witnessing the arrival of a green sea turtle on shore, watching her lay her eggs, and then laboriously trod back to the sea. Although the occasion was a joyous one, our group of seven were solemn, no, reverent, as we followed her, slowly, until she hit the water swimming! Wow! A sight I will never forget!
One is not allowed to just walk the shore at night in search of laying turtles. It is very organized and monitored by the conservation groups. NO pictures can be taken and only the leader of your group may shine a RED light for illumination. Even the red light, which does not distract or disorient the turtle, is only pointed towards the rear of the turtle. Every precaution is taken to insure the safety and successful journey of the turtle.

Historically, the turtles in this area were hunted for their meat. There was actually a profession for many years....Turtle Turner. These men would walk along the shore at night and turn over turtles, which could not right themselves, and were picked up by a passing boat the next morning. Most turtles weigh in at over three hundred pounds! Villagers have learned through conservation to change their dietary habits and have embraced the protection of these gentle giants.

To find out more about the green sea turtle, track their journeys, or to make a donation by "adopting' a turtle, visit http://www.cccturtle.org/ Better yet, join one of our small group tours and see them for yourself! (http://www.latinamericayourway.net/)
Fly in if you can. There is something magical about taking in the scenery from the air. You really get the big picture. Besides, vacation time is always too short. Better to spend those three hours watching leaf cutter ants hurrying by with their loads, or a basilisk sunning, or sipping a fruity drink poolside...or....

More on Tortuguero and Costa Rica later!

Earthquake! Poas, Costa Rica

Poas Volcano is the world's most active volcanic crater. On January 8, 2009 an earthquake registering 6.5, rocked the area of Alajuela Province, near San Jose. The epicenter was located in the Poas Volcano region. The earthquake destroyed 16 kilometers of the Vara Blanca road leading up to the area. 25 or more local residents perished, and many more are missing and presumed dead.

The La Paz Waterfall Gardens are completely destroyed and the animals housed there, well, they were in cages, so... A family of three tourists there fell over forty feet from the viewing platform over one of the four waterfalls, but only suffered minor injuries. Tourists and locals who could hike out to waiting rescue vehicles did so, while others were helicoptered out.

The top photo was taken in September. Sulphuric fumaroles are always present, but on the day of the earthquake reports say the entire crater was bubbling and boiling with fumaroles billowing from all sides. If you would like to aid the displaced population or find out more visit the Costa Rican red cross site here http://www.cruzroja.or.cr/ Our tours have been suspended temporarily to this area. This is a very sad and devastating situation for the gentle people and animals who live there, as well as the destruction of some of the most beautiful, misty, pastoral, scenery in the world, often likened to Ireland. Hopefully, the people and the land will recover soon.