spanish caribbean (6)
The "Isle of Enchantment" offers an amazingly diverse menu of options to visitors, in capital San Juan and well beyond - history and culture, for sure, but also tasty eating, drinking, and beaching, along with memorable partying and much much more. But one side of Puerto Rico you should definitely not miss is its wealth of eco opportunities, from glowing "bioluminescent" bays to spectacular waterfalls, and most especially a large swath about an hour's drive from San Juan:
Dominican Republic Tourism
by Marita Acosta
In a country where resort zones such as Punta Cana and Puerto Plata have become household names to holidaymakers in the Americas, Europe, and beyond, the new frontier in exotic, sunsplashed getaways is also starting to make a name for itself. Samaná Peninsula, here we come.
Also its own province, this L-shaped territory astride the eastern half of the DR’s northern coast is a largely wild and natural region where rather than big all-inclusive resorts, i
You don't book a room in Condado, an isthmus lined with beachfront condos, hotels, fabulous restaurants and bars, clubs, and casinos near downtown San Juan, because you love stand-up paddleboarding. (Stand-up bar-hopping, that's another thing.) But every day more and more locals are shelling out $1,000 and up for paddleboards so they can slice through Condado Lagoon, which separates Condado from the mainland. And now a start-up company named Velauno, which I discovered with a little help from
Few cultural forms are more associated with the Dominican Republic than merengue music and the brisk, shuffling, hip-wagging dance that goes with it (no one’s exactly sure where the name comes from – sweet, frothy beaten egg whites or the “mareng” or “méringue” music of neighboring Haiti). Going back more than 150 years, like tango in Argentina it once scandalized the prim and proper because of its ribald lyrics and sexy moves. Well, that’s sure as heck a thing of the past – see
As I travel around the Caribbean (and to some extent this is true in Latin America, too), I find nearly every island has some kind of homegrown hooch (often rum-based) that purports to be “medicinal” (and sometimes certainly tastes the part), often including revitalizing, curative, and even aphrodisiac qualities. And if you visit the Dominican Republic, you may well come across the Dominican variation on this type of esteemed elixir.
The name mamajuana (Spanish for “Mama Jane”) is t
