Blogs

 Breathless Punta Cana Resort & Spa

Since the beginning of resort development (especially of the all-inclusive kinds) and the opening of an international airport in the early 1980s, this town sprawling along 62 miles of the DR´s northeastern coast has evolved into Latin America´s second-most popular beach destination (and by the way, contributing around a quarter of the DR´s entire GDP), and it´s not hard to see why: pristine white sands, turquoise blue waters, a variety of attractions, and more

Freya19


Way out west near the city of Aguadilla (and a two-hour drive from San Juan), the good-size town of Moca (pop. 38,000), founded in 1772, enjoys a unique status in Puerto Rico: it´s the island´s capital of mundillo, intricate cotton bobbin lace brought over from Spain centuries ago, still laboriously woven by hand, and used to adorn all manner of textile items, from handkerchiefs and shirts to tablecloths. (Bobbins are small wooden spindles around which the cotton thread is wound, and t

FG Trade Latin

Cuba is one of the Caribbean´s most popular countries with visitors because of its paradisiacal beaches, lovely landscapes, handsome architecture, compelling history, its infectious music, and its tasty cuisine. In capital Havana all of this is distilled into a marvelous must-visit - and of course this is where you´ll find the most and best restaurants and cafés in the entire country.

sbossert

Typical Cuban Dishes

Ropa Vieja

One of the most classic island dishes of all, "old

by Jazzmine Raine

The main reasons millions come to Cuba each year are (primarily) beaches and (secondarily) culture. But the lag in the country’s development since 1959 has been a boon for ecotourism, leaving the island with quite a few natural treasures for visitors to discover, from hidden waterfalls to castaway beaches, national parks, and conversatories. I recently discovered one such gem in the Sierra del Rosario mountains just over an hour’s drive west of capital Havana.   Allow me to intr

Ivan2010
 

Though mostly shabby and decrepit except for its UNESCO World Heritage colonial core, Habana Vieja, being restored for the tourism trade with the help of the Spanish government, the European Union, and other international donors, the capital of Cuba is truly one of the more remarkable cities in all the world, as millions of new visitors have been discovering each year since the régime started increasingly opening up the island to visitors in the years following the 1991 collapse of its

Javier_Art_Photography

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:

When it comes to cities in Cuba, capital Havana does hog a disproportionate share of the attention – and it’s not hard to understand why. But at the southeastern tip of this island country, 540 miles (870 kilometres) from the capital, is another which amply deserves to be part of any visit to Cuba. One of the first of many settlements in the Americas to be named after mother country Spain’s revered pilgrimage city of Santiago de Compostela, the bayside port of Santiago de Cuba is this country’s

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

LosMocanos.com

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

dlrz4114

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