It has always been thought that the Dominican Republic is Dominica, Dominica, this time carefully checked, in fact, is two different countries. In Chinese, one is called "Dominica" and the other is called "Dominican Republic". I think most people would take Dominica as Dominican Republic. Dominica is not far from Dominica, a very small island country with a population of less than 80,000 people. I'm guessing tourism is nowhere near as developed as it is in Dominica.
The economy of Dominica is the first in Central America and the ninth in Latin America. Its gold reserves are the second largest in the world, and it is also a very significant economy.
Due to the unique geographical environment, tourism is an important pillar of the Dominican economy. The most famous scenic spot is Punta Cana, a little over two hours drive from the capital Santo Domingo, which has a world-class beautiful coastline and excellent white sandy beaches. Along the beachfront are countless resorts and hotels.
The Dominican Republic was once a Spanish colony, a battleground for the British and French navies, and then taken over by the United States. Most of the local residents are of mixed race, with the simplicity and warmth of Latin Americans.
Infected by the local people, in Punta Cana, when someone asked us where we came from, we would humorously say: Punta Canada.
Since the tourism industry is well developed, the prices in the tourist areas will not be cheap. The local people are also very good at quoting inflated prices, and the room for bargaining is comparable to that in China. On the beach, there are young men with small monkeys or chameleons, the animals to your hands, as long as the photo will be 5 dollars. Overall, however, the resort's help desk is trustworthy. They are seriously helpful in contacting and arranging any outings, and the prices are not exaggerated.
The format of the resorts is pretty much the same, with all-you-can-eat, all-you-can-drink, and all-you-can-drink. Only, the quality of alcohol will be more different in different grades of resorts. The beer at our resort was a local brand name and tasted great. The wine felt much worse, perhaps spoiled by our BC wines.
The restaurant's grilled fish and meats were very special, and the freshly fried spaghetti, which you can choose from with different meat and vegetarian ingredients, was also very popular. And, of course, the restaurant has a wide variety of fruits and juices that reflect the tropics.
A variety of fitness activities are offered daily by the pool, from yoga and aerobics to Latin dance and Zumba, which is especially popular with the ladies.
Flamingos are said to be the local specialty, so I made a trip to the zoo. It's not called a Zoo, it's called a Park, and there are all sorts of shows, from indigenous cultures to sea lions and dolphins to birds.
Luckily for us, the young man who was our tour guide was the chief conductor of the various shows in the park. At each show venue, the show started under his auspices. It was as if we became the guests of the park and the show would not start until we arrived. At first we were afraid of missing the show.
The Dominican Republic is situated between the Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea, with one side of the coastline facing the Atlantic and the other facing the Caribbean. punta Cana is on the Atlantic side, and on the other side of the Caribbean Sea there is an island of great beauty, where the water is literally like jade.
Huge numbers of tourists travel to the island by sailboat. Along the way, there was wine, music, Latin dancing, and joy on everyone's face.
The scenery of the island can be described as extreme.
When we got back to Vancouver, we were hit with the first snowfall of 2018. It's a bit too much of a difference in feeling!