About 2 million of the Dominican Republics 8 million people live in the sprawling city of Santo Domingo. This lively capital of the Caribbeans secondlargest country is the oldest Europeansettled city in the Americas. Recently installed antiquestyled street lamps enhance the capitals restoration of Spanish Colonial buildings. These include the palace of Christopher Columbus son, Diego. The elder Columbus "discovered" what became the DR on December 5, 1492. He named the island Hispaniola, meaning Little Spain. Hispaniola capital, Santo Domingo, then became the nerve center for the burgeoning Spanish Empire in the Western Hemisphere. In addition to the sightseeing within Santo Domingo, check out the nearby Columbus Lighthouse and Boca Chica Beach.
Among DR superlatives is Pico Duarte, rising to 10,417 feet and the highest peak in the Caribbean area.
The DRs touristic north shore is billed as the Amber Coast. Thats because some of the worlds finest amber is found here. You can check out the best in 50millionyearold amber by visiting the amber museums in Santo Domingo and Puerto Plata. In addition to amber, however, there is larimar, or Dominican turquoise, a semiprecious stone mined in the southwestern DR. The Amber Coast has far more than amber of Jurassic Park fame. The shores of the DR north coast are lined with some of the Caribbeans finest resorts. Most are located in and around Puerto Plata and Sosua. Cabarete is known for its funloving windsurfing and kitesurfing crowd.
The Dominican Republic teems with allinclusives and other charming vacation venues, made all the more enchanting because of the DRs designer genius Oscar de la Renta. This highfashion mogul called the shots for much of the interior glamour and chic of DR resorts. De la Renta isnt the only celebrity with a penchant for many miles of powdery white sand, nearperfect weather, and lots and lots of vacation fun and games. Other celebrities who have DR vacation homes include Mikhail Baryshnikov and Julio Iglesias. For the rest of us, there is a wide world of pleasure at the many DR allinclusive treasures.
These include Barcelo, with firstclass service and entertainment; Club Med, with buffets galore, musical revues, golf and water sports; Iberola Bavaro, Spanishowned, ecofriendly and one of the most posh resorts in the Caribbean and Sol Melia, another Spanish hotel chain. Other all inclusives are Viva for simple fun; Breezes, a great spot for families and kids to frolic in a setting straight out of an oldtime Hollywood musical and Bahia Principe which is to open the first part of a huge allinclusive resort in 2004. South of Punta Cana is the site of a planned megaresort with the largest marina in the Caribbean.
Despite the countrys economic woes and alltoofrequent political disasters, music and a generally festive attitude defines the Dominican Republic. The merengue, with its lively and hypnotic beat, is the DRs special gift to the world of dancing. The dance features a certain stiffness of the leg. Thats because, they say, a soldierhero with a bad leg couldnt quite handle Latin dance moves. No problem. The rest of the dancers simply adopted their heros way of dancing as if one of his or her legs was incapacitated. In any case, merengue is the countrys national passion, much as the tango is the way to go in Argentina.