"Merenge, Motos, Mamacitas, and More " a Dominican Republic Travel Page by melosh

The DR is so much more than the 'all-inclusives' that attract the millions to the beaches. These gated areas of luxury at very economic prices may be all you want to see especially if you are traveling with a large group of friends. (I did have fun in the one night with a group I spent at the Barcelo resort.) How to find more of Dominican life is a challenge. The colonial section of Santo Domingo may be a must see area, yet I found it relatively difficult to connect with many people not trying to sell me something. The merengue seemed to be preparation for seizure activity. The mamacitas and how they got into those pants I could never imagine. These are aspects of the Dominican Republic, but perhaps no more representative than the vendors on the beaches or the crazy motos.
During my first visit I spent one week in Jarabacoa doing medical work and then a week split between several towns where Dominicans were enjoying a holiday week. My appreciation of Dominicans increased with each passing day. The next two years I really only had time for the medical work, but this year, 2009, I got to Barahona and then traveled on to Haiti.

There are so many motos it reminded me of the run up to bike week in Dayton Beach except that with a single exception they were all rice burners. I had never before seen a moto taxi service. You find them all over DR. You just jump on the back and off you go. I saw 5 human beings on a single moto. I saw guys driving their moto with one hand, holding a large Presidente beer in the other with wife and child on the back. I even saw one guy drink from the bottle while driving his family of five along the malecon. I heard how normal traffic in the DR sounds like a cacophony of various horns and whistles and saw evidence of two fatal traffic accidents in one week.
I observed that Dominicans on the beach are smarter than the foreign tourists --they are either in the water or in the shade. They are not attracted to the idea of laying out to get burned. In the shade they drink lots and lots of beer and rum, eat, watch people or play dominoes. A lot of Dominicans seem to feel that the purpose of owning a car is to be able to haul large speakers so they can share their favorite music with everyone within a hundred yards. There are also some especially fixed vehicles loaded with speakers that park for a small fee outside bars to provide a total atmosphere of loud music.
The best conversation starter is, "You look like a former baseball player."

A large proportion of the tourism to the DR is destined for the beach resorts and the "all-inclusive" packages. The economics of these packages is undeniable. What is included varies somewhat from resort to resort -- where I went, for example, the French restaurant required payment of a supplement. I am sure that there is also variation in the quality of the food and drink. Resort workers I met away from their work confirmed my suspicion that the Presidente beer in bottles was stronger and had a better flavor than the beer from the Presidente tap at the resort. The tropical drinks tended to the virginal but the bar tenders did happily add more 'alcohol' when requested.
I went outside the resort world, but I did not really find much in the way of what is generally considered of tourist interest. What I did find is that the resort promoted fear of the non-touristic areas seemed largely overblown, but the advice against renting and driving a car seemed to be justified.