Santo Domingo Off the Beaten Path Tips by marielexoteria

The theater started as a home for independent theater but grew up to be the "home" of painting/photography exhibitions, courses within theater, photography, dance, etc, small concerts, poet reunions, movie shows, and some contests: painting, story telling, photography, theater, music, etc. The movies they show aren't what one would call "commercial" and they usually organize cycles where all movies belong to a specific theme, like comedy cycle. These shows are every Tuesday at 8pm and cost 30DOP per person.

Casa de Teatro is located in an old house at Zona Colonial and has a 2-floor café bar and a patio. They combine the charm of the past with what today has to offer as well as promises of future talent.

Address: Calle Arzobispo Meriño 110, Zona Colonial. Around 2 blocks from the Cathedral.

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Phone: 809 689 3430
Website: www.casadeteatro.com (only in Spanish)

Los Tres Ojos are 3 lagoons inside 3 caves, and then there's a fourth eye, an "open lagoon", that's not considered an "eye". All of them are fed by a subterranean river. The taíno people, the islands first habitants, used these caves for religious ceremonies.

At the beginning all 3 caves were one but an earthquake made them in the shape they are today. The lakes are fed by an underwater river called Brujuela. All caves have stalagmites and stalactites, some even joined together.

Lake 1 = Lago de azufre (sulphur lake): it has beautiful bluish water which doesn't really contain sulphur but calcium carbonate. There are fish in this lake, some imported from Venezuela that you'll see closest to the sunlight and some national fish who like the dark parts of the cave.

Lake 2 = La Nevera (the fridge): it's called like that because the sunlight never comes in. It has clear water. From this lake you take a boat to the fourth lake (or eye) called Zaramaguyones lake (Los Zaramaguyones) and back to the second lake so that you can continue on to the third one. On one of the stones on the fourth lake you can see a petroglyph made by Taíno indians, sort of in the shape of a happy face.

Lake 3 = Las Damas (ladies' lake): in this lake the Taíno women would bathe with their children while the men would bathe in the first and second lakes.

And we have lake 4, also known as Zaramaguyones lake.

The boat trip costs 10 pesos for adults and 5 pesos for children if you don't take a guide, if you do then the trip is included in his fee. We can recommend the guide Nicolás, who charges 300 pesos or 10US. The admissions fee is 50 pesos for adults, 20 pesos for children and 30 pesos for students with a student ID.

Address: Av. Las Américas.
Tel. nr: 809 472 4204.
Access: About 1.5km from Faro a Colón (Columbus Lighthouse) - walkable if you're armed with comfy shoes and you don't feel like paying for a taxi. If you do take a taxi, negotiate a fare before getting in.

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The book fair is a yearly event a week long every April. All the major (and smaller) book shops have a stand there selling books at a discount prices. Every fair has a special guest country and they make seminars, expositions, etc about it.

There are other events like theater, shows, concerts and workshops.

Address: Plaza del Conservatorio Nacional, Avenida Cesar Nicolás Penson esquina Alma Mater
Access: Walking distance from the intersection of Av. 27 de Febrero and Tiradentes, close to UASD University.

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The International Film Festival started as a non-profit project by some movie critics who invited a selected group of international directors and actors, and the Spanish Cultural Center. The first festival was on 1999 and since then it's become more popular, with more and more good movies and sponsors.

They move to a different movie theater and dates every year so check the link below for location and program (sorry, only in Spanish).

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Website: http://www.muestradecine.com

In Santo Domingo there are 2 streets named after 2 Swedish people. The first one, and the one I actually remember hearing the name of (although I didn't know who he was until I moved here), is Olof Palme. This street is located in the neighborhood called Los Prados and unfortunately it gets misspelled as Olaf Palmer or Oloff Palme.

The other street is named after Erik Ekman, a botanist that collected plant specimens in Dominican Republic. The street is called Erick Leonard Ekman (misspelled again). Erik Ekman died in Santiago de los Caballeros in 1931 and there's a sign and a statue in his honor, by his grave.

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Website: www.casadeteatro.com/site2006/duendes/film_ekman/film_ekman.html & www.redpodercomunitario.org/Calles/OlofPalme.htm