Dominican Republic

Overview

The baseball obsessed, orchid strewn Caribbean island should be seen as it is different to many of the others in the vicinity. There are the El Pomier caves in San Cristobal whose thousands of wall paintings, rock drawings, pictograms and bat residents will certainly make a change from beaches and diving. These two attractions of course have a strong showing in certain other areas of the island. Swimming is possible off some of the smoother coastal areas and diving is available for all experience levels.

There has been a halt on deforestation and there are quite a number of national parks and protected areas. Within these, wildlife such as guaraguao, turtles, paloma coronita and rhinoceros iguana can all be seen during a variety of tours. The wildlife is carried but the flora should not be overlooked as there are wide ranging plant species, including hundreds of orchid species and a number of types of cactus. Finally, the interesting colonial architecture should be seen if all the adventure sports prove too much. Gambling should be avoided, as there is no regulation of the industry.

History

Explored and claimed by Columbus on his first voyage in 1492, the island of Hispaniola became a springboard for Spanish conquest of the Caribbean and the American mainland. In 1697, Spain recognized French dominion over the western third of the island, which in 1804 became Haiti. The remainder of the island, by then known as Santo Domingo, sought to gain its own independence in 1821, but was conquered and ruled by the Haitians for 22 years; it finally attained independence as the Dominican Republic in 1844. In 1861, the Dominicans voluntarily returned to the Spanish Empire, but two years later they launched a war that restored independence in 1865. A legacy of unsettled, mostly non-representative, rule for much of its subsequent history was brought to an end in 1966 when Joaquin BALAGUER became president. He maintained a tight grip on power for most of the next 30 years when international reaction to flawed elections forced him to curtail his term in 1996. Since then, regular competitive elections have been held in which opposition candidates have won the presidency. The Dominican economy has had one of the fastest growth rates in the hemisphere over the past decade.