Dominican National Parks And Eco

Dominican National Parks and Eco-Tours

To those visitors that are not particularly looking for the luxury of the resort and want to visit the countryside, there are parks and tours that will suit your needs. The wildlife and botanicals in the Dominican Republic is breathtaking.

Bavaro Ecotours is located near Miches, which is the start of the “ecological corridor”. Tours to the Big Waterfall are favorites and if you are on your honeymoon make sure to get a picture together while kissing at the waterfall. There are also tours of the caves in this area or tours of an old gold mine.

These tours encourage the co-mingling of the local inhabitants and nature. You can be sure that you are enjoying the countryside without having a negative impact on the environment. It is important to remember that these types of tours can require a fair amount of physical activity so while you don’t need to be a professional athlete, you will need to be able to be reasonably fit and ready for a brisk walk or hike.

Several of the parks like Parque Nacional del Este and Parque Nacional Los Haitises, are hot and have fewer areas of interest. Parque Nacional El Choco has a wonderful system of caves. These caves have underground pools, some which can be as large as a football field. These caves have petroglyphs from the Taino Indians some 600 years ago. Unlike the other caves on the island, the caves in El Choco have been developed for the tourist trade.

Parque Nacional Jaragua is a hot and dry with Cacti present making much of this area rather desert like. The Laguna de Oviedo is the place to visit if you like Flamingoes. There is an abundance of other birds to watch so bring your cameras. The beaches in this park are beautiful and the park also has its share of reptiles and there are several species of iguanas.

There are few campgrounds because the National Park system has no protocol at this time for campgrounds in the national parks. There are some areas that you can pitch a tent for the night for a small fee of 8-10 dollars per night, or if you prefer there are cottages and cabins for rent north of Santo Domingo. These might be referred to as eco-tourist hotels so when you do your search try this phrasing to get the necessary information.

An interesting tour would be of Lake Enriquillo, which is located close to the border of Haiti and in the Isla Cabritos National Park. This lake is a saltwater lake, located well below sea level, and has iguanas and crocodiles. If you are a bird watcher this is a real find. There is and island in the middle of the lake with a mountain that has the highest peak in the Caribbean.

The Dominicans have approximately 16 National parks, and while there are many natural wonders to visit it is important to remember that these areas are very wild. If the Dominicans themselves have not populated these areas and this is because much of these areas are uninhabitable except for the wildlife. It is advisable to take a guide when traveling into these areas in order to be safe and not get lost.