Running Routes in Las Terrenas, Dominican Republic

Are you heading to the Dominican Republic for the holidays or for a winter break in 2011? Do you want to know the best places to run while you are here? I've been running in Las Terrenas for almost two months now and I can recommend running a variety of routes to keep in shape while you enjoy your beach vacation.



Sidewalks on both sides of road, Las Terrenas

 This time of year, the weather is cooler and the humidity is less intense. You may experience a sudden downpour along your run but these generally pass quickly. Worst case, you get wet but the warm temperatures remind you of a summertime thunderstorm – not an autumnal gale.

Running from the Resorts

Las Terrenas only has one large resort, Gran Bahia Principe El Portillo, that has a fully equipped fitness center. If you usually run outdoors, though, you know exploring is part of the fun of the run. Most of the hotels and are located along a great running road where you can put in plenty of miles.



Great view, Las Terrenas, Dominican Republic



The road connects the town of Las Terrenas with El Limon and the road to Sanchez and Samana to the east. It has almost three miles of uninterrupted sidewalk so you can run a variety of distances. You can add another mile by tagging on the distance where you must run in the road. Be mindful of traffic in those parts. I would recommend turning off your music so you can listen for oncoming scooters, buses and dump trucks if you decide to run beyond the safety of the sidewalk.

Marking the Miles

To keep this simple for anyone visiting Las Terrenas, I will start from El Cemetario. El Cemetario is surrounded by a high white wall and the road from the Sanchez mountain pass splits at this point east and west to follow the beach. All running distances head east from the Cemetario along the road to El Limon.



El Cemetario is marked by the wall between the lightposts



The following landmarks will help you figure your distance.

Mile 0.0 – El Cemetario -

 

Beachfront road coming from El Cemetario, Las Terrenas


Mile 0.5 – The sidewalk begins at Punta Popy


Sidewalk Begins, Las Terrenas, Dominican Republic



Mile 1.5 – The flashing light marking the beginning of Balcones del Atlantico

Mile 2.0 – The narrow bridge with small footpaths on either side

Mile 2.5 – La Bodega De Portillo



La Bodega de Portillo, Dominican Republic



Mile 2.75 – Gran Bahia Principe El Portillo

Mile 3.0 – El Portillo development under construction



El Portillo Development, Dominican Republic



Mile 3.3 – Playa El Portillo

Mile 3.8 – The By-Pass Road intersection

Parking Your Car

You can park at La Bodega de Portillo if you aren't staying at one of the resorts and need a spot to leave your car while you are running. You can also park at Punta Popy if you want to start with sidewalk instead of trying to negotiate the first half mile on the road from downtown.



Park at Punta Popy, Las Terrenas


Hazards While Running in the Dominican Republic

Three hazards you should keep in mind as you are heading out for your run. First, take the usual precautions if you run in the road – listen for cars, run facing traffic and cross over when you approach blind corners. Second, the sidewalks can be slippery after a rainstorm and occasionally, there are unmarked holes where a manhole cover is missing – watch your step.


Hole in Sidewalk, Las Terrenas, Dominican Republic

Finally, use caution if you encounter any “cocodogs” - the stray dogs that you find throughout the Dominican Republic. I have found when I am running they tend to view me as prey. I like to think I have the look of a gazelle or deer that makes them take chase. The solution, a big stick or slowing to a walk. As always, be alert. The views along the way are definitely worth the effort.

Three Charming Beaches in Las Terrenas, Dominican Republic

Las Terrenas is a charming beach-front town on the north coast of the Samana Peninsula in the Dominican Republic. It has typical Dominican attractions but enjoys the European influence of a large expatriate community primarily from France, Germany and Canada. The attraction for visitors is undeniable – the beaches of Las Terrenas are wide with fine sand and Caribbean blue water.



Panoramic View of Las Terrenas Beach and Punta Popy

There are three main beaches – Las Terrenas, Punta Popy, and Playa de las Ballenas - along the main stretch of Las Terrenas you won't want to miss.

Las Terrenas Beach

Las Terrenas beach is directly to the east of downtown Las Terrenas and stretches along the road to El Portillo and El Limon the east. Las Terrenas beach begins just as you veer to the right at the end of the main road that travels into Las Terrenas over the mountain pass from Sanchez.

Las Terrenas beach looking east, Dominican Republic

Highlights of Las Terrenas Beach include a wide variety of restaurants including Dominican, Italian, German and American restaurants lining the south side of the road. Also along the road are many small hotels owned by Austrian, French, German and Dominican hosts.

If you choose to stay in one of the hotels on this stretch of beach, you must cross a paved road to get to the sand and palm trees. Crossing isn't difficult and shouldn't be a reason to avoid Las Terrenas beach. The road is lined with speed bumps so traffic moves slowly through the area. Just be sure to bring a cover-up and wear your flip-flops – and bring a beach bag to take your towel, novel and any other beach necessities with you.



Las Terrenas beach looking toward Playa Las Ballenas

You can pack a beach chair but you can also rent beach chairs on the beach. And there are an array of beach cabanas where you can buy a cuba libre or el Presidente, so you don't have to pack a cooler unless you want to.

The beach in this area is frequented by local families and visiting tourists and is wide enough for a nice stroll on the beach or a game of frisbee.

Punta Popy

As you continue along Las Terrenas beach to the east you will come to Punta Popy as the beach curves out to the sea. At this end of the beach you will find a large parking area under the palm trees and more bars than at the east end of Las Terrenas beach.

Parking under palm trees at Punta Popy

Park under the palm trees to keep your car cool in the shade and wander out to the point. This wide stretch of sand has plenty of activity but like all the beaches in this area – crowds never prevent you from finding a place to put down your towel and soak up the rays.

Punta Popy, Las Terrenas, Dominican Republic

From the point, you can walk more than three miles east to El Portillo Beach along a series of shallow crescent bays. Along the way, you may encounter a few other beach combers and the occasional “coco-dog.” If your visit falls during the week, you could feel like the first person to discover this particular stretch of sand. Enjoy!

Playa Las Ballenas

As you come through downtown, if you veer to the left instead of right at the white wall that encloses El Cemetario, you will head back to the south side of Las Terrenas. Once you pass the police station on your left, you will cross a small bridge and a sharp right turn heads back to the water. The beach on this side of town is Playa Las Ballenas and it extends almost two miles to the west until you run into Punta Bonita.



Playa Las Ballenas, Las Terrenas, Dominican Republic

The beach is named for the three large rocks offshore that rise out of the water like breaching whales – las ballenas. This end of the beach hosts the Las Terrenas Sailing Club and you can enjoy the sight of boats racing along the water on breezy, sunny afternoons.

Heading east from Las Terrenas Sailing Club, you encounter mostly private homes and villas that can be rented by the day or by the month. HomeAway.com is a great source to find the perfect rental.


Playa Las Ballenas, looking toward Punta Bonita, Las Terrenas

Further east, you encounter some small boutique hotels facing the water. Just like the other side of Las Terrenas, a road runs between the hotel property and the beach. They are laying a brick road from downtown out to the Sailing Club but right now the dirt road is a little rough with holes and mud. You don't need a four-wheel drive but expect some bumps along the way.

Palm trees on the beach, Playa Las Ballenas, Dominican Republic

The beach on this end is rarely crowded except for the few places where the hotels have put out their beach chairs. You will want to bring your own chair or plan to relax on the sand since there are no vendors with beach umbrellas on this end of the beach. Instead, tuck in under one of the many groves of coconut palms with your cooler. If there's not enough shade, wade into the swallow water and gentle waves to cool off when the sun gets too intense.



Fishing Boats, Playa de Las Ballenas, Dominican Republic

At the far eastern end of the beach is Fisherman's Village. As you walk the beach heading back towards town, you will notice the boats pulled up on the sand. If you arrive after 10:30 or 11:00 a.m. you will usually find the fishermen with their daily catch laid out on the makeshift tables. Beyond their boats are the beach shacks that house some of the best restaurants on the beach. You won't want to miss their seafood specialities when you're ready to head for a bite to eat after a day in the sun.

Introduction to Cooking in Samana

Before I moved to Las Terrenas, I was living in Austin, TX where I pretty much stopped cooking. What’s the point of making dinner at home for one when you have Whole Foods’ flagship store two minutes from home and their pre-made food is as cheap as I could make it myself? No point really…

But now, the grocery store is a 20-minute drive when you have a car and a 30 to 45-minute guagua adventure when you are hoofing it, so planning menus and groceries takes a slightly higher priority. The upside to the adventure is the price and quality of the fruits and veggies is outstanding and has inspired me to try some recipes I would never try in the US because the ingredients you can buy in KC or even Austin simply aren’t the caliber that you can get here in the tropics.

For example, when was the last time you bought a 2 or 3 pound ripe papaya at the grocery store in November for $1 or a large ripe pineapple for 65 cents? Have you ever been able to buy sour oranges for a salad dressing? My green grocer, located just across from the Supermercado Lindo, gives me bananas for free as a sort of “reverse tip” for shopping with him. Depending on the volume of fruits and vegetables I buy, the banana quotient goes up and down. I've been using bananas for all sorts of sauces and dishes because they are piling up in my kitchen.

Unfortunately, I haven't been able to find a set of measuring cups anywhere in Las Terrenas - along with several other kitchen items - so I'll be having someone ship a set unless I make it to Santo Domingo first. I'd really like to make some banana bread but for now I'll just make due slicing up with bananas with papaya and mango like the ones below - no problem.

The citrus fruits here are all different from the US. A limon is a lime – the smallest of the three fruits shown in the photo below. You can’t get lemon anywhere in Republica Dominicana – I’ve heard various reasons why – but suffice it to say, limon is the new lemon. And it works really well – not just for mojitos either. I’ve been putting it in salad dressings, sauces and salsas with great results.

Another difference is the oranges - shown here on the left. The regular oranges you can buy at any market are green on the outside and yellowish-orange on the inside. They aren't quite as sweet as our oranges but they aren't as tart as the sour oranges you can also buy that look similar. I am using the oranges in salad dressings too but they would also be great for fish.

Finally, the largest green citrus fruit in the photo above is grapefruit and it really is sour. These come from a tree on Mt. Placido where we live. You notice from the following photo that the citrus has a lot of seeds. Juicing can be a bit of a task because the pulp is very thick and some fruits do not yield much juice.  But juiciness can usually be felt when purchasing the fruit and most of the fruits ripen and become juicer if left out for a couple of days.

 

Another difference between American and Dominican produce is cilantro. They sell the traditional Mexican cilantro you love or hate but they also have an herb they call cilantro that tastes and smells like cilantro but has much larger leaves and tends to be tougher. It also has shoots that yield prickly thistle-like flowers you can see in the picture below. I don’t know that I would actually eat it.  Instead, I use it as a seasoning for beans and I pull it out when I’m done cooking – like bay leaves.

The tropical fruits are fantastic. I’ve never had such consistently sweet, ripe mangoes for 70-80 cents apiece in my life. I buy them in various stages of ripeness to last me the week and they are my breakfast staple. They go wonderfully with cornflakes and yogurt! If I’m having toast instead, I mix my mango with the other tropical fruits in abundance down here.  The bad news is that mangoes go out of season in November and I'll have to make due without them for a couple of months until the next variety comes ripe.

Like I mentioned, papaya, melon and pineapple are all available for prices you wouldn’t believe and the pineapples come in sizes from baby to granddaddy and everything in between. Last night I grilled pineapple for a salsa with cilantro, habaneros and lime juice. The salsa went over pork loin chops I rubbed with chili powder before grilling. A hot dish with a slow burn on the lips - worked fine with a papaya and avocado salad on the side.

I keep thinking the little pineapples would be adorable split in half and grilled as a side dish. In Sosua, they use the mid-sized baby pineapples to serve pina coladas on the beach.

I’m still figuring out the meat and fish situation – which will take some time to master. There are plenty of pescaderias and carncerias to choose from but I need some ordering advice and guidance on where to get the freshest stuff since it’s straight off the farm or the boat. In the meantime, I’m getting my eggs, pork and pollo from Supermercado Lindo where I can be assured of the refrigeration standards. I’ll try my hand at the others when Ed is here and can rush me to the clinic if I get something slightly off.

Stop by soon and I’ll fix you a nice plate of grouper simmered in coconut milk with black bean-banana puree. And would you like a side of bananas with that?

Why Choose the Dominican Republic?

My husband, Ed, and I have always wanted to live abroad. To that end, we've visited a lot of places looking for the perfect spot. Mexico was a top contender until things started getting dicey with the drug cartel activity escalating in the last year or two. Ed wants a beach, I want to learn Spanish, and the Dominican Republic is a beautiful, Caribbean island with a lot of opportunity.

The geography alone is compelling. We enjoy stunning white sand beaches lined with coconut palms alongside the highest mountains in the Caribbean. In addition, you can raft down white water rivers or head to the desert if you want need a little break from the humidity. Plus, it's close to many Central and South American destinations we've always wanted to explore.

If we ever need a shot in the arm of the good 'ole USA, we're just a two hour flight to Miami via American Airlines and a three hour flight to Atlanta on Delta. We also hope our friends and family will visit and the Dominican Republic should be an easy destination for everyone. While getting there may be half the fun, we felt that some of the other countries that were on our short list - Chile, Argentina, Uruguay – were simply too challenging to casual visitors.

That's not to say we wouldn't consider those places in the future, but for our first foray as expats, the Dominican Republic makes a lot of sense. It's easy to work, own a business and gain residency. And did I mention the beaches and clear blue Caribbean water? That will be a recurring theme for us since I never get tired of the sound of waves crashing on the beach.

After much consideration, we have decided to settle in a small village outside of Las Terrenas on the Samana peninsula of the island. The town of Las Terrenas primarily attracts European and Canadian visitors but we expect that will change as the country becomes more accessible to American travelers. Besides gorgeous beaches, this part of the country has a wide variety of attractions including but not limited to, whale watching, snorkeling, diving, sailing, horseback riding, hiking and deep sea fishing.

We decided to share our experiences as residents and expats here because we found relatively few resources when we were planning to relocate. I hope this blog will give you answers to your questions and open your eyes to the opportunities for exploring the Samana peninsula.

If you have a topic you'd like to hear more about, let me know. I'm happy to share my experiences and expand my knowledge of my surroundings – I love a challenge!