It’s On My List

I will admit that when I found out our first port was in the Dominican Republic, I thought it was a bit of a “throw away” port – a nice place to visit a beach and drink some rum, but not a place of any importance in my primary Circle South America experience.

In fact, Santo Domingo proved to be the perfect destination to kick off our voyage. It is a city of firsts. It is the oldest continuously inhabited European settlement in the Americas and the well-preserved colonial zone contains the first paved road, as well as the first fortress and first cathedral, built by Europeans in the Americas.

Our cruise director, Daniel, gave a great port talk ahead of the stop, in which he talked about Christopher Columbus’ journey to the island of Hispaniola and how Santo Domingo developed into an important foothold for European exploration of Central and South America. Daniel’s port talks are excellent. He discusses history and culture, and gives an overview of points of interest, but he does not push Holland America’s excursions. He gives us the information we need to explore on our own. He talks about what souvenirs people typically buy in the countries we visit, but he does not steer us toward any particular shops. This is such a refreshing change from port talks I have experienced on other cruise lines, where we seemed always to be steered toward spending money on the cruise line’s excursions and doing our shopping in cruise line sponsored shops like Effy and Diamonds International.

It was a hot and humid day, but the walk from the dock to the Colonial Zone was just over a mile, so armed with a sun hat, sun block and a full water bottle I set off at the pace of an aged sloth to explore.

Sometimes, when I set off walking in hot, humid conditions I find myself questioning my sanity. I could be cool and comfortable if I stayed on board the cruise ship. But then I think, if I were at home I would have all the comforts of, well, home. There is a reason I choose to travel, and a bit of temporary discomfort is a very small price to pay for the opportunity to see new places and learn new things. Plus, let’s face it, when traveling by cruise ship, I am going to have a refreshing shower, cold drinks and great food ready and waiting for me when I get back on board.

As always, I got slightly lost. I always knew the way back to the ship but struggled a bit to find the three sites I was determined to see. However, I persevered and managed to visit Calle de las Damas, Fortaleza Ozama, and the Cathedral of Santa María la Menor. I then made my slow and steady trek back to the ship to enjoy a well-earned shower, burger and beer!

This trip is off to an excellent start!

Next up Santa Marta, Colombia – my first time visiting South America!