NIGHTLIFE IN PUERTO PLATA’S DOMINICAN REPUBLIC…!

Even though I only spent a week in The Dominican Republic and the fact that this was my first ever trip in this Beautiful Spanish Speaking Tropically Diverse Caribbean Island, I feel that I can nonetheless give my personal account and experience with regards to how I spent most of my evenings and enjoyed the Nightlife in Puerto Plata’s upscale Playa Dorada as a Solo Traveler …!!! (Please, also refer to my article entitled “Traveling Solo”, to find out how I have stayed SAFE as a BLACK FEMALE who has mostly traveled alone throughout these past seven years…)!

My personal account with regards to Puerto Plata’s Nightlife,  is furthermore only that of a tourist’s as opposed to that of an expatriate or local…! …And my stay was not lengthy enough for me to patronize the various restaurants, lounges and night clubs in San Felipe known as Puerto Plata’s Downtown City Central! Also, just like the several tourist beach cities I have traveled to so far in the countries listed below, the locals who can afford it often gravitate towards the tourist filled geared restaurants, bars, lounges and nightclubs as they are more multicultural and diverse and as they as well perhaps give a sense of being more secured (even though I am of the group of travelers and individuals who firmly believe that whatever is to most unfortunately happen, WILL HAPPEN regardless of how well a place is protected… )! This  is the very reason why we should most definitely live our respective lives to its FULLEST as long as we live it in a Spiritually (always FIRST in my book), Emotionally, Psychologically and Physically Healthy Positive Organic, Holistic Eco-Friendly way (again, this is just my sole and personal opinion)! As previously stated, I have moreover listed the different beach or water centralized port countries, islands and regions where I have either lived/traveled to/or both and in which I noticed the repetitive common patterns of both: the tourists and locals intermingling together in their social lives… Especially at night…! I furthermore have traveled in more cities and states mentioned below (within the U.S.) and still have three official continents: (Asia, The Middle East and Australia) as well as three sub-continents: (South America, The Pacific Islands and Antarctica) in which I have not set foot as of yet…! Then again as an afterthought, I am not quite certain to make it all the way to Antarctica …!!! Here are nonetheless my list of port water fronts and/or sea countries, islands and regions I have already been to: San Diego, Los Angeles, Charlotte, Savannah, Martha’s Vineyard (to only name a few in the United States), Cape-Town (South Africa), Marrakech (Morocco), Matadi (The Democratic Republic of Congo – my country of origin), Brazzaville (The Republic of Congo) relative to the African countries I have either lived in and/or visited so far; Marseilles, La Camargue’s region, Deauville (Normandy) and Nice for the cities and regions I have lived in and visited in France; Pollensa-Mallorca and Barcelona (for the cities I have lived in and visited in Spain); Guanacaste, Nicoya, Playas Del Coco, Limon, Puerto Viejo, Tortuguero, Mal Pais, La Cruz and Cahuita (in one of the world’s number ONE eco-friendly countries: Costa Rica) as I spent an entire year and later returned to Costa Rica for two full weeks; La Isla Flamenco, La Isla Del Coco and Punta Culebra (all situated in Panama), where I travelled just recently: a couple of months ago! My next extensive series of blog articles will in fact be about my week long Panama trip (after my upcoming Mediterranean European Summer trip), geographically located in Central America lie Costa Rica! …And last but most certainly not least: Nassau & Treasure Cay Beach Island (in the paradisiacal islands of The Bahamas …)!

SPECIAL NOTE:

I will eventually have to periodically revisit my list as I continue on my Free-Lance World Exploration and Travel Journey …! …Yet in the meantime and without further ado, here is my list of my four top “Nightlife” Things To Do In Puerto Plata…!”:

MY FOUR TOP THINGS TO DO IN PUERTO PLATA’S DOMINICAN REPUBLIC…

THIS, EVEN ON A SHORT VISIT AND STAY!:

1. Attend at least one night show, a special cocktail or dinner party organized at your resort or elsewhere…! The perks here of you attending an event at your resort, is that: You DO NOT even need to leave your resort (if you are staying in one), as most resorts bring the entertainment to YOU  and have their weekly entertainment information posted somewhere and readily available for you if it is not posted. You can furthermore request the schedule at the front desk or ask where exactly is the schedule posted! It customarily is posted at a central location …!

2. Go out to a Special Event and/or “Soirée Evening” outside of your resort… I have done this several times now as a Solo Traveler or even when traveling with a couple of friends and/or relatives… Try to find out in advance if there is a special “Soirée” or event you are interested in, prior to flying out, so that you can purchase your tickets in advance online on the actual event’s safe sight and/or as soon as you arrive to your destination..! I have attended galas, concerts, dinners, cocktail parties, rooftop parties etc…! Make sure however, to leave your hotel keys upfront at the main lobby and notify one of the front desk clerks where you are going and with whom…! …As you SHOULD ALWAYS put your SAFETY FIRST, when traveling…! I am furthermore NEITHER a drinker NOR a substance abuse user of any shape or form…! This, not for any religious purposes (as I have been asked many times) but moreso because I have NEVER liked the smell of alcohol and strongly believe that I am allergic to its smell as it sometimes gives me goose pumps…! I  also like to be IN CHARGE of ALL my capacities at ALL TIMES…! …I as well am a pretty good judge of character when I meet people on my trips and ONLY go to an external event if and ONLY IF I FEEL SAFE and IF and ONLY IF I am CERTAIN to have a SAFE GUARANTEED ride back to my temporary residence…! In addition, just to expand on the topic, I ONLY drink VIRGINS, meaning: NON-ALCOHOLIC cocktails (this is at least the meaning in the USA) and please, do make sure to see that the bartender has actually poured the drink/drinks in your glass directly from the bottle and right in front of you…! I also ONLY ACCEPT FREE VIRGINS offered to me IF I am right there at the bar, with the person who is offering it to me (I have only so far been offered by men when traveling abroad, as my girlfriends and I treat each other to drinks back home) and ALWAYS when the bartender once again pours it in your glass…! I must add here, that MOST if not ALL of my out-of-resort outings have entailed private exclusive ones, where one MUST BE on the event’s Guest List…!

 

3. Explore a couple of restaurants at the proximity and/or outside of where you are staying…! I usually book one of the hotel’s or resort’s car services’ WITH driver included, in order to have him (I have never had a female private car service driver abroad so far) come back to pick me up and drive me back to my hotel…!  I have found that the same hotel or resort drivers tend to be highly respectful and courteous when they know that you are a client of the hotel or resort you have chosen to stay at and also act as your private bodyguard at times, which is absolutely okay with me… as they are ensuring my SAFETY…! I also am a really good tipper ! There is furthermore a comfort level on both sides (at least for me when I travel alone) as one is not “dubious” or fearful of the “what if”s as the driver knows ALL TOO WELL, that I am a client at the hotel he works for and that “all hail will break loose” if he is to do whatever with the hotel’s clients…! This, most especially as a citizen of an economically “powerful” industrialized nation, as my Consulate will be looking for me at some point…! Especially as well, as a Public Online Person…! …And so will my close only other sister living in the United States like myself; as well as my numerous longtime friends and my present partner…!!! -Need I type more…???!!!

SPECIAL SIDEBAR NOTE:

…But here again, I need to emphasize that I have NEVER EVER throughout All of my Traveling Years, have had to wonder or second guess any of the hotel private drivers I have hired directly affiliated to the hotel.. (And I VERY MUCH PRAY that things stay this way)! …A handful of other Solo Female and Male Travelers of various race, have most unfortunately had very bad encounters which could have truly ended up in death but if my memory does not fail me, these drivers were not directly affiliated to the hotel or resort they were staying at…! Also, the private parties I have so far attended abroad, tend to be located in residential upscale neighborhoods… I ONLY go to non-upscale neighborhood parties in my longtime home residential city: New York City and in any other city I know quite well because I have either previously lived there or I frequently used to travel there and there are several of those cities and countries …!

4. Spend an evening at your resort’s beach bar or lounge, overlooking the tropical sea…! What I truly love and appreciate upon traveling anywhere at a four to a five star resort or hotel in the tropics, are the AMAZING scenic beach front views and the fact that these beaches are closed to the public as they exclusively are part of the resorts’ properties…! …This is moreover the exact reason why we are charged with extra “surcharge” or “amenities” fees on top of our hotel rooms’ costs..! It is just like when one has a condo, co-op or lives in a gated residential area…  There are FOA (amenities and maintenance charges) one must pay on a monthly basis! …For resorts, private apartments and/or villa rentals, it works in the same way…! …The clients are paying for their additional luxuries, quietness and privacy included in those extra fees…!  …At the four, five and the very few six star worlwide hotels and resorts, there are 24 hour security guards, surveying the beach and the entire gated compound…! …And this is why I have ALWAYS felt safe, spending evenings at the beach whether alone and/or with a few other people upon staying at a beach resort…! I however DO NOT over extend my evenings at the beach bar and lounge when I travel alone…! In these cases, I take my evening walks right after dinner time when the sun is still awakened! …Neither do I wear transparent revealing clothes, as to not awaken anyone’s obliterated or drunken physical appetite and lust! Please, do withhold in mind that as a longtime expatriate and traveler (since my very birth with my beloved mother and sisters), I am one hundred percent FULLY aware that there is this global horrible sad myth about MOST Black Female Women traveling ALONE or only traveling with one or two other equally black females…!!! That assumption is that we are either traveling for SEX or as actual SEX WORKERS…! …This, even when we are dressed to the nines…!!!  …Unless we are “chauffeured” everywhere we go or until one makes it ABSOLUTELY CLEAR with direct verbal or non-verbal communication that this is ABSOLUTELY NOT THE CASE…!!! Thank God for me, I am absolutely fluent speaking, reading & writing) in four languages and this makes it easier to  communicate in the languages I am fluent in, whenever I find myself in the countries where these languages are spoken! …As a result, I have NEVER welcomed: eye winks, long stares, lingering smiles, sexually assumed or implied staring looks and comments… And I NEVER WILL for that matter…! I only speak to hotel & resorts male fellow clients when I am alone, (as one never initially knows) when and ONLY when a polite respectful nod, word or conversation has already occurred at the lobby or while lounging for a couple of hours by the pool or at the beach…! Still yet, with the CLEAR UNDERSTANDING that NOTHING ELSE IS TO BE EXPECTED by my male counterpart if he is heterosexual…! Things are EASIER at present as I am involved in a loving exclusive relationship (my barely handful of relationships have ALL been monogamous and exclusive by the way) with my present male partner and come right upfront and let any heterosexual male counterpart who approaches me, know this…! …I do know for a fact as well that other female solo travelers ftom other ethnicities, skin colour and race have experienced the same! …For I myself, also follow a handful of female Solo Bloggers of whom two or three of them actually indirectly motivated me to begin my own blog, amongst other factors (please, feel free to read my “About Irene Inspirational Travels” Blog Section to find out more about why and how I decided to begin my very own Travel Blog )! I nonetheless justifiably feel that Black Solo Female Travelers get sexually harassed in a more NEGATIVE, AGGRESSIVE and DIFFERENT manner than our other female counterparts…! …THE “NEGATIVE” part is moreso TRUE, if it is automatically assumed by the aggressor/aggresors that the female is “MOST DEFINITELY” from an African country  and/or from Haiti…!!! …I personally for the most part, do mention in our initial conversation that my country of origin is a French speaking African country…! Though I sometimes mention my country of origin, I do not feel the “NEED TO” to mention it at other times, depending on either the BLATANT IGNORANCE or the EDUCATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC KNOWLEDGE of my interlocutor…!!! I am furthermore EXTREMELY PROUD of being from my country of origin: The Democratic Republic of Congo and PROUDER STILL, of the WONDERFUL, AMAZING, BEAUTIFUL, UNIQUE INTERNATIONAL presently deceased & extremely dearly missed MOTHER I had and the equally international WONDERFUL AMAZING INCREDIBLE EDUCATION SHE has bestowed on my sisters and on myself...!!! -How could I not…! SHE is THE ONE who nourished my travel desires and passions as equally and as MUCH as she herself was IMPASSIONED by her own World Travels throughout our lives until she passed away…! …And she will FOREVER live within me until our spirits reunite again…! ..And even though I VERY MUCH enjoy my beach nights in the evenings with or without my partner, relatives, acquaintances and/or friends; I usually choose to have a last stroll in order to have a last look at the Beautiful, Breathtaking Scenic Photographic Landscape (even though I might also be leaving on that last strolling seaside evening’s crack of dawn but no worries…! I barely have missed a flight since I have started to travel alone as an adult ), with a couple of mosquito bites amidst my Eco-Friendly Organic anti-mosquito spray…. …!!! …But all jokes aside, strolling by the beach at night or spending some time at its bar/lounge with a virgin drink or simply lounging by the main resort’s swimming pool, has MOST CERTAINLY become a Spiritual Inner Being Soothing and Replenishing Ritual for me as it is truly where my soul finds itself the Most Serene, Contemplative and     Peaceful….! …Which most probably makes one both, wonder and ponder: -So why do  I still live in The Big Apple……!? Well… simply because I ABSOLUTELY LOVOOOOOVE its ENERGY and VIBES, when I am steadfastly temporarily set PUT for a couple or several months at a time as I am solely a PART-TIME as opposed to a FULL-TIME Travel Blogger… because I also am an International Positive Life Skills’ Motivational Speaker, Educational Health Presenter and a Spoken Words’ Artist !

MY TOP TEN THINGS TO SEE AND DO IN PUERTO PLATA….!

If you read my very first part: Part I of the various parts of my Puerto Plata’s week long trip, where I recounted my arrival at Puerto Plata’s Internationpoal Airport and my impressions upon arriving and visiting The Beautiful Dominican Republic for the very first time, you might have been wondering what is there to do  besides lounging at Puerto Plata’s beautiful beaches…! You might already furthermore have guessed my answer to this as I posted all about my trip to El Mount Isabel via “El Teleferico” in Spanish\The Cable Car in English…. As well as my trip on the same day to “La Fortaleza”\The Fortress with pictures as a proof of my visit to these two places in  a previous post (LOL)!!! I also mentioned my Puerto Plata daytime City group tour as well as my evening outings with the small group of respective people I met in Puerto Plata during my stay.  Below, you will presently find my list of “To Do Things” if my Puerto Plata’s Blog Travel Series have inspired you to visit this gorgeous Spanish speaking pretty large Caribbean island (you can furthermore read all about its history as well, in one of my blog series ! I will always make sure to add my “To Do Things” List and Suggestions at the end of my articles and article blog series (as I also most definitely equally invite you to do your very own research)!  Please, very much do note that I am fully also aware that we each have a different way, style, preference and budget when traveling… !  As a result, my “Things To Do” List is ONLY a suggestion and introductory guide for anyone who stumbles upon this article! Before I embarked on launching my very own blog and followed several bloggers, I would always look forward (and still do even though I hardly have the time to read them these days as I have my own blog now…)! I moreover presently customarily navigate and browse through their respective Instagram and Facebook posts rather than their blogs for lack of time!

MY TEN TOP THINGS TO DO TO ACTIVITIES’ LIST IN PUERTO PLATA:

1. Visit Mount Isabel Del Torres via The Car Cable

…If you are BRAVE enough to take it, where you can spend several hours to see and admire Puerto Plata’s and its ocean’s scenery from up high as well as admire the various plants and trees in The Mount and shop for local Dominican and Haitian art!

 

 

2. Visit PUERTO PLATA’S LA FORTALEZA:

“The Fort” in English, where you have guides taking you inside La Fortaleza’s Museum and where you can roam around outside and mentally transport yourself to another century and time when La Isla Hispaniola was one and only country…! You can furthermore listen to the interpreter’s tale of La Fortaleza’s History in your respective language (if you do not understand Spanish) and admire the views and sceneries from above…! Very Important Crucial Note: Even though there is a picture of me next to La Fortaleza’s only remaining historical canon, I by no means am promoting weapons and weapon violence!  I paused next to the canon as it is a historical part of La Fortaleza! You can browse through my blog’s article piece about the history of both: The Dominican Republic and La Fortaleza! as they are and will always FOREVER BE interconnected..!

 

3. Book Yourself A Puerto Plata’s San Felipe City Tour:

4. Visit The Amber Museum:

5. Visit A Coffee, Plant and Fruit Plantation:

If you really have an extraordinarily low tolerance for any types of bugs and insects, I DO NOT RECOMMEND this tour for you…!  However, for the rest of you who can take a couple of hours in the scorching tropical heat once you leave the coziness of the air conditioned small group comfortable bus, this is an absolute “Must Do” tour, to discover a typical Dominican coffee, plant and fruit plantation where your charming guide (if you are so fortunate to have a chatty funny one who is truly passionate with regards to his job and meeting a variety of diverse people visiting his Beautiful country from all four corners of the world); where he will lead you and define every single encountered fruit tree and plant…!!! You will also learn how coffee grows from the beginning to the end, until it is marketed throughout the nation and abroad!  The bonus on this very tour, is visiting a traditional Dominican plantation home as well as the coffee and tropical fruit break at the end of your tour and prior to heading back on your bus…!!!!  Another superb bonus, is meeting the families who live and work on the plantation …  On my tour, my group was fortunate enough to even meet one of the original plantation owners, who still lives on the plantation with her children, grand children and  great grand children…!!!

PS: Sunglasses are absolutely MANDATORY as well as having lathered and/or sprayed enough anti-mosquito bite protection preferably: organic product on you and you must not be sensitive to sun heat, sun exhaustion or sun stroke and be able to endure a couple of hours standing up and walking through lush bushes and trees…!

6. Spend A Day At A Wild Eco-Friendly Beach Located A Couple of Hours Away From Puerto Plata City and Get Involved In The Fun Group Activities:

As an Environmentally Conscious Individual, I try to do my part (even though a small one for now), in contributing in my own way to consciously engage in our eco-friendly environment. This tour was really an affirmative, comforting one as we visited a wild untouched beach, where there are no hotels, no resorts, no villas, no restrictions, no boutique souvenirs” stores, no man-made bathrooms so that there is no human pollution!  More and more, governments from high Caribbean tourist friendly countries and nations such as: Costa Rica (where I lived in for a full year in my early youth and where I returned with two close girlfriends of mine and also served as their private guide and interpreter) a few years ago) and The Dominican Republic, are setting strict necessary Long-Term Sustainable Environmental Friendly rules! This, in order to maintain some of their beaches Ecosystems and to avoid sea water mass pollution due to the tourist influx…!  My goal therefore is to travel and stay more and more in eco-friendly resorts wherever and whenever possible whnever I embark on a Cultural Trip!

If I therefore decided to at last launch my very own blog, it is primarily due to my Absolute Passion for Traveling and to inspire anyone who comes across my through my traveling blog, site pictures and various photo smiling appearing faces, to most assuredly furthermore raise awareness relative to ECO-ENVIRONMENT CONSCIOUSLY RESPONSIBLY FRIENDLY TRAVELING…!!! This, as our planet is getting sicker and sicker due to years of man’s CARELESSNESS and OBVIOUS NEGLECT of our earth worldwide…!!!

 

 

7. Visit The Worldwide Exported Brugal Family Rhum Making Century Old Factory:

SPECIAL NOTE:

No pictures are allowed to be taken inside of the Brugal Factory except for its rhum boutique store for rightful, purposeful reasons! I therefore only took the pictures of below:

 

SPECIAL NOTE:

The series of photo grids below, show the old traditional way in which The Brugal Rhum was made in the early century.  It is presently made modernly inside of the impressive factory!

8. Visit A Traditional Cigar Making Factory

SPECIAL NOTE:

I do not smoke and have never consumed any type of tobacco  but still found it quite interesting to visit a traditional cigar making factory as cigar making throughout the Caribbean has been in existence for many centuries, since it has been and very much still is being exported worldwide and gives sustainable permanent employment to its local workers!

 

9. Visit An Art Market Store At Puerto Plata San Felipe’s City, Downtown And Perhaps, Shop For Some Beautiful Dominican And Haitian Carefully Locally Crafted Art Frames, Sculptures, Jewelries, bags, Artifacts etc.. !

SPECIAL NOTE:

Dominican and Haitian Art Are Extremely Intermixed and Interconnected Due To Their Respective Shared Histories And Can Therefore Be Difficult To Differentiate As There Are Many Haitian Artists Who Reside And Work In The Dominican Republic, Therefore Landing Their Talent And Craft To The Dominican Industry.. !

 

10. Spend Some Wonderful, Exquisite Quality Time, Luxuriating At The  Beach and/or Lounging By Your Resort’s or Private Villa’s/Condo’s or Rented Apartment’s Pools..

! ! !

SPECIAL NOTE:

Do please protect yourself and your beloved ones from the sun rays, by organic sunscreen oils’ anti sunburn protection when you are  not in the water as prolong time exposed under the sun may cause long-term sunburn and melanoma, which is skin cancer in Non-Medical terms! I furthermore always rent a full Cabana… It is most assuredly worth your vacation investment as your health is PRICELESS and cannot be REPLACEABLE…!!! I always go to the upscale Resort’s (four to five star hotels when culturally traveling to the Caribbean. I have furthermore never as of yet been to the few existent six star ones )! The large comfortable beach cabanas and swimming pool lounging chairs and umbrellas are therefore FREE for me to use as they are part of my overall rtrip  package! Be absolutely certain to therefore first verify the additional rental price range if you are not planning to stay at an upscale rated hotel resort, villa or condo apartment and budget accordingly!