Samana National Park – North Coast of the Dominican Republic

Did you know the Dominican Republic..

• The Dominican Republic’s national flag is the only national flag with a bible on the emblem.

• The area is 48,442 square kilometres

• Is known as the bread basket of the Caribbean because it grows, farms and catches almost everything that’s served for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

• The capital is Santo Domingo and is situated on the southeast corner of the island.

• The government is Democratic Republic.

• The national sport of the Dominican Republic is baseball. Some of the world’s best baseball players are Dominicans. Sammy Sosa, Albert Pujols, and Jose Bautista are just a few of them.

• Dominican Oscar de la Renta is one of the best-known fashion designers of the 21st century. Born in Santo Domingo, his clothes are worn by celebrities such as Laura Bush, former first lady of the US and Congresswoman Hillary Clinton.

• The Dominican Republic can be thanked for giving the world bachata and merengue, two of the most famous types of Latin music and dance. In fact, merengue is the national dance on the island!

• The tallest mountain in the West Indies is Pico Duarte, and it stretches skyward 10,164 feet. The mountain is covered with cool pine forest and ferns, and the mountain makes a cool break from the heat of the tropics of the Caribbean.

• Dominican beer has its own name as Presidente Cerveza.  It was first introduced in 1935 and has expanded to Presidente Light, Ambar and Bohemia Especial. It is always served very cold (best served at -2° C) which is why it has the nick name “vestida de la novia” (dress of the bride) because of the coating of white frost covering the bottle.

• One of the traditional foods served for breakfast is mangu which is mashed plantains with some seasoning topped with lots of red onions.

• The amber stone with a mosquito inside shown on Jurassic Park is actually one of the pieces on display at Puerto Plata’s Amber Museum. Amber is fossilized tree resin, which sometimes contains other fossils such as insects, leaves, and flowers preserved in perfect detail.

• Christopher Columbus discovered Hispaniola (Dominican Republic) in 1492.

• The geography of the DR is greatly diverse, ranging from dry semi-desert plains, to lush valleys, to tropical rain forests with 27 different climatic zones; resulting in a wide variety of incredibly beautiful vegetation. Eco-tourism is very popular in the Dominican.

• The national flower is the Bayahibe Rose

For more information on the Dominican Republic go to “Dominican Republic Has it All” website.