Guest Post: Photo Tour – Puerto Plata: More than All-Inclusive Resorts

It’s always been one of my Life List goals to stay at an all inclusive resort. This February, my husband and I were finally able to cross that one off the list, as we headed to Puerto Plata, in the Dominican Republic.

As much as we love lazing around the beach with a drink in hand, we’re also explorers by nature, and we’d feel horrible if we went to another country and never left the resort! So we made sure to have a few excursions planned, and one of them was a cable car ride up to the top of Mount Isabel de Torres, the nearby mountaintop. The mountain is famous for its gorgeous views of Puerto Plata, the Isabel de Torres nature reserve and also for its replica of Christ the Redeemer. We pulled up to the cable car building, and I was surprised that it looked like any other nondescript office building (I guess they didn’t put any money into making it “Disney-fied” for the tourists). The ascent to the top takes 10 minutes. And once you get high enough, the scenery, as promised, is breathtaking.

And while the Dominican version of Christ the Redeemer is half the size of the original, it’s still a pretty impressive structure once you’ve reached the top, and are staring at it from the base.

We took some time at the top, walking around the conservatory, listening to our guide tell semi-lewd jokes (they seriously LOVE their risqué jokes there!) and then took the cable car back down to the bottom. Then were off to explore downtown Puerto Plata – or explore it as much as our tour would safely allow. We visited quite a few sights and stores, but only a few worth mentioning, like the cigar factory, and the main square of Puerto Plata. The cigar factory was really just a shop, but it was really cool to go inside and see all the dried tobacco leaves hanging from the ceiling, and hear about the cigars. Also funny that Dave and I were the only ones to raise our hands when the owner asked who smoked cigars! (Yes, I’ve grown to love them since trying my first on our honeymoon.) Dave also got to roll his own cigar to take home.

One last stop before heading back to the resort was the main square of Puerto Plata. As they were getting ready for their Independence Day, the square was decorated with masks and streamers.

There was also a gorgeous church right there, that had some amazing stained glass windows that I couldn’t help taking photos of. The craftsmanship was just stunning.

What a lot of people may not realize is that parts of the Dominican Republic were affected by the earthquake that affected Haiti too. While it wasn’t nearly as bad, there was some damage, including in this church! You can’t see anything now, save for a crack or two in the ceiling. In the end, we thoroughly enjoyed our time at the all inclusive resort… but I’m so glad that we left the reservation, and actually experienced the beauty that Puerto Plata had to offer.

I hope you enjoyed Lacey’s guest post, and don’t forget to go over to Perks of being a J.A.P. and check out what else she’s got to offer! You can also follow her on Facebook and on Twitter!