Writing to you from the island that has it all, and I can’t think of a better reason to finally begin closing the chapter of the “Return to the Motherland” series. If you’ve already received your copy of our August issue, then you might have an idea what comes next. But let’s pick up where we left off in the Let’s Head South blog.

Our travels next brought us to La Zona Colonial, a quaint step back in time on Santo Domingo’s west side. A mix of architecture straight out of the New Orleans French Quarter and the fortifications left behind from the island’s colonial past, La Zona is a gem of cafés, souvenir shops, atmosphere and photographable opportunities! Nathan couldn’t believe just how beautiful the area was — and it truly is breathtaking. Ancient streets intertwine with the verdant green of palms and pops of color from the bright tropical flowers. We didn’t have much time to waste with curfew looming, so I steered us to something I’d been wanting to share with him for a while — Parque Independencia.

We arrived as the flags were being lowered for the day and had to pause as the guards finished the ceremony. Once inside, we walked up and down the rows of busts dedicated to the Dominican Republic’s important historical figures, among which were many dedicated to names he had become familiar with from living in Washington Heights. Nathan was also excited to find the busts dedicated to the Mirabal sisters from the movie In the Time of the Butterflies — four women who braved the wrath of the dictator Trujillo. From the park we moved into the large gray brick mausoleum housing the remains of the country’s founding fathers — Francisco del Rosario Sánchez, Juan Pablo Duarte and Ramón Matías Mella. After learning the hard way that Nathan needed to remove his hat, we took a moment to pay our respects before finding our way back to El Conde.

Although you could get lost simply wandering through the history of the Dominican Republic — and, incidentally, the history of the Americas — we only had time for some light shopping and a quick promenade up and down El Conde before curfew set in. Luckily, we were able to grab a delicious smoothie from Helados Bon just as they were closing up shop.

In the August issue I touched upon our stay at Catalonia Royal Resort in Bayahibe, La Romana, on the island’s eastern side. After a rather bumpy car ride (the one in which we had to bribe a traffic officer to let us out of an expired insurance ticket), Catalonia was exactly what we needed. A little bit of calm amid the busy schedule of visiting a large family. I think my favorite part was just how picturesque and carefully curated everything was. It was hard to take a picture there that wasn’t beautiful. We arrived early for check-in (about three hours early) and they took us in right away and to our rooms with no problem; and when it came time for check-out the next morning, they adjusted to our request for a late check-out on the spot. Amazing customer service and that extra time allowed us to make the investment of the stay worth it!

By the time we returned to Santo Domingo from Bayahibe (one dead battery and flat tire later), it was already Friday evening, and we had just one day left before an early departure Sunday morning. Oh, what a whirlwind of seeing family and squeezing in last-minute errands that day wound up being!

— Yasser Ogando, advertising & production manager