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Mamajuana: The Dominican Republic’s Boozy Cure-all

Posted by David Paul Appell in Snapshots - (1 Comment)

As I travel around the Caribbean (and to some extent this is true in Latin America, too), I find nearly every island has some kind of homegrown hooch (often rum-based) that purports to be “medicinal” (and sometimes certainly tastes the part), often  including revitalizing, curative, and even aphrodisiac qualities. And if you’re staying at one of the Iberostar resorts out in Punta Cana, up in Playa Dorada/Puerto Plata, or down in Bayahibe, you may well come across the Dominican variation on this type of esteemed elixir.

The name Mamajuana (Spanish for “Mama Jane”) is thought to derive from Dama Juana (Lady Jane), which referred to a traditional kind of large glass jar with a short, narrow neck. Although there is increasing commercial manufacture of mamajuana, it’s still mostly a homemade potion, and everyone has a different recipe.  Basically, though, it usually involves botanicals – sticks, leaves, bark, roots, herbs – essentially pickled in 40-proof rum and sometimes leavened with other flavors and sweeteners such as honey, cinnamon, molasses, vanilla, or red wine. And that’s not even counting the animal parts some people add – snails, octopus, and sea turtle penis, anyone?

And honestly, most of the time the resulting brew can look a bit, well, nasty. But most the the versions I’ve tasted actually come across a bit funky – a little hard to describe, actually, but ranging from not bad to downright appealing, and the commercial brands increasingly found on store shelves can be downright silky (one good one is called Kalembú). And while traditionally the drink is imbibed straight or on the rocks, in recent years it’s been finding its way into cocktail culture, either in versions of popular tipples like mojitos, bloody marys (bloody juanas?), and cosmos, but also new inventions like the motoconcho (mamajuana mixed with vodka and rum, garnished with a couple of cherries).

And that “medicinal” part?  Mamajuana is held to help with headaches, colds and flu, to help get pregnant or keep from getting pregnant – and of course the ol’ libido (some have taken to referring to it as “liquid Viagra”).  Honestly, on that last point I can’t say I noticed  much difference, but what the hey. For me it will always evoke warm memories of the Caribbean – particularly the beautiful corner of the Caribbean known as the Dominican Republic.

¡Salud!


Photo | Cristian Lazzari/iStock Photo

If you stay at one of the Iberostar resorts out in Punta Cana, up in Playa Dorada/Puerto Plata, or down in Bayahibe, don’t forget to try the best local rums and traditional drinks like the Mamajuana!

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Los Bandoleros: Vin Diesel in the Dominican Republic

Posted by Andy Jarosz in The View - (0 Comments)

fast & furious

Short movies

Those of a certain age might remember when a trip to the cinema usually involved two movies: the one you’d paid to go and see and a short film, usually no more than 15 minutes, that was quite likely a director’s first attempt at getting noticed by a wider audience. Those days are long gone, but look closely and you will find the occasional short film still being produced, often being added as a bonus on a DVD and telling a back-story to the main feature.

Fast and Furious

One such example is the 20 minute movie Los Bandoleros, directed by the one and only Vin Diesel and shot in the Dominican Republic. Action movie buffs and fans of  Vin Diesel films will be familiar with the five The Fast and the Furious films, in which Vin Diesel and friends race a whole array of fast cars, carry lots of bank notes in suspicious sacks and spend most of their time in the company of the type of beautiful girls your parents probably warned you about.

Los Bandoleros served as a prequel to Fast and Furious, the imaginatively-titled fourth installment in the series. At the start of Fast and Furious Dominic (Vin Diesel) and his crew are hijacking fuel tankers in the Dominican Republic, but the reasons for them being in the country are not so clear. This is where Los Bandoleros helps to fill the gap in the story. The short story tells the tale of how the gang reform in the Dominican Republic and includes the small matter of a jail break to get everyone back together.

Perhaps the best thing about short movies such as Los Bandoleros is that they can be watched free of charge and without any fuss. In fact the whole movie is available on Youtube in two installments. The producers are presumably happy for it to be distributed widely as it helps promote the main movie.

The Perfect Beach?

The Dominican Republic also comes out well from Vin Diesel’s short movie. He is a self-confessed admirer of the country and it was no surprise it was chosen as a filming location. Check out the final scenes played out on the stunning Caribbean beach with Vin Diesel and Michelle Rodriguez; you may just want to drop everything and find your own way to this tropical paradise.

Photo: riccardodivirgilio on Flickr

If you ever decide to drop everything and find your way to this tropical paradise, stay at one of the Iberostar Hotels in  Dominican Republic.

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Dandy Dominican Cigars at Iberostar Bávaro

Posted by David Paul Appell in Mystery Guest - (0 Comments)

The Dominican Republic produces some of the world’s top premium hand-rolled cigarros (cigars), and certainly its largest quantity; many aficionados consider the quality of its stogies equal to or in some cases superior to Cuba’s (in fact, much of the DR’s know-how, tobacco-plant seeds/stock, and producers are transplants from Cuba, fleeing expropriation in the 1960s). The bulk of the tobacco-growing heartland is in the Yaque valley near the inland city of Santiago, the countrys second largest, and centered around the towns of Villa González and Jacagua, with brands including Arturo Fuente, León Jiménez, and Davidoff.

So it goes without saying that the DR’s three Iberostar resorts offer guests easy access and opportunity to purchase swell smokes – and even to watch some being made right before their eyes. I caught up with Nelson Cruz Barrera, 40, a Santiago native and veteran of A. Fuentes and Davidoff who now works with the cigar shop at Iberostar Báavaro in Punta Cana and hand-rolls smokes here most mornings and evenings.

What percentage of cigars that you stock are Dominican, as opposed to Cuban, Honduran, and others?

More than half. Most people come in looking for Dominican products

What’s the range of quality like?

  We carry inexpensive cigars like Flor de Oro, all the way up to the most premium, which for us would be an Arturo Fuentes Ojo X, costing US$25-30 apiece.

You also custom-roll cigars on the spot. How long does that take?

About 10 minutes, usually.

How much can you customize these cigars, for flavor, and so forth?

We have seven types of tobacco leaves on hand to throw into the mix – Dominican, Cuban, and Honduran. And we can adjust that mix depending on the customer’s taste – if he likes Romeo y Julieta, for example, I can go in that direction, or simply based on descriptions like “strong,”  ”spicy,” or “smooth.”  I have lady clients, too, who generally prefer more petite cigars, almost cigarette-size. Male or female, many love to smoke it on the spot – imagine the luxury of puffing a fresh-rolled cigar! But for those who don’t,  we slip an Iberostar band on each cigar they buy.

What’s the most unusual situation you’ve encountered while working here?

One guy asked me to make a massive two-foot-long (61-cm) cigar – not to smoke, but to hang on his wall. Hey, why not?

 Photo| Andrew Albertson

DR’s three Iberostar resorts offer guests easy access and opportunity to purchase cigars . You can even to watch some being made right before their eyes!

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Carnaval, Dominican-Style!

Posted by David Paul Appell in Snapshots - (0 Comments)


It’s one of the most joyous (and exhausting) weeks of the year in various parts of the world, from Venice to Port of Spain and New Orleans to Rio de Janeiro.  But being as fond as I am of the Dominican Republic, I’ve got a soft spot for the pre-Lenten Carnaval celebrations down here – especially because unlike in many other places, here the party keeps poppin’ for a good part of the month of February in various towns and cities, culminating today, February 27th, which is also when the country celebrates its Independence Day. The biggest hoo-has are held in Santiago, La Vega, and Bonao in the center of the country, and of course in Santo Domingo, where the waterfront avenue, the Malecón, becomes transformed into a brightly colored sea of people watching and participating in the carnival processions.

There are all sorts of themes and historical allusions in these processions, especially those dating back to the colonial era, with conquistadores, slaves, and the like, plus dudes in drag (no, not drag queens, but rather traditional figures known in Spanish as as roba la gallina, “chicken robbers”, who supposedly conceal the stolen birds in their “hips” and “cleavage”), as well as all manner of fantastical animal characters.  Participants often march in organized groups called comparsas (think of the krewes in New Orleans’ Mardi Gras). A central figure is known as the diablo cojuelo (lame devil), more impish than evil, who appears in myriad versions of brightly colored costumes and outsized horns.  Often the wearers spend months creating their costumes and papier-mâché masks out of found objects and materials.

For those of you who might be vacationing out in one of the Punta Cana Iberostar resorts, the local carnaval happens in March instead of February – and this year it’s scheduled for Saturday, March 10. But wherever you witness it, Carnaval a la dominicana is certain to leave you buoyant and impressed with the creativity, resilience, and joyousness of the Dominican people.

Whether or not you make it to Carnaval in the Dominican Republic, your vacation with Iberostar resorts is sure to be a party. Which will you choose?

Photo | LuieRRe

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The World’s Most Famous Dominican: Oscar de la Renta

Posted by David Paul Appell in Local Characters - (0 Comments)

A household name among the world’s fashion-conscious and arguably the planet’s best known Dominican (baseball stars notwithstanding – after all, America’s pastime is not so hot in Paris, Milan, and Dubai), Óscar de la Renta was born in Santo Domingo in 1932 to a Dominican mother and a Puerto Rican father. At 18, the budding artist moved to Spain to study painting, but promptly shifted into fashion, starting out with Balenciaga in Madrid, then moving on to Lanvin in Paris and Elizabeth Arden in New York before launching his own label in 1965. He was a nightlife fixture during the scandalous 70s but has proved to be a durable couture icon, expanding successfully into home furnishings, fragrances, and other lifestyle products. Unintentionally perhaps, he also expanded the pop lexicon with the popular phrase “fashion victim,” first coined one night at Manhattan’s La Caravelle while ogling some egregiously dressed hipsters.

De la Renta’s work is still plenty popular among the rich and famous (recently including Jessica Biel, Cameron Diaz – and of course Chelsea Clinton famously wore him during her “wedding of the century”). When De la Renta’s fall 2011 collection debuted during the last New York Fashion Week, critics were mighty complimentary of his “swoon-worthy” evening gowns and the accessible opulence of the collection in general.

For all the impact De la Renta has had over the years in North America, Europe, and beyond, he remains very attached to and involved with his home country, keeping a home in Punta Cana and financially supporting various projects including schools for poor children, day-care centers, orphanages, education for the handicapped, and a foundation to benefit communities in the DR’s particularly depressed southwest. He is also involved in the School of Design at Altos de Chavón, the exquisite hilltop Mediterranean-style village overlooking the Chavón River, which is truly one of the Dominican Republic‘s premier sights. The man clearly has a lot going on, and shows no signs of slowing down – meaning this Dominican national treasure should be dressing the elegant and helping the unfortunate for years to come.

Image | iStockPhoto

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Santo Domingo’s Colorful Colonial Zone, Birthplace of Latin America

Posted by David Paul Appell in Snapshots - (0 Comments)

More than a few towns and cities of Latin America certainly boast their share of atmospheric old town centers left over from centuries of colonization by mother country Spain. Several of these are so striking they’ve been included in UNESCO’s list of World Heritage Sites – place like the colonial cores of Havana, San Juan, Panama City, and Cartagena de Indias in Colombia. The zona colonial in the Dominican Republic’s capital is also on UNESCO’s greatest-hits list, although it’s less well known than many of the above because most visitors tend to stick close to the resort areas.  But if you’re spending your vaycay at any of the Iberostar resorts in the Dominican Republic, you should definitely carve out the time for a day trip or overnighter to Santo Domingo, because what makes this particular colonial quarter so awesome is the fact that it was the first, where it all began back in 1492 when Columbus sailed the ocean blue. And I don’t mean just this country – I mean the whole Western Hemisphere as we know it today.

This mile-and-a-half-square district today is a compelling mix of old and new. There’s the Calle de las Damas, where you can stroll on cobblestones laid in 1502. The 501-year-old Alcázar de Colón, where Chris Columbus’ kid Diego once made his HQ as governor of the colony, is now a fascinating museum of period history and furnishings. And these days, some of these historic buildings are occupied by museums and high-quality restaurants, shops, and places to stay. Top example:  The former shipyard, the Atarazanas, is now a cool shopping haven for merch both international and local (such as handicrafts, art, cigars, and amber). And by the way, the newest of those museums, just a couple of months old, is the Museo Memorial de la Resistencia Dominicana, documenting  the movement against the Rafael Trujillo dictatorship,  which dominated this country for most of the 20th century’s first half.

Now let’s be honest: Will you tear yourself away from our fabulous beaches to check out the earliest colonial capital of the Americas?

Photo | Patrick Flament

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Iberostar in Punta Cana Gets a Hip “Bounce” From a Big Gaggle of Guests

Posted by David Paul Appell in Mystery Guest - (0 Comments)

Did you know that 2011 marks the 30th anniversary of MTV? (Sniff, they grow up so fast…!) That means most of us in the “on-the-grid” world have been awash in music videos for nearly a third of a century already. YouTube, on the other hand, has only been around for half-dozen years, and already this undeniably megacool site has already also transformed the world’s music/media landscape. But less coolly, it’s also been responsible for the perpetration and proliferation of homemade music videos of which, well, the less said the better.

With some mindblowing exceptions. Case in point: The other day browsing the ‘Tube I stumbled across a viddy that actually got me chuckling  out loud. Called “Dominican Bounce,” it’s lip-synched to the techno-synthpopper “Bounce,” a euro-club hit released several months ago by Scottish singer-songwriter Calvin Harris, featuring U.S. dance diva Kelis. The original’s set in Las Vegas, but as I discovered, this playful tribute bounces all the bouncing over to Punta Cana’s Iberostar Bávaro resort (no, it was never made explicit, but I’d recognize that luscious beach anywhere).

“Dominican Bounce” is the brainchild of 47-year-old Gavin Skidmore (from Bromley, Kent, if you must know – he’s the bloke being pharaonically carried aloft across the strand on a chaise-longue), who spent an apparently quite enjoyable holiday here this past August. It hopscotches across the resort, with a cast of dozens – two-dozen-plus guests young (some very young) and old taking turns synching a line or two. Here’s the beach bar, there’s a room patio, the pool, outdoor showers, the lobby (yo, nice conga line) – and oh yeah, those famous lush palms just back from water’s edge. Three minutes and 35 seconds of original, nonstop action, and certainly fun, but also kind of exhausting (frankly, when I go to an Iberostar resort, I’m more than happy to sit back and let the Star Friends take charge of keeping me entertained).

Anyway, I recently got a chance to quiz the über-creative Gavin just a bit on his Iberostar escapade.

What gave you the idea for this video?

The idea came from a TV news story from a year or so ago where soldiers serving in Afghanistan had made a spoof pop video. Our holiday had 26 family and friends and I thought what a great opportunity to film a video of our own! I had two songs in mind and had downloaded these from iTunes before we left home.  One friend brought along his iPod docking station to play which will let each of us in the video sing to the song and to help lip sync the video during editing once we returned from holiday. Once we got to the Iberostar, a few of the teenagers in our party didn’t like the two songs that I had prepared, so we discussed an alternative and it was agreed “Bounce” was the perfect tune.

Wow, 26 all at once?

Well, a few years ago at a party, many of our friends were chatting and although we had holidays in small groups, we had never had one holiday with all our friends. With this, a trial holiday to Egypt was planned, and from the fun and success of that holiday we decided to do it again in two years’ time. Myself and my brother and sister including children decided to go to Iberostar resort in Punta Cana. We had such a great time we thought this is the perfect resort to bring all our friends, too. So this past August, 26 of our family and friends finally made the trip. Although the ages vary from 2 to 51 years, many of the older generation have known each other from school and have remained very close friends throughout the years, so having a holiday with all our extended families was fantastic. And one of the many great things about the resort is that we never had a problem getting a table for dinner for 26!

One thing that especially impressed me was the coordination and choreography. How in the world did you all manage it?

I really have no experience in this kind of thing at all, but my niece Hayley Skidmore is training to be a dancer and she choreographed the whole thing; she appears in many of the scenes (she’s the first girl in the t-shirt, for example, and toward the end leading the group down the beach with her brother Lewis). Each day we did rehearsals while I looked for locations within the resort to do the filming. The staff were amazing, and following one of the shows in the resort theater, they even helped us record a dance routine on stage for an audience of other guests; unfortunately that scene wasn’t quite in focus and I felt it wasn’t sharp enough to sit in with the rest of the video. The opening scene was the first scene I filmed and what you see is the first and only take. Many scenes were shot with one or two takes, but some of the scenes we filmed in the evening did need quite a few takes. But it was still fun!

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Whale-Watching in Samaná: A Paean to Cetaceans

Posted by David Paul Appell in Snapshots - (0 Comments)
There are few sights in nature more dramatic and moving than that of a majestic leviathan of the seas (or better yet, a pod of them), and a number of areas around the world are known as great places to go spot them on their annual migrations. The Dominican Republic ranks high on that list, particularly the eastern stretch of its north shore called Samaná, a four-hour drive east from Iberostar Costa Dorada outside Puerto Plata and also reachable from its resorts in Punta Cana and Bayahibe. 

From mid-January to mid-March, thousands of humpback whales make their way from the North Atlantic down to the waters of the Silver Banks and Samaná Bay to calve and mate. From 20-foot calves to adults reaching up to 50-plus feet in length, these majestic marine mammals provide a fairly close-in offshore spectacle that has created and sustained a vigorous local whale-watching industry.

Amazing Aquatic Antics

And let me tell you, it ain’t just an occasional flipper, fin, and flip o’ the tail, but some dramatic antics indeed. Males breach up to their full lengths in attempts to attract females, and it’s probably the most spectacular biological sight I’ve ever had the honor to witness in person.

Tours range in scale and price from the simple (simple open fishing boats) to the cushy (80-passenger motorized craft with restrooms and other amenities). Top choices include Victoria Marine Samaná, Transporte Marítimo Minadiel, and Moto Marina. There are even a few operators, such as Conscious Breath Adventures, that will bring you out to swim, snorkel, and dive among these sensational cetaceans (save your pennies for that one, of course).

Photo | Boulderite

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Puerto Plata, Jewel of the Dominican Republic North Coast

Posted by David Paul Appell in Snapshots - (0 Comments)

Puerto Plata

Apart from Santo Domingo and its lovely colonial zone, in general the Dominican Republic is better known for its spectacular beaches than for its historic architecture – though over the years I’ve certainly come across some fetching examples scattered hither and yon. Happily for lovers of quaint and charming towns, San Felipe de Puerto Plata is an exception that proves the rule.

This city of around 200,000 up on the DR’s north coast, just a hop and a skip over from Playa Dorada, the zone where most Puerto Plata hotels and resorts are located and site of Iberostar Costa Dorada, dates back to the beginning of the 1500s (building on an original settlement established in 1494, a mere two years after Columbus sailed the ocean blue). As the island of Hispaniola’s main port, it was a target for both military and pirate attacks, so that’s why it sports a fairly impressive fortress, the Fortaleza San Felipe. Here you can visit a small colonial museum, ramparts, barracks, cells, and other fort-y stuff – and that pretty much does it for colonial history hereabouts.

What to Do in Puerto Plata

Cool as the fortress is, for me what’s most charming and unique about Puerto Plata is its pastel-hued, gingerbread downtown, centered around Parque Luperón, aka Parque Central.  It’s all a relic of a post-colonial boom beginning in 1865, driven by immigration, sugar, and tobacco, and for me it pretty much defines Puerto Plata’s personality. Here you’ll find shops, restaurants, and the Museo del Ámbar, devoted to one of this area’s signature products, amber. While there are quite a few other attractions and activities to enjoy in this town (which I’ll be covering in future posts), it’s really the historic center that makes it a keeper.

By the way, a great time to visit is February and March, for the festivities, parades, and parties surrounding the pre-Lenten Carnaval held throughout the Catholic Caribbean.

Photo | kyle simourd

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Dominican Amber: You CAN Take It With You

Posted by David Paul Appell in Snapshots - (0 Comments)

Dominican Republic Amber
I have to admit, I’m not real big on most bling – aka precious metals and stones. I recognize their beauty and value, but it’s just not me.  For my taste, I prefer materials such as, say, turquoise, jade, and amber, which share a singular earthy beauty no matter how they’re cut.

Amber, in particular, is a fascinating substance. The ancient Greeks called it “elektron” (this word wasn’t applied to electricity till the late 19th century), and this fossilized tree sap has been used for adornment for at least a dozen millennia, give or take. I love its warm, soft translucence, in hues from the yellowish to the brownish (the most common, which gave rise to the color amber) to even, believe it or not, bluish. Amber’s air of mystery and just plain coolness is further heightened by the fact that in many cases bubbles, swirls and even fossils are a regular feature.

Amber Jewelry, Dominican-Style

What all of this has to do with the Dominican Republic is simple: apart from Baltic European countries like Latvia and Lithuania, the DR has the world’s only major deposits of amber, with many of the mines located up in the mountains between Puerto Plata and Santiago. Dominican amber tends to have more of those cool little details embedded in it like ferns, feathers, insects, and such (sometimes you’ll even see pieces with larger critters like frogs and lizards). If you want to learn more when you’re down here, pop over to the Amber Museum in downtown Puerto Plata, on the north coast.  With a Jurassic Park-style logo and an interesting and educational collection of amber and other local semiprecious materials (including pieces for sale), it’s housed in a charming Victorian townhouse called Villa Bentz. And there are plenty of other local shops that sell amber, including Iberostar’s Dominican Republic Resorts gift shops; it’s possible to pick up a lovely piece or two of amber jewelry at surprisingly affordable prices. So take your time and browse, as amber is an evocative and beautiful souvenir that has its own unique story to tell – and you can take it with you.

Photo | iStockPhoto.com

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