RFI Bayahibe in SW DR (1 Viewer)

I will be visiting DR at the end of Jan, staying at La Romana in the SW of the island. I have a non-birding wife so will be birding mostly around the hotel and as far as I can walk !! Any tips ??

Firstly, how safe is it to bird outside the hotel grounds and is it worth hiring a car to see a bit more, or go on any excursions ??

I have the 'birds of DR and Haiti' and I'm studying that !!
I would love to find a Tody !! Any chance of that locally ???

Any advice would be welcomed, thank you in anticipation.

Don't worry about safety- we went to La Romana a few years ago and there were no problems then.Not sure if things have changed since then.
If you go on xeno canto learn the sound before you go.
On our recent visit to Cuba I just stopped still when I heard a Cuban Tody or just made the call myself.They then appeared at eye level within minutes.
By the end of the week there were just another common bird on my daily list.

I never felt any concern for my safety in the DR, even when wandering around the streets of Santo Domingo by myself. The only time that even seemed remotely a concern was when we were stopped at a military checkpoint in the middle of nowhere in the hills above the Haitian border. As it turns out, we gave the soldier a ride back down the mountain on our way back to town. My guess is that you'll be fine in a resort area.

As to hiring a car, that's actually a dicier proposition. Our car got a flat while out in the countryside. The lug nuts weren't all the same and the lug wrench didn't match them all. When we took the flat to a gomeria in town, they said it was due to a bad patch job on a prior puncture. Two days later, the entire electrical system failed. Fortunately we were stopped for lunch in SD, but it took 4 hours for Avis to come 2 miles to get us and give us a new car...and they refused to give us the same grade of car we had. Then at the end of the trip, they tried to charge me for gas when they gave it to me with an empty gas tank. So stay on your toes with the rental companies.

Fortunately, I have better experiences when we rented. I had preordered a SUV car not realizing such a creature did not have 4wd. We negotiated an upgrade to a larger, high clearence 4wd vehicle which served us well, including on a trail that doubled as a river bed when rain came. We had no problems with the rental company when taking the vehicle back.

I cannot remember the name of the company, but it was one of the less well known ones. I had searched for their services through carrentals.co.uk

Regarding the initial question: we did not feel threatened, but I would still use common sense with regards to how I behave. I originally come from Denmark, and there are places there I would be cautious about going after dark - the same type of caution is good to have when traveling.

There are a couple of good places for birds in the SW corner. These are detailed in the book by Kirwan and others that I mentioned in the other recent DR thread. I have not tried the excursions, but a boat with general tourists passed us one morning, and based on the music and the chatting, it seemed that the rhum was flowing rather freely already. More good places further afield.

Niels

Thanks, I'll swot up on my bird calls.
I just realised Bayahibe is SE not SW of DR.
Doh !!!!

I just realised Bayahibe is SE not SW of DR.
Doh !!!!

Click to expand...

And I knew that but did not catch the error, my answer should also read SE

Niels

neilh said:

Thanks, I'll swot up on my bird calls.
I just realised Bayahibe is SE not SW of DR.
Doh !!!!

Click to expand...

Just realised you said La Romana which as I say, is where we went to.
We were on a cruise and the ship began and ended its journey there.
Before the ship left, and when it returned I had to chance to wander around the port area which was surrounded by woodland and residential areas.
I did not feel unsafe at any time.Nobody bothered me or even stopped and spoke to me, as I wandered around with my scope and bins.

neilh said:

I just realised Bayahibe is SE not SW of DR.
Doh !!!!

Click to expand...

I let it go. No point in being pedantic. B