The "Guide"

One thing we have experienced in the Dominican Republic that we did not find in the Bahamas or the Turks and Caicos is "the guide". This is someone who seeks you out and offers a service to you in hopes that you will decide that you want or need it and then give them some money in return. This person, "the guide", is usually a very good salesman and will walk around meeting people (usually tourists) offering to take us around the city, take us up the mountain, find us a taxi, carry our bag, wash our boat, or do our laundry. "No Gracias" (No thank you) is usually all that you need to tell them. Being a traveler makes it difficult to avoid "the guide" because everyone is trying to make some extra money and they assume that a foreigner traveling to a developing country surely must have just that.

Adam and I experienced "the guide" when hiking Isabel del Torres mountain in Puerto Plata. When we reached the base of the mountain we were told that we must have a guide to get to the top. "It is not safe for you to go alone," they said, and tried to convince us that we could be robbed by homeless, mountain dwelling locals. We had plenty of information suggesting that a guide was not necessary for this day hike. Despite our desire to do the hike solo, we had no idea where the trail began and in the end succumbed to "the guide" for help and paid 10.00 US dollars for him to get us started. We never would have found the start of the trail on our own. It took us about an hour and forty five minutes to get to the top. We didn't see any homeless mountain people but did run into a local family walking down the road from the summit.

In Puerto Plata we also met a nice guy our age in the central plaza. He had been to the US, spoke English very well, and was very genuine in the way he spoke with us as a peer. He said that he loved to just meet new people and hear about their travels. Without a second thought we walked with him around downtown Puerto Plata and he showed us some popular areas - all the while telling us about the city. He took us to a restaurant that he liked and he knew someone at every street corner and always stopped to say hi to them. When it came time to head back to the boat we were surprised to hear him ask for some money in return for helping us around the city and finally flat out beg for just a few dollars. We tried to explain to him that we didn't ask for him to show us around and never expected to pay him anything. We felt a little bad but at the same time he had made us feel like friends, not paying customers.

We have since become accustomed to being approached by "the guide," especially after our trips to the city and are now used to saying no thanks. This aspect of the Dominican Republic is one that takes a little getting used to and seems unavoidable for the visiting tourist.

SMC