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Caribbean rhythms
Lewin, Mattew. 1998. "Caribbean
rhythms". Ham&High.
" Doing the merengue
is easy. You just lean forward, bend your knees and swing
your hips. " Thus spoke Ramon De La Cruz, the best driver
and possibly the nicest man in the West Indies.
So why is it that we waited until the very last night of our
holiday before we took a cab to the local disco and succumbed
to this hypnotic Dominican rhythm?
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Well, possibly because until
then we were made so groggy by the sheer quiet and relaxation
of the country and our hotel that the idea of testing arthritic
knees had not crossed our somnolent minds.
Before this, the Dominican
Republic had rung no bells for me. I knew vaguely that it
was near Cuba, shared the island with Haiti and produced a
cigar or two. I had no idea that it was a contender for paradise.
On the recommendation of friends,
we booked two weeks just after Christmas at the Auberge La
Catalina near Cabrera on the north (Atlantic) side of the
island and we found ourselves the only British people in a
hotel full of, and run by, French Canadians from Montreal.
It was quite simply, one of
the most delightful hotels I have come across, set in an exotic
tropical garden on the side of a mountain which has to be
seen to be believed. Hibiscus grows in nonchalant profusion
alongside the most wondrous and unusual plants, fruit, cacti
and flowers of every description imaginable.
The hotel comprises a series of 20-odd apartment suites and
one block of rooms, every front window and terrace of which
looks out over the gardens and palmtrees to the jungle and,
about a mile away , the sea.
Our apartment was beautifully furnished, with two bedrooms,
two bathrooms, living room, kitchenette and shady terrace,
where we spent many happy hours.
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What makes it even more astonishing is that just 12 years
ago, this was virgin hillside. That was before Marie-France
Paquette and Claude Bouthillier arrived to create, in their
words : " the sort of hotel resort we would like to
go to for our holidays ".
Claude, a former educationalist in Africa and once director
of Save the Children Fund in neighbouring Haiti before he
discovered the joys of the Dominican Republic, provided
the business know-how. Marie-France, formely an art teacher
in Montreal, was the creative force - she designed the apartments,
conceived the layout of the gardens and terracing, and stood
behind the bulldozer driver, pointing out how the three
kilometres of roads were to meander around the site.
The maturity of the garden is a testament to the tropical
climate in which plants appear to reach maturity in just
a few years. The climate also allows Marie-France to produce
a profusion of herbs, vegetables and exotic fruits, most
of which goes straight into the hotel's kitchen.
If you can drag yourself away from the hotel, there are
a variety of outside attractions - including two beaches
that are, aguably, the best in the country. The hotel runs
a shuttle bus service to Playa Grande about seven kilometres
away, which lives up perfectly to the image of a tropical
beach, with long stretches of white sand, blue water and
obligatory leaning palm trees. The shuttle also goes to
Playa Caleton, which is smaller, more enclosed and prettier…
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