We
arrived in Santo Domingo in the afternoon of 13 April, paid a
$10 visa fee and picked up our hire car, the smallest available with
possibly the lowest clearance! We were heading for Pedernales on the
southern border with Haiti but it was almost 350km and time was
against us so we didn’t expect to make it in one go. We saw 20
Cattle Egrets and 2 American Kestrels in the fading
light and a couple of hours into the journey were feeling pretty
wrecked. After about 140km we stopped in Azua, the first sizable
town we’d driven through since Santo Domingo, and found a hotel. It
didn’t look great from the outside despite being called Hotel
Americana Azua. It was even worse inside, the room light fusing when
switched on, but we’d not seen any alternatives and were desperate
to lie down and crash out so we took it, a whole $5 worth. It is
probably the worst hotel I’ve ever stayed in, and that is saying
something, but it served its purpose.
We
left early on 14 April, it was not the sort of hotel we wanted
to linger in, and drove the 200km to Pedernales. We saw 7 Palmchats
near Barahona, Dominican Republic’s endemic family although not
overly inspiring to look at, 2 Mourning Doves but little else
of interest on the way. We booked into the Hotel Carib Sun in
Pedernales ($30 for 2 nights) and drove back east for 12km to find
the start of the Aceitilla Road up into the Parque Nacional Sierra de
Baoruco. The road soon deteriorated and was very bad in places but
our car managed it and we spent the rest of the day birding in the
park. New birds came thick and fast as we made decent inroads on the
endemics and specialities seeing 2 Hispaniolan Parakeets, 20
Hispaniolan Parrots, 10 Antillean Palm Swifts, 3
Hispaniolan Emeralds, 8 superb Broad-billed Todies,
6 Hispaniolan Woodpeckers, Hispaniolan Pewee,
5 Stolid Flycatchers, 3 not very Golden Swallows, 2
Greater Antillean Bullfinches, 10 Black-crowned Palm
Tanagers and 4 Antillean Siskins. In addition 2
Hispaniolan Spindalis and 25 White-winged Crossbills
had not been split at the time. We also heard Hispaniolan Palm
Crow and saw an unidentified Quail Dove (probably Ruddy)
in flight, Antillean Nighthawk, 10 more Palmchats,
2 Black & White, male Pine, Cape May and 2
Palm Warblers and an American Redstart.
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| view from the lower section of the Acetilla Road |
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| pine forest on the Acetilla Road, good for White-winged Crossbills |
On
16 April we left Pedernales to drive the 180km to Duverge, on
the northern (opposite) side of the Sierra de Baoruco. We were
expecting it to take about 4 hours but leaving a small village the car
appeared to ground on a speed bump and came to a sudden stop.
Thinking it might be a puncture I got out to find the tyre intact but
the front right wheel at a 90 degree angle. It had come detached from
the axle. With no one about in the village to ask for help we managed
to force the wheel back into alignment and amazingly it was fine and
we continued with only an hour’s delay. Two Mangrove Cuckoos
and 5 Palmchats were the only notable birds on the journey. At
Duverge a drivable track led up into Sierra de Baoruco that would
allow us to access its higher section on the Haiti border where
several key species occurred. Our ultimate destination Zapotan was
was only about 20km from Pedernales on a dreadful track that even a
4WD would have been hard pressed to cope with. We’d taken one look
at the start of it and hoped the Zapotan option was better. The road
started reasonably well but quickly deteriorated and at times was
like driving up a dried up river bed. Having low clearance clearly
wasn’t helping but we were determined to make it and save ourselves
a long arduous walk. We made it to the army camp at El Aguacate, on
the border with Haiti and overlooking it, and continued on to
Duverge, the track by now actually improved. The roadside clearing
we’d intended staying in had become a potato staging post and
although the workers there were friendly it seemed more like a refuge
camp and we didn’t fancy camping there. We continued birding up the
road and as dark was approaching returned to El Aguacate and received
permission from the army to put our tents up by the entrance to their
‘fort’. New for us were 3 excellent Hispaniolan Trogons, 7
equally good Narrow-billed Todies, 3 not so impressive Greater
Antillean Elaenias, 4 superb Rufous-throated Solitares
(with lots more heard) and 2 White-winged Warblers while we
heard Greater Antillean Nightjar after dark and a fairly
distant La Selle Thrush. We also saw 2 Hispaniolan Parrots,
3 Hispaniolan Emeralds, 4 Hispaniolan Woodpeckers, 2
Hispaniolan Pewees and a Hispaniolan Spindalis, Golden
Swallow, 4 Greater Antillean Bullfinches and 4
Green-tailed Ground Warblers. North American warblers were not
well represented at this altitude with just a Black & White
and 3 Black-throated Blues. It wasn’t too cold and we
slept well.
We
were up before dawn on 17 April, walking up the road trying to
see Greater Antillean Nightjar but frustratingly only heard 3.
We packed up our tent, drove up to the potato workers camp and spent
the day walking for several kms beyond Zapotan before returning to
the National Park sign above Duverge, the track being no better when
going down than it had been coming up. The contrast between the
forested national park in the Dominican Republic and the devastation
of Haiti couldn’t have been more dramatic. Highlights were 2
Grey-headed Quail-Doves, one very well on the track and a good
flight view, Bay-breasted Cuckoo, La Selle Thrush and
the front half of a Chat Tanager (Nick saw it all). Also 10
Hispaniolan Parakeets, 20 Hispaniolan Parrots,
Hispaniolan Lizard Cuckoo, 2 Hispaniolan Emeralds, 14
Hispaniolan Trogons (including a flock of 9!), 9 Broad-billed
Todies (below El Aguacate), 8 Narrow-billed Todies (above
El Aguacate), 13 Hispaniolan Woodpeckers, 7 Hispaniolan
Pewee, 2 Golden Swallows, Rufous-throated Solitaire,
3 Black-crowned Palm Tanagers, 9 Green-tailed and 6
White-winged Warblers and a Flat-billed Vireo. Seven
species of North American warbler included 6 Black & White,
our only Chestnut-sided, 12 Black-throated Blue Warblers
and 9 Ovenbirds. Sadly our success with night birds didn’t
improve with us hearing but not seeing 3 Least Poorwills above
Puerto Escondido in areas near where we camped.
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| Sierra de Baoruco near El Aguacate |
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| looking at Haiti near Zapotan |
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| Sierra de Baoruco above Puerto Escondido |
Early
on 18 April we tried again for Least Poorwill but were
unsuccessfully, hearing two. We birded dry scrub along the lower part
of the road down to Duverge seeing Mangrove and 3 Hispaniolan
Cuckoos, 12 Broad-billed Todies, 8 Stolid
Flycatchers, 15 Palmchats, 7 Red-legged Thrushes, 8
Black-crowned Palm Tanagers, Flat-billed Vireo, 4
Green-tailed Ground Warblers and 7 species of North American
warbler including male Blue-winged, Prarie, male
Magnolia and 7 Ovenbirds. We continued on
to Lago Enriquillo and then back to Barahona seeing 10 American
Flamingoes, 6 Plain Pigeons, Antillean Mango, 2
Palmchats and 2 Hispaniolan Palm and 3 White-necked
Crows, the latter our only new bird. At Barahona we stayed in the
Hotel Cacique ($35 for two nights). From 19:00-21:15 we drove the
Santa Elena road to the south hoping for Ashy-faced Owl and Northern
Potoo but with no luck. The area looked decidedly dubious and not the
sort of place we wanted to be. What appeared to be crime scene taping
off part of a horribly smelly roadside rubbish tip did nothing to
change that view and we left before our imagination got too carried
away.
We
were back on the Santa Elena Road from 04:30-07:00 on 19 April
feeling any self respecting mugger would still be asleep
at that time. Owls and potoos were again absent or keeping a very low
profile which was disappointing. We decided we needed help with the
night birds and Nick contacted Julio, a local bird guide we had a
number for. He agreed for $35 each to take us out that evening,
expensive but we hoped it would prove worthwhile. In the meantime we
drove to Laguna del Rincon where we saw some common wetland birds, 2
Hispaniolan Lizard Cuckoos, 2 Broad-billed Todies, 7
Hispaniolan Woodpeckers and 2 Palmchats. After dark we
picked up Julio and drove to the far end of Lago Enriquillo. Here
Julio played Ashy-faced Owl tapes but elicited no response. We
suggested he was playing them far too quietly as we could barely hear
them from 5m away but he was wasn’t persuaded to raise the volume
by very much. After an hour or two of hearing nothing in an area by
the lake that looked no different from any other, not that we could
see much in the dark, he announced that the owls must have moved
elsewhere. It was all quiet on the potoo front too and we rather
wished we’d agreed payment by results with Juliuo. Desperate to
find something we headed back to Duverge and up the dreadful
track/river bed beyond Puerto Escondido. We wouldn’t be getting
much sleep this night.
From
01:00-03:30 on 20 April we tried for Least Poorwill hearing
six before eventually having excellent views of the seventh. Hoping
our luck might have changed we drove further up the worst part of the
track looking for Greater Antillean Nightjar but only heard
one before giving up. We did see 4 Burrowing Owls but only one
was a decent view and hardly made up for the other night birds missed.
We returned to Barahona completely wrecked and had a lie in before
check-out time when we drove back to Santo Domingo. Part way back
there was a bang from under the bonnet and the car stopped. Getting
out we discovered an increasing pool of oil under the car. We seemed
to have blown off the oil filter, probably as a result of the
previous nights escapade on the river bed track above Puerto
Escondido. We were a little way past a village but soon attracted a
small crowd. Someone on a motorbike knew a mechanic and went off to
fetch them. Over the next two hours there was a lot of standing
around pointing but little positive action. Nick was flying home the
next day and we needed to get back to Santo Domingo. I impressed upon
our mechanic that if he couldn’t fix the car soon we’d leave it
and flag down the next bus. This prospect seemed to focus his mind as
he could presumably see a decent repair bill slipping away. He
seemed to put on a new oil filter, added a litre of so of oil and
told us it was all fixed. We paid him what seemed a reasonable amount in
the circumstances and were on our way, arriving in Santo Domingo
before dark with no further issues. Eight American Kestrels
and 6 Palmchats were the most notable species seen during the
journey. As I was staying two nights and Nick one we took single
rooms at the Hotel Indepencia, my two nights costing $25.
We
were up early on 21 April and in Santo Domingo Botanical
Gardens from 06:30-08:30. Two West Indian Whistling Duck were
a hoped for new bird, not always seen at this location. We also saw 2
Limpkin, 2 Solitary Sandpipers, 7 Hispaniolan
Parakeets, Mangrove and Hispaniolan Lizard Cuckoos,
Antillean Mango, Vervain Hummingbird, Broad-billed
Tody, 12 Hispaniolan Woodpeckers, 15 Cave
Swallows, 30 Palmchats and a Black-crowned Palm
Tanager. I drove Nick to the airport in good time for his flight,
conscious all the way that the car may let us down again. It didn’t.
I returned to Santo Domingo, parked the car outside the hotel and
spent the afternoon wandering around the Old Town being a tourist which was quite
nice, helped by 6 Magnificent Frigatebirds cruising over.
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| Old Santo Domingo |
 |
| my quick tour of a few of the tourist sites |
On
22 April I returned to Santo Domingo Botanical Gardens at
06:20. My flight was a bit later than Nick’s had been so I stayed
to 09:30. I couldn’t find the whistling ducks but saw Limpkin,
the 2 Solitary Sandpipers, 20 Common Ground Doves, 5
Hispaniolan Parakeets, 2 Hispaniolan Lizard Cuckoos, 15
Antillean Palm Swifts, 3 Antillean Mangos, an
impressive 11 Vervain Hummingbirds, 4 Broad-billed
Todies, 40(!) Hispaniolan Woodpeckers, 75
Palmchats, 20 Northern Mockingbirds, 3 Red-legged
Thrushes, 2 Black-whiskered Vireos and 2 Greater
Antillean Grackles. I returned to the hotel and checked out,
making the mistake of putting my rucksack across the rear seat rather
than in the boot. Driving along the dual carriageway towards the
airport a scooter overtook me and its passenger signalled for me to
pull over. Passenger and driver were wearing uniforms so I thought
I’d better comply. The passenger promptly got into the car next to
me, told me I’d been driving erratically and to turn off at the
next junction. I continued driving but certainly wasn’t turning off
if I could help it. The passenger became more insistent that I turn
off at the next junction but I told him if there was a problem we
could sort it out with the tourist police at the airport and
continued past the junction, his mate was following on the scooter. I
then stopped on the hard shoulder, leaned across and opened his door
telling him to get out of the car. He wouldn’t so I kept going,
speeding up and repeating ‘aeropuerto tourist police’ for what seemed like 10 minutes but was probably only half of that before he relented and told me to stop. I did, he got out
and climbed onto the back of the following scooter. Very relieved I
continued to the airport, handed in the car and caught my flight
home.
The Dominican Republic left a slight sour taste following what I can only think was an attempted mugging. A couple of car issues (probably due to us hiring a cheaper car than was really needed) turned out to be only minor irritants but failing to see most night birds and, surprisingly, Antillean Piculet was more concerning. Despite that I’d seen 67 new species on the trip including 30 of the 108 species seen in
Dominican Republic. I'd seen 156 species altogether. Not bad for a bit under £1200 all
in and thanks again to Nick, we make a good team.
[blogged
November 2019]
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