Nouvelles Frontieres has established a partnership with l'Usine, a company with fitness centres in Geneva and Paris. Guests benefit from the expertise of a personal trainer and can get fit on high tech machines.
While most of the resorts in Punta Cana offer the same excursions to Manati Park or the islands of Saona and Catalina, Nouvelles Frontieres has developed a smarter way to discover the region. Its Nouvelles Rencontres excursions, limited to small groups, offer original activities that often offer interactions with the local population. In addition, Nouvelles Rencontres workshops are organised on a daily basis, where guests get to meet local craftsmen who teach the tricks of their trade, such as cigar making, palm leaf hat weaving, traditional cooking, Caribbean art...
These workshops are free, but if you want an in-depth presentation of the island's culture, there are excursions for which you can pay and that will take you to small villages where you can share a meal with the locals and discover their culture and traditions. The Dominican Republic is the biggest exporter of organic cocoa. The excursion organised around the theme of chocolate takes you to Hato Mayo province, some 2 hours away (68 mi from the hotel). Guests get to visit a cocoa farm and are shown the various phases of chocolate making, before visiting the cocoa plantations and sharing a local meal with the women of the "Association des femmes unies" (association of united women). The visit includes a tasting session centred around hot chocolate, as well as cocoa jam and chocolate-flavoured wine. The "Discovering Dominican painting" excursion will enable amateur artists to let their talent run wild and learn the basic techniques of tropical landscape painting. It will also allow them to return home with an original work of art. However, guests should leave some space in their luggage to bring home some Larimar jewellery (a semi-precious stone that exists only in the Dominican Republic). Finally, discover the Dominican way of life at Christian's place, a colourful character who welcomes you in his ranch in the middle of a beautiful and natural setting, about one hour away from the hotel. You will be given the opportunity to discover aromatic plants, lovely flowers and fruit trees, and to taste all sorts of local specialties: chocolate, coffee, tropical fruit, and even some fortified rum! A striking feature is that everyone is always in a good mood.
You can also buy cigars and rum from the souvenir shop in the hotel lobby, open from 8:30am till 9:00pm, which includes a large selection of newspapers.
Amy Adejokun
Section editor
