Want An Immersive Vacation Experience? Try An Ecolodge

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The Dominican Republic is a major tourist destination, with free-trade zones appealing to many people who travel there. The landscape is a variety of mountains and forests, resorts and beaches, rustic towns and expanding cities. It has pristine lakes, tropical rainforests, dense vegetation, and even desert-like areas. The country is culturally diverse, inhabited mostly by people of mixed European and African origins. If this mélange of terrain and culture appeals to you, you’ll find the many ecolodge locations found in the Dominican Republic to be quite enticing.

As people around the world collectively move toward a more sustainable future, travelers seek more responsible travel to natural areas with better environmental and aesthetic elements. Ecolodges fill in those needs, as they are generally situated in undisturbed, remote natural areas where the construction of their built structures and daily tourist operations have low impacts. Combined sustainability modeling and intriguing guest accommodations are an offshoot of the local community, actively protect ecosystems, and are culturally responsive.

Sustainable tourism is on the rise in the Dominican Republic, and there are increasingly unique ecolodges spread throughout the country. They offer unforgettable experiences for travelers seeking a more environmentally friendly way to explore the island.

As you drive away from the Dominican Republic beach resort areas, the country’s semitropical climate becomes evident, as does its agriculture — one of the country’s largest economic sectors. The Dominican Republic exports organic and fair-trade products and has about 14,000 organic growers. Yet, while almost one in ten people are employed in agriculture, the country has one of the highest rates of moderate or severe food insecurity in the Caribbean region at 52.1%. At the end of the Covid pandemic in 2022, one in three households could not afford a healthy diet.

Ecolodges offer an alternative to western resorts, but they do much more, too. These bucolic lodgings involve the local people and support the local communities. They offer a reliable source of income, and ecolodges help to grow food for villages too distant from modern groceries, so that they’re infusing fresh fruits and vegetables into local daily diets.

Immersing Yourself in Nature: The El Gallo Ecolodge

EL Gallo Ecolodge is an ecological project that helps the local community to meet their food needs while increasing tourist awareness of the importance of sustainable agriculture. It is an open door to an authentic Dominican Republic experience. Situated on the side of a mountain, El Gallo showcases a picturesque natural landscape while offering a countryside lodging experience and acres of carefully cultivated fruits, vegetables, and herbs.

You can breathe in the beauty of orchids and wild ginger while the heavy canopy of heavily mature trees soothes the temperatures.

El Gallo means “rooster” in Spanish, a nod to the shape of a mountain that frames the vista outside the ecolodge and to the local rooster breeding practice. The ecolodge is part of El Gallo Ruta Ecologica, which is an ecological route that offers a connection to nature for all its visitors. In the area are trails, camping areas, horseback riding, bicycle rides, and locally-made products.

During our visit it was clear that El Gallo Ecolodge follows commonly-accepted norms of global ecolodges:

• Reduction of waste: The ecolodge sorts and focuses on waste reduction. Food waste was composted. A sign in the bathrooms asked guests to place toilet paper in a garbage pail rather than to flush it.
• Sustainable use of natural resources: Perishables like food items and drinks were grown in the surrounding environment.
• Green building materials: The buildings, benches, path guardrails, and patio furniture were constructed from local trees. Reclaimed wood trusses and palm fronds for thatched roofs were integral to the ecolodge’s footprint.
• Community development: The ecolodge provides affordable and healthy foods for the local people. They work closely within their community to provide support, resources, education, and employment with the support of government organizations like MITUR, TCS, INFOTEP and JICA.
• Cultural respect: As a Sustainable Community Tourism project, El Gallo offers visitors an authentic experience of the Dominican countryside.
• Clear environmental guidelines: They limit the use of plastic, save water and energy, and preserve biodiversity. For more than a decade, El Gallo has become a model of the potential for local Sustainable Community Tourism development through its incorporation of natural and cultural resources.
• Alternative power sources: A number of wind turbines was visible as our ship came into port.
• Conservation efforts: El Gallo boasts over 200 varieties of tropical fruit trees, as well as hundreds of orchids and other exotics. They practice regenerative agriculture and highlight their permaculture and specialization in local medicinal plants with workshops provided by El Gallo staff.
• Educating guests and locals: A calm and knowledgeable botanist guide answered our questions in measured phrasing, always helping us to understand the terrain and amazing plantings.

Accommodations: El Gallo’s aim is to offer a sustainable kind of tourism geared to families and special gatherings. El Gallo offers two Cabana options, with private bathrooms and their own showers. Rooms variously offer balconies, terraces, and garden views. Each room includes a sofa and parquet floors. There are fans, plenty of closet space, and WiFi access — many guests don’t even log in, as they are looking to fully unplug. There are hammocks in several areas.

For the true Dominican experience, there are mosquiteros (mosquito nets) and the ever classic tin roof experience widely used in DR campos. The Cabanas at El Gallo are all wooden. Facilities include a year-round outdoor swimming pool, lush garden, terrace, and outdoor fireplace. The property features a restaurant, bar, and free WiFi throughout. The ecolodge has plenty of board games, Dominoes, and books — or plenty of shaded seating to enjoy the mountain views.

Dining: The menu at El Gallo reflects the local countryside cuisine, and dishes are cooked over a traditional open kitchen fire. Overnight stays include vegetarian dinner and breakfast. Freshly picked ingredients are part of every meal and include fruits, herbs, and vegetables from El Gallo’s organic farm.

El Gallo has over 200 free range chicken laying eggs. Their menu focuses on vegetarian food, though they also cook meat when the customers request it. Our family-style luncheon was plentiful and grown or raised on site: rice, beans, roasted chicken, lettuce, tomato, mango, sweet rice on a stick, lemon-infused water, and herbal iced tea.

Caribbean cuisine is offered with kosher, vegan, gluten-free, and dairy-free options — their kitchen is very accommodating to the customers when it comes to custom ordering. Locals and visitors alike enjoy repasts filled with honey, leaf cheese, threaded bread, Creole hearth sweets, Creole empanadas, or organic peanut butter.

A day pass in the lodge is required to order food, as in the case in each ecolodge in the Dominican Republic.

Local sites to see: Since the end of 2018, the El Gallo Ecolodge has engaged in a process of recognition, articulation, and enhancement of the area’s resources. Partially, that’s achieved through self-guided tours that capture natural and cultural themes. Visitors experience the community through more than twenty resources with the focus on the breathtaking nature surrounding the ecolodge. Any given day, visitors to El Gallo will start with a snack and a hike to the nearby El Gallo caves, a system that is reachable within a 20-minute walk from the Ecolodge. There are three small caves with a river that runs through the center. It is believed that Taino indigenous people used these caves more than 500 years ago.

A day pass is also available; contact El Gallo for more details.

This post is dedicated to my brother, Steve who is a master gardener, a vacation lover, an adventure seeker, and an all-around great guy as he celebrates his birthday today. You’ve got to go to El Gallo Ecolodge in Puerta Plata, bro’ Steve!