Half Day Safari Tour of Punta Cana

I booked this tour on line because I was uncertain what tours might be available at our hotel and I had booked with Viator before for a DC trip. The biggest problem was confirming our tour time with the assigned company. Neither I or the hotel concierge could reach the assigned company at the number listed on the voucher. The concierge and the Delta representative at our Cap Cana hotel said they had never even heard of the company. This of course caused me much anxiety. The next day, I found another number for the company, CheapShuttles, DR, at their online site. We did reach them and were told to call back in 30 minutes. An air conditioned van did arrive on time to pick us up and made another pick up at a Punta Cana hotel. We were taken to another non air-conditioned open air truck were guests from other hotels were waiting. The signage on the side of the truck said Compay EcoSafari. Our tour guide Alonzo was very knowledgeable and spoke several languages as our truck contained tourists from several countries. He started discussing the tour itinerary which included items that were not listed on our half day tour. He assured us that there would be someone at one of the stops to return us to the hotel. this did happen It poured down rain on the way to the tour and the plastic window coverings couldn't keep us completely dry. Eddie the driver did a good job handling the truck as we rode through sugar canes where some Haitian workers offered us tastes of the cane, crowded Hiquey city streets and up hills as we traveled deep into the country side. We spent a quick 15 minutes at the Basilica as we were ushered along an assigned tour path. We went to a Dominican house where we had a lesson on the making of coffee and cocoa. Personally, I believe the family was only at the location for the tour and to sell some coffee, vanilla, sugar, cocoa and coconut oil. We went to a mall in downtown Punta Cana later in the week were you could find all these goods cheap