Los Haitises

‘Los Haitises’ is the name of one of the most important national parks of the Dominican Republic.  It is located in the northeast of the country, in the southwest corner of the Bay of Samana, near the mouth of the river Yuna. The area covers 826 km².

The area was in pre-Columbian times inhabited by the Tainos, the original inhabitants of the island, who either settled here or at the very least visited occasionally.  They left petroglyphs on the walls of many caves in the area. The name “Haitises” derives from “Aiti” and “Haiti”, the Taino name for hills or hilly/mountainous country. The hills in the Haitises, while not high (almost 100 meters), are quite steep.
After the conquest, the area was long uninhabited until the 19th and early 20^th Century when operations began in parts of the Haitises regarding agriculture and primarily cultivated sugar beet, which served for starch and was exported.  For this purpose, a railroad and was built in the Bahia de San Lorfeno, a port facility, whose remains are still there today.   In 1968, approximately 200 sq km have been made made into a “reserva forestal” (forest reserve) under protection. The protected area has been transformed into a national park, and subsequently extended several times, most recently in 1996

Los Haitises has a typical karst terrain, consisting of Tertiary limestones, which lie on volcanic rocks. Unlike the limestone, the volcanoes are less permeable, so that rain water accumulates due to the limestone, forming underground rivers and karst springs appear.  Because of the strong surface erosion the terrain is very rugged.  As in any karst area, there are also many caves.  Of these, the Cueva Fun Fun is about 3km in length.  It is not accessible to tourists.
Due to the low humus on the karst surface and the fact that water quickly seeps in the limestone, the vegetation on the hills – despite the heavy rainfall in this area – is only a semi-humid. There are greater and low shrubby plants and palms. Only in the valleys can you find truly tropical vegetation with large trees, for example, mahogany (Swietenia mahogany) and kapok (Ceiba pentandra).

Los Haitises is typical of the many epiphytes, especially the so-called “Cabello de hadas”, German for “witches hair” (Lousianamoos, moss Tillandsia) and orchids.  There are over 200 different species of orchids and about a third are endemic.

Also of note are the mangrove forests along the coast, which are among the largest on the island. There are both Red (Rhizophora mangle) and white (Laguncularia racemosa).  Larger mammals do not live in the national park. The manatees (sea cows), which previously occurred in the mouth of the Yuna, seem to be extinct.

Since the 80s of the last century they were no longer observed. The most common mammals are the bats that inhabit the caves. Two rare and endemic mammals in Hispaniola are also still alive in the Haitises, namely the Solenodon (Solenodon paradoxus) and Jutia (Plagiodontia aedium).
In the coastal zone live and breed amongst others: gulls; pelicans; cormorants and frigate birds.  The relatively rare Ridgway’s Hawk (Buteo Ridgway) can be found in the Haitises.   Noteworthy are the arthropods, a scourge of spiders (Amblypygi), which are also cave-dwellers and can sometimes be palm size.

The national park is accessible only by guided tours, from various places (Sanchez, Samana, Sabana de la Mar) by boat.  Most tours go from Sabana de la Mar by the Bahia de San Lorenzo on some islands and peninsulas, and visit caves (eg, the Cueva de las Linias with petroglyphs, and the Cueva de la Arena), with a bat colony.

The tours are conducted by motor-boat, the national efforts to use electric or solar boats have so far failed.  There are also guided tours with off-road vehicles or hiking in the hinterland. Large parts of the park may not still be entered by tourists.

In Sabana de la Mar, a visitor center (Aula de la Naturaleza) has been established.