Hungarian tourists flock to Dominica, where Exatlon . is taking place

Who wouldn’t want to peek behind the scenes of a production that’s going around the other side of the earth, plus post-production is taking place on three continents at once? This is Exatlon Hungary, whose fourth season of All Star has been shown on TV2 since early January. The competitions described in the program are held in the Dominican Republic, where, as it turned out, Hungarian tourists still enjoy them during the epidemic.

The fourth season of Exatlon Hungary started on January 3rd, which brought modernity in many ways. In the All Star competition, the teams consist of famous players from previous seasons and László Palik Monuki Lil comments on the races, the reporter turned to Tímea Gelencsér Réka Nagy. The reality of extreme sports returns once again to the Dominican Republic, where you can enter despite the pandemic under certain conditions. This is true even if one goes on vacation, it is no coincidence that many people choose this place as a destination during the pandemic.

How easy it is to get to the Caribbean island can now be experienced on our own, as our crew of two visits the filming location in Exatlon Hungary for a few days. Under current rules, a passport is required in addition to the passport for entry, and if you can show a negative PCR test within 72 hours, you’ll be sure to get a random sample on arrival. We scheduled the investigation for Monday morning, and after everything turned out to be fine, we set off for the airport on Tuesday morning.

What awaits us on a Caribbean island?

There are many places in the world that, even if we haven’t been there before, certainly have our own vision. The Dominican Republic is likely to be first remembered for its paradise setting, with its twinkling sunshine and a white sandy beach lined with palm trees. As for the beach.

The Spanish-speaking country is located in the eastern part of the island of Hispaniola, which it shares with Haiti to the west. Because of my work, I’ve been to the Caribbean many times before, so to speak, I’ve sailed around Dominica a few times, but as we moored on the countless surrounding islands, the two largest, Cuba and Hispaniola, were somehow never affected by our boat’s itinerary. . However, my experience so far suggests that this place shouldn’t be too different from the other islands. On the other hand, there will be the usual visual experiences – dazzling sunlight, enchanting beaches, turquoise sea, palm trees crumbling from the coconuts – but you don’t have to expect more from a tropical island. In addition, of course, there are local programs and attractions everywhere that can push tourists on their sofas on the beach, and there is a lot to check out in everyday life. What makes this even more so is the mentality of the islanders. And this applies not only to Dominica, but also to all the small, secluded places that are not closely related to the bustling urban presence.

Stepping into such a world is really refreshing, because suddenly everything around us slows down and we immerse ourselves in the wonders of the living world, our daily problems become camphor in a matter of seconds. Already on vacation, of course. Business may be somewhat disrupted by the tropical climate, especially if we come to the island during the rainy season. However, January is the middle of the dry season, so instead of rain that lasts for days, one can expect a short max of rain, and by this time, hurricane season, which usually lasts until the end of November, will be fine. However, what is not to be prepared for is that due to the high humidity in the air one feels stifling heat during the day rather than pleasant warmth, and the evenings can also be considered cooler. Accordingly, we packed light and short clothes for the trip, a fluffy coat and a jacket for the evening.

It is likely that Exatlon Hungary employees are used to the new environment: the team traveled to the island at the end of December and is expected to stay for several months. In comparison, we only had a few days in the tropics, but before we left we tried to gather all the information so we didn’t have to worry unnecessarily about any obstacles to be overcome beforehand.

There are many people who choose Dominica

An Air France plane took us across the Atlantic, the flight to Paris took approximately 11 hours and 45 minutes. We arrived to check in with pettameta – although you can provide your proofs of entry on your mobile phone, sure, we printed it out. The flight went smoothly, of course all documents were carefully checked at check-in, and although we expected fewer passengers, the flight to Paris was literally crowded. We had to stay in the mask on the plane the whole time, and could only take it off when food was served, otherwise it was business as usual.

We had nearly two hours to commute in Paris, and what was really surprising was that there were also plenty of planes on the hundreds of planes bound for the Dominican Republic. Let’s face it, no matter how attractive the place is due to the relatively simple entry rules, anyone who wants to vacation there needs to reach into their pockets. It’s not very good to travel during the pandemic right now, not to mention that for many, that period has been cut short financially. At least that’s what one thinks. The trip to Punta Cana began with almost full capacity, and the most interesting thing is that there were quite a few Hungarians among the passengers.

Our flight took a little longer than we had planned, as the plane took off from Paris with a delay of about an hour and a half. This is allegedly due to the cold weather and thick fog forming ice on the wings of our plane, which had to be cleared before departure. From this, we felt that a liquid heated from a strange structure was sprayed onto the surface of the wings, which was very frightening for us at first to us as normal people. (“defrosting” technique from this video You can learn about it in detail.) Instead of half past five, our plane finally got up around 6 pm, and with some delay, we finally landed in Punta Cana around half past ten.

Adventure with the new faces of Exatlon

After landing, we loaded our luggage and were finally able to enter the Dominican Republic. We didn’t really need anything else to do this, just our passport, other documents were not checked by anyone. In front of the airport, the driver was waiting for us, who immediately picked us up to shoot the Exatlon Hungary All Star. The riders and crew did work around 3am which we also waited for, so we got to our accommodation around 4pm.

The next day we also had a little adventure: we set out to explore the landscape with two runners on the sand. The programme, originally designed for tourists, is run by Krisztián Marosi. The contractor has been organizing shuttle service and optional programs on the island for five years, as an independent partner for several Hungarian offices, and for the past two years has been selling trips to Dominica independently. Since last year she has also been running her own shows, one of which we tried in the company of the new faces of Exatlon Hungary, Lehoki Monika and Réka Nagy. According to the businessman, this tour is very popular among Hungarians who do not abandon the Dominican Republic despite the pandemic: Krisztián Marosi says that since the border opened in January last year, Hungarians have flocked to the island, about four to five hundred people a month with him.

(Cover Image: Nora Bogoni/Index)