Mr. Tim Hall, the Honorary Canadian Consul for the Dominican Republic North Coast is set to visit Oliver next week. Though the trip is for a personal visit and a little R & R time, Mr. Hall and hosts have plans to explore the richness of Oliver’s tourism and agricultural attractions during his stay.
When at home in Puerto Plata in the Dominican Republic Tim Hall manages and operates the Canadian Consulate office in the city with the help of his office assistant Mrs. M. Foster. Together they offer assistance and protection to any and all Canadian citizens who are abroad. He has served as director of the International Committee of the local Rotary Club and has received the Mayor of Puerto Plata’s Distinguished Citizen Award in recognition of his service to the community.
Originally from Montreal, Mr. Hall has spent the last three decades (plus) living and working in a place where so many of us take our annual winter holiday. With the “low season” ending soon in much of the Caribbean, the opportunity arose for him to sample a bit of our “high season” before the tables turn yet again. Aside from his consular duties, Tim Hall is deeply committed to regional development in the tourism industry on the North Coast of the Dominican Republic. His involvement in the local Tourism Associations and Puerto Plata Strategic Planning Office has provided impetus for many positive changes to the Puerto Plata tourism scene. His personal quest over the past several years has been to develop and promote Sustainable Tourism along a mountain highway connecting the North Coast to the inland city of Santiago. Renamed the “Ruta Panoramica”, the highway winds from the coastal lowlands up over a mountain range boasting numerous attractions. On the way visitors may partake of locally produced fruit and cheese at roadside businesses, visit a coffee plantation, see an operation amber mine, visit monuments, find an amazing array of locally made handicrafts, and most of all interact with exceptionally friendly “real folks” from the countryside.
If these ventures weren’t enough to keep Tim Hall busy, he and his family are also the owners/proprietors of Tubagua Plantation Eco Village, which is an Eco-Lodge occupying a magnificent perch overlooking the coastal plain from a thousand foot elevation on the first ridge inland. Made from renewable, local materials, and staffed by people from the neighboring villages, the lodge offers travelers a delicious taste of the “real Dominican Republic”. Guests from all over the world have visited Tubagua and left with a new place in their heart for the simpler holiday, away from the package hotels and hustle of commercialism. (www.tubagua.com)
Tim Hall’s hosts in Oliver have promised to show him as much as they can in one short week without making it into a whirlwind tour. Be assured that Oliver’s fine wines, culinary delights, legendary tree fruits, amazing agricultural diversity as well as exceptional hospitality will be a lasting memory.
Submitted by Art Riome, groundskeeper extraordinaire, Fairview Mtn. Golf Course. Talked to Art this morning and he hopes his tour with the Mr. Hall will be helpful and instructional.