Winter Comes To The Dominican Republic

by Lindsay de Feliz

When you think of a Caribbean island the whole idea of winter does not enter your mind. This year, for the first time in my 12 years here, I am living in the mountains and the change of the seasons seems a lot more pronounced than on the coast.

The change in temperature and humidity has always been sudden, not a slow change as it used to be in the UK. On November 1st or a day before or after every year, suddenly the wind is cooler and the humidity less. In the mountains the temperature dropped sharply from around 90 degrees Fahrenheit in the daytime to 80 degrees.

Night time temperatures dropped from the mid seventies to the mid sixties. The sun is lower in the sky, it used to wake me between 5.30 and 6.00 as it streamed through the bedroom window, but now it doesn’t even make it into the bedroom. Nights draw in quickly and it is pitch black before 6.30...

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