Parque Nacional Armando Bermudez and Parque Nacional Jose del Carmen Ramirez
These two parks are adjacent to one another, Armando Bermudez covering the north of the Cordillera Central (Central Mountain Range), with Jose del Carmen Ramirez extending to the south, and between the two cover nearly all of the central mountain area. This was the first national park established in the Dominican Republic in 1956, and is host to the highest peak in the Caribbean, Pico Duarte, at an elevation of 3,175 meters (10,414 feet). Climbing Pico Duarte is one of many popular great eco-adventure tours available on the island (see our section on adventure tours). The other three highest mountains in all of the Caribbean are also located here – La Pelona (3,087 meters), La Rucilla (3,049 meters), and Pico Yaque (2,760 meters).
With an estimated average annual rainfall of between 2 to 4 meters (8 to 13 feet!) these two parks are also the source of 12 of the country’s most important rivers, including the two largest, the Rio Yaque del Norte and RioYaque del Sur. Two damns that supply hydroelectric to the Cibao Central (including the city of Santiago), and areas to the northeast are also located in the region.
Average temperatures in the region range between 12 and 18 degrees celsius (53 and 64 degrees Fahrenheit) and the vegetation is classified as subtropical rainforest. The vegetation is extremely diverse and changes with the altitude, ranging from juniper, wild tamarind, mountain wild olive, West Indian cedar in the lower areas, to ferns, palms, and pine trees in the upper regions. Birdwatchers will be delighted to encounter the varied birdlife in the park, such as the Hispaniolan parrot (Amazona ventrallis), Green-tailed warbler (Microligea palustris), Antillean siskin (Carduelis dominicensis), Hispaniolan woodpecker (Melanerpes striatus), Palm chat (Dulus dominicus), plus many others, all of which are endemic to the island. The Palm chat – Cigua palmera in Spanish - is the national bird.
Dominican Republic Amber
The Dominican Republic has the destinction of having one of the two most extensive deposits of amber in the world, the other being the Baltic Sea area. Classified as a gem, amber is actually the fossilized resin of extinct species of trees. The source of Dominican amber was the leguminous tree Hymenaea or Algarrobo. Millions of years ago as these trees toppled and were carried by river systems to the coastal areas, their resins became covered with silt. Eventually this sediment hardened to rock and the resin hardened to amber. It takes a minimum of twenty-five million years for amber to form, and though the oldest discovered so far is dated at eighty million years, the oldest Dominican amber dates between thirty-five to forty million years. There are three main areas on the island where amber is mined, but the oldest and hardest comes from La Cumbre in the Central Mountain Range between Santiago and Puerto Plata. 
Amber is mainly valued for its inclusions of fossilized insects, plants, worms, vertebrates, feathers, mushroom caps, animal hair, eggs, flowers, leaves, etc. - the list is varied and endless. Most inclusions are quite small, however the value raises considerably the larger the piece of amber and the rarer the inclusion. The colour of amber varies from various shades of yellow, orange, and even to green, blue, and purple. Blue amber is especially sought after and is one of the rarest to come by, therefore it too is highly valued. The blue colour is not due to the pigmentation in the stone, but from flourescence when exposed to ultra-violet light which is why these colours will appear pronounced when reflected in sunlight. Amber can be delicate in that drastic changes in temperature can cause it to fracture, and it will often change to a darker colour and develop surface cracks after a few years of exposure to light. 
A variety of substances has been used over the years to make imitation ambar, such as epoxy resins, plastics, celluloid, polyesters, to name a few, but true amber is distinguishable by its melting temperature, burning ordor, hardness, fluorescence, among many other factors. A simple test to determine if a piece is fake or real is to add about five tablespoons of salt to a glass of water. True amber will float but plastic will not.
