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After visiting
my parents for a while, I definitely needed some warm weather
before I headed back to colder climates. Even southern Florida
was on the cool side, so I decided to head south into the
Carribbean. I chose to visit the Dominican Republic, just
north of Venezuela. Here I am leaving Atlanta...a Delta Hub!
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Looking down
here at the Space Coast of Florida...I used to go to college
down there, in Melbourne, at the Florida Institute of Technology.
It was pretty cool to look down and see the coast, from the
north all the way down past Miami we flew. Then we headed
south-east towards the Bahamas.
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Now looking
down at islands of the Bahamas...
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More Bahamas...
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Now the Turks
and Caicos Islands...
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A cruise
ship heading north towards Miami....or the Bahamas maybe...
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After leaving
Atlanta 3 hours earlier, we fly in over the Dominican Republic,
heading for the northern city of Puerta Plata.
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From the
beach looking up into the hills....
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And now at
my hotel's beach. I stayed at the Celuisma
at the Playa Dorada resort center, just east of Puerta Plata.
Here is a shot looking east...
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Looking west
towards the city....
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I spent many
days jogging on the beach...and when it rained, (which was
often) I would swim and snorkel in the surf.
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You could
actually go several miles before you hit the city. You did
have to ford several rivers tho...some small...some not so
small.
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The Orange
Market. A tourist trap on the beach just a half mile down
the beach from my hotel.
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Lots of tourists...lots
of vendors. Sadly, there are only about 4 kinds of shops...just
endless repetitive setups. I was pretty dissapointed in the
selection of items on the island to buy.
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Here is a
shot of my building that I stayed in.
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Here is the
resorts main plaza, during one of the many rainy days...
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I took a
number of tours into the countryside. Here is a typical village
in the back woods.
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Children
all wear uniforms of kahki bottoms and blue shirts.
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For those
without raincoats, the tour guides handed out some garbage
bags. Tear a few holes, and instant rain coast!
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Lots of the
better homes were heavily barred. Their is not alot of violent
crime in the Dominican Republic, but alot of burglaries tho.
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Rolling hills,
and lots of cattle and goats. Lots of banana plantations,
sugar cane and melons were grown all over.
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This cactus
here is extremly acidic. Any sap on the skin will leave a
permanent scar. Any sap in your eyes will permenatly blind
you. For this reason, this kind of cactus is used extensively
as a way to keep people out. A zone 200 feet thick is used
to keep people from Haiti from getting into the Dominican
Republic...or so the tour guide said.
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Looking down
onto the hills. The fences are made of a certain kind of wood,
that 90% of the time takes root. So, the fence post doesn't
rot out...because it's alive! When it's large enough, branches
are cut off, and used for new posts...which grow, and the
cycle repeats.
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Our tourguide
gets some spices from this tree, next to a sugar cane field.
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We got a
chance to visit a local school and see the kids in their class
rooms. This school had two rooms. Kids only go to school for
about 4 hours each day, so that there is enough room for all
the kids to attend.
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We got to
watch the school kids do some lessons, and they sang some
songs for us.
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We also visited
this small far, where they grow chickens, coffee and cacao
(which is used to make chocolate).
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Cooking is
done in a sperate room, downwind. Notice all the black soot,...and
that is the reason. The stoves are these clay/brick structures.
Pots and such are put over the stoves.
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Inside the
house...this is actually a house of faily well off dominicians.
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The lady
cooking here filled this net with coffee grounds she just
ground, from the trees behind her. She poured hot water into
the top and then handed me the cup.
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I sample
some freshly roasted, freshly ground, freshly brewed coffee...grown
100 feet away. It was strong...but pretty good!
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We enjoy
Rum and Coffee before heading on with the tour.
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School kids
done with their 4 hours a day, heading home to probably work.
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A typical
house. The wall boards are actually made from planks shaved
off of palm trees...Royal Palms specifically. Notice the kitty
cat by the front door.
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Hiking from
the buses to the secluded beach. We drove a half hour thru
sugar cane fields to get here. We had a huge beach all to
ourselves. For some reason, most Dominicans are not thrilled
to go spend a day on the beach. I guess it's not a special
unqiue thing for them...
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Looking north
towards Puerta Plata
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Some people
walked along the beach, some surfed with the free boards the
tour company offered...some did both! (like me!)
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One of the
other tourists took my photo here before surfing....
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