After having quite some weekends around the EU, I decided to take a proper vacation, and go to the Dominican Republic.

Pics are below....

Outside the hotel / resort. I went on a day trip the second day I was there, and it was great. This trip is called "Island explorer by bus" and I recommend it to anyone

A view at eternal spring

Snake charmer

SeXXXey....

Inside the house of one of the locals. It was his (her) plantation that we visited

A Gecco

Our guide for the day. Her name is Mama Gina (?) originally from Belgium, but lives in the DomRep for the last 14 years. She never ever stops talking, the info she gave us that day was priceless.

Cocoa beans dried out

Freshly cut cocoa bean. It's a bit sour when you taste it

Various fruits for consuming. this trip also included pretty much unlimited amount of Rum, which is pretty much the DomRep national drink. Their national sport is called Tacca-Tacca-Boom-Boom, played around the clock pretty much anywhere. The rest of the world knows this sport by the name sex

Kids

Inside the tobacco museum

She knows how to use her head!

Spices at the market

A head of a cow (bull). They eat a LOT of meat.

Red-blue crabs by the river that I forgot what's it called.

Crazy

Sketch for a family

They only have their licence plates on one side of the car. I forgot if it's front or rear.

Taino Indians (I'm the one in the middle!)

Baby coconut

At the local school

At the local prison!

One of the highlight of the trip was a woodoo show performed for us by local Haitians living in the DomRep. I could take photos, but recorded this on my camcorder instead. If I ever learn some basic movie editing, I might post some of that material here.

Next day, I went to Santo Domingo, the capial of DomRep. This is a capture of the moon and a rainbow

The highest cathedral there, made in the 1960-ies by some Swiss architect

Photos don't do this place justice. It's the "Three Eyes" cave, outside Santo Domingo

Local wildlife - an Iguana

Pretty large parrot

Monument to mark 500 years since Columbus first discovered the New World (the island of Hispaniola, today shared by DomRep and Haiti was the first land he saw in months). In the front and to the right, you can see the Papa-mobil, the official vehicle Pope John Paul II used during his visit in 1992.

Colombus' palace and monument

All in white!

Guards at some goverment building

The place they claim Columbus was burried. The same claim have Spain and Cuba

Three most important persons in their history, but I forgot their names and what they did

Guards again

Locals

The Presidental palace

China Town

Barcelo Rum factory

Carribean Sea

Some more locals

At the resort

I'm so proud of taking this pic at exactly the right moment

My air-conditioned peace of heaven for seven nights...