Thanks to a generous wedding gift from Charles' father David Scrase and his wife Pam Stanley, Roxie and Charles spent the first week of May, 2005 honeymooning in the Dominican Republic at the Viva Wyndham Dominicus Palace Resort.  The honeymoon took place nearly six weeks after the actual wedding, but was a welcome respite from the hard work of putting together the wedding and working on Roxie's immigration papers (a whole story in and of itself).  La Republica Dominicana is a unique and vibrant island nation with a colorful culture that seems to be a blend of Caribbean and Latin American cultures.  Although we had to travel several hundred miles north for our honeymoon, we had an incredible time in tropical paradise.
 

La Republica Dominicana

Otherwise known as the Dominican Republic, this nation shares the island of Hispanolia with neighbor Haiti.  Considered part of the "Greater Antilles," La Republica Dominicana is a Caribbean country, and was one of the first discoveries of Christopher Columbus.  In fact, Columbus' son, Diego, became the ruler of the Dominican Republic in its early years.  The Columbus name is still quite revered in this country.  We enjoyed our visit to the "DR" so much that we would like to return one day.  For more information on La Republica Dominicana, check out some of these links:

www.lonelyplanet.com/destinations/caribbean/dominican_republic

www.dominicanrepublic.com

www.debbiesdominicantravel.com

The Resort

The Viva Wyndham Dominicus Palace Resort is an all-inclusive beach resort located in Bayahibe, on the southeastern side of the Dominican Republic near La Romana.  Admittedly a little unsure about what to expect from an all-inclusive resort, we were pleasantly surprised by the quality of the resort, from the rooms to the food to the entertainment.  Although it carries the Wyndham name, the resort is Italian-owned, and the majority of the guests were Italians.  French and Germans comprised the remaining two majority groups of tourists, while there were a few Dominicans and a handful of Americans and Canadians.  Needless to say, Roxie was the one and only Vincentian!  While we did feel a bit out of place at first, given our inability to communicate in either Italian, French or German, we soon began to make friends and have a great time, thanks to the Animation Team (more on them later).  Although we did leave the resort twice for excursions, we felt entirely satisfied lounging our days away by the pool or on the beach, taking Meringue lessons from the Animation Team or participating in any of the activities planned for guests.

One of the best things about the resort was the food.  There was a full buffet breakfast and lunch every day at one of the two massive restaurants.  Because the property includes two hotels (Dominicus Beach and Dominicus Palace), we got to choose between the either restaurant and all the facilities at either hotel.  In addition, there was an Italian style pizzeria that was open from 12pm to 7am every day, and the pool bars served hot dogs, sandwiches and hamburgers from 12pm on.  However, the very best of all were the four sit down restaurants.  Each restaurant had a theme and type of cuisine, almost as though we were at Epcot Center.  There was an Italian, Asian, Mexican and Grill restaurant.  In order to eat at these places we had to make reservations before 10am, but that wasn't too difficult, and the food was remarkably good.

For more information on this resort, check out www.vivaresorts.com/property_vdp.html
 

¡Animacion!

One thing that made our trip so enjoyable was the incredible job of the Animation Team.  The Animation Team was a group of about two dozen twenty-somethings, mostly Dominican, whose job it was to entertain the guests.  Although the language barrier was a bit difficult at first, we soon got to know many of the Animation Team members.  They would lead all types of recreational activities, whether it was yoga in the morning, water aerobics, Meringue or Salsa lessons by the pool, water polo, beach soccer, egg tossing, relay racing...the list goes on and on.  Not only did they entertain during the day, but every night they put on a 45 minute dance show at the main theatre of the hotel, where hundreds of guests would come to watch.  The dancing talent was incredible, and we often felt as though we were watching a live production of West Side Story, Grease or the like, with the exception of live singing.  After the show, the team would throw a theme party on the beach every night.  One night there was a Pirate party, the next a Mexican fiesta, and on and on.  When it started getting late, the Animation Team would take all the late nighters over to the Disco on site.  Each of the team members wore shirts that read "We are the sun," and their enthusiasm, friendliness and desire to make sure that everybody had a good time made for a fun week.
 

Santo Domingo

After a few days of just lounging around the hotel, we got the urge to get out, so we took an excursion to the capital city of Santo Domingo.  Our tour group was 90% french speaking, and our tour guide named Wellington spoke in both English and French.  The bus ride to town took nearly two hours.  We visited the national aquarium, the 15 million dollar monument to Christopher Columbus (where supposedly his remains are buried), the home of Diego Columbus, old town Santo Domingo, a local restaurant and the Mercado.  The city of Santo Domingo bore some striking resemblances to a city in Spain, a very old world feel. 
 

Parque de Este y La Isla Soana

On the last day that we were in the Dominican Republic, we decided to take a tour on the "funny boats" to the national park of the east, and Soana Island.  We had a blast.  We got to drive our own little two person speedboat with a 30hp engine and follow our tour guide.  Only four people signed up, which meant we had a small group.  We drove for more than an hour down the coast of DR until we reached a mangrove forest.  We drove across to Soana Island, and then back to the shores of DR, where we took a break and admired the starfish.  The natural beauty of the Dominican Republic, with its turquoise waters and beautiful beaches is often lost on us, as we live in the Grenadines, but this trip was a spectacular view of why Columbus called the Dominican Republic "the most beautiful land on earth."