We're back!!! Brace yourselves. This is going to be a long post since we've been away for a while! Our vacation in the Dominican Republic was FANTASTIC! I have absolutely zero complaints about our trip or the resort! Our resort (Paraiso Tropical in Puerto Plata) was amazing. The rooms were very clean and comfortable. The food was good and there was a lot of variety. The staff was amazing, friendly and helpful and the entertainment and activities were great.

I suppose the only complaint I have is having to be back home! When we got to Toronto, it was cold and there was A LOT of snow! Surprisingly, the Island is much milder and has less snow than T.O.!
This is the smaller of the two pools on the resort. Our villa overlooks this pool.
Our villa is on the left of this one. It was a great spot! It was close to the pool and to one of the restaurants and bars, as well as a few steps from the lobby, gift shop and front desk.
This is the lobby of the Paraiso Tropical.
View of the pool and some of the other units at the resort.
This is where we stayed.


Our room for the week. That's Hubby in the reflection in the bathroom mirror. No, he's not "using the facilities"! He's just checking out the bathroom!
Some of the friends we made on our trip.
Una Bahama Mama y una Pina Colada :) Mmmmm!
Hubby wore his "Just Married" sandals on the beach. So sweet :)

Another shot of our room.Can you believe that we've had our digital camera since last June and I've only NOW figured out how to use the "timer" setting???


A few words of advice from our tour guide: A) Never take a siesta under a coconut tree. You may get bonked on the head by a coconut! B) Don't drink toooooo much coconut milk. You may end up getting the Puerto Plata Splatta!!
Hubby taking a dip in the ocean. We didn't do our homework before we left Canada. We didn't realize that on the north end of the Dominican Republic the water is rough. Cabarete is known worldwide for surfing, body boarding, kite boarding, etc. It's not the easiest to swim in, but it's beautiful nonetheless.
Hubby played volleyball almost every day. We also played mini gold and horseshoes. Hubby enjoyed playing volleyball and I joined a friend in the Aquasize class. It's sort of like aerobics in the water.
I'm not sure whether that's a suntan or a sunburn!
Hubby taking a siesta in the lobby.
My attempt at an artsy shot in the lobby. You can see some of the other rooms in the background.
Initially, we were not going to go off the resort and just wanted to relax for the entire time we were in Puerto Plata. Hubby decided that one tour would be good so we could see what things were like outside of the resort. He chose a tour he thought would interest us both. How sweet! We went on a Monster Truck Safari Tour. On this tour, we went to the mountains, a lagoon, a ranchero, Dominican family's home and a school.
Hubby playing pool with the tour guides at the ranchero.
Sugar cane.
Our tour guide, the driver and the bartender accompanied us on the tour. It was open bar even on the Monster Truck!!! I was really surprised!
We drove through Cabarete, Sosua, Puerto Plata and Bella Vista to get to the mountains.
A Dominican home. The kids all run out to greet the trucks. Our guide said that if you give the kids candy or pencils/crayons, make sure to throw them away from the vehicle so the kids don't get run over.
We got to see a lot of flora and fauna native to the Dominican. These are bananas.
This is paprika. If you open the pods, the inside is a rich orange-red colour. We also saw cacao plants, mango trees, pineapple, coffee beans, limes, sour oranges, and many other types of vegetation.
At one of the rancheros.

We had the opportunity to visit a school and see the children while they were in the middle of a lesson. This part was special for me because I am a teacher and am interested to see how the schools and the educational system operate in the Dominican Republic.

At the ranchero, a wonderful buffet lunch awaited us. There was also a river that runs right by the ranchero. We took a swim in the river after lunch.
The musicians were really lively and the music really made everyone want to dance!
There were three monster trucks on the tour.



We bought safari hats on the tour because A) My head was getting hot from being in the sun all day and B) 40% of the money from the merchandise goes to the schools that the Monster Truck Safari Tours sponsor. I wanted to in some way donate some money to the schools and to the kids.

Back at the resort!
This is the other pool. It faces the buffet area/dining room.
We were called "The Honeymooners"! Though we've been married for one year and nine months, this was our "belated honeymoon". It was the first time we were able to really get away.
Some of the loot we brought back for our family.
Getting ready for another night out.
Being serenaded at supper time :)
One of my favourite photos of us.
La Senorita Rita y yo. Just having fun!
What a rough life! ;)
Hubby playing volleyball...again! He was addicted!


The resort had a buffet and three other restaurants (Mexican, Thai and Italian). We tried all of them.
HAHAHA! ;)
Supper at the Mexican restaurant with our friends La Senorita Rita y Paul Newman.
Chili con carne
Burritos, tacos y chimichangas.
Evening entertainment.
Kite boarding is a popular activity in Puerto Plata.

More evening entertainment. This was a water show. They were dancing on a floating stage.

Daily activities were aplenty.
We didn't miss Canada, home, the snow, work or chores, but we did miss our pets! This is why we brought Trouble with us on our trip! Just kidding! There was a cat on the resort that looked exactly like ours! A lovely British lady let me take a photo of the cat taking a snooze by her feet.
Scuba diving lessons in the pool before heading out to the ocean.
Hahaha! Hubby took a photo of me putting on my make-up! Ms.Mamma asked me to post a photo of my tattoo AGES ago but I didn't have any. Here you can see my little sunshine.
This is Cris. She's one of the bartenders at the resort. Before we left the Dominican, I gave her a pair of my dressy sandals and all of my make-up.

A German family we met at the resort. The little guy is my swimming buddy. He kept speaking to me in German while we were racing from one end of the pool to the other! What a cutie!


What a wonderful, wonderful vacation. Hubby and I had a blast and thoroughly enjoyed our time in la Republica Dominicana!