Dominican Republic All-Inclusive
Weddings and Honeymoons

ALL-INCLUSIVE DOMINICAN REPUBLIC HONEYMOON AND WEDDING VACATIONS

The Dominican Republic, occupies the eastern two-thirds of Hispaniola, has some spectacularly beautiful scenery. The country is mountainous and has the highest peak in the Caribbean, Pico Duarte (3,175 m). It has many more forests than its neighbour, Haiti, and is green and fertile. Within a system of widespread food production are large sugar and fruit plantations and cattle ranches. The Republic has built up its tourist trade, and has much to offer in the way of natural beauty, old colonial architecture, attractive beaches, adventure sports, modern resorts and native friendliness. Public transport is good and it is easy and rewarding to explore by bus or hired car. Its population is mostly a mixture of black, white and mulatto, and is Spanish-speaking. The Dominicans are a mixture of African black and white, with a strong European strain. Although Dominicans often call themselves Indians, the Taínos were in fact wiped out within a few generations of the arrival of the Spanish. These English terms should, however, be qualified: 'blanco' (white) refers to anybody who is white, light-skinned mulatto, or substantially white with either or both Indian (appearance) or African admixture; 'indio claro' (tan) is anyone who is white/black mixed; 'indio oscuro' (dark Indian) is anyone who is not 100% black (ie with some white admixture); 'negro' is 100% African. Negro is not a derogatory term. There is a certain aspiration towards the Indian; this can be seen not only in the use of the original name for the island, Quisqueya (and Quisqueyanos), but in place names (San Pedro de Macorís, from the Macorix tribe, the other Indian inhabitants being the Taino and the Ciguayo) and in given family names (Guainorex, Anacaona, etc). Unlike in Haiti, the Dominicans' culture and language are hispanic and their religion Roman Catholic. Economically, the country is much more developed, despite a stormy political past and unsavoury periods of dictatorship, particularly under Generalísimo Trujillo (1930-61). Nevertheless, in a material sense the country prospered during the Trujillo era and the standard of living is much higher than it is in Haiti. Many people seek a better life elsewhere, however, and Dominicans make up the largest group of Hispanics in New York, while those left behind rely on their relatives' remittances of dollars to make ends meet.