We visited the Dominican Republic during February, 2002. A couple of days in Santo Domingo provided opportunity to visit the Branch Office of Jehovah's Witnesses and do some sightseeing and shopping. We also spent time on the beautiful beaches and did some whale watching. Enjoy our photographs!
(click for some great merengue midis)
We rode the metro (bus) from Puerto Plata to Santo Domingo. When we arrived, in our limited Spanish we asked a taxi driver to take us to "Testigos de Jehova" and he knew exactly where to take us. We enjoyed a 1.5 hour tour of the Branch facility of Jehovah's Witnesses and the adjacent open-air assembly hall which seats 3,000. The ground was originally covered with coral which you see being used as landscaping material. Soil was trucked in to accomplish the beautiful finished landscape.
Our hotel in Santo Domingo was in the center of the old colonial city where Christopher Columbus lived in the 1500's. Pictured at right from top to bottom are the first Catholic church in North America, the fort of Santo Domingo and Alcazar (former home of Christopher Columbus). Many of Jehovah's Witnesses were incarcerated in the Dominican Republic during Trujillo's dictatorship. Sadly, some were executed. We saw photos at the Branch of various brothers and sisters who were imprisoned there.
From the top of the fort in Puerto Plata, we had a good view of that city of 150,000 and its port. There are about 30 congregations of Jehovah's Witnesses in that area, with four using each Kingdom Hall. Pictured below is one of them. Whenever we asked anyone about Testigos de Jehova, the reply was always "there are a lot of them here". They were also eager to tell us there was a "big church" in Santo Domingo - meaning the Branch/Assembly Hall complex.
In Puerto Plata, we toured a rum factory, a jewelry factory where the larimar (found only in the Dominican Republic) stones are set and the Amber Museum. We also lounged on the beautiful beach at Sosua (photo right).
We took a day-trip to Samana Bay to do some whale watching and enjoy the beach of Cayo Levantado.
From sunrise (left) to sunset (right), we had a wonderful time in the beautiful Republica Dominicana!!