Caribbean Cruise: Dominican Republic (2.8.25)

The first port on our Caribbean cruise was Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic, where we stopped on February 8, 2025.  Bright pinks, yellows, blues, and greens adorn Caribbean cities and countryside.  One of the most photographed sights in Puerto Plata, the second largest city in the Dominican Republic, is the pink street honoring Dona Blanca, a booster and developer of Puerto Plata who died of breast cancer.
 

Puerto Plata is full of old colonial buildings and many, many scooters.  As we learned in Africa, a scooter is a sign of entry into the middle class in developing countries.

Another charming sight in the city is Calle de las Sombrillas, where more than 170 rainbow-hued umbrellas cover an alley in the shopping district.

We stopped at a chocolate and coffee shop on Umbrella Street, where we learned about how those primary exports of the Dominican Republic are grown and processed.

I was served some of the best hot chocolate I have ever tasted.

We also stopped at the main square of Puerto Plata, decorated for the Dominican Republic's Independence Day.

We finished the day at Monkeyland, where troops of small monkeys roamed within a huge enclosure.  Their keeper spread food among tour guests, seated in a circle, and the monkeys clambered around and over the guests.