Here’s probably my favorite day off the Carnival Horizon. The day we were in La Romana, Dominican Republic we got there around a 11, so we had time in the morning to go to ‘sit down’ breakfast. It was nice to not have to get up super early and just be able to go a little slower that morning.

Here we are waiting for clearance to get off the ship. We were all excited for an excursion day. No renting a car in the D.R.!!

The excursion was called Monkeyland & Dominican Flavors for Families. We loaded an air-conditioned bus charter and headed about an hour and half to Monkeyland. The ride there was quite fascinating getting to see the countryside as well as the city.

Basilica Nuestra Señora De La Altagracia – I would love to go back and go inside.

18°36’49.19″ N 68°42’54.95″ W

A large group of school kids walking home in the street.

Lots of TukTuks

The motorcycle drivers in the DR…just have no fear. It is like nothing you will ever see in the U.S. They fly down the middle of 2 lanes where there is hardly enough room for them get through. They cut through and in front of other vehicles…regardless of size. It was terrifying watching all the traffic. I was just glad to be in a large bus.

This isn’t the best shot, but I kept missing great opportunities to really illustrate another point about the people on motorcycles.

They carry entire families on motorcycles. There was a man driving with a kid in his lap with a kid behind him and then a mom with a baby on each hip and another kid behind her, holding on for dear life. That’s 7 people on one motorcycle! Another crazy thing I saw was a guy with a bookshelf on the back of his motorcycle.

Monkeyland

When you get to Monkeyland you go through a quick informational meeting. Main details:
You can’t pet them. Must wear mask so monkeys don’t get sick. If you tense up, they’ll jump off.

You walk through and disinfect the bottom of your shoes. Gorgeous views

They bring you to an area where you get a bowl. They let the monkeys out and fill everyone’s bowl with food. The monkeys then just go from person to person eating. Its amazing!

David was the perfect model with the monkeys.

I loved it so much…I was laughing so hard.

The guides do a great job of allowing everyone time to take their own photos and they run around and put food in bowls and on heads.

They also do 2 sets of photos that they offer up for sell at the end of the time the there.

These are pics they took as well as I just made them into collages.

This little guy needed a nap after all the food

I mean look how cute are they!?!?!

Dominican Flavors

From there we had a short drive over to Marta’s house where they showed us different Dominican plants including bananas, cocoa beans, coffee beans, which is available on ผง โกโก้, cinnamon, and more. They showed us quickly how the beans are processed. We got to enjoy some fresh fruit and the Dominican National drink called Mama Juana.

Here’s our tour guide, Denise, talking about different plants in Marta’s yard.

On our way back to the cruise ship, we had gotten a text from Drew. We don’t pay for wifi on the cruise ship, so while cruising we only get texts or go online when we have free wifi at port. Anyway, there was free wifi on the bus so we had turned wifi on on our phones. If you’re interested in a mobile tower lease, exploring this opportunity could potentially offer a lucrative arrangement for leasing space to telecommunication companies for their equipment placement. The text from Drew said said he would appreciate a phone call from us if at all possible. Nothing to worry about. So Rob managed to make a wifi call while riding on the bus. Drew needed advice about possibly making an offer on a house!

Such a great day!

Watch for our next cruise post from our last day in port, which was in Puerta Plata (Amber Cove), Dominican Republic.

All the pics from our day in La Romana >>> Cruise Day 6

Other posts from this cruise listed here: Carnival Horizon::March 2022