This was a very popular page in the "old" Mikesjournal. After starting over I scattered some of my favorite pictures throughout the journal. Some kind readers asked me to publish the full version that contains all of the images published after the trip. here they are - enjoy! Although the page should load fairly quickly there is a lot of data so please be patient. Depending on your browser you may not be able to access the individual images until all of the approximately 200 thumbnails load.
Hope you enjoyed this photo journal
Photo Journal of Michael Campbell: A new picture every day (almost)
Mikesjournal
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Carnival Vegano - Dominican Republic Carnival 2004
Thursday, February
19, 2004: Miami Airport. I am writing in the departure
lounge awaiting the last leg of our trip to the Dominican Republic. We had seven
hours in Miami so we rented a car and took a trip down to South Beach.
We
had a good lunch
and
did a little site seeing.
The trip down from Toronto was good.
The
sunrise over the clouds was beautiful.
Mari
was not able to confirm our reservations in Puerto Plata but we have a very good
connection with the owner of a reliable travel agency Ali Tours
.
In 2002 when we went to the DR for Christmas we called ahead and they got us a
very reasonable booking at the Coral Canoa in La Romana. The agency is very
helpful, IATA certified and can do the reservation with a VISA card.
Most of the trip will be in the countryside but we need to enjoy a couple of
days in a luxury resort to shave and shower. I was sure happy the plane did not
fall out of the sky.
I
am not nervous any more.
Thursday, February
19, 2004: We are settling in at La Vega.
No
internet yet. That’s OK. Not much call for it in this particular
neighborhood.
The
architecture
here
is interesting.
I
need a good nights sleep.
The
volume of noise in the street is still high.
I
met a number of nice people I met last year. Was glad to see they all seem happy
and healthy.
Friday, February 20,
2004: It is raining. I packed an umbrella to prevent this but at the last
minute left it at home because of weight considerations. It confirms to me God’s
whacky sense of humor. If I had brought the thing it would have been sunny for
sure. I rested well last night listening to the world and getting impressions of
the place. There was no light or water. Some time in the night it started to
rain and I listened to it hitting the tin roof.
Eventually
I lost consciousness. The bed is very soft. Too soft I guess. It has one of
those very springy mattresses that sags in the middle. If you dropped a bowling
ball on that one it would go right through to the floor but in the meantime any
unlucky sleepers would be bounced off the bed like ten pins at a bowling for
dollars tournament. I did not mind because Marisol and I are on a second
honeymoon. In compliance with the law of gravity we both rolled down our
respective sides of the bed and ended up somewhere near the middle, skin on skin
which was good. The night was cool and thus we kept each other warm. In the
morning I visited a supermarket and purchased liter of orange juice, a dozen
eggs, stick of butter, 250 grams of coffee for the equivalent of about $4 CDN.
Our friend the painter Rafael Hernandez
dropped
by early to bring me a copy of his new book; Visual Art in La Vega
which was published in 2003. He confirmed he would be taking me where
preparations are ongoing for the Carnival this Sunday. I hope to get good
pictures.
We spent the afternoon
visiting various workshops of a few of the many La Vega carnival mask creators.
Carlos,
Antonio
( “Tono”),
Leonardo
(“Chino”)
and
Melvin.
These
traditional masks depicting the devil are first created in paper Mache
then they are painted and decorated.
Each is truly a work of art.
It
is obvious that these men are wonderful artists. Mr. Carlos work has been
exhibited in museums here in the Dominican Republic
and also in New York, Venezuela and Cuba.
I
felt honored to be able to film the work in progress.
After
Carnival the masks are offered for sale. Some of the masks are created from
molds and can be produced in quantity although each of course is hand painted
and painstakingly crafted as an individual creation. The prices suggested seem
ridiculously low for work of such fine quality. I have taken down the telephone
numbers and would be pleased to pass on the telephone numbers of the artists if
anyone is interested in picking up one or more of these pieces. Sadly none of
the artists we visited today has internet access. They do have telephones
however and I would be most happy to pass on information as to how to contact
them is any are interested.
Saturday, February
21, 2004: AM its raining again.
(Note
to self: next time pack an umbrella) Last night we went to a restaurant where we
were thoroughly entertained by two great talents,
Blanca
Iris Villafañe
and
Camboy Estevez.
The
room was filled to overflowing. Before the concert it was noisy and people were
arguing over who stole their seat. We drank a lot of rum as the music did not
start until after midnight. Villafañe started the show. She gave the
appreciative crowd what they wanted which was a rendition of her greatest hits
accompanied by the music tracks karaoke style. It turned into a love-in
sing-along. At the end of each song the room returned to the artist thunderous
applause. The style is very reminiscent of the number by Mary Hopkin “Those were
the days” which was a big hit sometime in the late 60’s I think. Bitter sweet
recollections of love and losing love living through the war kind of stuff. I
found myself quite moved. After the show I had a chance to meet Ms Villafañe and
thanked her.
I
added the greatest hits CD: Yo Soy Blanca Iris Villafañe to my collection. The
second artist Camboy Estevez I already knew and in fact today we had been
playing his greatest hits which I have on the iPod in anticipation of the show.
Once again the artist gave the room what they wanted and we had another
sing-along with wild cheering after each song. After the show the artist
graciously posed for photos with Marisol and her sister Kenia.
The
greatest surprise for me in the show was the room’s demographic. These artists
have been around for a long while. I was expecting a sedate older crowd but I
was pleasantly surprised to see the mix. It appears that Ms. Villafañe has a
huge fan base of younger stylish independent women who obviously adore her. And
so it is with immortal tunes they live forever and the memories are forever
young.
After the show we tested
our luck with an early morning roadside chimi-churi
which
is a kind of hamburger with chopped meat fried and topped with many things. This
morning I feel fine so I suppose our luck is holding up!
Sunday, February 21,
2004: My feet are sore. We walked a lot today and after the rain this
morning the heat in the countryside was very strong. We drove to a place called
Villa Tapia
to
meet with a promising young artist there, Quiban Castillo. We were in time for a
political rally.
There
are presidential elections coming this May. Quiban was not expecting us and most
of his work is lent out to decorate the homes of his neighbors. The painter’s
time at this moment is painting political signs and studying medicine at the
university. We did get a chance to shoot a few pictures of some of his work.
The
art is not as accessible as the common themes many of the local artists knock
off to sell to tourists at the beach.
His collages
and
abstract art
reveal
an insightful and emerging mature talent that is indeed promising. The roads
were bad and the ride was long. Amazing that half a road could have been washed
down a cliff and left that way for months without so much as a warning sign.
It
is hoped that whoever takes over after the may elections will pay more attention
to traffic safety. We visited a great aunt of Marisol then delivered a package
from our friend engineer Tavares to his Mother’s house in Las Uvas.
I was hoping to visit the children
I
met last year and walked several miles to their farm but they were not home.
In
the afternoon I took a little siesta then we went to the children’s carnival.
This
is a warm up to the main event tomorrow. It gets the children involved.
I
was hit several times with a hitting ball which is legal at this time of the
year.
Mostly
it was in playful fun but some of the little devils hit hard. The lights came on
again so in a minute I will take a shower. The have a dangerous looking
apparatus that connects to the electricity and fits onto the shower head.
The
water passes over a slightly corroded heater element. It seems dangerous but at
least the water is warm. No ground fault protectors in this house. Later if I
don’t get electrocuted in the shower we will go to a free outdoor concert
staring Kinito Mendez and Ruby Perez.
Monday, February 22,
2004: Last night we got together with several friends and went to the big
outdoor meringue concert starring
Kinito
Mendez
and
Rubby Perez.
It
was great.
The
artists played for free but the event was obviously well sponsored by Presidente
cervesa,
Pepsi
Cola, and other big companies.
Beer
was for sale but not in a little beer tent like in Canada. You just buy it, they
wrap a little paper towel around it and you drink it as you please. I got up
close to the stage and took several pictures with the little Pentax. In addition
to the beer some of us brought “beepers” which are little bottles of rum that
fit well in your pocket. These are passed around as joints might be in Canada.
(no smell of marijuana here). I got fairly drunk. I finished my beeper and
started chugging down beer. A little later someone passed me their beeper and I
took a big gulp like it was beer. Ouch it went down the wrong way and I nearly
lost my lunch.
Well
today is Sunday and this marks the day of the second biggest Carnival. The
celebration is carried out over two Sundays however and I believe the crowning
of the king of Carnival will be next weekend.
Sunday, February 22,
2004: Wow. Now THAT was amazing. La Vega is full for
Carnival. More
than a hundred big busses I am told. More
than 500,000 people crowded into the little streets. Sometimes
it is so tight you can hardly breathe and when each group leaves their
respective cave
and
comes charging into the masses swinging
their vejigas
the
crowd naturally falls back and begins to push.
It
can become somewhat frightening but it is exciting as well.
A
little like running with the bulls in Pamplona perhaps.
People came from all over the country and tourists from all over the world as
well.
I
even caught a glimpse of Osama Bin Ladin
(on holiday no doubt).
It is hard to express in
words the fantastic feeling of being in the middle of the street facing a dozen
or so devils coming at you.
Big
teeth, menacing eyes and wonderful wonderful colors. The treated me nice though
I was hit a few times but gently. They are allowed to whack you on the bum with
their vejiga which is a ball on a nylon rope.
Some
hit very hard but most of the vejigas are soft and more like balloons. The
visual impact combined with the noise and everything produces a kind of sensory
overload.
It
literally took my breath away.
I got separated from my people very early and wandered on my own taking many
pictures and trying to find Marisol who had the Pentax. I circled around a back
street and came back in through a barricade into a kind of mass dance
like
that in the third Matrix. I was able to make my way about twenty feet before the
crush of humanity permitted no further progress. Turning around the way I came
the way was blocked as well.
There
was no panic but I could see that this was a potentially dangerous situation. We
were literally compressed to the max. People started putting their hands in the
air to get enough room to breathe.
Electronic
dance music pounded at high volume and the crowd was as one.
I
could see this modern dance was really much more primitive. This was something
well before my time and the time of my fathers. I was in the time of hunter
gatherers. I let the music and the sweat and carry me along for awhile and
although I felt I could have stayed there entranced by the muse for hours I
needed the second camera so I ended up crawling down between some legs to a side
viewing stand
where I was eventually able to crawl under the bracing to the street wet with
sweat, out of breath but none the worse for wear, in fact absolutely electric
with life.
The carnival celebration
comes before lent and I understand has its origins in Europe as a pagan
celebration marking the return of spring and the growing season.
Later
it was adopted by the Christian church to mark the symbolic conflict between the
Moors
and
Christians.
Later the church banned the celebrations and it came back as a kind of big party
before the next forty days of fasting and good behavior before Easter. Now it
is a great celebration moving away from its religious and pagan roots to take on
a life of its own. It is certainly a fabulous demonstration of the wonderful
artistic talent in this town. This is certainly turning out to be a wonderful
experience.
I
cannot recommend it enough. You have to take the usual precautions in crowds of
course. Marisol wisely made me leave my wallet at home. I took a few hundred
pesos in case I needed a drink. A can of most excellent Presidente beer was
selling for 30 pesos
which
is quite a bit less than a dollar Canadian. I bought one so I had about 170
pesos (perhaps a little over $3.00 Canadian) in my pocket. You can drink beer
freely on the street. Before the day was out while being squashed by the mass of
people I barely felt the flash of a hand in my pocket and just like that the
remaining pesos were gone. An important lesson costing only three dollars
Canadian was a lesson well learned. Either stay away from crowds (impossible in
this situation) or leave your valuables safely stowed at home.
Tuesday, February 24,
2004: Yesterday we visited the ruins of La Vega Vieja.
This
is the site of one of the earliest Spanish settlements in America.
Here is a plaque from over 100 years ago commemorating the 4th centenary of
Columbus visit here.
The
site was apparently destroyed by an earthquake
and
all that now remains are the foundations
and
a few artifacts.
A
short drive up the mountain are located also the remains of a monastery and
cemetery.
A very friendly guide was happy to show us many things we would have undoubtedly
missed on our own.
There
are records of the Carnival celebrations happening around here in the year 1510.
We were able to remove some protective coverings to see the skeletons of the
people buried there. He showed us how to tell the difference between the Spanish
and
Taino.
The
Spanish were buried separately and erect
while
the Taino people believed in reincarnation were buried in the fetal position as
a preparation for birth in the afterlife. He showed us the grave of a wealthy or
important person and explained how his prettiest wife (they were not monogamous)
and child were buried alive with him.
We
saw the way the priest could tell the time with a sundial on the wall.
Above
the cemetery a short drive away is the monastery Santo Cero. Located on the top
of a small mountain this picturesque church
offers
a breathtaking view of the surrounding territory. It is no wonder they believe
that from this spot Christopher Columbus said this land is the most beautiful
place in the world. In the church there is a spot where it is said Columbus
erected a wooden cross that later sprouted and became a tree the descendant of
which still grows today outside the church. There is a curious intermingling of
Christian and earlier religions in the Caribbean countries. The church’s saint
is the virgin Mercedes
who has been known to grant favors to the faithful. The alter of this Catholic
Church features this saint rather than Christ on the cross.
Jesus
is there but off to one side. While we were exploring the ruins I noted with
interest that apparently the spraying of chemtrails goes on even here.
I
saw at least four in a cross thatch pattern, fairly low in relation to where we
were because of our high elevation.
(The
highest mountain in the Caribbean is located in the Dominican Republic) I could
tell that what we were looking at was chemtrails because they did not dissipate
like ordinary contrails. Later the vapor spread out cirris like and it got
really hot – hot like greenhouse hot or summertime in the car with windows shut
hot.
About
six hours later out of the blue it rained heavily. Not a clean tropical rain I
thought but a cold greasy rain. In the morning the cough I left behind in Canada
returned and I got diarrhea. Just coincidence no doubt. Just my imagination
playing tricks no doubt. No such thing no doubt. Move along; move along nothing
to see here. Tomorrow is another day and we will rest in a luxury resort in
Playa Dorada.
Tuesday, February 24,
2004: Well here we are at the Gran Ventana Beach Resort.
My
Salute goes out to the travel agency. The check-in went without problem and we
will be very comfortable here for the next few days.
There
is excellent internet service but no point in updating the site at the moment.
A
little bird tells me
the 7 million or so visitors to the site so far this month are a mistake,
probably the result of me dissing the king of spammers so I have been attacked
by loads of spam and I feel my server is being used for ulterior motives. Let
the damn thing crash. I am on vacation. When I get back to Toronto I will go
through the administration option and carefully analyze the site, change the
password and delete any unusual files. Meanwhile I am enjoying this place.
The
crowd is somewhat older than the Coral Canoa people last year. There are also a
scattering of young vacationers, many with children
but at the moment a lot of guests are older and heavier than I am accustomed to.
There are quite a few here from Europe as well as the usual Canadian people. The
accommodations are great. When you get into the higher price ranges about the
only thing management can do is increase the size. We could open a discothèque
in our room.
I’ve rented rooms on the road smaller than the bathroom they have given us but
that’s OK. You know when all is said and done just close your eyes and
everything is about the same. Size is not important for everything! Anyway the
pools
are
great. The food is great.
Plenty of it all included in the price. Cafeteria buffet with everything you
could ask for plus three gourmet restaurants for picky eaters in long pants.
Plenty
of booze. Great beach.
Free
scuba diving lessons and wind surfing. Tennis, golf close by. Amber. Cinema with
three films. Wheelchair access. At night they put on an entertaining dance show
well choreographed by Mr. Ruben Santos, trained in Santiago with knowledge of
classical ballet, modern dance, Latin and African rhythms. Quick colorful
costume changes to please the guests.
Sort
of like a good cruise. I bet we sleep well tonight. Mike, enjoy yourself you
need the rest. I’ve been running on fumes for the last six months, burnt out and
tired. I needed the rest. La Vega is nice but where we were staying you can
forget about sleep. After the dance show around midnight we took a stroll down
to the beach.
The air was wonderfully clear and we could see a million stars. I reminded
Marisol of the First Star
Wish Poem. We worked on it together until she got it right, picked a likely
star to wish upon and made our little wishes.
Wednesday February
25, 2004: Today we walked for miles along the beach. I took pictures of
some driftwood.
I
bought a piece of amber for Eric. I’ve been taking the Pentax Optio S4
everywhere with me. Its obvious attribute is the compact size. The camera shines
when it comes to close ups. The battery life is great. The extreme macro setting
makes focusing closely a breeze. Here are some lovely tropical flowers taken in
close up mode.
.
Thursday, February
26, 2004: It is a travel day. We took the comfortable Caribe Tours bus from
Playa Dorada back to La Vega.
I
had a bad night with diarrhea and some nausea. The room's A/C was cranked to the
max and in the night I felt a chill to the point that I thought perhaps I had a
fever. It was only the air conditioning I think. No blood in the diarrhea but a
lot of cramping and I feel weak. Today I avoid alcohol, cola and meat. I spent
most of the afternoon comfortably relaxing in bed. We retired early.
Friday, February 27,
2004: Last night Marisol put on a very noisy fan. I told her it was too
loud but she reminded me the white noise would shield us from the street noise.
She was right. I got about the best night's sleep of the vacation. I feel a lot
better. Today is the National Independence day Holiday in the Dominican
Republic.
In
the morning there was a big celebration in the central square with assorted
dignitaries including the governor of this region, the mayor and many others.
I
took a bunch of photos not really knowing who I was catching here. You can
usually tell the politicians as they are the ones wearing smiles, jackets and
ties in the searing sun. I hung out with the band for awhile while this was
going on.
From
what I could understand from the speeches they were telling the people of La
Vega they had a lot to be proud about. They are right.
Later there was a huge parade of school children from
so many schools.
In
any country the strength and future is with the children so in this place it
looks like there is a lot of reason for hope.
I saw so many lovely smiling faces.
We
stayed until the end taking pictures. After lunch the Carnival Vegano started up
again. This time it was more to show off the wonderful costumes. We stayed near
the television spot where everyone paraded three or four times until the light
was lost and everyone went home. Many of the groups paraded without masks
so
we could see the happy people
responsible
for the fine show.
As
you can easily tell from these photos (there is sadly only space for a small
portion, I took more than 600 this afternoon alone) a splendid time was had by
everyone.
The little Pentax was a hit. I passed it out to Papito, Marisol's brother. He
passed it on to his young son Jonothan who took many photos. Either beginners
luck or this is a splendid photo machine because they mostly turned out great.
I was about ready to
crash early but you do not sleep in La Vega so after a refreshing bowl of light
chicken soup which returned needed salt and water and additional nutrients
without the challenge of food nine of us packed into a little mini-van and made
our way to the Olympic stadium for another free concert. This one by the
merengue flavor of the month Los Illegales. The place was packed when we got
there.
Marisol
had a bad feeling about jumping right into the mass and pushing our way to the
stage. It was too crowded, too hot. the participants were younger, somewhat more
volatile and had been drinking all day because of the national holiday were some
of her reasons. Besides that we were awfully tired as well. We managed to find a
spot outside the actual park but off to one side
with
a pretty good view of the side of the stage. I took a number of pictures with
the Pentax on "night mode" with max telephoto. The color balance and exposure
came out well I think.
I
had no tri-pod and forgot the mono-pod at home so I snapped off a few shots with
the camera balanced on a wall. I also had our friend Chia stand still with the
camera braced on top of her head. As it turned out the concert had some of the
same elements of the free concerts of the 60's. The main group arrived late,
took an inordinate time to set up their equipment. From our vantage there was
sound problems throughout but we were not in the best position to judge. At
least one fight broke out and the party started to thin out after that. We went
home before the show finished. From what I could tell the people up near the
center and close to the stage seemed to be enjoying themselves a lot.
Saturday, February
28, 2004: Today we took a short drive up into the mountains
to
a place called Jimonea. This is a waterfall near Jarabacoa. The air is fresh and
cool there. There are many pine trees and some people build county homes there
to escape the heat. We took the short walk
across
a number of the swinging suspension bridges leading up to the waterfall.
The
hydroelectric plant is being refurbished
so the water is not being diverted to create electricity. They could sure use
electricity in this country. Daily rolling black outs are the norm. Without
power to run the pumps there is often no tap water either. There is plenty of
water here however.
A
few years ago where we once could swim the current is too strong and swimming is
now prohibited.
I took this next picture several years ago.
It shows how much water was being diverted to collect energy. At the centre for
reforestation we picked up several pine trees
to replant at the homes of friends and family in the city.
Sunday February 29,
2004: It is another travel day. We spend the last day in la Vega enjoying
the national carnival parade. This is the end of carnival and participants from
most of the 32 provinces
come
to La Vega to parade down the streets.
The
regional participants dress differently
according
to their
individual
customs.
It
was great to see the different people
with
their individual expressions of creativity.
After
dark we packed our suitcases into our friend's truck and he drove us to Santo
Domingo. In the morning we fly to New York. We were supposed to do a 8 hour stop
over to enjoy lunch and take a look at Manhattan but both of us were very tired
and decided to catch an earlier flight home. The American Airlines clerk at La
Guardia was most helpful and bumped us to an earlier flight which shaved about 5
hours off the trip back. That way we got to fly over Shea Stadium, once the home
of the world famous Beatles, so I could take this shot out the plane
window.
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