MANGO, MANGO and more MANGOES

Although the Dominican Republic grows over 200 varieties of mangoes, this super delicious tropical fruit has its origin in the dry zones of India and the SE subtropical woods of Asia. This fruit is produced and consumed since 4000 years in tropical and subtropical areas in the world
(Galan 1999).

It is estimated that the fruit arrived in America around the XVII century via Brazil to Barbados and from there to the Dominican Republic. Mango is grown all over the country, but the region of Bani, in the province of Peravia, is the number one producer and has been baptized as the Mango Capital, becoming a touristic attraction, where every year the very much celebrated Mango Fair is held! It is a joyful reunion of mango lovers, producers, investors, exporters and many others who attend this fair every year.

Dominican mangoes are exported to many countries, included United Kingdom and guess what, it came once to our ears, that prince Charles has a preference for our sweet, delicious mangoes!!!

According to the mangoes exportation data, 70% are Keitt type, 15 % Tommy Atkins and the remaining 15% includes all the other varieties! May is said to be the month of the mangoes although we have mangoes growing during the whole year with concentration from April to september! The most popular mango type is the mango “Banilejo”, which apparently has its origin in Bani!

During the popular revolution of April 1965 in the Dominican Republic, my mother and her family fled to the countryside to their property close to Bani and all around the house there were many trees full of ripe mangoes “Banilejos”. The children just sat under these trees to eat mangoes without any limit!! As you might know mangoes can become a laxative if consumed in big quantities and that happened to all these kids! Still in 1965 there was no electricity in the rural area and most of those houses had no toilets but a latrines, which was used by these kids on a non stop basis! When it was time to take a bath, it was a stroll to a nearby river!! Even though it was a difficult time, they remember it as a wonderful experience, where the mangoes were the center!

Like our typical “mangu” made of mashed plantain, our mangoes is a must try when visiting the Dominican Republic.

Mangoes are high in Vitamin C, Vitamin B6, Potassium, Copper and Vitamin A and is one of the nutritionally rich fruit with unique flavor, fragrance, taste and thus promoting health benefits to humans.

In the Dominican Republic, fruits grown locally are everywhere, you have street vendors which are standing in different places in the cities and towns during the whole year with the typical fruits Dominicans love, such as bananas, mangoes, papaya, pineapples, water melons, oranges, but to our knowledge, mangoes are the number one. The Dominican street fruit vendors have been  replaced by Haitian immigrants little by little to the point that you see now more Haitian vendors than Dominicans.
Since fruit shakes are very popular in the Dominican Republic, mangoes and milk shake is also among the favorite ones!

Important notice: Pictures in this post were obtain from external sources

Holy Week in the Dominican Republic

From the earliest times, in Christianity, Holy week starts with Palm Sunday, with the celebration of the triumphal entry of Jesus into Jerusalem. The Holy week is the last week of the 40 days season of Lent and the week preceding Easter, it is the last week of Christ’s life, remembering especially His passion and resurrection. Easter is the celebration of Christ’s resurrection, the victory over sin, death and the devil, as well as, the promise of our justification and everlasting life….

In the New World, Christianity started in the Dominican Republic, introduced by the Spanish conquerors, however with the mixture of Spaniards and African slaves, some changes in costumes and beliefs occurred. Most of our ancestors were Catholics, lead by the Roman Catholic Church.

Still in the sixties in the Dominican Republic, every catholic family would stay true to the religious traditions of that time to be observed during the Holy week!

In that time for our catholic families, going to the beach or to the rivers during the Holy week was unthinkable, inconceivable. Nobody dared going to swim on Holy Friday, for you would turn into a mermaid or something unpredictable!!

On Holy Friday, the children were ordered to stay in their bedrooms, without making any noise; food (no meat permitted) would be served in the room! The special treat would be the traditional sweet red beans! No cleaning or household job was allowed, no music could be heard but the religious or classic music! All the stores, restaurants, supermarkets, etc. were closed, everybody stayed home, watching a movie of the bible, it was like a national curfew!!

But this tradition started to change with the new generations, growing population, foreign influences and the Dominicans slowly started going to the beach, to the rivers, spending the whole Holy week at a resort or just visiting families of the countryside, the main purpose is to have a good time!

Nowadays, the supermarkets have special offers for the Holy Week, they make huge sales, and since schools are closed during the whole Holy Week, many families start leaving the city, traffic jams start slowing down and by Holy Thursday afternoon, it’s a completely different ambience! Those who stay in the city of Santo Domingo take it easy, with no traffic jam, they have the streets for themselves and driving becomes enjoyable.

But at the end one can start thinking: Was the Holy Week established as an excuse for us to have vacation or was it to meditate on the suffering and sacrifice for humanity of the man called Jesus Christ, as appearing in the bible?  

“To be or not to be, that’s the question” (Williams Shakespeare’s play Hamlet)

We finally made it with 14K Gold

Introducing our first Larimar and 14K gold collection!

There is no standard quality guide for our Larimar stone in the Dominican Republic, so far the only place on earth where this unique blue semi-precious stone is mined.

With its ample variety of blue, as well as, blue green shades and patterns the Larimar stone is undoubtedly an awesome art of nature, pleasing the blue tone preference of every admirer.

However, the truth is that the deep blue shades, similar to the azure shade, are considered the top quality, for they are rare and scarce!

Several years ago, before gold price started to climb, many Dominican artisans could afford producing both 925 silver and 14K gold Larimar jewelry and to this end they only used the deep blue Larimar stones for 14K gold and the lighter blue colors for 925 silver!

Larimar Happy Hour Rings

But all this changed when the gold price became unreachable for the average local artisans, who decided to use all blue Larimar quality type they can get and buy for 925 silver jewelry.

The Larimar Shop was born after the gold price reached its highest peak and in view of that people were inclined toward buying silver instead of gold! So we decided to only sell 925 silver Larimar jewelry, but during all this time we were kind of tempted to do also some 14K gold items! 

There are three foreign gold companies exploiting the gold mines in the Dominican Republic (has it all) so we finally, very timidly, took a step forward and decided to complete the beauty of our Larimar stone with 14K gold frame, a perfect combination honoring both stone and metal mined in the Dominican Republic!

Larimar and 14K Gold Pendant

We have been excited with this new challenge, producing some of our best sellers the reversible “happy hour” rings, the Dominican classic teardrop pendants and earrings, as well as, gorgeous stone pendants with 14K gold. Of course, the prices for these items are for wealthy pockets, as you might understand, but we have to give those gold and Larimar lovers their privilege to pay the price!! 

We did a humble 14K gold Larimar jewelry start, firmly looking forward to making other 14K gold designs according to the support we receive from our dear customers!

This is a FIRST for us!

Our First Larimar Jewelry Photo Shooting

Enjoying our Dominican "Yaniqueques"

We love our beaches, we love the sun and we love our so special and unique Larimar stone! So in our efforts to exalt the beauty of this stone, we finally decided to execute a blue thought which had been dwelling in our minds for some time: Take pictures of our Larimar jewelry with a brown suntanned color model close to the sea to demonstrate that the different blue hues of the Larimar stone really mimics the blue colors of our sea waters!!

Hanging in the sun

We took different outfits and some other items to achieve wonderful photos and hit the road to our regular rented beach house in Juan Dolio, which is approx. 25 minutes ride from Santo Domingo city. On our way we could not miss buying and eating the famous “Yaniqueque” (maybe a Dominican version of Jonny cakes) which is so well made by the people of that area.

Isaac, our cameraman in action!

It was a beautiful day, the perfect scenario to start our first photo shooting at the beach!! My, my, my, although we have been dealing with this stunning stone for many years, we were again greatly marveled with the blue beauty and shine of Larimar amidst the blue sky and blue and blue green sea waters!!!

We really enjoyed every photo shoot, we had the opportunity to be creative with all the marvelous surroundings, always with the real intention to display the uniqueness of the Larimar stone and its connection with our Caribbean sea, sky, people, the whole tropical atmosphere!!

After a few hours of hot sun exposure, we decided it was enough for this time and drove happily back home, satisfied with the job done and hoping that our customers will be delighted with our new Larimar jewelry exhibition!!

Dominican Republic Hidden Treasures

COTUI

Cotui is one of the oldest cities of the New World, capital of the province of Sanchez Ramirez, located in the south Cibao region, in the center of the Dominican Republic. Nicolas de Ovando, who was the governor of the Hispaniola Island, the Dominican Republic is on the eastern side of the island, ordered Rodrigo de Trujillo de foundation of this city. Cotui is the name of a Taino leader (Cotoi) who was ruling a well organized taino population of that area.

Gold from Pueblo Viejo, Cotui

Besides their agricultural activities, these Taino Indians were also involved in mining of the outcropping Pueblo Viejo gold deposit. The Spanish rulers mined this gold deposit from 1505 thru 1525 when the mine was abandoned for the gold mines in Mexico. The first African slaves in the Hispaniola Island arrived in Cotui to work at the gold mine.

Archaeological excavation at Pueblo Viejo is proving that this was the first gold mine built by the Spanish settlers in the New World.

Growing rice

In 1562 this city, together with other spanish settlements, was destroyed by an earthquake. It is understood that the Spanish colonization in the Hispaniola island started here!

Ducks coming from Canada

Cotui and Pueblo Viejo, which is a part of the city, are situated in the Yuna valley in the Cibao region, in the central mountain range, which runs from the Haitian border to the Caribbean Sea, with the highest peak of the Caribbean, Pico Duarte of 3,175 m. It is a highly gifted place with rich soils producing agricultural products such as rice, plantains, pineapples, cacao, passion fruits and yams! The beauty of its landscapes is highlighted with its crystal clear river waters and the largest artificial lake of the Caribbean, Presa de Hatillo, Hatillo Dam. Also its prehistoric caves, called guacaras, with drawings and pictographs of the Taino Indians, are of great interest. Thousands of migrating ducks from Canada come to spend winter in this habitat.

Cotui is also rich in gold, silver, bauxite, iron, nickel and marble mines!!

As at December 31, 2013, Pueblo Viejo had proven and probable gold reserves of 9.7 million ounces and a mine life of 25 years and beyond!!

Presa de Hatillo

From Mining.com, which ranked the gold mine in Pueblo Viejo number 7 in their top 10 list of world’s top 10 gold deposits, we quote” It might surprise some that this small island nation is rich in mineral reserves. The open pit mine is very new and began production in January 2013. It also has large silver and copper reserves to complement its gold deposit. As it ramps up to full production, it will also be one of the largest producers in the world, but we’ll save production figures for a separate Top 10 list.

Platanuses - Carnival Custome

One of the oldest Carnival celebrations took place in Cotui, although it was introduced by the Spanish colony, with its cultural influence, it was enriched by African customs after the gold mine was closed.

Cotui is also hometown of Mets pitcher Duaner Sanchez and Milwaukee Brewers pitcher Jose Capellan, but the province of Sanchez Ramirez, where Cotui is located, has produced many more baseball players who are playing in the big leagues.

Probably you are already wearing Dominican gold jewelry, who knows, but we like to share our natural beauties, our treasures and much more with you.

Dominican Republic has it all!!

Dominican Republic A Tropical Paradise!

Dominican Republic Has It All! 

The island of Hispaniola is divided in two parts: The Dominican Republic on the eastern side and Haiti on the western side, two countries with different languages, religions, customs, mentality, etc.

The Dominican Republic has on its north coast the Atlantic Ocean and on the south coast the Caribbean Sea; it belongs to the second largest island of the Greater Antilles, located east of Yucatan, Mexico and south east of Florida, USA, the Lesser Antilles are west.

Dominican Republic is Caribbean’s most bio-diverse country, with 25 percent of its lush land and pristine coastline, 67 protected areas, 16 as national parks, reserves and sanctuaries.

Bahia de las Aguilas

With several mountain ranges, rivers, breathtaking, secluded beaches, awesome landscapes, friendly people, the Dominican Republic has and continues developing a very interesting ecotourism that offers our visitors of all ages the opportunity to enjoy a wonderful and exciting vacation.

With the creation of the Dominican Republic’s Marine Mammal Sanctuary for Humpback Whales in 1962, our country has been a forerunner in environment and marine-oriented protections, ensuring magnificent nature abounds.

Humpback Whales

From January thru March every year up to 5,000 humpback whales migrates to the north east coast and Samana Bay’s warm waters. Whale watching is an unforgettable tour to be considered in your visit to the Dominican Republic!

Barahona, where the Larimar stone is mined, is also an ideal place for surfers, as well as, Cabarete, which became famous for its perfect surf conditions, but there are many other water sports available, as wind surf, canyoning, snorkeling, diving and many more entertainments.

Pico Duarte

Horseback ride, mountain bike, river rafting and much more adventures are available in Jarabacoa, in the province of La Vega, which is also the gateway to the highest mountain peak in the Caribbean, Pico Duarte 3,187 meters in the Central Mountain Range.

Paragliding at Jarabacoa

Also paragliding sport is also available in Jarabacoa and other areas in the Dominican Republic.

River Rafting

South west of the Dominican Republic you will find Pedernales a bio-diverse place with abundant nature and breathtaking views and the wonderful, magnificent beach Bahia de las Aguilas with pristine waters and white sand!

Also a must see is the Jaragua National Park and the Enriquillo Lake, approx. 42 meters below sea level, the largest and deepest point in the Caribbean, where the American crocodiles, as well as other endemic species.

Thirty minutes drive from Puerto Plata, in the northern corridor mountain range, behind long stalks of sugar cane you will find, a mother’s nature treasure, the 27 Waterfalls of Damajagua, 27 thrilling rock pools and waterfalls, another unforgettable adventure, full of action, of climbing, jumping, sliding and more.

There are a variety of caves, such as FunFuncaves, and Los Haitises, a forest reserve on the north coast of the Dominican Republic, with a lot of caverns and the greatest abundance of Caribbean mangrove.

The Dominican Republic has several islets, with breathtaking beaches and endemic species, one of these islets is the Saona Island, which can be reached by speed boats or catamarans; this is our largest off shore island of 42 square miles, boasting of more than 112 species of birds, turtles, sharks, bottle-nose dolphins and manatees. On your way to this islet from Bayahibe Beach in La Romana, you’ll see the National Park of the East, an awesome sea’s natural pool, you must dip in, and a mangrove swamp reserve.

We have just mentioned a few attractions of all our country has to offer you and we invite you to plan your visit to the Dominican Republic and ask your travel agents for more information so that you will enjoy your trip in the area of your preference. The Dominican Republic has it all!!!

Oh and let us not forget our Dominican cuisine, which we are sure you will love, for each region has its own recipes!!

Discover the new thelarimarshop.com

Yes, we are beyond excited!

Desktop view

When we installed our virtual Larimar store The Larimar Shop a few years ago,  we were very excited, full of expectations, ready to fight the good battle to conquer customers from all over the world, with top quality Larimar stone and excellent Dominican craftsmanship,  good service loaded with tropical enthusiasm, efficient delivery time and more!!

From time to time we encountered some difficulty with our website, notwithstanding we did a lot of constant internet search to learn more about optimizing our The Larimar Shop site to make it an ideal place for every customer interested in our marvelous Larimar stone!  Through all our efforts during these few years  we understood that it was definitely necessary to make a new site contemplating all the desires of modern, active, updated customers!

Our hard and dedicated work has given birth to our radiant new The Larimar Shop site, which makes it easy and interesting for customers all over the world to find, select, buy that special Larimar jewel they were looking for or just fell in love with!

Tablet view

Here're some highlighted new features:

• More friendly webpage where you'll have a better view of all our handcrafted Larimar pieces.
• Now you can shop either from your Desktop or your Mobile device as our new website has been made mobile friendly for you to have the greatest experience when shopping with us.
• Now you can share all the items you love on Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter, Google + and much more, just choose!
• New options for creating your Whislist and give a hint to whoever you like!
• New filter that allows you to surf through all Larimar rings by sizes, now you can!
• Compare one item from another and select your best option!
• Want to see what's on trend check out our Tag tools and find out what's everybody craving for.

Subscribe to our Newsletter and don't miss the fun! We are now introducing our Weekly newsletter keeping all Larimar lovers updated with the latest arrivals, special offers, promotions and more!

Our main goal is to capture all those Larimar customers who are looking for genuine Larimar stone jewelry, with good craftsmanship, variety of designs, sizes, prices, traded by honest, transparent vendors, guaranteeing their purchase!

We invite you to share with us the experience of the new The Larimar Shop, a true Dominican shop with genuine Larimar stone in all its variety of blue and blue green shade, designed and handmade by local young artisans!

Larimar Stone the Blue Jewel of the Caribbean and its Synonyms

Human beings tend to love phantasy, mystery and all sort of things that will arise curiosity, encountered feelings, hidden emotions, etc. involved in a person, in a place, in a subject, in a religion, in a movement, in stones be it precious or not!

Our Larimar stone is not an exception to this fact and so, "PIedra Azul", meaning Blue Stone, is the first name this unique blue pectolite received from the locals of Barahona, southwest of the Dominican Republic, who found small pieces of this blue stone ocassionally.

Larimar stone ring

When finally this blue pectolite, semi-precious stone, was rediscovered by Miguel Mendez, from the Dominican Republic, and Norman Rilling, a Peace Corps Volunteer from USA, in 1974 it is given the new name of Larimar, a combination of the name of Mendez's daughter Larissa and the word Mar, meaning sea!.

Once this stone starts becoming known abroad, its blue intriguing beauty strikes many hearts and interests, many strategies are used to promote our awesome #Larimar with all its variety of blue hues, mimicking our Caribbean sea waters, gorgeous patterns, which also can include some white, grey shades and inclusion such as red dendrites, copper, calcite, resulting many times in impressing Larimar specimens!!

And so we find that our Larimar stone has  been baptized with different names for different purposes or reasons!

Caribbean Turquoise

To our understanding this given  name is for commercial purposes!

Lorimar

Somebody must have misspelled the name Larimar and decided to keep the name Lorimar, maybe because there was already money invested and any correction would involve more money!

Stefilia's Stone

Who or what gave birth to this name is still unknown to us.

Dolphin Stone

Handcrafted Larimar Bracelet

This name is connected with metaphysical beliefs, attributing healing & spiritual properties to this stone

"Some believe that Larimar is the blue stone with extraordinary healing powers that Edgard Cayce predicted would be discovered in the Caribbean, where he said part of Atlantis could be found"

"Larimar has excellent energy for working with sea creatures of all kind. It is particularly good for communicating with dolphins."

"as dolhpins were associated with Atlantis and Larimar was used as a tool to enhance communicaction with them"

Atlantis Stone

This is the most powerful name used for Larimar to exalt its long list of healing and spiritual powers according to the New Age and Metaphysical philosophies

Edgard Cayce, called the sleeping prophet, (1877-1945), mentioned that a blue stone of Atlantean origin, would be found in a Caribbean island, which was part of the lost continent of Atlantis!

The blue beauty of Larimar stone is very appealing to people all over the world and its demand has grown enormously and increasing its cost constantly.

If in the #Dominican Republic locals would know the healing and spiritual properties attributed to our Larimar stone, we are sure, everybody would be wearing a Larimar piece, with or without silver, but unfortunately very few even know the existence of this marvelous stone!!

Is it maybe that the volcanic origin of this stone has a chemical reaction when in contact with our skin that benefits us positively?

Larimar Stone Grades and Quality

According to all scientific studies, Larimar is a type of pectolite, or a rock composed largely of pectolite, an acid silicate 

Larimar Slab

hydrate of calcium and sodium. Although pectolite is found in many locations, none have the unique volcanic blue coloration of Larimar. This blue color, distinct from that of other pectolites, is the result of copper substitution for calcium Larimar is of volcanic origin, etc.

This stone will appear in different blue, blue green colors and there are also some that almost have a green jade color, but it is still Larimar! You also have the natural pattern varities, between light and deep blue, light blue and green, some with inclusions, such as hematite or red dendrites, with white to gray squarish patches, there are uncountable beautiful patterns Every time the Larimar rough stone is cut into slices or slabs, you will discover a new stunning one or two sided piece, it is just amazing; one can never get enough of this stone which mimicks so well our Caribbean sea waters and sky!

The hardness of this stone is between 5 to 8 in Moh´s scale; its hardness depends also of the light or deep blue colors, the darker stone is harder!

Marbel Larimar Pendant

Larimar Bracelet

Only 10 percent of the Larimar stone is suitable for jewelry after it has been cut and polished! This is one of the factors that makes this stone expensive

Larimar Double Stone Earrings

There is no standard specification for the different Larimar grades and all Larimar jewelry producers and vendors will clasify the grades according to their knowledge. However, not everybody knows this stone very good, believe me!! Even the Dominican artisans who have been working with Larimar for many, many years can be cheated by the miners if they buy uncut rough Larimar stone. Nowadays the Dominican artisans prefer to buy the Larimar in slabs and still they might be cheated with some cracked slabs!!

Lately many rough Larimar Stones are being exported to China and India, good and not good qualities Larimar, but the chinese and indians will use everything in order not to lose money!

For example: There is a Larimar Stone with an unstable blue color, which will change of color after mined because of lack of particular humidity and temperatur present in the área where it was found! Only if you are a connoisseur you will notice the difference of this Larimar Stone, which color will fade in short time due to lack of the humidity and temperature it needs.

Another data, most probably unknown, is that a transparent Larimar piece, very scarce indeed, belongs to gem quality! Many people ignore this, which is a pity because these pieces are rare, different and beautiful!

In order to secure good quality Larimar the Dominican artisans are now standing next to the pits waiting for the miners to appear with the Larimar stones they were able to find and they negotiate the price right there according, to the quality of the stone 

Marbel Larimar Pendant

It is important to avoid long sun exposure, salt water and chemicals to maintain the good quality of the Larimar Stone!

A Larimar stone which after years has kept its genuine color and/or became more blue, because of its location (cold or humid place), is a good quality Larimar no matter if it is deep or light blue, you did a good purchase!