Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Hi everybody, just a quick note to tell you that we have decided to include in one of thelarimarshop.com sections a FAQ section to make it easier for our customers to have a reply to their questions at hand!

Nevertheless, we will always be happy to answer any special question that does not appear in this FAQ list.

1. Have your Larimar stones been treated in any way?

Our Larimar stones are pure, genuine, carefully selected at the mines in Bahoruco, southwest of the Dominican Republic, the only place on earth so far, where this unique, awesome stone is found and mined. In the Dominican Republic exists no dyeing stone practice.

2. What is a Larimar specimen stone?

A Larimar specimen stone is a stone where the Larimar has developed in different blue and blue green shades, mixed with other materials or inclusions such as hematite or red dendrites (like these earrings), white calcite, natrolite, fossilized wood, copper, etc. creating gorgeous, fabulous, nature designs. Every Larimar specimen stone is unique!

3. Where are you located?

We are located in Santo Domingo, main city of the Dominican Republic; The Dominican Republic shares the eastern side of the Hispaniola Island; Haiti is on the western side!

4. How is your jewelry made?

Our jewelry is made with top quality Larimar stone brought directly from the mines, to our workshop, where young, native artisans cut, shape, polish and mount this semi-precious gem in 925 silver or 14K gold bezel cups.

5. Why should I trust you?

We have been in the Larimar business for many years and we guarantee our jewelry! Our main goal has been and is to make our customers happy with each purchase. To treat each Larimar lover with top quality customer service and at the end gain a new friend.

6. Do I have to pay customs fee?

Customs regulations are different in every country. We recommend you to check with your customs official office. We are willing to assist you with any shipping instructions for customs purposes. We are not responsible for any customs fee or tax in any country.

7. Do you offer express shipping?

Yes, we offer express shipping with guaranteed delivery of 1 – 2 working days inside US and 1 – 4 working days outside US.

8. How do I receive my order?

All orders are beautifully gift wrapped, packed in a small white box, decorated with an aqua blue lace or a raffia lace, to create an exciting moment when you or that person you have gifted with your order receive your package! In the box we include card with a brief history of the Larimar stone and care tips! The Larimar jewel is placed in a white organza pull pouch.

9. Do you make more than one piece of each design featured in your store? 

Most of the Larimar jewelry we are offering are one of a kind, unique in its design, in its blue shade and pattern; if you see a piece that catches your eyes, don’t let it go! When we have more than one unit in stock of the Larimar jewelry displayed, we indicate quantity available, as well as the variety of blue shades and patterns.

10. How does your reversible Larimar and Amber reversible ring work?

This ring is our best seller, loved by all; the 925 silver bezel cup has on one side Larimar and on the other side Amber with two silver shanks to help turn the bezel cup to one of the two stones you want to wear.

11. How do I take care of my Larimar silver jewelry?

It is recommendable to clean your Larimar jewel after wearing it or from time to time, to avoid accumulation of body oil and dirt. Use a jewelry cleaning or polishing cloth to clean the stone and silver.

You can also wash your Larimar piece with clean fresh water and a few drops of mild soap, using a soft brush to clean dirt from the silver setting, rinse and dry with a soft cloth. The Larimar stone might turn more blue due to the water absorption of the stone.

Avoid long sun exposure, salt water and chemicals. When using household and any sort of chemicals, don’t wear your Larimar jewelry to stay away from any possible damage on the stone and/or silver setting. Treasure your Larimar jewelry for this is an awesome, unique stone and there is no reliable source in the Dominican Republic that can secure that we will still find/have Larimar stone for many years to come!!

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!

It's all time coffee time in the Dominican Republic!

Coffee plants have their origin in Africa, and our first coffee plant is originally from Ethiopia.

In the time of the colonization of the Americas, the Dutch are said to have introduced the coffee plant (Coffea Arabica L) between 1726 and 1735 to Surinam and from the French island of Martinique to the island of Saint Domingue (the island of Hispaniola), specifically to the west side of the island, that is Haiti and from there it was introduced in the eastern side of the island, that is now Dominican Republic.

 It is believed that the first seeds were planted by the Spaniards in the provinces of Barahona, the region of our unique national stone Larimar, and Neyba. The first coffee company with industrial production and internal commerce was registered in the Dominican Republic in December 12, 1917! The coffee export business started in 1935 with the largest coffee plantations located in Barahona!

Since the native Indians didn’t know coffee and by the time it arrived in the eastern side of the Hispaniola, few of them were still alive, we assume our coffee habits started with our Spanish heritage and followed by our African heritage!

Coffee became part of our Dominican tradition; every day we start with the first cup of coffee when we wake up, before breakfast, than we have a cup of coffee when we arrive at work, then we have another cup of coffee when we take a break, another cup of coffee after we had our midday meal, then we have a cup of coffee later on in the afternoon and there are those who still have another cup of coffee in the evening.

The first thing you will be asked when visiting a Dominican family is “would you like a cup of coffee?” If you are in the city or in a town, the cup of coffee will be served pure and you will add the white or brown sugar as per your taste, but if you are in a rural area, most probably you will be served the coffee already sweetened!. The Dominican coffee is really dark black, more like a turkish coffee!

With the cup of coffee, depending where the cup of coffee has been offered to you, comes a conversation that will have to do with business, a job application, a family update, an interesting gossip, politics, sports, etc. If the Dominican coffee drinker is superstitious, specially she would love to have somebody read her empty cup of coffee turned upside down so that the drops left in the cup will form “figures” after being dried on the burner. The specialist in this “art” will foretell future and the future of the future!!!

Coffee will be the used to keep us awake, you’ll find it in the funeral house as a treat, on the street, oh yes; we have hot coffee vendors on the street!    

Within the eco tourism programs in the Dominican Republic you’ll find the Coffee Routes, which will bring you in contact with coffee agriculturists of the area, enjoy their folklore in their natural environment. This will encourage them to reforestation, to identify themselves with their habitat and activate their cultural traditions.

Consider including in your forthcoming visit to the Dominican Republic an eco tour, private or in group, and have the experience of drinking a cup of authentic Dominican coffee of the rural area, prepared either in an espresso coffee pot or made the original way, that is, coffee beans are dried in the sun, roasted and grinded, this ground coffee is placed in a homemade cloth filter, resembling a small butterfly net, “colador”, evoking nostalgia for those good old times and boiling water is then poured in the “colador”, strained or sieved and served in a typical metal or ceramic cup! This ground coffee is called “cafe de pilón”, very, very tasty!

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!!

Birth of The Larimar Shop Collections

The story behind our Collections

We confess that we are deeply in love with our share of the eastern side of the Hispaniola Island, the Dominican Republic, its land, mountains, rivers, beaches, flora and fauna, and the authenticity of our people.

When we started knowing our unique Larimar stone, which mimics our Caribbean blue sea waters and clear blue sky, also frequently adorned with white clouds, so well, we fell in love with this Dominican national stone and decided to share this beauty, in our Dominican style, with the world!

The reasons that encouraged us to move forward with our Larimar project was the fact that our Larimar stone is offered many times abroad, omitting the truth that this stone is found and mined only in the Dominican Republic and at the same time the publicity of some well known Larimar designers/vendors, telling that they get the best quality of Larimar so that the low grade quality is left in the Dominican Republic for us to use! Also they have underestimated the Dominican craftsmanship and creativity to expose the beauty of Larimar with jewelry that makes it shine!

Contrary to the jewelry artisans, for example, of Mexico, Indonesia, India who learned their skills through many, many generations, our Dominican jewelry artisans hopped into this art approx. end of the sixties, and in the eighties a jewelry school was established in the city of  Puerto Plata, with the aid of the Dominican Development Agency, “Fundacion Dominicana de Desarrollo”, as well as the efforts made by Miguel Mendez (the rediscoverer of the Larimar stone and who named it ) to prepare  jewelers and traders of this unique stone. Nowadays there are several schools and projects to teach jewelry art, which has resulted in better prepared and skilled jewelry artisans. During the visit last year of our actual Dominican president Danilo Medina to the Larimar mines, it was decided to give the Larimar miners and artisans financial and technical assistance to improve their work 

In view of the above exposure, we decided to create our own Larimar collection to make clear that we count with excellent craftsmanship and creative jewelry artisans who can design and make wonderful pieces to display the uniqueness of our Larimar stone and please the different preferences!

To honor the regions and surroundings of the mountain range Bahoruco in the Province of Barahona, where the Larimar stone is mined, we have decided to use the names of the different towns and places therein.

MENA Collection, named after Mena town, located in the province of Bahoruco (or Baoruco), southwest of the Province of Barahona!

The MENA Collection was created to obtain a fresh and modern appearance to exalt the beauty of the blue Larimar stone in stylish 925 silver settings!

The MENA pendant, MENA earrings and MENA bracelet will add a “something” special, a delightful touch to women’s look!

UVILLA Collection, named after Uvilla town, located in the province of Bahoruco (or Baoruco), southwest of the province of Barahona

The UVILLA Collection is an exquisite, elegant design that gives a flash of blue bling to those women who love to wear eye-catching pieces to enhance their femininity!

We are also creating within this collection a variety of UVILLA pendants, necklaces, earrings, rings and bracelets to allow our customers to acquire their UVILLA piece with more or less Larimar stones!

MONSERRAT Collection, named after Monserrat, a small town also located in the province of Bahoruco (or Baoruco), southwest of the province of Barahona

The MONSERRAT Collection aims to give the Larimar beads its full glance, combined with Mother of Pearl, creating pristine designs for an appealing, natural touch to womens final outfit!

These collections are the beginning of a new challenge for our strive to place our Dominican Larimar jewelry in a higher position, showing the world that Dominican jewelry artisans and designers have learned the art of making stunning pieces, letting our national Larimar stone shine by its own!  

Larimar, the mine and the miners

Working in the mines...

When people all over the world get to know about the unique blue pectolite, the Dominican blue Larimar stone, they click on the word Larimar and the same story about this stone will show up! Who discovered the Larimar stone, when and where, as well as a few characteristics of this special blue semi-precious stone.

But what about the people who make it possible for us to wear and enjoy of the jewel of the Caribbean, the Larimar stone? We want to talk a little bit about their struggle at the Larimar mines!

Larimar slabs

The peasants, who planted “yautia” (yams) in the surroundings of the area of the Larimar mine, were the first people to get involved with “the blue stone” as they called it. They collected this “blue stone” before Miguel Mendez followed the trail of the “blue stone” until he reached the peak of the mountain and revealed this best secret to the world!

These peasants turned into miners, as they understood they could make more money at the mine than with agriculture. The Dominican government gave them the concession to exploit the mine of Larimar. All mineral rights in the Dominican Republic belong to the government. In 1985 approx. 100 miners were working at the mine and by recommendation of the government a first cooperative was formed, nowadays there are two cooperatives.

Las Filipinas

The mine is located in the highest mountain of “Las Filipinas” in the community of Bahoruco, where you will find hundreds of men, naked from the waist up, who are going every day into the deepness of what you could call “hell” searching for Larimar, some have been doing this since over thirty year ago, exposing their lives, to make some money! There is no life insurance, no emergency aid, and no 911!

Every morning when the clock strikes nine, approx. 20 men in group of five, like ant rows, introduce themselves in narrow holes, leading to underground galleries, reinforced with wood to avoid collapsing, it feels like being buried alive. To go down most of them use the wood that serves as ladder and as reinforcement of the pit walls, some use pulley, but other are afraid it might break and they will hurt themselves.

Men of all ages work with rudimentary tools, like shovel, pick and hammer, although lately some have an electric “pick-hammer” tool. Once these miners start working they will start a sort percussion sound, which will be played during eight hours, only interrupted by meal break of one hour! 

To be able to work in these infernal holes, air is pumped into the pits at eight o’clock in the morning one hour before the miners start going down.

An image of one of the many pits high in the mountain.

Actually there are about 40 holes or pits that are up to 200 meters deep. Once they find a Larimar vein they start working their way through corridors, reinforced with wooden frames, which many time become home for many cockroaches; these holes can be productive during several years. To open a new pit can cost approx. US$15,000, and not always Larimar veins are found in new holes!

Cables carrying electricity produced by the generator are introduced into different holes and 220 Volts cables are used in the pits where an electric “pick-hammer” tool is available, exposing their lives to electric shocks.

The president of the Dominican Republic visited the Larimar recently and promised to have ventilated tunnels made to enable the miners to extract this semi-precious stone in a safer way, he promised to technify the whole mining process and to make of this Larimar area a touristic attraction. Also he promised to give the local Larimar artisans the opportunity to learn the art and skill to make professional quality Larimar jewelry.  We welcome this initiative of our president and hope he will abide by his promise!!!

In rainy seasons these pit are filled with water and it takes some time before the miners can start working again.

If you want to experience their working day, no problem just take your trip to Bahoruco and the miners will be more than happy to show how they do their living!

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!!

What do you really get when mining Larimar stones?

Here we'll give you the shocking reality!

Larimar rough or Larimar bruto

This miner has small Larimar rough stones in his hands just coming from the pits; sometimes very big stones up to 60 lbs are mined. These stones are cut in slabs and it is in that moment that you really know the quality of the LARIMAR and find out if the stone is cracked or broken. In the process of preparing Larimar stone for jewelry there is a high waste of material and at the end practically only 10 % is left!, causing this semi-precious stone to be quoted at high prices. For example of 100 lbs of Larimar rough stone you obtain 30 lbs of slabs, from 30 lbs of slabs you get 10 lbs of cabs and only 1lb is first quality material.

Larimar slabs or Chapas de Larimar

Aquí les exponemos la cruda verdad!

Este es un minero con piedras brutas de Larimar acabadas de ser extraidas de los hoyos en la mina; estas son de las mas pequeñas ya que a veces sacan tamaños de piedras que pueden pesar hasta 60 libras. Estas piedras son cortadas en lajas o chapas y es en ese momento que se sabe verdaderamente la calidad del Larimar y si la piedra no esta cuarteada o rota!! En el proceso para preparar el Larimar para joyeria se pierde mucho material y practicamente viene quedando solo un 10%! por lo que esta piedra semi-preciosa se cotiza a precios altos. Por ejemplo, de 100 lbs Larimar en bruto se sacan 30 lbs de chapas, de 30 lbs de chapas se sacan 10 lbs de cabuchones* y de estos solo 1 Lb es de primera calidad!!

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?

DOMINICAN "R" US

Do you like to watch?

People all over the world like to watch but Dominicans like to watch a little bit more and we give you the opportunity to watch too!! We have in the #DominicanRepublic, whale watching tours, bird watching tours, carnival watching tours and other watching tours. Right now its time for whale watching tours, which started in January until end of March.

Every winter, the majority of the North Atlantic Humpback whale population (approximately 12,000 whales), migrate between 2,000 and 4,000 miles from their northern feeding grounds in the Gulf of Maine, the east coast of Canada, Greenland and Iceland, to the warm Caribbean waters of the Samana Bay on the north coast of the Dominican Republic to reproduce.
Due to the mating season, from late January to late March, males are very active to "show off" to the females, making Samana one of the best places in the world to whale watch, according to the World Wildlife Fund.

If you are planning to come to this marvelous side of the Hispaniola island during this time, don't miss the unforgettable experience of watching these humpback whales, contact your travel agents to arrange this tour for you.

Dominican Carnival

During the months of February the city of Santo Domingo and different towns in the Dominican Republic celebrate carnival, one of the most colorful traditions and more cheerful festivities in the Dominican Republic. The origins of Carnival date back to 1520, during the colonial period. Some researchers say the first Carnival events took place as a celebration of a visit by Fray Bartolomé de las Casas, when its inhabitants disguised themselves as Moors and Christians. However, it wasn't always this way, between 1822 and 1844, costumes disappeared almost completely because of the Haitian occupation!!! After the country achieved its independence on February 27, 1844, the costumes were no longer associated with church celebrations. they evolved into actual carnivals.

Each town or city will exhibit their culture, folklore, and heritage in these parades with colorful disguises, music and dances; for example, the Guloyas or Buloyas from San Pedro de Macorís are part of the Dominican culture and history and they are considered as humanity cultural heritage (by the UNESCO). According to history, the Guloyas are descendants of the "cocolos" (black immigrants) who came from some British Caribbean islands and their main characteristics is their use of masks. The La Vega Carnival is the most popular and is definitely something that you don't want to miss. The Dominican Republic African heritage is reflected in the wildly colourful masks and costumes at La Vega Carnival, the masks from La Vega are unmistakable because they are extremely frightening, many times grotesque very elaborated and expensive; they are highly decorated with rhinestones and feathers and other materials, all handmade!! You will find merengue and salsa dancing at all the parades, every sunday of the month of February.

So, if you are going to visit the Dominican Republic in February, don't forget to include to watch one of these carnival's celebration and learn more about their traditions and cultures or plan with your travel agents for next year if you could not make it this time!!!