Carnival in the Dominican Republic in Santo Domingo

Vadim Nardin writes: "Lately I have been finishing the accumulated work, but sometimes I want to rest for a couple of days and change the type of activity. So I decided to go to the carnival in Santo Domingo (if anyone doesn't know, then I now live in the Dominican Republic). The trip almost broke down because of the morning rain, because I didn't want to get wet and then drive for 3 hours in a bus with terribly cold air conditioners. But in the end, my friend and I still decided to go as soon as it was over, which I absolutely do not regret."

(Total 73 photos)

1. Carnival is one of the most anticipated holidays in the Dominican Republic. Throughout February, colorful masquerade processions are held in every locality of the country. As a result, the best go to the main event — the national carnival procession along the famous Malecon embankment in Santo Domingo, which took place this year on March 2. After that, carnivals continue in other cities.

2. I have not been to carnivals before, but looking at the photos from Brazil, where the best carnivals take place, it seemed to me that there should certainly be a lot of naked Latin beauties in Santo Domingo, a little covered with rhinestones and feathers, burning with their alluring gaze, smile and shaking their asses to the beat of the music - that's why I so I wanted to go to it. But there were almost no half-naked girls. Only the alluring glances of beautiful Dominicans. Dressed…

3. There were a lot of accredited press, but with a big camera and the look of a seasoned photojournalist, they were allowed everywhere. And they even distributed free water and beer to everyone who took pictures with large cameras.

4. The website of the Ministry of Culture wrote that the carnival will start at 10 am, but it started at about one o'clock in the afternoon. There is no concept of punctuality in the Dominican Republic. With the time of living here, you gradually get used to it and stop being nervous about it

5. There were invited guests from different countries at the carnival, as I understood

6. I post photos of not all carnival groups, as there were about 180 of them

7. This is perhaps the brightest and most interesting delegation led by a colorful leader. Perhaps you can guess what kind of delegation. Maximum color, rhinestones and lipstick.

8. Bright. Stylish. Youth. Erotic

9. They danced very emotionally and in general pleased everyone

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12. However, not everyone was able to get up themselves after the splits. But in fairness it should be noted that this girl was so actively moving in the dance that many skinny girls would envy her energy

13. This is one of the central places of the procession, where the collectives should show themselves in all their glory. But not everyone gets it right to do it — sometimes there was such a mess

14. There were many dances to local tunes. They love and know how to dance in the Dominican Republic

15. Some danced with all their heart, sparing no effort — it was nice to watch

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18. And again incendiary dancing

19. Which are evaluated by impartial viewers

20. And there were such costumes. The familiar smell of hay from childhood accompanied this group

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22. The main character at the carnival is the devil with a bull bubble in his hands (many have toys). According to local customs, a blow from such a "punching bag" will ensure happiness and well-being for the current year. I was beaten a couple of times with such a thing by local kids, so I will soon have a lot of happiness

23. There were also children's groups, with "non-childish" fantasies in their outfits

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25. It was unexpected to see the Ku Klux Klan. I kept waiting for them to be beaten in a theatrical scene, but no

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27. Kids like

28. Some were very hot in their suits. Half of this team are wearing warm jackets, so that it would not hurt to constantly tumble on the asphalt

29. Sometimes performances have their own plots. Often these are everyday scenes from life or historical moments in the country. Here, for example, they depict trade

30. And these are painted sheets. Yes, yes — these are the costumes of the carnival finalists. And this is not the worst option.

31. And I keep looking at the food, but there's no time

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34. Many people were beaten with whips

35. And this is probably a tipagitler. His head was torn off a minute later

36. And they played a scene of the liberation of the Dominican Republic from the villains of the invaders

37. Oh, how they look and attract

38. It gets hot from the enticing glances of dominicanochek

39. This is voodoo magic. They showed scenes of witchcraft, healing…

40. ... and exorcisms of evil spirits

41. Burned in general

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43. And these are the tickler devils, probably

44. Photographing locals, you often have to fight with their hands in the foreground, which sometimes cover their faces. But they love this business, eu

45. Controlling a dragon is not an easy undertaking

46. Presenters interview the king and queen of the carnival

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48. And this is the future number one video blogger in the Caribbean, a lover of selfie videos and a great part-time person

49. Here we decided to speed up the viewing process and went to meet the speakers

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55. These are probably sledge-punk costumes (in our way they are simple). Very common in the Dominican Republic

56. Local women react to them in different ways. But Canadian and American women over forty always react positively

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59. Cruel and merciless Dominican fashion

60. Properly shaking the booty is a special skill

61. And there was a lot of shaking of the priests. Local girls are very good at shaking their asses

62. I don't even want to imagine how hot he is wrapped in duct tape. That's why he's so angry

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67. Mandatory mimic photo from any photo reportage of mass celebrations. Isn't she cute?

68. How bright he is. I even put on a shower jacket. In general, there were a lot of guys in women's outfits

69. There were a lot of people almost along the entire embankment

70. Cute bunny with a girlfriend. If we weren't in a hurry to catch the bus home to Bavaro and Lyosha's friend wouldn't have a girlfriend, then we could get acquainted and get a lot of pleasant and fun communication

71. At that moment I realized that I was very hungry…

72. ...but then I realized that I wasn't that hungry

We didn't see the carnival through to the end — we didn't master it. We stopped at about 110 out of 186 teams. We were tired, and we had to hurry to catch the bus so as not to arrive home too late, since it takes about three hours to get from Santo Domingo to Bavaro in one direction. We were late for the direct route again, so we went again with a transfer to Igway.

73. Apparently, not only we are tired