Caribbean and Central America Travel

The island of Saint Martin is the smallest island in the world that is divided into two seperate territories. The southern half of the island is part of the Windward islands of the Netherlands Antilles: Sint Maarten. The northern half of the island is an overseas territory of France: Collectivité de Saint-Martin. This entry is about the French half of the island.

This small island however, was first sighted by an Italian, who was and explorer for Spain: Christopher Columbus. It was said that he probably discovered the island on November 11, 1493, on the feast day of Saint Martin of Tours. In honor of the saint, Christopher Columbus named the island after him.
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Named after Saint Lucy of Syracuse, Saint Lucia is dubbed as the “Helen of the Caribbean.” Likened to Helen of Troy, control over St. Lucia has switched between the British and the French so many times throughout the island’s history.

Unlike most of the other Caribbean islands, it wasn’t Columbus who was the first European who sighted the island. Due to the island’s location, which is outside Columbus’ route, historians deduce that discovery of the island didn’t happen until the early 1500s by the Spanish. It was approximately a hundred years later that the English attempted to colonize the island. They were met, however, with strong and aggressive resistance from the Caribs, the natives of the island.

It was the French who was able to successfully claim the island. The town of Soufrière, the island’s first, was established by the French in 1746. Shortly after, they start developing sugar plantations in Saint Lucia. The British overthrown the French in 1778, quickly establishing their naval base in the island, making it a strategic part of the United Kingdom’s attack against the French in neighboring islands. Since then, St. Lucia has been passed back and forth between the two conquering countries.
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Saint Barts is known by many names: Saint-Barthélemy, Saint Barths, or Saint Barth. This French collective is composed of the island of Saint-Barthélemy proper and several offshore isles. The Collectivity of Saint-Barthélemy (Collectivité de Saint-Barthélemy), was established just last February 22, 2007.

Named after Christopher Columbus’ brother Bartolomeo, the first European settlers of the island were the French colonist who came in from the nearby St. Kitts. The settlement didn’t last, however. The island was sold off to the Knights of Malta. They too, never stayed long in the islands. The fierce Carib Indians wrecked havoc in the colony, and killed off all the settlers.

A hundred years pass before the island was inhabited once more by European settlers. It was the French mariners from Normandy and Brittany who were able to successfully establish a colony. The community and economy of the small island began to flourish. Though unlike their Caribbean neighbors, St. Barts was too small an island, too rocky and dry; they were never part of the sugar economy.
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The Netherlands Antilles is composed of several islands, grouped into two. Saba, Sint Eustatius and Sint Maarten make up the Leeward Islands. Bonaire and Curaçao make up the Windward Islands located north of Venezuela.

Both group of islands were discovered for Spain: the leeward islands by Alonso de Ojeda in 1499, and the windward islands by Christopher Columbus in 1493. When they first arrived in the islands, it was inhabited by the Arawak Indians.

The Dutch came in and colonized the islands during the 17th century. The slave trade in the Netherlands Antilles flourished, but quickly floundered when slavery was abolished in 1863. It was the burgeoning oil industry in Curaçao that saved the Netherlands Antilles’ economy.
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The Emerald Isle in the Caribbean, Montserrat is so named due to the island’s resemblance to that of Ireland’s and its Irish population. Road littered with volcanic rocks, not one stoplight in the entire island and a handful of hotel and guesthouses, Montserrat offer its guests a different Caribbean experience.

The first settlers of Montserrat, the Caribs calls the island Alliouagana - Land of the Prickly Bush - due to its rough terrain. Christopher Columbus, when he claimed the island for Spain had the same idea - he named it Santa Maria de Montserrate. He named it after the Blessed Virgin of the Monastery of Montserrat that is perch on top of the Mountain of Montserrat.

Though majority of its early European settlers were Irish, it was the British who was able to take control of the island. At one point, the French (aided by the Irish), was able to seize control from the British. However, after the Treaty of Paris was signed, the island reverted back to British rule.
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