Caribbean and Central America Travel

Saint Vincent and the Grenadines has its history tied with England, being one of the British colonies in the Caribbean. Today, however, they are now an independent nation and a member of the Commonwealth of Nations. Located in the Lesser Antilles, it is composed of the island of Saint Vincent, and two-thirds of the Grenadine group of islands.

Among the 600 islands, these are the Grenadine islands under Saint Vincent:

• Bequia
• Petite Nevis
• Quatre
• Bettowia
• Baliceaux
• Mustique
• Petite Mustique
• Savan
• Petite Canouan
• Canouan
• Mayreau
• The Tobago Cays
• Union Island
• Petit Saint Vincent
• Palm Island

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Then people talk about the Caribbean, images of fine white sand beaches, clear turquoise waters and hammocks tied to palm trees first come to mind. It is indeed, one of the world’s primary vacation destination.

Located in the Americas, it is bordered in the north by North America, in the east by Central America and in the south, South America. The Caribbean is composed of over 7,000 islands resting on the Caribbean Plate.

Also known as the West Indies, this region comprises of several territories and countries. The United States, United Kingdom and other European countries like the Netherlands and France have territories in the Carribean.
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When Christopher Columbus first set eyes on these islands, he named it Santa Ursula y las Once Mil Vírgenes or Saint Ursula and her 11,000 Virgins. He named it after the legend of Saint Ursula, who set sail from England with 11,000 virgin handmaidens to join her future husband, Governor Conan Meriadoc of Armorica. The name was later shortened to Las Vírgenes (The Virgins).

The Virgin Islands archipelago is divided into two: The British and the US virgin islands. The British Virgin Islands is comprised of the islands of Tortola, Virgin Gorda, Anegada and Jost Van Dyke, along with over fifty other smaller islands and cays.

While Christopher Columbus is the first European who’ve seen the islands, it was the Arawak Indians from South America who were the first settlers in the island. They were later replaced by the Caribs, a tribe from the islands of the Lesser Antilles.
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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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