Caribbean and Central America Travel

One of the top tourist destinations in the Caribbean, Barbados features the spectacular turquoise waters of the Caribbean sea rushing up on its pinkish white sand shores. With a major international airport in the island that acts as point of entry to the Eastern Caribbean, Barbados is almost always the first stop to any tour in the Caribbean.

First known as the Isla de los Barbados in Spanish documents dating back to the 1500s, the name of the island can either be attributed to the bearded fig-tree that is indigenous to the island, or the bearded Amerindians that inhabited the island, or to the sprays of foam that forms on the outlying reefs that looks like a beard.

It was the British, however, who settled on the island. Upon landing in the present-day Holetown in 1625, British sailors found the island uninhabited; the Spaniards have captured the Caribs who used to live there to work as slaves for sugar plantations, while others have fled the island to escape slavery.
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Trinidad and its sister island Tobago, is the perfect example of contrasts. While Tobago is a sleepy small town, Trinidad is just bursting with life. Known largely for its annual Carnival, Trinidad and Tobago can be deserted during the off season.

The carnival, which takes its roots from West African festivals, is celebrated a week before Ash Wednesday. The pre-lenten festival has been adapted in accordance to the Roman Catholic teaching of carne vale – farewell to the flesh. Carnival celebrates life, and Trinidadians & Tobagonians do so with music, extravagant costumes and dancing in the streets.

Calypso is one of the mainstays of the Carnival. This musical genre that originated in Trinidad was the African slaves’ way of communicating with each other, as speaking among slaves are prohibited. Over the years, it evolved as a means of spreading news around the island. It became the people’s medium for expressing their thoughts on island life, current events, and even politics. In recent years however, it was Soca, or soul calypso that has been taking precedent in the carnival. Originating from the calypso, Soca mixes the island beat of the steel pan and electronic percussion which blends into a rich dance music that’s perfect for the festivities of carnival.

Like most islands in the Caribbean, Trinidad and Tobago’s economy is boosted by tourism. However, unlike the other Caribbean islands, the other pillar of their economy is petroleum, not agriculture.

It was Christopher Columbus who first sighted Grenada, but it was the French who was able to take control of it, and the British that eventually got them gave them their independence.

Grenada is an archipelago made up of islands called the Grenadines. The biggest island is Grenada itself, where most of the population lives. The smaller islands are Carriacou, Petit Martinique, Rhonde Island, Caille Island, Diamond Island, Large Island, Saline Island and Frigate Island.

Like the other Caribbean islands, Grenada’s islands are formed by volcanoes, are mountainous and have fertile soil. And like the other islands in the Caribbean, Grenada enjoys a tropical climate, with seasons alternating between rainy and dry. Grenada is on the southern edge of the hurricane belt, and usually suffers the worst when hurricane season hits.
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The Dominican Republic shares the island of Hispaniola with Haiti in eastern Caribbean. Blessed with spectacular whites and beaches, mountain ranges, different bodies of water including salt water lakes, bevy of exotic wildlife, and colorful culture, Dominican Republic have something for every tourist.

Discovered by Christopher Columbus in 1492 for Spain, Hispaniola became the first permanent European settlement in the Americas. When the gold in Hispaniola ran out, it lost its prominence. When pirates ransacked the settlements in the western part of the island, the Spaniards relinquished control of what is now known as Haiti to the French.
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When people are asked where their dream vacation is, they would say the Caribbean. And when they say The Caribbean, the first to come to mind is the Bahamas.

Sprawling in a 100,000 square mile archipelago, Bahamas offers travelers 700 islands to choose from. Each island offers something different from the one before, thereby assuring travelers that there’s something for everybody.

Christopher Columbus was the first European to arrive in the islands. He dropped anchor in San Salvador in 1492 and encountered the Arawaks, the native island people. He called them “indians,” thinking that he docked in the West Indies. The Arawaks or Lucayans as they are also called, were taken as slaves and their population began to decrease. Eventually, the islands became uninhabited.
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