Wingsch Real Estate Investments   

Great Stirrup Cay in the Bahamas

26 November 2023 | Author/Destination: Caribbean / Karibik | Rubric: General Reading Time:  11 minutes

🔊 Listen to this Post Great Stirrup Cay is a 268-acre (108 ha) island that is part of the Berry Islands in the Bahamas. Norwegian Cruise Line purchased the island from the Belcher Oil Company in 1977 and developed it into a private island for their cruise ship passengers. The northern part of the island has a sandy beach surrounded by rocks with snorkeling areas. The southern part features a helicopter airfield (with a sign reading “Great Stirrup Cay International Airport”), a large area without vegetation, and numerous concrete blocks. These are all remnants of a previous U.S. military installation and satellite tracking station. The island’s lighthouse was originally constructed in 1863 by the Imperial Lighthouse Service. Great Stirrup Cay is adjacent to Little Stirrup Cay, Royal Caribbean Cruises’ private island.   read more…

Theme Week Puerto Rico – San Juan

28 October 2023 | Author/Destination: Caribbean / Karibik | Rubric: General, UNESCO World Heritage Reading Time:  12 minutes

🔊 Listen to this Post San Juan (Spanish for “Saint John“) is the capital city and most populous municipality in the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, an unincorporated territory of the United States. As of the 2020 census, it is the 57th-largest city under the jurisdiction of the United States, with a population of 342,259. San Juan was founded by Spanish colonists in 1521, who called it Ciudad de Puerto Rico (“City of Puerto Rico”, Spanish for rich port city).   read more…

Theme Week Puerto Rico – Desecheo Island

27 October 2023 | Author/Destination: Caribbean / Karibik | Rubric: General, Environment Reading Time:  8 minutes

🔊 Listen to this Post Desecheo (Spanish: Isla Desecheo) is a small uninhabited island of the archipelago of Puerto Rico located in the northeast of the Mona Passage; 13 mi (21 km) from Rincón on the west coast (Punta Higüero) of the main island of Puerto Rico and 31 mi (50 km) northeast of Mona Island. It has a land area of 0.589 sq mi (377 acres; 153 ha; 1.53 km²). Politically, the island is administered by the U.S. Department of the Interior, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service as the Desecheo National Wildlife Refuge, but part of Barrio Sabanetas of Mayaguez.   read more…

Theme Week Puerto Rico – Mona Island

26 October 2023 | Author/Destination: Caribbean / Karibik | Rubric: General, Environment Reading Time:  6 minutes

🔊 Listen to this Post Mona (Spanish: Isla de Mona) is the third-largest island of the Puerto Rican archipelago, after the main island of Puerto Rico and Vieques. It is the largest of three islands in the Mona Passage, a strait between the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico, the others being Monito Island and Desecheo Island. It measures about 7 miles by 4 miles (11 km by 7 km), and lies 41 mi (66 km) west of Puerto Rico, of which it is administratively a part. It is one of two islands that make up the Isla de Mona e Islote Monito barrio in the municipality of Mayagüez.   read more…

Theme Week Puerto Rico – Culebra Island

25 October 2023 | Author/Destination: Caribbean / Karibik | Rubric: General Reading Time:  7 minutes

🔊 Listen to this Post Isla Culebra (Snake Island) is an island, town and municipality of Puerto Rico and geographically part of the Spanish Virgin Islands. It is located approximately 17 miles (27 km) east of the Puerto Rican mainland, 12 miles (19 km) west of St. Thomas and 9 miles (14 km) north of Vieques. Culebra is spread over 5 barrios and Culebra Pueblo (Dewey), the main town and the administrative center of the island. Residents of the island are known as culebrenses. With a population of 1,792 as of the 2020 Census, it is Puerto Rico’s least populous municipality.   read more…

Theme Week Puerto Rico – Vieques Island

24 October 2023 | Author/Destination: Caribbean / Karibik | Rubric: General Reading Time:  6 minutes

🔊 Listen to this Post Vieques, officially Isla de Vieques, is an island and municipality of Puerto Rico, in the northeastern Caribbean, part of an island grouping sometimes known as the Spanish Virgin Islands. Vieques is part of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, and retains strong influences from 400 years of Spanish presence in the island.   read more…

Theme Week Puerto Rico

23 October 2023 | Author/Destination: Caribbean / Karibik | Rubric: General, Theme Weeks, UNESCO World Heritage Reading Time:  12 minutes

🔊 Listen to this Post Puerto Rico (Spanish for rich port), is a Caribbean island and unincorporated territory of the United States with official Commonwealth status. It is located in the northeast Caribbean Sea, approximately 1,000 miles (1,600 km) southeast of Miami, Florida, between the Dominican Republic and the U.S. Virgin Islands, and includes the eponymous main island and several smaller islands, such as Mona, Culebra, and Vieques. It has roughly 3.2 million residents, and its capital and most populous city is San Juan. Spanish and English are the official languages of the executive branch of government, though Spanish predominates.   read more…

Theme Week Colombia – Santa Marta

23 June 2023 | Author/Destination: Caribbean / Karibik | Rubric: General Reading Time:  6 minutes

🔊 Listen to this Post Santa Marta, officially the Distrito Turístico, Cultural e Histórico de Santa Marta (English: Touristic, Cultural and Historic District of Santa Marta), is a city on the coast of the Caribbean Sea in northern Colombia. It is the capital of Magdalena Department and the fourth-largest urban city of the Caribbean Region of Colombia, after Barranquilla, Cartagena, and Soledad. Founded on July 29, 1525, by the Spanish conqueror Rodrigo de Bastidas, it was one of the first Spanish settlements in Colombia, its oldest surviving city, and second oldest in South America. This city is situated on a bay by the same name and as such, it is a prime tourist destination in the Caribbean region.   read more…

Theme Week Colombia – San Andrés Island

20 June 2023 | Author/Destination: Caribbean / Karibik | Rubric: General, UNESCO World Heritage Reading Time:  8 minutes

🔊 Listen to this Post San Andrés is a coral island in the Caribbean Sea. Politically part of Colombia, and historically tied to the United Kingdom, San Andrés and the nearby islands of Providencia and Santa Catalina form the department of San Andrés, Providencia and Santa Catalina. San Andrés, in the southern group of islands, is the largest of Colombia. The official languages of the department are Spanish, English, and San Andrés–Providencia Creole.   read more…