Theme Week Caribbean – British Virgin Islands

28 January 2023 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General Reading Time:  7 minutes

Jost Van Dyke - White Bay beach © Pinkhousejvd/cc-by-sa-4.0

Jost Van Dyke – White Bay beach © Pinkhousejvd/cc-by-sa-4.0

The British Virgin Islands (BVI), officially the Virgin Islands, are a British Overseas Territory in the Caribbean, to the east of Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands and north-west of Anguilla. The islands are geographically part of the Virgin Islands archipelago and are located in the Leeward Islands of the Lesser Antilles and part of the West Indies.   read more…

Theme Week Caribbean – Montserrat

27 January 2023 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General Reading Time:  7 minutes

Montserrat Cultural Center overlooking Little Bay © flickr.com - David Stanley/cc-by-2.0

Montserrat Cultural Center overlooking Little Bay © flickr.com – David Stanley/cc-by-2.0

Montserrat is a British Overseas Territory in the Caribbean. It is part of the Leeward Islands, the northern portion of the Lesser Antilles chain of the West Indies. Montserrat is about 16 km (10 mi) long and 11 km (7 mi) wide, with roughly 40 km (25 mi) of coastline. It is nicknamed “The Emerald Isle of the Caribbean” both for its resemblance to coastal Ireland and for the Irish ancestry of many of its inhabitants. Montserrat is the only non-fully sovereign full member of the Caribbean Community and the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States.   read more…

Theme Week Caribbean – Dominica

26 January 2023 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General Reading Time:  8 minutes

Scotts Head © Postdlf/cc-by-sa-3.0

Scotts Head © Postdlf/cc-by-sa-3.0

Dominica, officially the Commonwealth of Dominica, is an island country in the Caribbean. The capital, Roseau, is located on the western side of the island. It is geographically situated as part of the Windward Islands chain in the Lesser Antilles archipelago in the Caribbean Sea. Dominica’s closest neighbours are two constituent territories of the European Union, the overseas departments of France, Guadeloupe to the northwest and Martinique to the south-southeast. Dominica comprises a land area of 750 km² (290 sq mi), and the highest point is Morne Diablotins, at 1,447 m (4,747 ft) in elevation. The population was 71,293 at the 2011 census.   read more…

Theme Week Caribbean – Anguilla

25 January 2023 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General Reading Time:  9 minutes

Island Harbour © Roy Googin/cc-by-3.0

Island Harbour © Roy Googin/cc-by-3.0

Anguilla is a British Overseas Territory in the Caribbean. It is one of the most northerly of the Leeward Islands in the Lesser Antilles, lying east of Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands and directly north of Saint Martin. The territory consists of the main island of Anguilla, approximately 16 miles (26 kilometres) long by 3 miles (5 km) wide at its widest point, together with a number of much smaller islands and cays with no permanent population. The territory’s capital is The Valley. The total land area of the territory is 35 square miles (91 km²), with a population of approximately 15,753 (2021).   read more…

Theme Week Caribbean – Saint Barthélemy

24 January 2023 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General Reading Time:  8 minutes

© Starus/cc-by-sa-3.0

© Starus/cc-by-sa-3.0

Saint Barthélemy is an overseas collectivity of France in the Caribbean. It is often abbreviated to St. Barth in French, and St. Barts in English. The island lies about 30 kilometres (19 mi) south of the Caribbean island Saint Martin, and is northeast of the Dutch islands of Saba, Sint Eustatius, and the independent country of Saint Kitts and Nevis.   read more…

St. Kitts Scenic Railway

20 December 2022 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General Reading Time:  4 minutes

© flickr.com - David Stanley/cc-by-2.0

© flickr.com – David Stanley/cc-by-2.0

St. Kitts Scenic Railway is a 29 kilometres (18 mi) long narrow gauge railway line along the coastline of the island of St. Kitts in the eastern Caribbean, with a track gauge of 762 mm (2 ft 6 in). The original track was laid from 1912 to 1926, to deliver sugar cane from the plantations to the new centralised sugar mill in Basseterre. The sugar mill was built by a group of investors in 1912, to reduce processing costs and increase profitability by applying the principle of economies of scale, due to a sugar price drop caused by the worldwide introduction of sugar beets. Previously, each plantation had its own sugar mill. The first section of the railway line, from the Factory Pier to the St. Kitts Basseterre Sugar Factory, with a West Line branch running 4 miles (6.4 km) to Palmetto Point at Trinity and a North Line branch running out to Mills’s at Bourryeau Estate, was completed on 28 February 1912. It was celebrated with a special train carrying invited dignitaries. The railway was then operated seasonally from February to June for the annual sugar harvest.   read more…

Kralendijk on Bonaire

24 January 2022 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General Reading Time:  4 minutes

Fort Oranje Lighthouse in Kralendijk © flickr.com - Larry Syverson/cc-by-sa-2.0

Fort Oranje Lighthouse in Kralendijk © flickr.com – Larry Syverson/cc-by-sa-2.0

Kralendijk is the capital city and main port of the island of Bonaire in the Caribbean Netherlands. The language spoken in the town is Papiamentu, but Dutch and English are widely used. As of 2017, the town had a population of 10,620. In Papiamentu, the town is often called Playa or “beach”. Off the coast of Kralendijk lies the uninhabited island of Klein Bonaire, noted for diving and snorkeling activities. This small island can be reached by water taxi, or, for divers, by practically all of the local dive operators.   read more…

Theme Week Venezuela – Margarita Island

25 May 2018 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General Reading Time:  10 minutes

Juan Griego Pier © The Photographer

Juan Griego Pier © The Photographer

Margarita Island (Isla de Margarita) is the largest island in the Venezuelan state of Nueva Esparta, situated off the northeastern coast of the country, in the Caribbean Sea. The capital city of Nueva Esparta, La Asunción, is located on the island. Primary industries are tourism, fishing and construction. Christopher Columbus was the first European to arrive on Margarita Island in 1498. The local natives were the Guaiqueries people. The coast of the island was abundant in pearls, which represented almost a third of all New World tribute to the Spanish Crown. Margarita Island was fortified against the increasing threat of pirate attacks, and some fortifications remain today. It was the center of Spanish colonial Margarita Province, established in 1525.   read more…

Mustique, the island of the Grenadines

28 January 2015 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General Reading Time:  5 minutes

Foodstore © Acp/cc-by-sa-3.0

Foodstore © Acp/cc-by-sa-3.0

Mustique is a small private island that is part of St Vincent and the Grenadines. The island is one of a group of islands called the Grenadines, most of which are part St Vincent and the Grenadines, in the West Indies. The island is located within Grenadines Parish, an administrative area of the country.   read more…

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