Caribbean Islands

Dominican Republic -

This is our first stop. The Dominican Republic shares an island with Haiti. A typical small and poor Caribbean town. There are shabby houses and lots of dirt roads. We took a taxi for an hour for $15. and drove around the area. The driver didn't speak English and therefore didn't tell us a thing. He took us to a couple of shabby tourist trap souvenir shops which had very poor 'crafts'. The ship had recommended a shop, but it was closed because it was Sunday.

There is really nothing here, except the Casa de Campo resort which we did not see. (no photos).

La Romana, Dominican Republic

Christopher Columbus sighted this island in 1492. The local people were draped in gold as it was abundant. There is a heavy Spanish influence here, where Haiti is more French.

The South Porto Rico Sugar company built a mammoth mill here in 1917. It was later sold to Gulf & Western who diversified their holdings by building a large lavish resort.

The food here is comparatively mild for the Caribbean region. Their meals always include something fried. Fresh fish is the mainstay of the locals diet. Also popular is a thick meat and vegetable stew.

Ponce, Puerto Rico

Christopher Columbus discovered Puerto Rico in 1493 on his second voyage. He named it Puerto Rico which means 'port of the riches', because of the gold found in the rivers. The local people had no concept of the value of gold.

Ponce is Puerto Rico's second largest city, with almost 200,000 people. It is on the south shore of the island. It is known for its art museum and its historic center. There are several 19th century buildings with Creole architecture. It was established in 1692 by Loiza Ponce de Leon and served as Spanish colonial capital until the end of the Spanish American Was in 1898.

There are beaches just outside of town and air-conditioned shopping malls. The temperature here is usually hot and humid.

You will find lots of rum here as well as some straw products.

Basseterre, St. Kitts -

We took a tour here with 10 people crammed into a mini-van. The driver was good at describing what we saw. We stopped at a batik factory at Romney Manor and gardens and the Brimstone Hill fortress. There were a lot of pretty flowers here. American money is accepted most places. The town is kind of spread out but they have a little 'mall' and tourist shops near the port. There were a lot of jewelry stores here for us tourists.
(link to photos of St. Kitts)

St. Kitts

This island is southeast of Puerto Rico and is part of the West Indies. It is an important seaport which exports sugar, molasses, salt and cotton. The English settled here in 1623, but was taken over by the French in 1782. It was later returned to the English who gained their independence in 1983.

Here you will find volcanoes, velvety green mountains, sugarcane fields and gold and black sand beaches.

Port de France, Martinique -

This is a nice little town with narrow streets. We walked around town from the dock. Being French there are several stores selling perfume, cosmetics, jewelry, nice t-shirts etc. (No photos).

Martinique

Port-de-France is the capital and major seaport of the island.It has a fine harbor defended by three forts. Its chief exports are sugar, rum and canned fruits. There are miles of beautiful white sand beaches lined with coconut palms.

St. George's, Granada -

This is known as the 'spice island'. Our tour drove around the island and stopped at a 'nutmeg station' to learn how nutmeg and cocoa (and other spices) are processed. They say that anything can be grown here except apples. We also saw a waterfall and a fortress with a great view.

A lot of homes and buildings were destroyed here by hurricane Ivan in '04. It also destroyed about 80% of the crops. It rains about 160 inches a year so everything is very green. There are a lot of banana trees growing wild.

There is a shopping area next to the dock. A lot of spices are sold here and the prices seem reasonable. (link to photos of Granada)

Barbados -

We decided to do something different here, so we took a submarine ride. We took a boat away from the shore and transferred to a submarine which held about 40 people. It was made specifically for seeing underwater sights, with windows on both sides. We saw hundreds of fish, although not too many varieties. There was also a 30 year old ship wreck at about 150 feet that was interesting.

There is shopping in the port area here. Lots of jewelry stores, rum and rum cakes - yum, even chocolate ones. (Photos at right).

Guadeloupe -

We docked at Bass-terre; the dock being only a block from town. We walked around a little and sampled some excellent French pastry at about $1.25 ea. I was not very comfortable walking around here as the sidewalks were very narrow and there were a lot of young native guys standing around doing nothing.

St. Maarten -

This is the nicest of all the islands we visited on this trip. We docked at Philipsburg on the Dutch side. It is definitely more Americanized as there are large Toyota and Ford dealers, an ACE hardware, etc.

I took a tour which drove around the island. Dave had fun on his tour. He went on an America's Cup racing boat and learning a little about sailing.

Last year when we were here, we took a tour of artists studios. There is certainly more and better crafts and art work here than the other islands. Marigot on the French side has a nice shopping area. Link to photos.

Tortola -

Road Town is a quaint little town. A lot of nice sailboats and expensive yachts from all over the world are anchored in the harbor here. Someone must have a few $$$.

The local economy is based on tourism, raising livestock, and sales of bananas, sugar cane and other tropical truits.

Photo of the harbor at right.