The Washington Slagbaai National Park occupies a rugged, cactus-filled expanse in the northwest corner of Bonaire. During the slave-owning era, the Dutch used it as their main production base, producing salt, goat meat, timber and other commodities. In the late 70s, in order to protect its unique biomes and landscapes, they declared it a nature sanctuary.
In colonial times, a Dutch farmer developed a farm in the northeast of Aruba. As tourism boomed, authorities designated a large protected area around the old farm and named it in his honor. Today, Arikok National Park is home to some of the island’s most iconic natural and historical sites.
The Danes founded Charlotte Amalie in 1666, and soon thereafter, beer halls abounded there. The town prospered until successive tragedies and the abolition of slavery condemned it to decline. In the early XNUMXth century, the United States acquired the Danish West Indies. Charlotte Amalie evolved into a busy cruise port.
Situated in a cove opposite the one where Admiral Nelson founded his strategic Nelson Dockyards, Saint John became Antigua's largest settlement and a busy cruise port. Visitors who explore beyond the artificial Heritage Quay discover one of the most genuine capitals of the Caribbean.
Traveling, from top to bottom, across the Lesser Antilles, the Christmas period catches us in Barbados and Grenada. With families across the ocean, we adjusted to the heat and beach festivities of the Caribbean.
On the other side of the Atlantic, in the depths of the Caribbean, Oranjestad, the capital of Aruba, displays much of the legacy left in the ABC islands by settlers from the Netherlands. The natives call it “Playa”. The city comes alive with exuberant bathing parties.
From the walled heights of Fort King George, to the threshold of Pigeon Point, southwest Tobago around the capital Scarborough reveals unrivaled controversial tropics.
If Christiansted established itself as the capital and main commercial center of the island of Saint Croix, the “sister” of the leeward side, Frederiksted had its civilizational apogee when there was the revolt and subsequent liberation of the slaves that ensured the colony's prosperity.
It has the reputation of being the wildest island in the Caribbean and, having reached its bottom, we continue to confirm it. From Soufriére to the inhabited southern edge of Scotts Head, Dominica remains extreme and difficult to tame.
Nestled between the foot of Olivees Mountain and the ocean, tiny Basseterre is the largest city in Saint Kitts and Nevis. With French colonial origins, long Anglophone, it remains picturesque. It is only distorted by the gigantic cruises that flood it with hit-and-run visitors.
During his second voyage to the Americas, Columbus landed on an enchanting exotic island. He named it Savona, in honor of Michele da Cuneo, a Savoyard sailor who saw it as an outstanding feature of the greater Hispaniola. Today called Saona, this island is one of the beloved tropical edens of the Dominican Republic.
It is believed that the Caquetío natives called him oruba, or “well situated island”. Frustrated by the lack of gold, the Spanish discoverers called it a “useless island”. As we travel through its Caribbean summit, we realize how much more sense Aruba's first baptism always made.