Friday, 30 January 2015

January 30, 2015



Returning from a walk at -9 C and south wind at 26 km/hr., then we went back inside to finish packing for an early morning start tomorrow (3:30 a.m. to leave for the airport).


Thursday, 29 January 2015

January 29, 2015



Less than two days until we head for our Southern Caribbean cruise.

February 2015 Ports:       Miami, Florida;       Oranjestad, Aruba;        Willemstad, Curaçao;
St. George's, Grenada;   Bridgetown, Barbados;   Castries, St. Lucia;   St. Johns, Antigua;
Basseterre, St. Kitts;   Philipsburg, St. Maarten;   Miami, Florida




Date
Port
Arrive
Depart
Day 1  Day 2
Depart home to Miami, Florida    Depart Miami, Florida       
--
5:30AM-5:00PM
4:30 PM
Day 3
   At Sea
--
--
Day 4
   At Sea
--
--
Day 5
Oranjestad, Aruba
8:00 AM
8:00 PM
Day 6
Willemstad, Curaçao
7:00 AM
5:00 PM
Day 7
   At Sea
--
--
Day 8
St. George's, Grenada
8:00 AM
5:00 PM
Day 9
Bridgetown, Barbados
8:00 AM
5:00 PM
Day 10
Castries, St. Lucia
8:00 AM
5:00 PM
Day 11
St. Johns, Antigua
8:00 AM
5:00 PM
Day 12
Basseterre, St. Kitts
8:00 AM
5:00 PM
Day 13
Philipsburg, St. Maarten
8:00 AM
5:00 PM
Day 14
   At Sea
--
--
Day 15
   At Sea
--
--
Day 16
Miami, Florida   return home
7:00 AM
--




A short history of the exploration of the Lesser Antilles (south eastern Caribbean islands)

      The first Caribbeans arrived on the islands closest to South America around 4000 BC. These nomadic hunter-gatherers were followed by waves of Arawaks (a collective term for the Amerindian people believed to be from the Orinoco River Delta around Venezuela and Guyana) who moved north and west, beginning the great tradition of Caribbean island-hopping. Indeed, one of the Caribbean’s recurrent themes, from pre-Columbian times until right now, has been movement of peoples.
      Around AD 1200 the peaceable Arawaks were happily farming, fishing and minding their own business when the Caribs from South America started fanning out over the Caribbean. The Caribs killed the Arawak men and enslaved the women, triggering another wave of migration that sent the Arawaks fleeing as far west as Cuba and as far north as the Bahamas. When the Spanish explorers arrived, they dubbed the warfaring people they encountered ‘cannibals’ (a derivation of the word ‘caribal’ or Carib), for their reputed penchant for eating their victims. Since the Arawaks had no written language, little of their culture survived, except – thankfully for weary travelers – the hammock.
       Except for mineral-rich Trinidad, taken early by the Spanish, the Eastern Caribbean was left largely to its own devices until the English washed up on St. Kitts in 1623, sparking domino-effect colonization of Barbados, Nevis, Antigua and Montserrat. Not to be outdone, the French followed, settling Martinique and Guadeloupe, while the Dutch laid claim to Saba, Sint Eustatius and St-Martin/Sint Maarten. Over the next 200 years the Europeans fought like children over these islands, and possession changed hands so often that a sort of hybridized culture developed; some islands, like St-Martin/Sint Maarten and St. Kitts, were split between two colonial powers.

Read more: http://www.lonelyplanet.com/caribbean/history#ixzz3HI8tNlNK