TThe expression: “to hell and back”, has a special meaning on Grand Cayman Island. Here, you can go to the small community called “Hell” and actually send a postcard back home postmarked from Hell. They say that a British Commissioner, arriving in the early 1930’s at this now popular site, took one look at it and cried “Oh Hell!” Once you have visited Hell and seen the lava rocky crags lining the shoreline, you can imagine how forlorn the area must have been about 80 years ago.
Fortunately, “Hell” is not representative of the beauty of the rest of the Cayman Islands, nor the laid back friendly residents who make your arrival enjoyable.
Belize, the former British Honduras, is the only country in Central America where the official language is English.
The Mayan civilization flourished in this area until about 1200 AD and there are still many archeological sites that reflect their advanced civilization.
Although Columbus was there in 1502, it was shipwrecked British sailors who first established a viable settlement in the area in 1658. The English continued building settlements throughout the area and in 1840 became the “Colony of British Honduras”. Belize gained its independence from Great Britain in 1981.
Belize has not been a major cruise destination for long, and major storms in recent years have caused widespread devastation that detracts from some of its natural beauty. However, like all tourist areas, it is coming back and is regularly visited by cruise ships.
Barbados is one of tourism’s favorite destinations in the English speaking islands of the Caribbean and is one of the most densely populated countries in the Caribbean. It maintains many of the British traditions, including its afternoon tea at 4:30 PM every day. The port is right next to the entrance to the city, making it convenient to do a walking tour if you so desire.
Throughout the country you will find remains of sugar mills. Some of these, like Morgan Lewis Sugar Mill, still has a windmill with its arms and wheelhouse still intact. Vivid tropical flowers abound throughout the island, and Barbados’ beaches on the Caribbean Sea side of the island are marvelous. The Atlantic side has a rugged coast line.
Barbados Tourism Commercial
In my Squidoo Barbados site, I give an overview of this destination, feature some of the shore excursions, offer a traveler’s toolbox to help your pre-cruise planning, and give you photos and videos to help you see in advance some of the sights you will enjoy in Barbados. Check it out for more information.
The Bahamas is a unique blend of British and Caribbean Culture. Of the Caribbean Island Destinations, The Bahama Islands are probably the best known islands among cruisers and would be cruisers. The fact that this former British colony speaks English makes it even more popular for Americans.
The Islands Of The Bahamas Map
These islands were discovered by Columbus on his first voyage in 1492, with the first attempts at permanent settlement in the mid 1600’s. The majority of the population are descendants of the Africans brought over in the 18th century during the heavy slave trade. The Bahamas remained a part of the United Kingdom until they gained their independence in 1973.
Some Bahamian Islands As Seen From Space
Its close proximity to the United States makes it a destination for cruise ships ranging from overnight cruises from Miami, to 3, 4, 5 & 7 day Caribbean cruises passing through Nassau or Freeport in route to other destinations. The Bahamas’ beaches, casinos, and resorts seemingly are always full, especially Paradise Island & the Atlantis Hotel.
Video Of Atlantis Resort, Paradise Island, Bahamas: Click To Play
The link to Carlos Montoya’s video is no longer on YouTube. I have embedded a video of José Feliciano, the Puerto Rican musician, playing malagueña music on the Previous Post On This Site. Go back and listen to it, I am sure you will enjoy it.
The tourism videos emphasize that Antigua and Barbudaare like twin gems in a turquoise sea. This is one cruise destination you don’t want to miss, especially if you like the beaches. Antiguans say that there are 365 beaches on their island, one for every day of the year. Whether true or not, there is no lack of beaches on which to sun or bathe.
CLICK on Video To Play It
The seas around the islands are perfect for sailing and once a year, a sailing regatta is held. If you love to sail, Antigua is for you.
The English speaking natives are fun-loving and friendly. Be sure to check out the cruise excursions on your ship and don’t waste of moment of your shore time.
Over the last month I have neglected the blog posts as I have been developing a series of web sites on Caribbean Cruise Destinations which I have placed on Squidoo.Com. The links to each of the destinations has now been placed in a new link category on this blog entitled Caribbean Cruise Destinations.
Every cruise destination that is serviced by a cruise line will be included in the final product. Also, there will be summarizing sites linked to each destination for the Eastern, Western, and Southern Caribbean cruise destinations. Ultimately, there will be over 20 destinations covered. Most of these destinations are countries, but many of the cruise ships have their own islands which they have specifically developed for their clientele. These will be covered also.
I will also do summary pages here on the blog for each cruise destination. These will be done from time to time and will be linked to the sites already completed. Meanwhile, if you wish information on a particular Caribbean cruise destination, check for its link here on the site.
I will also be posting articles on each of the cruise destinations listed below and others as they are completed. Be sure to come back regularly to see what’s been posted.
As of this posting I have completed web sites for the following destinations:
Since I was born and raised in Rome Georgia, I thought it was about time I gave North Georgia some glory. Most of what I have done up to this point has dealt with my more exotic adventures and travel destinations. Check out my Rome, Georgia site when you get a chance.
Named by drawing a name out of a hat, this small North Georgia town, has a history much bigger than its size. It’s name could have been Pittsburg, Hamburg, Hillsboro, or Warsaw but Colonel Mitchell’s name of Rome was pulled out of the hat. How appropriate, because like ancient Rome, it is a city of seven hills.
Indicative of its past importance, the home of Cherokee Indian chief Major Ridge is now preserved as a part of the National Park Service’s “Trail of Tears National Historic Trail”.
The savageness with which the major part of the “Cherokee Nation” was forcefully marched to a new settlement in “Indian Country” in present day Oklahoma is a black mark on all of our Southern heritage.
Settled at the confluence of the Etowah and Oostanaula Rivers which then became the Coosa River, it had been used as a settlement for local Indians for a long time prior to the White Man’s arrival.
In this lens, I showed some of the highlights of Rome’s (and Floyd County’s) history, the local sites of interest, and it’s relationship to Rome, Italy (there is one!).
“My Trip Journal’s” platform has been called a ‘travel blog on steroids’.
“There are a number of key differences between a travel blog and a Personal Travel Website. First and foremost, while a blog is maintained for the purpose of recording opinions and thoughts, Personal Travel Websites are focused on recording the user’s experiences. This is made possible through a number of tools which allow your trip to be shared with others and preserved for posterity.”
“The mapping system distinguishes Personal Travel Websites from travel blogs by allowing travelers and their visitors to focus on what separates travel from all other endeavours: the places you’ve been and seen. Users are encouraged to add links to multiple maps and to customize those maps to focus on their own experiences. One view of any of the samples shows how this map-driven focus differs starkly from a travel blog.”
“There are also a number of archiving features not normally associated with blogging. Rather than simply maintaining your travel blog on someone else’s servers, all standard and premium customers may download an html copy of their entire site to view on their local hard drive or posted to a personal webpage. Unlike with most travel blog systems which will immediately reduce photo images to what’s needed to show on a computer screen, the photos loaded in a Personal Travel Website will be stored in their original resolution so that they may be accessed for printing later on.”
“The traveler-focused system deals with users according to their own experiences, rather than on programming terms as with travel blog systems. The places traveled are mapped specifically for the user’s own trip and no-one else’s. Image limits are not counted by the megabyte but by number of photos.”
Check out a full review at My Trip Journal Or to get your FREE My Trip Journal personal website now, click on on the photo below.
This posting follows up on the last about online travel diaries. If you are interested in starting an online travel diary or journal, check these out.
After reviewing more than a dozen different online diary/journal sites, I am listing a few that are worthy of your consideration. If you know of others, let me know.
The first three seem to me to be the most useful, and I am doing separate lenses on Squidoo.Com reviewing the first two. The others are listed with their links for you to check out on your own.
