Travelrific® Travel Journal
Picture postcards in prose.™ Check out the blogroll on the front page for official merchandise and other resources!Archive for caribbean
To the Top in St. Kitts
By Linda Tancs
Mount Liamuiga is a 3,792-foot-high stratovolcano forming the western part of the island of Saint Kitts. As the highest point in the Federation of Saint Kitts and Nevis and the entire British Leeward Islands, it’s a favorite trek for hikers who will be rewarded with panoramic views. A bit arduous, the climb is not for the faint of heart. But along the way you’ll see waterfalls, a tropical rainforest and the cloud forest at higher elevations. Consider a guided rain forest tour for an opportunity to explore and spot colorful hummingbirds, lizards, mongooses and monkeys indigenous to the island.
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Mount Scenery
By Linda Tancs
Mount Scenery is the highest point on the Dutch Caribbean island of Saba. Its name may be a bit of a misnomer, though, considering that the view from the top is often obscured by clouds. But don’t let that stop you from hiking to the summit. The newest hiking path, the Elfin Forest Trail, follows historical footpaths that Saban farmers took to their plantations. Just below the summit, the trail connects to the Mount Scenery Trail. Throughout the trek, you’ll experience the diverse flora that inhabits the landscape, like ferns, bromeliads, air plants and orchids growing on tree trunks in the tropical rainforest environment of the Elfin forest. On the lower slopes, you’ll find secondary rainforests, dry evergreen forests and grassy meadows closer to the sea. A popular option is to hike up the Elfin Forest Trail and descend on the Mount Scenery Trail.
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To limit the spread of COVID-19, attractions may be closed or have partial closures. Please keep those affected by the virus in your thoughts and be sure to follow the safety practices advocated by the Centers for Disease Control. Stay safe, and be well.
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Christmas Lights in Cuba
By Linda Tancs
Arguably Cuba’s most famous fireworks festival, Las Parrandas is a nationwide street party culminating at Christmas Eve with spectacular fireworks accompanied by lighted floats, dancing and parades. The festival originated in Remedios, one of the country’s oldest cities, initiated (as the story goes) by a priest who commissioned the local youth to make a joyful noise in the streets to entice churchgoers in the weeks leading up to Christmas. This beautiful colonial town also has a museum where photos, documents and handmade objects linked to the festivities are preserved.
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To limit the spread of COVID-19, attractions may be closed or have partial closures. Please keep those affected by the virus in your thoughts and be sure to follow the safety practices advocated by the Centers for Disease Control. Stay safe, and be well.
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Leeward in St. Vincent
By Linda Tancs
Picturesque falls, petroglyphs and natural anchorages are some of the features of the leeward side of St. Vincent. And then there are the pirates—the fictional kind, that is. Wallilabou Bay, a port of entry for visiting yachts, is the site where the opening scene of Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl was filmed. Parts of the set remain to the delight of aficionados of the film franchise.
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As coronavirus proceeds, it is likely that the vast majority of us will be limited in our travels. But this, too, shall pass. Our love for travel remains, so Travelrific will continue offering travel inspiration in this medium. Please keep those affected by the virus in your thoughts and be sure to follow the safety practices advocated by the Centers for Disease Control. Stay safe, and be well.
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Landsailing in Bonaire
By Linda Tancs
Part of the Dutch Caribbean, Bonaire offers activities galore, like biking, birdwatching, caving, hiking, and most auspiciously, diving (with 86 dive sites). Given the popularity of underwater adventures, you might not be as familiar with landsailing on the island. That takes place on a seaside track with a three-wheeled cart (blokart, in Dutch) sporting a sail. You won’t be speeding around like an Indy driver, but you’ll get some wind in your sail with speeds that can top 40 miles per hour in strong winds.
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Eating Well in St. Barth’s
By Linda Tancs
There’s no shortage of Caribbean islands vying for the title “gourmet capital of the Caribbean.” St. Barth’s (Saint Barthélemy), a French island in the West Indies, is no less a contender. Graduates of the best hotel schools in France, many of the chefs on the island are experts at classic French cuisine. No wonder, then, that fine dining is a passion there. So is food shopping. In fact, the locals say that grocery shopping should be treated like a event, not a chore, and there are plenty of grocery shops dotting the island to buy a baguette or two. Most visitors arrive by air, which is an event in itself; the landing runway is 2,170 feet long, and the approach is often plagued by varying degrees of turbulence. As a result, the French aviation authorities require special training for any pilot who intends to land there.
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Moon Dance
By Linda Tancs
Since ancient times, full moons have been associated with strange behavior. So imagine the fun at a full moon party—as the name implies, it’s a party that takes place once (or more) each month during the full moon. It’s a cherished event at places like Trellis Bay in the British Virgin Islands, not that you need an excuse, of course, to dance and have fun on a beach in the Caribbean. Calypso music wafts through the night, punctuated by fire and stilt dancers as well as giant metal fire balls. As the song goes, it’s a marvelous night for a moon dance.
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Plumbing the Depths in Curaçao
By Linda Tancs
Would you like to dive without the gear? If so, then head to Curaçao for your choice of submarine tours. Curasub is the island’s certified mini-submarine for tourists. It descends four times a day from Bapor Kibra to nearly 1,000 feet. Fish, coral and old shipwrecks on the way down are perfectly visible in the crystal clear waters, where passengers have a clear view with visibility of over 60 feet. Reservations are required.
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Park Country
By Linda Tancs
Chances are, if you’ve visited St. John in the U.S. Virgin Islands, then you’ve encountered Virgin Islands National Park. That’s because two-thirds of the island is parkland, with key attractions like Annaberg Plantation and Trunk Bay in its borders. With so much area to explore, you needn’t fear going it alone. Ranger-guided tours abound in the park, covering hikes, shore walks, bird walks and even snorkel tours. The Reef Bay Trail is a year round hiking tour, where the island’s oldest and tallest trees are found amidst sugar plantation ruins, stone walls from cattle grazing and ancient rock carvings left behind by the pre-Colombian Taino. The L’Esperance Hike (available November thru April) follows an old Danish road that leads to a scenic transition from shady tropical forest to a desert-like landscape. Along the way you’ll find the island’s only baobab, a sacred tree species that was brought to the Caribbean by enslaved Africans. Both hikes end with a 40-minute boat ride back to the Cruz Bay Visitor Center.
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A Community Under the Sea
By Linda Tancs
Virgin Islands Coral Reef National Monument includes federal submerged lands off the island of St. John supporting a diverse and complex system of coral reefs and other ecosystems such as shoreline mangrove forests and seagrass beds. In fact, an area within the monument known as Hurricane Hole includes some of the least disturbed mangrove ecosystems remaining in the U.S. Virgin Islands. Mangroves act as nurseries for grunts and other fish like queen angelfish and gray snappers. St. John is accessible via ferry service from St. Thomas. Once on St. John, the only part of the monument accessible by land is in Hurricane Hole. To get there, follow route 10 from Cruz Bay to Estate Hermitage. The majority of the monument extends eastward from Borck Creek to Haulover Bay along the southern shoreline of the island.
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