Caribbean Sampler
8 days, 7 nights
St. Martin
Partitioned between two different nations, St. Martin/St. Maarten has been shared by the French and the Dutch for almost 350 years. The French tend to emphasize comfort and elegance; the beaches are secluded, and the latest French fashions can be found in many of the shops. Three different cultures can be experienced in one day; the remnants of Dutch colonialism in Philipsburg and French chic in Marigot, both infused with Caribbean flair.
Antigua
Antigua was discovered by accident in 1493 by Christopher Columbus. It remained, however, virtually uninhabited until 1632, when a body of English settlers took possession of it. The expansive, winding coastline that made Antigua difficult for outsiders to navigate is where today's trekkers encounter a tremendous wealth of secluded, powdery soft beaches. The fascinating little island of Barbuda, her sister island, once a scavenger's paradise because so many ships wrecked on its reefs, is now home to one of the region's most significant bird sanctuaries.
Dominca
Largely rural, uncrowded and unspoiled, Dominica touts itself as a 'non-tourist destination' for divers, hikers and naturalists-partly because it lacks those white-sand beaches so favored by holidaymakers to the Caribbean. The Dominica Museum offers an insightful glimpse into the culture and history of the Dominican people. You'll find Native American artifacts, including stone axes and other tools, adornos (Arawak clay figurines) and a gommier (Candle Tree) dugout. Informative displays delve into Carib lifestyles, Creole culture and the slave trade. There's also a collection of French and English colonial coins used on Dominica in the 18th and 19th centuries.
St. Lucia
St. Lucia is a high, green island, with a spicy history dating back to the 1550s when St Lucia's first French settler, Jambe de Bois ('Wooden Leg'), used it as a base for raiding passing Spanish ships. Tour through Pigeon Island, which is more a historical monument than a nature reserve, with ruins dating from the mid-1700s, including a fortress, barracks, and some rusting cannons. The grounds are well endowed with lofty trees, including a few big banyans, and you'll get fine views of the coast and nearby Martinique.
St. Vincent
St. Vincent & the Grenadines form a multi-island nation well known to wintering yachters, aristocrats, and rock stars, but off the beaten path for most other visitors. Despite its pockets of lotus-eating luxury, for the most part it's a refreshingly rugged and raw-edged backwater. Kingstown, the capital, is best appreciated for its West Indian culture, featuring cobblestone streets, produce vendors, the crowds at the fish market, and its stone-block colonial buildings. Kingstown is also known for its churches. The 1820's St Mary's Cathedral of the Assumption has an eclectic mix of Romanesque arches and columns, Gothic spires and Moorish ornamentation.
Martinique
Martinique is a slice of France set down in the tropics. Islanders wear Paris fashions and eat croissants. Zouk music pouring out of tape players, radios, and cars remind you, however, that Martinicans have a culture of their own, solidly based on West Indian Creole traditions. Take a lush jungle walk through Les Ombrages, a botanical garden situated at the site of what was once a rum distillery. A trail passes by stands of bamboo, tall trees with buttressed roots, torch gingers and the ruins of an old mill.
St. Barts
St. Bart's is a tiny Eden of green mountains and miniature valleys overlooking two-dozen white-sand beaches and turquoise water. Having the distinction of being the only Caribbean island the Swedes ever possessed (and then sold back to the French), St. Bart's was too dry and rocky to become a sugar plantation like its neighboring islands. Rather, it has become a remnant of ancient France, with neat little villages surrounded with centuries-old stone fences and fair-skinned farmers speaking a 17th-century Norman dialect that even Frenchmen can't understand.
St. Martin
Partitioned between two different nations, St. Martin/St. Maarten has been shared by the French and the Dutch for almost 350 years. The French tend to emphasize comfort and elegance; the beaches are secluded, and the latest French fashions can be found in many of the shops. Three different cultures can be experienced in one day; the remnants of Dutch colonialism in Philipsburg and French chic in Marigot, both infused with Caribbean flair.
