Caribbean

Havana:
Dancing with Gods and Goddesses

Havana Like an untethered live wire, Havana sizzles at a single touch. Rumba music serenades the city from the balconies of colonial mansions as mango juice cups are hawked from their first floor window sills. Fiery competitions of street-corner domino games punctuate...

Panic in Puerto Rico!

The mood across the table was gloom. A heavy aura of tense suspense had descended into the living room. You could see worried expressions on our faces if there had been enough light to do so. I was staring down the length of the very last candle that flickered weakly...

Cuba: A Slow Pace of Life

Preconceptions of Cuba The pictures of Cuba highlighted in the glossy pages of my guide book show a vibrant world of flamenco dancers and multicolored 1950s cars, and yet the blisteringly hot cement building my small plane touches down outside seemed to have little in...

A Night at the Pump House Anguilla

Introducing the Pump House Anguilla Arriving at Anguilla's Pump House The music thumped as the car slowly pulled to a stop in front of the Pump House Anguilla. I was on the tiny island of Anguilla and ready to walk off some of the calorie-rich and particularly...

Learnin’ Creole in Antigua

Island Arrival I touch down at a modern airport that began life as a dusty WWII airstrip. The sole immigration officer present carefully looks over my paperwork, but waves me through with a full toothed smile and a few words in a thick local island dialect - "ya mon -...

Customs when entering The Bahamas

The Customs officers in The Bahamas were deeply suspicious of my motives for visiting their country on two separate occasions within one week. My itinerary was taking me from Grand Cayman to Montego Bay and then on to Nassau, before heading over to the Turks and...

The Sweets and More in Jamaica (video)

Why is travel to Jamaica so great? I think I have interviewed Dian Holland four or five times at the Los Angeles Travel and Adventure show in Los Angeles and it is always a good time. This interview is no different as we talk about Jamaica: it's foods, flavors and...

Cockburn Town, Grand Turk Island

Along Duke Street are some lovely restored buildings dating from around one hundred years ago with casuarina, frangipani, and Caribbean pine trees in the gardens. The sea is never far away with its clarity and light-blue colour being a constant feature all the way...

Flyin’ Solo at Sandals

Sandals Grande Antigua I bet you're like me, a traveler with a jones for the tropical getaway. So when I get the opportunity for a long weekend visit to Sandals and tell my friends about this good fortune, they ask "“ "what's a single traveler got to...

Havana Perspective

Running Through Havana A New Lens on Havana Understanding the flow of Cuban life begins at the artery of the Old City, Calle Obispo. Formed of piece-mealed cobblestone and sand (occasionally broken up to reveal new fiber-optic cable), Calle Obispo's streets run...

Skipping the Beach on Aruba Vacations

Skipping the Beach in Aruba With a threat of endangered bats bound to fly into my hair, I was not crazy about climbing the steps to the mouth of the cave. But this was the real, natural Aruba I hoped to immerse myself in, so into the hole I went found inside the...

Curacaoâ€™s Colorful Culture

Curacao's Colorful Culture The restaurant owner slipped something in my hand with a wink, and then was gone. He gifted me a little colorful coin purse with "Jaanchie's" emblazoned on the front as a thank you for savoring his food. But it...