For visitors to the
Caribbean, whichever island or mainland country they choose, wherever they stay or
whatever they do, the heritage of Africa is a constant heartbeat.
It was brought across the Atlantic centuries ago with the monstrous
evil of slavery and has been fiercely protected ever since - preserved in songs and
stories, rituals and speech patterns, food and folk medicine.
Africa confronted Europeans who settled and fought over the
Caribbean. It merged with them and changed but was never extinguished. A new music of life
was created with what one Caribbean scholar has called "the melody of Europe, and the
rhythm of Africa".
Come to the Caribbean and you'll find Africa not just in our faces,
the lilt of our speech, or the wisdom and humour of our proverbs. It's in the earthy,
spicy, slow-cooked food we share. It's in the simple beauty of a roadside woodcarving and
the riot of colour in a painting or a house-front. You'll hear it in our music and see it
in the way we walk.
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There are memorable
sights and experiences scattered across the Caribbean. Visit plantations fed by slavery,
from the Virgin Islands to the Netherlands Antilles. The stark, white stone slave houses
of Bonaire are unforgettable. So is Haiti's Citadelle, where citizens of the world's first
black republic constructed a magnificent fortress. Curaçao's Kurá Hulanda Museum takes a
step beyond, with the re-created hold of a slave ship and priceless art and artefacts from
Africa -including an entire city gate – from as far back as 500 BC.
Carnival is inseparable from Africa. Throughout the Caribbean,
carnivals and festivals explode at different times. Trinidad's is legendary and there's
jumping room only. Tobago's Heritage Festival, the Dominican Republic's carnival, St
Lucia's Creole Day, Fête des Cuisinières in Guadeloupe and Crop Over in Barbados are
unique variations on a deeply Caribbean theme - celebrate before you have to repent and
commemorate lest you forget.
For generations, the pain that brought Africa to the Caribbean
resulted in a deep reluctance to talk about the past. That is no longer true. The leaders
of slave revolts are national heroes. So are Caribbean nationals such as Marcus Garvey,
Frantz Fanon and Bob Marley, who celebrated African consciousness far beyond the region.
For visitors, this means even more choice in a region of choices - of
festivals and feasts, historic sites and herb gardens, and a world of fascinating people. |
Beautiful
new secluded villa on the north coast of Jamaica
Visit the Twin
Peaks St. Lucia
Incredible
under priced mansion: $27 Million villa rents for $250 per person per night
Ocho
Rios presents one of the top tourist attractions in the Caribbean
Generally, the Caribbean is painted as a territory where the radiant sun and
frolicky surf determine the day's activities and overall lifestyle. It is proven that
there is a lot going on. Adventure awaits. There is much to do, investigate, even on the
smallest isle, so much so that you may indeed have to resign to a hammock at the day's end
to kick back and examine your accomplishments. 
