Historical/Background Info:
Just as St Bart’s, Christopher Columbus first sighted this island in 1493 and also named the island, “Jouanacaera-Matinio”. Later in 1502 he renamed the island “Martinicia” and finally because of the influence of the neighboring island of Dominica, it was changed to Martinique. Prior to Columbus’s arrival the island was inhabited by 3 different Indian groups, each killing off the other. Taino’s were the residents when Columbus arrived. Even though Columbus chartered the island in 1493, Spain had no interest in it. In 1635 150 French landed here after being driven of St Lucia by the English. This began years of fighting off the indigenous Indians and English. The English controlled the island from 1794 to 1815 when it, like St Barts, was traded back to the French and remains under there control today.
 Martinique is located in the Caribbean Sea’s chain of islands called the Antilles. It is 280 miles from the coast of South America and 444 miles from Puerto Rico, lying between the islands of Dominica and St Lucia. (We have been to most all the Caribbean islands on past cruises including Martinique) As with the other islands, Martinique was formed by volcanoes. The highest point is Mont Pelee, at 4,583 feet. It last erupted in 1902 killing 28,000 people in just 2 minutes. It is still an active volcano. Like the other volcanic islands its terrain is very rugged. It is the 3rd largest island in the Lesser Antilles at 420 square miles and a population of over 386,000.
Prior to the 21st century Martinique’s economy relied on agriculture. Sugar production has now declined and is used mostly in the production of rum. Bananas are mostly exported to France now. Most of the meat, grain, and vegetables must now be imported. Tourism is now their economic driver. The people here are mostly descendants from the enslaved Africans who were brought here to work on the sugar plantations. 95% are Roman Catholic. The north side of the island is dominated by volcanoes and the north coast beaches are a gray-black sand. The north received most of the rain so the terrain is mostly rainforests covering the volcanoes. The south side is more easily traveled with pristine, white sand beaches (again some nude). Currency is again the euro.
This afternoon we are docked at Fort De France, the capital of Martinique. As it is Sunday, most of the shops are closed. But starting at 3:00 pm there is a "Carnival" parade in town with Carnival rhythms of street bands.
What We Did Today:
At 9:15 this morning we attended an interdenominational church service which was led by the cruise director, Jamie, and his wife, Dana. After that we went up to La Veranda buffet for breakfast. It is a Sunday tradition on Regent to have champagne and caviar at breakfast.
After breakfast we did out usual workout in the fitness center. I then did some work on this posting prior to going up for some lunch. We had burgers from the pool grill. No bun for Rebecca however. The hamburgers are probably best I have ever eaten. I could eat one every day but too much other good foods to try.
Most of the passengers are off the ship doing excursions this afternoon so it is very peaceful here on board. We are not doing any excursions today. I took the following photos from the upper deck.
The following 15 photos were taken this afternoon of the Fort De France "carnival" parade.
Tomorrow I will be going on an 8 hour excursion, "Discover Grenada". Rebecca cancelled out.
****I highly recommend you click on the above photos to enlarge them for better viewing.
Glad Jamie is still leading the interdenominational church services. Is he holding his small daily devotions on sea days? We found them to be thoughtful dissuasion and bonded wit
ReplyDelete