The Caribbean, or the West Indies as it is also called, is the 1,000,000 square miles of the Caribbean Sea and the countries in it. The island surface area is 90,000 square miles. This region is bounded by the Greater Antilles in the north, by the Lesser Antilles in the east, by the coasts of Venezuela, Columbia and Panama in the south and by the eastern coasts of Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Honduras, Guatemala, Belize and the Mexican Yucatan peninsula in the west. By this definition, countries such as the Bahamas and the Turks & Caicos Islands are not in the Caribbean as they are in the Atlantic. They are, however, considered part of the Caribbean for reasons of similar culture and for being in the same tourist market. Furthermore, you can add Guyane, Suriname and Guyana to the Caribbean. These three ex-Guianas are more Caribbean than Latin American in outlook, despite being in South America. Indeed, Guyana has the only Test Cricket ground in South America - and cricket, as every Caribbean fan knows, is the greatest sport in the British West Indies.
The Caribbean offers plenty of fun in the sun year around, with very little difference in temperature from month to month. The time of year you travel may have more to do with your budget than with the weather. Prices can vary as much as 40 percent between high and low season.
Every island in the Caribbean has plentiful beaches and perfect snorkeling, but what can you do to get the most of your trip to the Caribbean? Below are a few suggestions to maximize your experiences.
Swim With the Stingrays
One of the most misunderstood sea dwellers are the sting ray. Harmless and graceful, you can snorkel alongside them at Stingray City in the Cayman Islands. Tame enough to eat from your hand, they mingle around tourists, looking for free food.
Witness Carnival
What else can be said about the biggest party in the world? Though each island has their own festivities, Trinidad is world-famous for drawing revelers from all across the globe to come, don a mask and ignore their inhibitions.
Caribbean Beaches
Caribbean is home to some of the best beaches . Caribbean Beaches are great for snorkeling, diving, swimming with the stingrays and laying out on the sand. For some the Caribbean beaches are a perfect destination for a Caribbean wedding.
St. Lucia Jazz Festival
With all the attention paid to reggae and steel drum in the islands, it's interesting to see the influence those styles have on the jazz music that finds its center in St. Lucia. Enticing visitors from all over the world, the festival is one of the most popular Caribbean attractions. For those who wish to get away from Bob Marley, if only for a few days, this is the place to do it.
Experience Haiti
The perfect island for those who want to really interact with a foreign culture. Voodoo is exotic and strangely beautiful, especially in many of its non-sacrificial rituals, while tourist crowds are almost non-existent.
Entertainment & Nights
The word ubuntu is a sub Saharan African ethic or humanist ideology that focuses on people's allegiance and relations with each other. Roughly translated it is a Zulu word meaning "unity" or "community."
This word aptly epitomizes the spirit of the African Caribbean night that was hosted by the African Caribbean society on Saturday, April 14.
This was an evening entirely dedicated in celebrating the diversity of African nations and the nations culminating the African diasporas. It created an awareness of the rich cultural heritage of African societies.
The lineup consisted of the Ole Miss African Drum and Dance Ensemble performing a dance called Borbour, displaying the rich exoticism of Ghana's traditional dances. This dance consisted of complex driving rhythms, vivacious traditional dancing as well as call and response singing.
The Ole Miss Steel Band ensemble gave us a taste of Caribbean music that was rich in bossa novas and sambas. Other acts included a lesson in broken English, performed by the African Student Association, A Nigerian poem by Lara Oyetunji, a traditional Dominican Republic heel and toe dance performed by Sarita Pollock as well as various instrumentalists.
One of the highlights of the evening was the African/Caribbean fashion show which show casted traditional clothes from around the African continent and the African Diaspora. Another showstopper included the flag ceremony, which represented flags form all over Africa.
The evening was topped off with an African Caribbean feast. The cuisine was comprised of delicacies from all over the African Diaspora. I felt that the organization was lacking a bit but overall the show was handled well.
Africa is a continent rich in different languages, traditions, dialects and cultural heritage and music. It is divided into two main regions, the Maghrib Zone, which mainly consists of countries in Northern Africa, and the Sub Saharan zone, which consists of countries in the Southern parts of Africa.
South Africa on its own has 11 official languages, some of which include indigenous languages such as Xhosa, Zulu, Venda, setswana, sepedi and Afrikaans.
Not only do African countries have a vast indigenous heritage but they also have adopted certain traditions from previous colonizers, whether it is Britain, Holland or Germany, thus making it a nation infused with an array of exotic heritages and indigenous tribal heritages.
It is a beautiful continent that is often misrepresented by American society. Africa, to many Americans, is an undiscovered continent. It is rich in natural resources, beautiful landscapes and beautiful people from different races.
It was great to see so many Americans willing to broaden their horizons by attending the African-Caribbean evening, thus enabling themselves to be educated about African cultural heritage. The evening was a success and I am truly proud to be called an African.
