Antigua and Barbuda

Country Information:

Christopher Columbus came to Antigua in 1493 and the Spanish settlers grew sugarcane and tobacco there. It was colonized by the British in 1632 and remained a British possession until 1981.

Jim’s Perspectives:

In 1993, my wife (who I was then dating) and I took a cruise on Royal Caribbean’s Monarch of the Seas and we had a wonderful time. Went snorkeling and toured through the market in Martinique, and then went to a beach party in Antigua. The island of Antigua has the nickname “The island of 365 beaches” because they have so many beautiful beaches. And I can verify that we saw a few really pretty ones while there!

Our next stop was in St. Maarten and hung out on the beautiful beaches on the French side (in St. Martin). Note: I was so impressed by the beautiful beaches in St. Martin in 1993, that 4 years later I booked St. Martin for one of our stops on our honeymoon! Afterwards, our next stop was Barbados where we walked down their unspoiled white-sand beaches and checked out the caves.

Niger

Zarma kids and community Country Information:  Niger, also known as the Republic of Niger is named after the Niger river. About 24 million people live here and the capital is Niamey. Over ninety percent of the population is Sunni Islam. The official language is...

Guinea

Typical street scape in Guinea Country Background: The capital is Conakry and the official language is French. About 14 million people live here and the main religion is Islam, though there is a small Christian population. Guinea’s top exports are gold, aluminum ore,...

Spain

At Las Ramblas in Barcelona I think I've been to Spain more than any other country in the world (excluding Mexico, Jamaica and the Bahamas, Costa Rica, where I used to work.) I spent two summer studying Spanish in the coastal city of Malaga, and have traveled through...