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.

Qatar

On the Corniche with the cityscape behind me Country Information: The capital of Qatar is Doha. About 3+ million people live here. The official state religion is Islam. Its official languages are Arabic and English, though Urdu, French, Malayalam, and Tagalog are also...

Malawi

Country Information: The capital of Malawi is Lilongwe and the country’s population is about 20 million. The official language in Malawi is English, however another language called Chichewa (also called Chewa) is also spoken here. The primary religions in Malawi are...

Costa Rica

At Peninsula Papagayo, outside of Liberia, Costa Rica Country Information:  The Republic of Costa Rica literally means “Rich Coast"!  It was founded in 1821 and its main language is Spanish. About 6 million people live here, with almost a million people in the...