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.

Hospitality Coin #15 – Owadan Tourism, Turkmenistan

Jabbar Ustad lives in Ashgabat with his wife and two sons and is working as a tour guide for Owadan Tourism in Turkmenistan.He was born in a refugee family in Shibirghan, Afghanistan in 1959.His family was a victim of Stalin's Collectivisation Program of the Soviet...

Japan

Fish market & fish and egg shrine   The Japanese people I met sensed that something was wrong with the world. Why?  Because the cherry blossoms were blooming during the wrong time of year (during the “snow” season), and because typhoons were occurring more...

Zimbabwe

Spectacular Victoria Falls from the air (helicopter) Country Information: The capital of Zimbabwe is Harare. There are approximately 16 million people living here. There are 15 official languages. Shona and Ndebele are the most widely spoken, with English as the...