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.

Benin

Note the yellow shirt ... this is what the motorcycle taxi drivers wear here Country Background: The capital of Benin is Porto Novo. There are approximately 11 million people living in this beautiful coastal country. The official language of Benin is French, but Fon...

Kosovo

Beautiful mountain vistas in Kosovo Downtown Prizren in Kosovo In 2015, we drove through much of Kosovo and overnighted in Prizren, a quaint and attractive historic city located on the banks of the Bistrica river, and on the slopes of the Šar Mountains in the southern...

Solomon Islands

Country Information:  The tropical Solomon Islands temperatures are wet and warm year-round. The name comes from King Solomon de Mendana, the nephew of a former Peruvian governor. About 700,000 people live here. The islands gained independence in 1978 from Britain and...