Puerto Rico: The Coastal Road to Loíza, 1984

From San Juan there is a coastal road that goes east and eventually winds up at the town of Loíza, which is known for its Afro-Puerto Rican traditions. One of the best known of these is the feast of Santiago Apóstol (St. James the Apostle), that takes place at the end of July. There are various religious practices that take place during this feast, such as prayers and a parade that features masks and costumes called vejigantes and the performance of an African-inspired dance and music tradition called the bomba.

Back in 1984, when I first visited Loíza, the road from San Juan was a narrow lane of asphalt that ended at the river with a hand-pulled ferry. The ropes extended across the Loíza River and the workers pulled furiously at them to move the metal ferryboat across the river. Since that time the road from San Juan to Loíza has been widened to two well-marked lanes and the metal ferryboat, known as an ancón, has been retired and replaced by a bridge.

See my webpage on Puerto Rico at http://www.latinandcaribbeantravel.com/puertorico.html

Colombia: Irotama Hotel near Santa Marta, 1998

In 1998 we took a vacation to Santa Marta, which is a Caribbean destination on the north coast of Colombia. Though Santa Marta was founded in 1525, earlier than nearby Cartagena (1533), it doesn't have the colonial character of Cartagena but has other attractions, particularly its coast, which is influenced by nearby mountains. To the east of Santa Marta is Parque Tayrona, one of Colombia's national parks, which has areas of natural and archaeological interest.

The main beach area is south and west of Santa Marta proper, in an area called El Rodadero, which has most of the tourist-oriented amenities and hotels. Further west and removed from the El Rodadero area is the Hotel Irotama. It faces a nice beach and also has this beautiful swimming pool.

See my webpage on Colombia at http://www.latinandcaribbeantravel.com/colombia.html

Mexico: On the heels of the Pope in Puebla, 1979

I had just arrived in Mexico City in mid-January 1979, the first time I had left the United States. I had studied Spanish for 5-1/2 years total but could barely speak it. The International Department at the Universidad Iberoamericana in Mexico City offered a series of day trips for us foreign students during the semester, and the first one that I recall was to Puebla. Shortly before, I had heard a radio broadcast in Spanish of Pope John Paul II's arrival in Mexico City and all I recall understanding were the words "The Pope" in Spanish: "El Papa....El Papa....El Papa...." and so on.

The school's trip took place roughly around the same time as the Pope's visit. I was taking in everything I saw. The signs for the toll road from Mexico City to Puebla had the words "Cuota" (meaning toll) on them. The road passed close to the twin volcanoes Iztaccíhuatl and Popocatépetl, which were about midway between Mexico City and Puebla. By the time we got to the downtown of Puebla, we noticed that it resembled a typical Mexican town much more than the bustling capital did.

My mind is foggy regarding the sequence of events, but among them were visiting Puebla's cathedral (pictured on the right) and its magnificent golden interior, eating at an outdoor cafe, observing the activity in the public square, walking down a few side streets, and seeing a blind man who was by the street playing guitar and hoping to get some coins from the bystanders.

See my webpage on Mexico at http://www.latinandcaribbeantravel.com/mexico.html

Bermuda: An "Unscheduled Stop," 2006

In September 2006 I was on my way to Trinidad, with the first leg of the trip being an American Airlines flight from Philadelphia to San Juan. We were an hour into the flight, roughly at 10 AM, when the pilot announced that the plane had a problem with its electrical system and that we would have to make an emergency landing on Bermuda.








We sat on the runway for two hours while the mechanics tried to fix the electrical problem. We knew little of what was going on, and as it turned out, one of the passengers and one of the flight attendants got into an argument and a woman from the Bermuda ground crew had to board the plane to calm things down.

Shortly afterwards, we were let out of the plane to occupy two waiting rooms in the Bermuda airport. We were given sandwiches and sodas to calm our hunger. In the meantime the flight crew was flown out of Bermuda, roughly at 1:30 PM, and the rest of us waited for a new plane and a new flight crew to arrive.




When the last flight left Bermuda at 3:00 PM, we were allowed to occupy the second floor as well, and the snack bars and shops were left open. We couldn't leave the airport to enjoy Bermuda, but we were given meal vouchers, were able to access the Internet if we wanted to pay for that service, and of course shopped. We had to content ourselves with looking out the window to get a sense of Bermuda's beauty.

Finally, at about 7:30 PM, the flight arrived to take us to San Juan and make the necessary changes in our flight itineraries. (We were made to go through customs in San Juan because we left US territory in our brief stay in Bermuda's airport.) As we left Bermuda, the Bermudian airport employees, in their British-sounding accents, said that they would remember this "diversion."

Visit my webpage on the Caribbean at http://www.latinandcaribbeantravel.com/caribbean.html

Caribbean: St. Eustatius (Statia), Netherlands Antilles, 2002

This is a view from Fort Oranje, which is in the center of the town Oranjestad on the island of St. Eustatius, or Statia, part of the Dutch Windward Islands which also includes St. Maarten (Dutch side) and Saba. The fort faces the Caribbean side of the island.

Statia used to be a lucrative port in colonial times and as such has some interesting historical buildings (such as a synagogue) aside from the fort. Statia is said to be the first area ever to salute a ship representing the United States of America. The fort has a plaque indicating this event, though it is suspected that history has exaggerated the importance of the signal; it may not have been specifically to recognize the new republic but simply to exchange communication with the vessel.




The British, supposedly in retaliation for the signal to the American ship, sacked this island in 1781 and as its economy never recovered, it became a sleepy place. It certainly is one of the quietest Caribbean islands I've ever been to. Part of the reason for its present-day quietness is that the island is reached by prop plane and the crosswinds are strong when one of these planes goes to land. Statia appeals mainly to divers and the main beach never was rebuilt after Hurricane Lenny washed it away.

The beach on the Caribbean side also has ruins of warehouses that were built during this same colonial era (left). There are beaches on the Atlantic side, but the surf is rough there and swimming is not recommended.





Aside from diving, the island also has an extinct volcano known as The Quill, which has several hiking trails around it (a guide is recommended). Though I didn't stay long enough to hike up the volcano, I drove as far south as I could on Statia and passed the volcano on my left.

I took this photo at the end of the road on the southern part of the island. This area was really quiet as there are no buildings around it and I was the only one in the area. The nearby island of St. Kitts can be seen in the distance.

Visit my webpage on the Caribbean at http://www.latinandcaribbeantravel.com/caribbean.html

Mexico: Jorge Negrete, "El Charro Cantor"

Mexico had a "Golden Age" of cinema that reached its highest expression in the 40s and the 50s. One of the best-known of its stars was Jorge Negrete, who epitomized the image of the "charro cantor," or Mexican singing cowboy, and was the first mariachi star to achieve lasting international fame. He had a voice that could be categorized as a tenor who could sing with depth and power, or a baritone who could reach high notes and still retain a rich vocal quality. His life came to an untimely end in 1953 at the age of 42, when he succumbed to liver disease, which started with a hepatitis C infection in New York years earlier and eventually resurfaced.

There are plenty of blogs and websites that relate information about Negrete, so I won't try to repeat what is shared there, but there are a lot of anecdotes about his life that aren't necessarily written down anywhere, or if they are, they're not in the most obvious places. Of course, a lot of the information is written in Spanish and not translated, so some of what I write will be things that I don't believe are translated anywhere. In between my blogs of travels I'll add some information about Negrete and other actors/singers of that era, and hint at what value they have for those interested in Latin America and its culture.

The photo is from a website in Spanish not only about Negrete, but also about his daughter Diana and grandsons Rafael and Lorenzo, all of whom sing and through their song promote his legacy while at the same time pursue their own creative paths. When they sing together, they are known as "La Dinastia Negrete" (The Negrete Dynasty). The website is http://www.geocities.com/homenaje_jorgenegrete/ and has links to similar sites (a few are inactive), including an excellent site on Mexican cinema, http://cinemexicano.mty.itesm.mx.

If you search on Jorge Negrete on YouTube, you can find several posts with his songs and/or interesting footage.

Caribbean: Musicians on St. Martin, 2002

In 2002 I traveled to the island of St. Martin, which is shared by the French and Dutch. My goal was to look for people who were involved in music and dance traditions. One person I was fortunate to meet was Carlson Velasquez, who has spent nearly all of his life there; he was born in Aruba but was taken to St. Martin by his family when he was six months old.

Carlson is one of a generation who learned the guitar and its Cuban cousin, the tres, from other island musicians. Their repertoire includes music from the Caribbean islands, including the Spanish-speaking ones, as well as old-time American country music and religious songs. The style of music reminds people of Cuban musicians such as Compay Segundo and others from the Buena Vista Social Club. The photo shows Carlson with his resonator guitar.

Carlson also makes a bass instrument called the marimba, not the same as the marimba from Guatemala and other Central American countries. The Caribbean-style marimba comes from a smaller African instrument called the kalimba, which consists of a number of metal tongs attached to a resonator box. This instrument is still used in folk bands in different parts of the Caribbean.

See my webpage on the Caribbean at http://www.latinandcaribbeantravel.com/caribbean.html