World music lovers listen up and get ready to pen this one on your festival calendar if you haven’t already. On May 25-27, 2007 a beach not quite as well known to the world as those on the neighboring country will play host to the Haiti’s first international music festival.
Jacmel is just 25 miles south of the country’s turbulent capital and yet worlds away from the headlines that too often keep visitors away from the country as a whole. Festival Mizik Jakmel will include 24 bands from across the globe with Stephen and Damien “Junior Gong” Marley headlining the free event. In addition to the live shows parallel events include a tourism conference, art events and workshops. An attempt to break the Guinness World Record for the largest drumming ensemble will also take place. As of now India currently holds the title by having 7,951 people drumming continuously for five minutes in 2006. The organizers of Festival Mizik Jakmel are hoping to have 10,000 in attendance and anyone is welcome to bring a drum and join – though you might want to register online first. For complete details I suggest swinging over to the official event website and if you can’t quite make it or find an affordable ticket to the island look into other ways to join in from afar.
World’s Best Active Beaches
Living in South Florida, we head to the beach a lot. I love relaxing on the sand, in the sun, with a beer on one side, a dog on the other, and a magazine with lots of pictures in front of me. Occasionally, I gaze out at the paragliders and envy them their active lifestyles. Then, I take a long, slow sip of my cold drink and remember why I came to the beach. Yes… relaxing on the sand is wonderful.
If you’re among the people who thinks cooling it on the sand is boring, and you’re rather get up and DO something, you need to check out Concierge’s list of 11 Totally Active Beaches and their attendant activities, which includes:
- Scuba diving in Turks & Caicos
- Kiteboarding in Essaouira, Morocco
- Sea Kayaking in San Blas Islands, Panama
- Surfing in Bali, Indonesia
- Hiking in Washington State
- Mountain biking in Dominica
- Sailing in Captiva Island, Florida
- Fly fishing in Isla Holbox, Mexico
- Golf in Dubai, United Arab Emirates
- Wakeboarding/Waterskiing in Dubai, United Arab Emirates
- Tennis in Kiawah Island, South Carolina
To the list, I’d like to include whale watching in Hermanus, South Africa. Although it sounds passive, it can be a very active endeavor.
St. Lucia There & Back Part 3: Rodney Bay Beach
Rodney Bay Beach is like most beautiful tropical beaches and I did what most people do when vacationing near a beach so you can imagine how tough it is for me to divulge every single minute of my wading in crystal clear cool Caribbean waters between working on becoming a golden honey color on the sand. I’d seriously sound like a spoiled hag to sit here and tell you how I sipped on piña coladas and made jokes with the local guys begging for me to join them on one of their jet ski’s while you were more than likely slaving away in some stiff office environment flirting with deadlines and fire-breathing bosses hanging over your back. Then again this could come as a source of inspiration for all of the many Americans who fail to take a little time off from the office. With that being said I will provide you with some Rodney Bay Beach basics.
Rodney Bay doesn’t exactly stretch for miles on end, but for the proximate mile you get you’re bound to be sharing your little piece of paradise with several other vacationing tourists. For the most part the beach isn’t so jam-packed that it can’t accommodate your own beach chair and umbrella, but you can count on making friends. If you happen to be visiting the island single (ladies) all the boys working the beach offering boat rides, parasailing adventures, jet ski rides and the opportunity to see life under water while snorkeling or scuba diving are bound to be a little flirty and offer a discounted rate. If you happen to be a honeymooning couple they’ll offer just the same, but with a little less charm and for full price.
During my stay I actually didn’t spend a huge amount of my time at the beach. Two days is enough for me before I start mixing things up and venturing to other parts of the island. Most people found lazing on the soft sand with a deck of cards, building sand castles and munching on a few snacks for five or more days the only way to do it in Saint Lucia. That too is totally cool. Anything goes really. When I got antsy I took off on a beach photo safari and here is just a little of what I happened to capture between my two days spent relaxing and listening to the sounds of my reggae tunes found in my iPod. Feel free to use these as suggested methods to making the most of your stay or create an adventure of your own.
Should one choose to spring into action and cruise a couple of waves there are tons of options and ways to go for it!
Or you can simply contemplate quitting your job back home and moving to St. Lucia to live peacefully as you walk down the entire stretch of the beach.
Once you reach one end where the sand disappears and the waves begin crashing against the rocks instead you can sit for a moment before walking down to the other end.
When you’ve reached the opposite end you might consider finding a good spot to kick back for a while and drift off for a beach nap.
If you’re too hyped to be in Saint Lucia to sleep you can read the latest and greatest novel on all the book sellers lists.
But when the Fruit Man comes in you should probably get your EC (local currency) ready to buy fresh fruits and juice.
Just be sure you do your part in holding his boat while he slices up your fresh n’ fruity goods or he might just float back into the sea.
If you’ve got a camera in tow and a few filters to play with you can alter the look of your destination by attempting to make it look dreamier. I tried to, but it didn’t quite hit the mark.
Rodney Bay Beach is located on the northern part of the island and is a prime tourist area. There are tons of restaurants, bars, shops, hotels and nightlife to keep almost everyone busy for at least three or four days.
Get Lost in Bermuda
When you’re talking the ABC’s of the Caribbean islands the ‘B’ usually stands for Bonaire or some might say Barbados or the Bahamas, but today it stands for Bermuda. Why Bermuda and why today? Well I recently found this story from the Baltimore Sun online on one man’s journey to the island dominated by shades of pink and super nice sandy beaches that seems very much worth your attention whether you are an island lover or not. The author, Robert Cross, warns us almost immediately that he is not fond of beaches with a lot of hype and despite all of what he’d heard he decided to go anyway. Turned out it was his luck and in his story he points other perspective travelers beyond the beach to nice places to eat, sleep and peep the local history scene. I never gave Bermuda a whole lot of thought, but after reading through his tale it is safe to say I wouldn’t mind going maybe. I like beaches with tons of hype or none at all. Isn’t it time you got lost in Bermuda too?
Ibizabound Blog
Although this Ibizabound site is the creation of an independent real estate broker agency there are still some pretty good bits and chunks to pick off of their blog. Now, the entire site would definitely be a good resource if you were considering spending a month or two on the island this summer, but don’t feel as though their wanting to help interested parties do such distracts from the blog. I took a fairly lengthy tour of the site and read through many of the blog entries to make sure they had some nugget of good for a traveler trying to score a good meal or simply learn what’s happening with the upcoming 2007 Ibiza Film Festival. And since Ibiza is also known for partying on the beach, in the club and after-after hours, they’ve done the favor of making sure to include some club coverage. Overall it still looks like a pretty new work, but if they keep things up they should have a nice site going both with the blogging and the select real estate offered.