brief history/guide about each country that we go to. Most of the
information will probably come from my global studies class.
Many of the Caribbean Islands were discovered by Columbus. The
currents between the poles and the equator allowed the ships from
Europe to be shot straight to that region. People from Africa were
brought to the islands to work on the sugar plantations as slaves.
Many of the countries have only recently become independent from
England. (the Queen's face is still on many of their monies
though). Dominica (pronounced dough-min-eee-ca) escaped this fate
because it was bypassed by the Silver Route (because of the winds/
currents) and because of the volcanic nature and rugged coasts. It is
the less than ideal place to plant sugar. Because of this, Dominica
has the largest indigenous population in the Caribbean.
They are called the Caribs (or Kalinago). Around 3,000 still exist on
the island. Most of the island is Roman Catholic and speak English
(with a very heavy accent) or a version of Creol. They have their own
money but readily accept USD. The island gets only 60,000 tourists
annually and a few cruise ships. The low number is due to the sketch
sketch airport. I saw one of them and I don't think it actually had a
building with it. It was only a 100-yard by 15-yard (if that) landing
strip.
We have studied two types of tourism that Dominica relies on: eco-
tourism (tourism of the flora, fauna, and scenery) and ethno-tourism
(tourism of the local culture). One of the problems we discussed
about the latter is that us visiting, changes the culture. Their
culture becomes an artificial performance. They put on dancing shows
and make "traditional" meals for us. But is this really how the
culture is now? Just having us there changes their communities.
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