11 Nights | Caribbean/Bahamas
You will visit the following 6 places:
Oranjestad
Oranjestad, known as ("Orange Town"), is the capital and largest city of Aruba. In the local language, Papiamento, Oranjestad is also often referred to simply as "Playa". The city consists of hundreds of local stores where tourists usually buy their keepsakes. The city is also home to some of the island's local residents and also many governmental buildings. Along the main "drag" (Sasakiweg street) you will find most tourist walking around and shopping and can also see the cruise ships that bring more and more external tourism into the island everyday. Close to the cruise ships is the island's largest marina where you can find great docking space for your vessel.
Willemstad
Willemstad is the capital city of Curaçao, an island in the southern Caribbean Sea that forms a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. Formerly the capital of the Netherlands Antilles prior to its dissolution in 2010, it has an estimated population of 150,000. Willemstad is home to the Curaçao synagogue, the oldest surviving synagogue in the Americas.
Fort Lauderdale
Fort Lauderdale is a city in the U.S. state of Florida, 28 miles (45 km) north of Miami. The city is a popular tourist destination, with an average year-round temperature of 75.5 °F (24.2 °C), and 3,000 hours of sunshine per year. Greater Fort Lauderdale which takes in all of Broward County hosted 12 million visitors in 2012, including 2.8 million international visitors. The district has 561 hotels and motels comprising nearly 35,000 rooms. Greater Fort Lauderdale has over 4,000 restaurants, 63 golf courses, 12 shopping malls, 16 museums, 132 nightclubs, 278 parkland campsites, and 100 marinas housing 45,000 resident yachts. Fort Lauderdale is named after a series of forts built by the United States during the Second Seminole War. The forts took their name from Major William Lauderdale (1782–1838), younger brother of Lieutenant Colonel James Lauderdale. William Lauderdale was the commander of the detachment of soldiers who built the first fort.
Cartagena
Cartagena is Colombia's most famous tourist destination on the Caribbean coast. The city is renowned for its colonial and colourful architecture. With a tropical climate, the city is also a popular beach destination. The city was founded on June 1, 1533, and named after Cartagena, Spain, itself after the original Carthage in Tunisia. However, settlement in this region around Cartagena Bay by various indigenous people dates back to 4000 BC. During the colonial period Cartagena served a key role in administration and expansion of the Spanish empire. It was a center of political and economic activity due to the presence of royalty and wealthy viceroys. In 1984 Cartagena's colonial walled city and fortress were designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Puerto Limón
Puerto Limón, commonly known as Limón (Spanish for "lemon"), is the capital city and main hub of Limón province, as well as of the cantón (county) of Limón in Costa Rica. It is the sixth-largest city in Costa Rica, with a population of over 55,000 (including surrounding towns), and is home of a multicultural community. Part of the community traces its roots to Italian, Jamaican and Chinese laborers who worked on a late nineteenth-century railroad project that connected San José to Puerto Limón. Until 1948, the Costa Rican government did not recognize Afro-Caribbean people as citizens and restricted their movement outside Limón province. As a result of this "travel ban", this Afro-Caribbean population became firmly established in the region, which influenced the decision to not move even after it was legally permitted. Nowadays, there is an important outflow of Limón natives who move to the country's Central Valley in search for better employment and education. The Afro-Caribbean community speaks Spanish and Limonese Creole, a creole of English.
Colon
Colón is a Panamanian city and sea port beside the Caribbean Sea, lying near the Atlanticentrance to the Panama Canal. It is the capital of Panama's Colón Province and has traditionally been known as Panama'ssecond city. Originally, it was located entirely on Manzanillo Island, surrounded by Limon Bay, Manzanillo Bay and the Folks River, but, since the disestablishment of the Panama Canal Zone, the city's limits have been redefined to include Fort Gulick, a former U.S. Army base, as well the former Canal Zone towns of Cristobal, Margarita and Coco Solo.
