Explore the West Indies

Travel Writing from The Bahamas to Saint Lucia

The West Indies is a long string of three major island archipelagos that arc out from Florida to Venezuala, separating the Atlantic and the Caribbean Sea. Often misunderstood, often falsely portrayed, the West Indies is a rich, diverse and huge region.

The West Indies, an old Spanish phrase to describe the islands of the Caribbean Basin, is often used both a geographical region and a set of common cultures.

The West Indies also remind us, in the form of hurricanes and flooding and vanishing reefs, that the twentieth century is over, and the world and it's problems are becoming more about fish stocks and mangroves and sea level.

Follow me as I explore the islands of the West Indies.

Sancti Spiritus and the Psychedelic Flyer

Through Colonial towns, mangrove forests and Caribbean jungle, I seek the Pedorrera.
Habana Vieja and the Little Farter

In pursuit of the multicolored Pedorrera, I begin my quest in the historic center of Havana, Cuba.
Bahamian Dry Forest Journal

Notes and sketches of the Bahamian coppice forests particular to the northern islands.
Wreckers, Pineapples and Pirates

Notes on the history of the lovely Bahamian island of Green Turtle Cay - pirates included.
Little Abaco to
Sandy Point

Notes from my travels throughout the backroads of the Abaco Islands.
Guana and the Wings to the Storm

The Bakers Bay controversy unfolds on Guana Cay, as locals fight for their way of life.
Eyes of the
West Indies

I meet with locals on Guana Cay, as they are about to embark on a battle against a developer.
The Botanical History
of Saint Lucia

St. Lucia's botanical history tells much about the history of the West Indies.

Coral Reefs and Development

Case Study

In a refutation of a case study about the Bakers Bay golf course, I offer readers an up-to-date view on the issue of protecting coral reefs against large-scale developments in the Bahamas and the West Indies.
Read the Case Study Takedown

The Guana Cay Blog

In the Guana Cay Blog, I document the latest in the fight to save an internationally significant coral reef and mangrove ecosystem from Bakers Bay Club.
Read the Guana Cay Blog here

Eyes of the West Indies

In Eyes of the West Indies, I look at the desperate fight by Bahamian locals to save their island, and the impact their case has made across the West Indies.
Read about Save Guana Cay Reef here

Disney and Plastic Pirate Ships

Too bad, Disney, but when our boat broke apart, I become a witness to your abandoned island.
Hopetown and Island Settlement History

How did early settlers survive in the Caribbean? I pursue this question in Hopetown, Bahamas.
Cuba Sketch Journal

Sketches and illustrations, as well as notes on the U.S. conversation about Cuba, and its effect on Cuba and the Caribbean.
Dominican Republic Sketch Journal

Sketches and notes from a road trip through the interior of the Dominican Republic.
Chub Rock Wreck

Red blood is green this far down. My Abaco, Bahamas eel attack story.

Map of the West Indies

Archipelagos and Antilles

This map of the West Indies describes the main three sections of the region: the Lucayan archipelago, the Greater Antilles and the Lesser Antilles. In a related post, I argue why these islands should be included in lists of the birds of North America.You can visit a larger version of this map.

West indies Countries and Territories

Lucayan Archipelago

Bahamas, Turks and Caicos Islands

Greater Antilles

Cayman Islands, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Haiti, Jamaica, Puerto Rico

Lesser Antilles

Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Aruba, Barbados, Bonaire, British Virgin Islands, Curaçao, Dominica, Grenada, Guadeloupe, Martinique, Montserrat, Nueva Esparta, Saba, Saint Barthélemy, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint-Martin, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Sint Eustatius, Sint Maarten, Trinidad and Tobago, U.S. Virgin Islands

What is the West Indies? Why Not the Caribbean?

Despite its vague suggestion of colonialism (the West Indies was a word used by Europeans to differentiate the region from the East Indies), the West Indies is a beautiful way to describe both a geography and the common culture of a region. The phrase is geographically equivalent to the phrase, "Caribbean Basin." That's important to distinguish from The Caribbean, which technically refers to the Caribbean Sea, and leaves out the countries of the West Indies that reside outside of the sea itself.