San Andres island

View of a section of San Andres from the steeple of the First Baptist church at Mission Hill

San Andres is a Colombian-owned coral island in the Caribbean Sea. This and the nearby islands of Providence and Santa Catalina form the department of San Andres, Providence and Santa Catalina of which San Andres is the largest. These islands are however closer in distance to Panama than Colombia.

A brief  history

According to Wikipedia, the Dutch went to these islands at the end of the 16th century and British settlers arrived in 1628.  

It is also mentioned that Columbus ran into the islands during his fourth voyage. 

Inside the Baptist church

During the 17th century, English Puritans from Barbados and England settled in San Andres and i they later brought in African slaves from Jamaica.

Signs of Jamaican culture visible almost everywhere

Around that period too, the competitive Spaniards saw the economic potential of the islands and attacked the archipelago but were driven out shortly after.

Pirates including the notorious Henry Morgan also used the area in the 1670s as a center of his operations. They attacked Spanish ships carrying gold and other precious material that sailed in the Caribbean waters and also attacked Panama and Santa Maria.

After the temporary Spanish occupation of the islands, they were controlled by the British from 1740 until 1787, agreeing to respect the Creole population.

 In July 1818, the independent forces of Simon Bolivar occupied the islands, and it became part of Gran Colombia on June 23, 1822.

In 1821, the issuing of the Constitution of Cacti determined that every child born in Colombia was born as a free.

When the construction of the Panama Canal ended in the early 1900's, thousands of Jamaicans (and a few other West Indians) workers who had toiled on the project, settled in Colon, Panama; San Andres; Bluefields in Nicaragua and Limon in Costa Rica instead of going home.

 The extremely pervasive Jamaican culture and use of patois in those regions are lasting
reminders of this history.

My introduction to San Andres.

My late cousin-in-law Harris

I first heard of the tiny island of San Andres (it is just over 10 square miles with a population of around 80,000) from a cousin-in-law, Harris, who was born there.

Lifelike statues are all over the island

As a ship's engineer, he had traveled extensively and always insisted that his island was just like mine, Jamaica, so I should go there and see for myself.

Unfortunately, I procrastinated until he died. However, I met several of his relatives at his funeral in August 2018 and they too insisted that I respect his wishes by visiting their island soon.

Finally, in December 2018, I made the trip and was not at all disappointed, for indeed the similarities are stark, especially the similarities to my favorite parish-Portland.

Scooters are the most popular mode of transportation

Downtown San Andres, Centro, also bears a remarkable resemblance to our own western tourism city of Montego Bay with the proliferation of hotels, tourists and great white-sand beaches.

The immediate contrast though is that San Andres has smooth pothole-free roads throughout the island, because unlike our flimsily built asphalted roads, their roads are made from  hardy concrete.

The Mule

There is significantly less traffic there too with the most popular mode of private transportation being scooters, whereas tourists use a larger and hardier variation known as the Mule.

 Anyway, the island does resemble Portland a great deal in that it is extremely green and fruitful with wonderful white-sand beaches.

It is not quite as mountainous though and most importantly it has no rivers or waterfalls.

They, therefore, get their water from wells and have also constructed a desalination plant at place called Cove.

 We visited that area where I was re-introduced to the lifelike statues that the government erects throughout the island to beautify it, and also something called  Babia.

Downtown with its numerous hotels, beaches and tourists reminds me a bit of our own Montego Bay

These tiny croc-like creatures clearly do not like red meat!

The Babia is a small crocodile-like creature that lives in the pond close to where the desalinated water is processed.

What fascinated me about these tiny reptiles is how tame and peaceful they are!

 I just could not believe my eyes as they swam around looking for fish to eat while small dogs and birds were in close proximity, each ignoring the other.

Because the island is so beautiful, I was not surprised that despite their small size, they welcome over half a million tourists annually. 

The attractions that I personally found extremely enticing were the Cays, the stingrays and the Blowhole.

I had always thought of stingrays as being extremely dangerous creatures because of their lethal tail,  even if they do not mean to do harm!

The young man plays with a huge stingray.

However, the captains of the boats that take visitors to nearby Aquarius and Rose Cays apparently do not think so, as they had no problem interacting with these interesting creatures that heavily populate an area close by.


Rose and Aquarius Cays are close to each other, allowing visitors to easily walk

from to the other.  Rose Cay has great beaches and Aquarius, a wide variety of restaurants mainly specializing in seafood.

They are both visited by hundreds of visitors daily as boats arrive and leave in droves non-stop, up to 4pm.

Other Cays that also attract hundreds of visitors are Johnny Cay and Rocky Cay.

A section of Aquarius Cay

While you need to take a boat to Johnny Cay, you can actually walk from the huge white sand beach on the mainland to Rocky Cay.

The attraction that I found most fascinating however was the Blowhole.

The western side of the island is extremely rocky and the water is quite rough but it is still very beautiful.  This is where you find the blowhole which is in fact a big hole in the rocks through which the huge waves forces the water upwards, dousing all who are close by, much to our enjoyment..

Getting doused by the fierce sea spray coming up out of the blowhole

I really enjoyed the bath there.

I think Harris is finally happy that I followed his suggestion to visit his homeland as not only is it as absolutely beautiful as he described but I discovered such a warm and welcoming "family" there. Well, all except for this goose that lives at his cousin Kathleen's home, where I was hosted for my entire stay on the island.

The only unfriendly inhabitant of San Andres that I met!

 He made it known every time he saw me, that I was unwelcome.

However, the humans showed the very opposite attitude as cousins and new friends, made every effort to ensure that my stay was comfortable and most rewarding.

I have rarely felt more welcome and loved elsewhere and considered this visit a mere taste of what I hope will become a giant meal one day. 

Hopefully, San Andres will remain as quiet and peaceful as it is today, although based on some troubling information I garnered during my visit,  I am having a few doubts. 

I enjoyed riding around on the back of 'cousin' Colagio's scooter

As I understand it, there seems to be a major thrust by some "Spaniards" from the mainland to take over the beautiful island and even introduce racism in what I found to be the most integrated society I have ever seen.

Posing with some of my new 'family members' at Cove

 Due to the threat of over-population and excessive pressure on the infrastructure, the government passed laws a few decades ago preventing people from the mainland, living or working on the island unless they marry a native there or have a skill that is not available locally.

 However, an ominous sign that autonomy on the island is in danger arose from the government in Colombia, recently imposing a military person from the mainland to replace the civilian governor on the island.

Further, they have built  a huge police station downtown, which is mainly manned by "Spaniards" from the mainland, many of  whom are not shy to make racist statements against
the local people, it is reported.

 Troubling too is the fact that many from the mainland who sneak into the island through the porous beaches, are wanted for crimes on the mainland and are accused of escalating the drug smuggling industry and introducing a really scary form of extortion to vulnerable local young people on the island.

You can walk from the mainland to Rocky Cay

Hopefully, these trends will be nipped in the bud as San Andres is too close to being a real Garden of Eden to be destroyed.

Essay 4; Jamaicans are "world builders"

I do not think there is a place on earth you can travel to and not find a Jamaican! And sometimes we turn up in the most unusual places. In fact, my own brother even took his family on a tour of the pyramids of Egypt only to end up with an Arabic-speaking tour guide from Montego Bay, Jamaica!

For years politicians of all stripes have complained that a problem the country faces is that when taxpayers subsidize the tertiary education of many Jamaican professions, the country ends up losing as those professional immediately migrate and do not give anything back to their country. Yes that is a real problem but could the penchant for Jamaicans to migrate be in our DNA? I am no scientist but ask the question due to the conditions under which the migratory habit of generations of Jamaicans seem to have arisen.

As far as I can discern, the necessity to migrate came with the  abolition of slavery in 1834. For the freed slaves had no money, no jobs, no land, no food and in many instances, not even family in the country to which they had been forcefully transported

. Things were so bad for the freed slaves that in order to avoid starving to death some had to even return to their wicked slave masters and request that they employ them just to get  food to eat.

It was the lucky ones  therefore who could find a little boat or some means of migrating to anywhere where they as free people they could earn a living.

Monument in Cuba

In the late 1800's to the turn of the century, Cuba was recognized as the powerhouse of the region due to the industries that were flourishing based on "king sugar." News  of their need for labour spread rapidly throughout Jamaica and indeed other Caribbean islands which also faced a similar dilemma as we did, and migration to Cuba started in droves. So today when you go to the southern provinces like Santiago de Cuba, Guantanamo and Holguin, the descends of Jamaican and other former West Indian people are everywhere.

Fortunately too, in 1903 the construction of the Panama Canal begun and despite the fact that the project was extremely dangerous and many people lost their lives (including my maternal grandfather), Panama became a major drawing card for Jamaicans in need of employment. When  the project was completed and opened in 1914, there was still a need for workers there as the economy was booming, so instead of returning home, thousands of Jamaicans remained there, most settling in the city of Colon.

However others decided to go north in search of economic opportunities, as the Jamaican economy was still struggling and blacks had very little means of survival. Many went to Honduras, and even more went to Nicaragua, settling on the Caribbean coast and naming their new home Bluefields after a seaside village on south western side of  Jamaica.

Inside Irazu volcano, Costa Rica

Still others moved to the province of Limon on the Caribbean coast of Costa Rica and today the descendants  of Jamaicans play an important role in that country, even producing  the very first black congresswoman in Costa Rica , a lady who was always proud to boast about her Jamaican roots.

During the 30's and 40's because of the massive toll the two major  European wars took on British men, the then colonial master England, was forced to open its doors to workers from their colonies to do their menial and labour intensive jobs. Jamaicans therefore  migrated to Britain in hordes up to the  late 1960's when the USA and Canada also opened their doors and the trek to those countries there took off in earnest.

Before the 70's, the majority of  Jamaican who left home, were in search of economic opportunities and their remittances to assist their family left back at home became critical to the economy.

The great migration that took place between 1972-1980 harmed the Jamaican economy unlike the net effect of previous migrations. This was because it was widely perceived that the then government was introducing communism and taking Jamaica into the USSR/Cuban sphere of influence. So the  better off Jamaicans and professionals voted with their feet. They went mainly to the USA and Canada and it set the Jamaican economy back for decades, as not only did they take their capital with them but also their skills. The Jamaican economy is still struggling to recover from that outflow!

While there have been periods when Jamaican migrated in droves, individual Jamaicans have always on their own steam, found other places to go, even as far as cold Alaska in search of opportunities. However the overall picture is that by being a migratory people,  we have contributed a great deal to the building of just about every nation in the world including our own and migration remains strong in our DNA.

The Cuban Connection

Would you believe I now know more relatives from my father's side in Cuba than in Jamaica, although that side of my family was born right here!

Miriam, Bebita, (me)Magaly, Maydolys, (Back) Hector Ian Casrlos (Front)

I  tell you it was great to finally meet these members of my family and learn something about my paternal grandfather who died when I was quite young and of whom, I recall, I was very scared.

I was scared of him as he was blind so always wore dark glasses and he had a big beard. I think I only saw him twice but what puzzles me now is that I can't recall anyone ever telling me anything about him or his family!

 The only thing I knew was that he was the principal of a primary school, became blind in his 40s and died in his early 80's. It is only through my cousin Barry who lives in Canada but who had grown up with us and who later found another cousin there named Sheila who brought him up speed on the relatives of my paternal grandfather, that I too am getting some information about that side of the family.

Barry heard about the relatives in Cuba and some years ago attended a small gathering to celebrate the 105th birthday of our grand aunt there. He sent me the email address of her daughter called Bebita (Real name Florianna). We started to communicate and that is how I ended up going there this time to meet the wonderful family there who I had known nothing about on my previous three trips to Cuba.

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I now know  that my grandfather actually had eleven siblings most of whom migrated all over the world.

Bebita speaks English and is in touch with relatives in Jamaica, Canada, England and the USA and she has a wealth of information.

However her children, grandchildren and great grand children speak only Spanish and do not appear to be too interested in communicating with far flung relatives so I don't know how long the connections will remain, but it was really great linking up with them.

Body builder, Asiel

Bebita's mother migrated to Cuba around 1919 when the Cuban economy was blooming and many Caribbean migrants went there in search of good jobs. (On my latest visit there, I met quite a few descents of Jamaicans, Grenadians and St. Lucians).

Bebita was born there and while another aunt who had gone there with her mom moved on to the USA, her mom stayed there forever and raised a Cuban family. Bebita is the only child but she has three daughters, two grandsons and a grand daughter and 2 great grand sons.

Most live in Cayo Mambi in the municipality of Fank Pais which is in Holguin province, some 160 kms from Holguin city.

Her town is a pleasant, rural farming area with wide tree lined streets and high rise buildings built by the government to house the people.

Bebita had been a teacher in her youth, teaching adults English after the revolution.

In the 1962, hurricane Flora destroyed her home and she was given a two bedroom ground floor apartment in a government house.

The main source of employment used to be at the Frank Pais sugar factory, but after it was destroyed by one of the many hurricanes that constantly devastate us in the Caribbean, it was closed and many people were left unemployed.

 As a result  of the liberalization now taking place under Raul Castro, many persons have now set up small businesses in their homes and operate farms. In Cuba today, you can now keep, use and sell farm products and  small animals and you can dispose of everything as you wish, except cows which have to be sold to the state.

Cayo Mambi is a very pleasant rural town like any you would see here but it is the first place I have even seen an outdoor gym with exercise equipment for the residents to use.

The most confusing thing I found about Cuba was the money as they have two types, the peso and the Peso CUC.

To travel over to Cayo Mambi from Holguin town, we chartered an old Russian made Lada which looked a bit decrepit and had a noisy engine but it drove well. We had planned to hop on a bus to return, but learnt that the buses were reserved for the residents as the fares are subsidized so we came home in a brand new chartered, air conditioned Chinese car. It did not appear to be as good as the old Lada however as we noticed that the engine kept fading so the driver was constantly turning the key back on, but it never stopped and we got back comfortably and safely.

Flowers were laid in front of the monument dedicated to Frank Pais

I was very curious about Frank Pais as not only is the airport at Holguin and an entire municipality named after him but also the sugar factory in Cayo Mambi and the house where he was born in Santiago de Cuba is highlighted as a place of interest.

 On looking him up on my return, I learnt from WIKIPEDIA that; "Frank País (December 7, 1934 – July 30, 1957) was a Cuban revolutionary who campaigned for the overthrow of General Fulgencio Batista's government in Cuba. País was the urban coordinator of the 26th of July Movement, and was a key organizer within the urban underground movement, collaborating with Fidel Castro's guerrilla forces which were conducting activities in the Sierra Maestra mountains.^[1] País was killed in the streets of Santiago de Cuba by the Santiago police on July 30, 1957.^[2][3]
His father was Francisco País Pesqueira, a Protestant pastor married to Rosario García Calviño. Both were from Marín in Galicia, Spain and immigrants to Cuba. Francisco País Pesqueira was one of the founding members of the First Baptist Church of Santiago de Cuba. On his death, Rosario García Calviño took sole charge of 5-year-old Frank and his younger brothers Augustin, 3, and Josué, 2.^[4]

The family struggled financially, although his mother taught piano to make ends meet.^[5] Frank began to study architecture, but abandoned his studies to enroll in the Oriente Teacher’s College which he graduated from on July 6, 1953."