Sure, there are white-sand beaches and turquoise waters fronted by impossibly luxurious resorts, signature skylines that gleam with tropical architecture, all-day eco trekking and all-night casino betting. But it’s what happened a thousand years ago that also puts today’s Caribbean up there on the leaderboard of favored vacation destinations. The region is filled with sites recalling ancient, colonial and more modern eras of history, so planning where to go may also include a consideration of where to go in time.
“It’s important for groups to experience the area’s history and archaeology to fully understand what makes the destination unique, and leave with a lasting impact that goes far beyond the walls of a boardroom,” notes Carlos Mora, meetings manager of the Riviera Maya Destination Marketing Office, representing one of the world’s richest repositories of ancient culture. “It’s an opportunity to expand the consciousness and appreciate the impressive, intricate techniques used by civilizations that were devoid of technology.”
Mundo Maya
The Mayan world certainly fits that category, as modern travelers marvel at the precision of Mayan temples and city layouts while archaeologists and historians are still working out the messages of their calendars, sculptures and paintings. Tulum, Coba, Uxmal, Chichen Itza—the names stack up like the vertical steps ascending the pyramids that lead to sacred temples.
But it’s not detached observation of a long-gone civilization that makes the Mayan experience so memorable. Creative tour operators and attractions bring the ancient world to life in a variety of ways.
“There are companies that combine the experience of going to an archaeological site with team building,” says Daniela Martinez, director of groups and conventions for the Cancun CVB. “They can also get you in touch with people who are descended from the Maya. They still live in that area, and will do cooking programs with groups, teaching them how the Mayans prepared food. It’s not exactly as the Mayans were, but it gives you an idea of what life was like back then.”
Such experiential excursions are also encouraged by the Riviera Maya Destination Marketing Office (DMO). PageBreak
“Groups can opt for half-day tours of Mayan archaeological sites such as Tulum, arrange for a full-day adventure where they can learn how to make chewing gum from native trees at an actual Maya community, or even add more subtle touches of history into their agendas through resort activities like Mayan coffee demonstrations and authentic spa rituals,” says Carlos Mora, meetings manager at the Riviera Maya DMO. “The options are endless.”
Not to be outdone, the island of Cozumel, set off the coast of the Yucatan Peninsula south of Cancun, blends the ancient Mayans and their modern-day counterparts in a number of interesting ways.
“You’ll hear Mayan spoken in our traditional downtown markets, where you’ll be able to buy traditional Mayan products such as organic honey and chile powders, as well as handicrafts,” says Pablo Alfonso Aguilar Torres, promotions manager for the Cozumel Promotion Board.
Meanwhile, for a trek into the distant past, the island’s largest archaeological site is San Gervasio, whose centuries-old structures served as a sanctuary for X’chel, goddess of fertility.
If time is limited for groups staying near Cancun, they can check out the new Maya Museum, which opened last fall in the Hotel Zone and features hundreds of period artifacts, including 14,000-year-old skeletal remains that were discovered in Tulum’s underwater caves and the 10,000-year-old remains of La Mujer de las Palmas (The Woman of the Palms) discovered in a nearby cenote. The museum is adjacent to the small but fascinating San Miguelito archaeological site, but Martinez, for one, encourages groups to also visit the larger Mayan cities.
“The groups we speak to are always grateful they took the time,” she says. “And it’s always good to have a guide because you learn stories that you probably wouldn’t find out on your own.”
Colonial Classics
Further along in history, after the decimation of indigenous populations, the Caribbean became the tropical domain of Europe, with Spain, England, Holland, France and other countries ruling from across the Atlantic.
Vestiges of that era remain in full colonial glory throughout the islands, including Puerto Rico, where the magnificent El Morro fortress, one of the largest fortifications built by Spain in the Caribbean, still overlooks the entrance to San Juan Bay.
Walking through this “Gibraltar of the Caribbean,” which is actually two forts in one, groups will see sentry boxes where Spanish soldiers once stood watch, the chapel where they worshipped and the still-blackened kitchen and forge where they cooked meals and heated metals.
Every April, during National Park Week, the fort also hosts battle reenactments, but there are monthly events as well.
“On the third Sunday of every month, we have cannon shootings and firing demonstrations,” says Jorge Maldonado, ranger.PageBreak
El Morro welcomes private tours or groups can arrange a tour with a park ranger through the permit system, Maldonado says. Right outside the fortress is the city it was built to protect: Old San Juan, whose oldest sections are enclosed by massive walls.
The British also left their mark on the Caribbean, which one look at Nassau’s Government House would reveal. In fact, British colonists first arrived in Nassau Harbour in the late 1600s, and British loyalists who left America after the Revolutionary War settled in Nassau and throughout the islands, inspiring such historic sites as the Queen’s Staircase in Nassau—carved into a solid limestone cliff in honor of Queen Victoria—as well as a number of colonial mansions on Cat and Long islands.
British history also lives on in Jamaica, where the town of Falmouth, 18 miles east of Montego Bay, was established in 1769 and boasts one of the largest Anglican churches on the island among its historic sites. Meanwhile, it’s Pirates of the Caribbean in the flesh in historic Port Royal, which dates back to the 17th century and served as headquarters for such famous swashbucklers as Henry Morgan, Calico Jack and Blackbeard Teach. Jamaica National Heritage Trust Tour Guides are on hand to lead groups into the island’s colorful past.
More recent history further defines Jamaica’s unique character, as groups will discover on a tour of the Bob Marley Museum in Kingston, which displays the reggae legend’s personal treasures and also includes an 80-seat theater and a cafe and juice bar available by reservation outside of normal operating hours.
Museum Mania
Besides tours and experiential jaunts through history, groups can absorb local heritage at museums across the Caribbean. Exhibits at the St. Maarten Museum, for one, span modern and ancient timelines, from the island’s first inhabitants, the Arawaks, to the French and Dutch settlers who established thriving plantation and salt industries and even a geological look back 2 million years to when St. Maarten, Anguilla and St. Barths were all one island.
In the U.S. Virgin Islands, walking tours highlight the charming colonial architecture on St. Thomas and St. Croix, while restored greathouses now serve as museums, including Haagenson House on St. Thomas, displaying West Indian antiques from the early 1800s, and Whim Museum on St. Croix, a sugar plantation museum complete with a restored windmill and sugar factory ruins.
Museums dedicated to antiquities, archaeology and natural history enrich every area of the Dominican Republic, from the Amber Museum in Puerto Plata to the Altos de Chavon Regional Museum of Archaeology in La Romana, and Santo Domingo’s Columbus Alcazar, a palace built by Christopher Columbus’ son Diego in the 1500s and housing European late medieval and Renaissance works of art.
