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Saint Croix is the largest of the US Virgin Islands, which lie 1730 miles east south east of Miami and 93 miles west of Puerto Rico. This sector of the Virgin Islands has belonged to the United States since 1917 when they were purchased from the Danish government for $25m in gold to safeguard American coasts from German U-boat attack.

At the time, it was feared that Germany would subjugate the islands and construct submarine pens there in order to attack American supply shipping, which was essential to the allies in Europe during the First World War.

The US Virgin islands is a group of about 60 largely uninhabited islands, the four biggest of which are called St. Croix, St. Thomas, St. John and Water Island. (By the way, ‘Saint’ is spoken in the English manner). The Islands’ inhabitants, however, have other names for these four which are Twin City, Rock City, Love City and Small City respectively.

Christopher Columbus landed there on November 14th, 1493, but there is proof of human habitation on the island going back to 5000 BC. In fact, the Arawaks and the Caribs made up the islands’ populace, before the Europeans got there.

Possession of St Croix and the other Virgin Islands changed a lot over the following centuries, but it became infamous to many people as Santa Cruz, which is its Spanish name. As Santa Cruz, St Croix featured prominently in 17th and 18th century stories of pirates and buccaneers on the Spanish Main.

In fact, after Spain initially took control of the island, it changed hands seven times; having been Spanish, British, French, Maltese, Dutch, Danish and now American. The residents of the US Virgin Islands are now US citizens and carry US passports. They also use the US dollar and US laws.

St Croix was an agricultural powerhouse in the Caribbean until the 1960’s when the local government determined it was time to industrialize. The island is now home to HOVENSA, one of the largest oil refineries in the world.

There is also a large distillery, the Cruzan Rum Distillery, which used to produce rum from sugar cane grown on the island. Sugar cane, or its extract, molasses are now imported from the Dominican Republic to manufacture Southern Comfort and Cruzan Rum. Diageo is arranging to build a distillery there too in order to produce Captain Morgan Rum.

Residents of the island call themselves Crucians. However, there is a great deal of debate about what constitutes a ‘real Crucian’. Many say that a Crucian is someone who was born and raised on St Croix, while others claim that descendants of the slaves that the Danes took over in 16th and 17th Centuries are the only true Crucians.

Many Crucians can trace their ancestry back to Puerto Rico or other Virgin islands as the sugar cane industry attracted a lot of migrant workers in the 1930’s, 40’s and 50’s. There was also an influx of down-islanders (ie from other Caribbean islands), as the locals say, after the industrialization of St Croix in the US Virgin Islands in the 1960’s and 1970’s as tourism and petrol became more important to the economy.

Owen Jones, the author of this piece, writes on many subjects, but is currently involved with St Croix Virgin Islands. If you are interested in St Croix Vacation Rentals in the US Virgin Islands, please click through to our site.

When many people, singles and families alike, think about booking a holiday, many of them would only consider going to the beach for a two week’s lounging on the beach under the sun and swimming in warm, azure sea.

However, many of the best, most famous beach locations are magnets for crowds of people. It seems that most people like the sand, the sea and the sun. Now some people go to these destinations precisely because they are busy. They like the crowds and the night clubs that appeal to them. Mainly singles go to these kinds of destinations and a holiday affair is not far from many peoples’ minds.

Couples and older people may prefer a little less noise, pollution and commotion. However, there are beaches which meet these demands too. Often they are private beaches. Some have hotels on them but some do not. Those that do not frequently have inland beach cottage rental properties instead. These are virtually always self-catering.

When most people think of a beach it is automatically connected with the sea. However, this need not inevitably be so. There are also inland beaches on lakes and rivers. These beaches are usually referred to as inland beaches. Somewhere to stay can be a problem with even some of the best inland beaches.

Many of these inland beaches are simply not well-known enough to make a hotel commercially feasible, but some of them have cottage rentals as an alternative. These cottages, or cabins sometimes, can be hard to find if you do not reserve early enough. They are frequently complete homes, fully equipped with all the household facilities you have grown used to: a fully furnished living room, multiple bedrooms, bathrooms, and a contemporary kitchen.

Inland beach cottage rentals are popular because they are usually located right on the water’s edge. This makes the bit of beach right before your cottage your private beach. You can sleep on it at night if it’s hot, lie there all day or set up a few fishing lines.

In the evenings, you can hitch up with neighbours to have a party or keep yourself to yourself. For this reason, it is a good idea to check photos of the cottage before you make a reservation.

If an inland beach cottage rental sounds just up your street, there are thousands to choose from in the United States and Canada. The Great Lakes are a particularly fine place to go. There are excellent locations in the Finger Lakes region of New York state and along Lake Michigan and Lake Huron.

You will not be disappointed about going on holiday to an inland beach cottage rental property. There are so many variations that there is certainly something for every pocket and every family size. Singles are not so well catered for, but if you want a quiet holiday alone. maybe to study, then this might right be for you too.

You can fly into some of these resorts by seaplane, but it is more likely that you will take your own car or a rental car, if you want to get out and do some exploring further afield. Personally, I would rather rent a dinghy.

Owen Jones, the writer of this article, writes on many subjects, but is currently involved with the rental of Welsh coastal cottages. If you are interested in a cottage or Wales in general, please go to our website at Welsh Products Online

Florida snakes, together with the turtles, lizards, alligators and other reptiles are part of a complex wildlife structure that plays an incredible role in the maintenance of Florida’s ecosystem. There are many species of Florida snakes. There are actually forty-four species living in unbelievably different habitats, ranging from salt marshes and fresh water marshes to dry uplands and coastal mangrove swamps to domestic areas.

Only six Florida snakes are poisonous and they happily live with their non-poisonous cousins. They even go into towns and cities too. The best way to stay out of harm’s way with snakes is to learn their morphology and therefore be able to identify the various Florida snakes. The best approach to adopt in relation to all snakes is avoidance.

The Coral snake and pit vipers are the most dangerous Florida snakes. They can be identified by a wide range of characteristics. Pit vipers include the Rattlesnake, the Cottonmouth and the Copperhead. They all have vertical eye pupils, a v-shaped head and facial pits: one between the eyes and nostrils and the others on each side of the head.

The poison of these Florida snakes is haemotoxic, which means that their venom attacks the red blood cells, destroying the wall of the blood vessel and causing uncontrolled hemorrhage. Coral snakes on the other hand use neurotoxic venom, with the toxins in the venom acting on the body nerves and inducing paralysis.

Most of the snake bites reported every year in the United States are caused by Florida snakes or by rattlesnakes to be more precise. Because their venom spreads very quickly throughout the body, the victim will die within less than thirty minutes without immediate anti-venom.

A one exception in this class of Florida snakes is the copperhead, because its venom very rarely, if ever, requires an antidote. Their toxin is the least potent and therefore they are regarded as the least dangerous of all the poisonous Florida snakes.

It is because of the danger they present that poisonous snakes are the first kind to attract attention, however the most widespread of Florida snakes is the Black Racer, which is a non-toxic species that relies on very sharp fangs to capture its prey.

Although the usual tendency of home owners is to remove snakes from their properties, specialists stress the fact that, without them, rodents would breed out of control giving us even more cause for concern.

Therefore, unless there are any exceptional causes for concern, like snakes breeding in great numbers in your garden or shed, there is no real reason why you should interfere with the lives of these usually shy, useful animals.

Interested in the Florida snakes? To learn more about snakes visit Caring for Snakes our brand-new website.

There are lots of destinations for people interested in sailing and if you are tired of the Virgin Islands then try the rest of the Caribbean.

The Caribbean islands are part of an island chain stretching 2,500 miles. Given the vast distance, it is no surprise that tourists spend weeks out there in order to enjoy the splendour that it has to offer.

Just like in the Virgin Islands, there are lots of charter companies you can try for various hobbies. These companies come in different sizes, but perhaps the best is the yacht charter.

When you charter a yacht, apart from the yacht, the other elements and benefits that come with it are meals, separate guest rooms, a galley, toilet and shower.

Since you are the paying guest aboard the boat, you can modify the menu by telling the cook before the voyage what you want to eat. You can help out by buying the provisions yourself, having someone from the crew do it for an additional fee or choose a set menu from one of their pre-composed packages.

Since most of the islands in the Caribbean are small and uninhabited, you are certain to see places that not many have seen. But if you can’t afford to rent a chartered yacht, don’t worry because you can probably get one that will cost as little as $50 if you are able to book a pre-arranged trip with several other guests to share the bill.

One thing you ought to be ready for during you sailing holiday is the possibility of a storm. These generally occurs in the months from June to November. If you are not sure that this is the best time, book the trip on another date.

But if you are adamant about going on your dates, there are some online tools you can utilize to check if the area you will be sailing in has ever been hit by a storm before.

The other option is to plan your itinerary to the Caribbean islands further south because they are less likely to be affected by a storm. These places include the islands of Aruba, Barbados, Bonaire, Curacao, and Turks and Caicos.

If you like the idea of going sailing around the Caribbean there are ample choices. You could do a lot worse than start in St Croix in the US Virgin Islands and travel south or west. If you start in St Croix, which the pirates of old used to call Santa Cruz, you will not need a passpert and can take your pets with you, but you will need more ID if you call into foreign islands.

Owen Jones, the writer of this piece, writes on many topics, but is currently involved with St Croix Hotels. If you are interested in St Croix Vacation Rentals in the US Virgin Islands, please click through to our site.

People work harder these days than ever before. If not physically harder then longer hours and we deserve a break from that once in a while. The majority of us go on holiday and we look forward to it months in advance and we plan for it even further ahead. Where do you like to go or what do you like to do? I personally prefer to go on a cruise and a Caribbean cruise is a good option.

People think a cruise, specially a Caribbean cruise as being expensive, and cruise operators want to uphold that elite image, but I see the cruise as being an up-market all inclusive holiday. Probably, it is the original all inclusive holiday, because once you walk up and off that gang plank, everything aside from drinks is free. Everything and everything is first class hotel style too! We are not talking pizza and chips here, but five or six course meals and five or six times a day.

It is common knowledge, that if you go on a cruise you can expect to gain a pound or two a week (I gained five pounds on my last cruise), unless you do some exercise. What exercise? Cruise liners have swimming pools and gymnasiums! Not only one but several. Some even set aside a deck for running at certain times of the day. There really is no excuse for not exercising on a Caribbean cruise.

Caribbean cruise liners offer more sports facilities than just gymnastics too. In fact, except for horse riding, I think that most sports are catered for. Basketball, volleyball, swimming, clay pigeon shooting, fishing, bird watching … You name it. Caribbean cruise liners also have Internet connections, games machines and full office facilities. During the evenings there are first class shows, often two a night, movies in a cinema and a casino.

If you have never been on a Caribbean cruise, it is difficult to explain the amount of luxury that is provided. It is more than a first class hotel. In a first class hotel, you pay first class prices for everything too, but on a Caribbean cruise liner, everything but drinks is free and even drinks are cheap because they are duty-free. The cruise liner will have a shop too where everything it sells is duty free!

Some Caribbean cruises are themed and it is worth noting this fact. Also some times of the year, especially early February are foreseeable. I once naively went on a Caribbean cruise for a fortnight which spanned St Valentine’s day. I was a single man then and the other 1200 were romantic couples. There was only one single woman on the cruise but there was no rapport between us. I did not not enjoy that Caribbean cruise, because people took we under their wing, but it made me think about the time of year when I next booked up.

Caribbean cruises, especially the better ones, will fill up quickly, so this is one holiday that you really ought to book well in advance. A year in advance is not too early. I like to book my Caribbean cruise a year in advance, but put my name down for any last minute cancellations, in case I can pick up a bargain.

Owen Jones, the writer of this article, writes on many subjects, but is currently involved with St Croix Hotels. If you are interested in St Croix Vacation Rentals in the US Virgin Islands, please click through to our site.