Old Providence & Santa Catalina are two small mountainous outcrops of land less than 8 square miles both situated 400 miles southwest of Jamaica and a quarter of the way on an imaginary line traced across the Caribbean from Punta Gorda, Nicaragua to Cartagena, Colombia.
Some History:
During the Hurricane season in 1510, the expedition of Diego de Nicuenza was separated from Alonso de Ojeda (Colon´s Second Voyage) and was caught in a storm and its ships blown to a small island which Nicuenza named Santa Catalina, because it was common in those days to name sites after the Saint of the Day. To the other larger island just 200 meters across a shallow sea he gave the name Providencia in honor to the God that had just saved him. The beautiful Lover's Floating Bridge now links the two islands.
So it was for 150 years when the buccaneers, having been given the Elizabethan wink to raze the Spanish galleons that traversed the region hefty with the New World richness, looked for a good place to establish their operations and cure their illnesses. They found these mountainous islands, ungoverned, hills ready to be used as searching periscopes over the Caribbean. Who else could find safety there but the famous Welsh pirate Morgan with also famous Paco, the parrot that sat on his shoulder? Legend says he buried the treasures stolen in Panama in 1671 in these islands.
After Morgan's escape to Jamaica the Spanish took control of the islands but only by word of mouth since English men with their slaves from Jamaica and the Cayman Islands tried to establish cotton farming here but instead ended up raising cattle. By this time the population was as diverse as the vessels that traversed the Caribbean. Nevertheless, lovers were not interested in racial aspects and African, Anglo, Dutch (who were also around) and Latin mixed, populating the island with that distinct clear eyes-dark skin look of many persons in Providencia. After much give-and-take among governments and several entangled political moves that passed through England, Spain, colonial Guatemala, Chile (the son of Admiral Louis Aury, a corsair, claimed the islands for Chile), Nueva Granada (which included actual Colombia and Panama) and Nicaragua, Colombia would stay with the islands although, as so many islands nowadays, looking at a map it would never occur to anyone that they belong to this country.
People:
The islanders are amazing carpenters, boat builders and builders of their own homes, farmers on their own lands and always full time fishermen. I believe that an Islander is capable of doing anything... if they wants to.
The original population consists of Raizals a Protestant Afro-Caribbean ethnic group, we speak English Creole and Spanish, but mostly Spanish because Colombian government declared it as the official language.
But now, we have a new and very good opportunity to recover our basic language and to learn and improve our skills. The program is called “Inglés para todos los colombianos” and it’s been managed by SENA (Servicio Nacional de Aprendizaje). This program is decreasing the unemployment ratings.
Sources, courtesy of Carlos Sastoque (www.carlossastoque.com)
