Providencia Island
| Native name: Isla de Providencia or Old Providence | |
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 Manzanillo beach |
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| Geography | |
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| Providencia Island Isla de Providencia |
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 Providencia Island
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| Coordinates: 13°20′56″N 81°22′29″W / 13.34889°N 81.37472°W | |
| Country | Colombia |
| Department | San Andrés, Providencia and Santa Catalina |
| Elevation | 360 m (1,180 ft) |
| Population (2007) | |
| • Total | 5,011 |
| Estimate | |
Isla de Providencia or Old Providence is a mountainous Caribbean island part of the Archipelago of San Andrés, Providencia and Santa Catalina, a department of Colombia, lying midway between Costa Rica and Jamaica. Providencia's maximum elevation is 360 m above sea level. The smaller Santa Catalina Island is connected by a 100 metre footbridge to its larger sister Providencia Island.
The island was the site of an English Puritan colony established in 1629 by the Providence Island Company, and was briefly taken by Spain in 1641. The infamous pirate Henry Morgan used Providencia as a base for raiding the Spanish empire, and rumours suggest that much of his treasure remains hidden on the island. Many parts of the island are named after Morgan. Forts and cannons dating back hundreds of years can be found scattered all over Santa Catalina Island.
The municipality of Providencia (which includes the smaller Santa Catalina Island lying to the north of Providencia Island, as well as several uninhabited cayes to the North and East) had a population of 5,011 at the 2007 official estimates, and receives just 15,000 visitors per year. The island is one of Colombia's top scuba diving destinations, with a 32 km long barrier reef protecting the Eastern coast of the island (see photo to the right).
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Early times of the colony [edit]
Popularly considered a failed colony due to poor planning, internal strife (seen in faulty leadership and slipping focus on the original purpose) and economic woes, it was founded in efforts to curb Spanish buccaneers in the West Indies and to found a colony based on Puritan values. It was expected to be the more profitable and successful of the colonizing efforts in comparison with the Plymouth colony. Though the small colony was English, the island was also populated by the Dutch. The colony is now known for its involvement in the slave trade. The slaves were sold and traded in exchange for tobacco, but not for profit, per their Puritan values.
Some of the more famous characters were the governors Nathaniel Butler and Philip Bell, Bell’s father-in-law Daniel Elfrith, William Rous and Thomas Gage. Philip Bell was the first governor and was replaced by Robert Hunt, due to conflict with another colonist resulting in ungodly behavior. Nathaniel Butler later replaced Hunt. Many of these men had already had experience with England’s colonizing and economic expeditions with the Virginia Company and the Somers (Bermuda) Company.
It is possible to infer what life was like on the island based on the accounts of slaves and letters written by the colonists. They reported that some of the Englishmen who wanted to leave did so by saying, “this place is no way to live.” Life included church services, trade with English ships and hopes for corsair raids against the Spanish. The slaves say that they were considered heretics on account of their Catholicism and their rosaries were destroyed. They grew a lot of tobacco on the island and traded it in return for slaves, clothing, shoes, liquor, beer, fabric, and other household goods like ribbons. Occasionally ships from England would bring women. Before the English had adequate ships for raiding the Spanish, they traveled around the island’s freshwater streams and surrounding waters for fishing and finding turtles. They sometimes brought back Indians from their expeditions. The principal trading port had about nine small forts and several little fortresses along the bay’s entrance. There was one inside the mouth of the bay and one also by the governor’s house. These testimonies are presumed to have provided the Spanish with key information of the colony’s logistics and defenses that enabled the attack on the island.
Privateering [edit]
Due to the economic difficulties the colony was having, they had to turn to privateers to make money. This is surprising to many because it seems in conflict with Puritan values. Yet, the colonists were eager to do good for England and for their attempts at reformed religion in the West Indies, and as such they needed money. Though England and Spain were not at war, the desire to protect the respective countries’ interests in the West Indies only increased tensions between the two nations. While Nathaniel Butler was governor, much of his time was spent looking after the needs of privateers. He was hoping to revitalize the colony’s hurting economy, which in turn would improve the morale and hopes of the disgruntled colonists. In addition, he was worried that the English and Dutch activity in a heavily Spanish-controlled area would attract unwanted attention.
The island’s focus turned to defense and by 1638 the colony expected a Spanish attack within a year. Several men were sent on privateering expeditions themselves and a council of war was created. This is one major difference between the Providence Island colony and other English colonies; as Karen Kupperman observes, in the New England colonies, “success was accompanied by lodging such issues firmly under civilian control. In the threatening world of the western Caribbean, such amateurism was not seen as possible.” However, the privateering expeditions proved unsuccessful due to inexperience and lack of general sailing or West Indies knowledge.
Environment [edit]
The 995-hectare national park Old Providence McBean Lagoon is located on the island's northeast side, between Maracaibo and Rocky Point. This National Park consists of coral reefs, small Cayes, mangroves, lagoons and tropical dry forest. The National Park has a tiny visitor centre on Crab Caye, from where there are spectacular views towards the barrier reef and the multi-colored turquoise waters that surround the caye.
A local population of Black Land Crabs is noteworthy for its breeding migration, which occurs every April/May.[1] These crabs live in the hills of the island and descend (en masse) to the sea once a year to lay their eggs.
Providencia is the centre point of the UNESCO Marine Protected Area the Seaflower Biosphere Reserve, which forms 10% of the entire Caribbean Sea. This ecologically important reserve contains some of the world's greatest marine biodiversity, and incorporates the Archipelago of San Andrés, Providencia and Santa Catalina, in addition to the remote uninhabited cayes at Roncador Bank, Serrana Bank, Serranilla Bank as well as distant reefs that include Quita Sueño Bank, Rosalind Bank and Alice Shoal.
A unique sign language is signed on the island.
Climate [edit]
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Record high °C (°F) | 30.8 (87.4) |
32.4 (90.3) |
33.2 (91.8) |
35.1 (95.2) |
32.9 (91.2) |
32.6 (90.7) |
31.9 (89.4) |
32.8 (91) |
33.0 (91.4) |
32.4 (90.3) |
32.0 (89.6) |
31.6 (88.9) |
35.1 (95.2) |
| Average high °C (°F) | 29.6 (85.3) |
30.0 (86) |
30.7 (87.3) |
31.3 (88.3) |
31.7 (89.1) |
31.6 (88.9) |
31.2 (88.2) |
31.6 (88.9) |
31.9 (89.4) |
31.4 (88.5) |
31.0 (87.8) |
30.3 (86.5) |
31.02 (87.85) |
| Daily mean °C (°F) | 26.6 (79.9) |
26.5 (79.7) |
26.8 (80.2) |
27.4 (81.3) |
28.0 (82.4) |
28.1 (82.6) |
28.1 (82.6) |
28.1 (82.6) |
27.9 (82.2) |
27.5 (81.5) |
27.4 (81.3) |
26.9 (80.4) |
27.44 (81.39) |
| Average low °C (°F) | 21.9 (71.4) |
21.8 (71.2) |
21.3 (70.3) |
23.3 (73.9) |
24.0 (75.2) |
23.6 (74.5) |
23.8 (74.8) |
23.6 (74.5) |
23.1 (73.6) |
23.1 (73.6) |
22.5 (72.5) |
22.6 (72.7) |
22.88 (73.18) |
| Record low °C (°F) | 18.9 (66) |
18.9 (66) |
19.2 (66.6) |
21.4 (70.5) |
22.0 (71.6) |
21.0 (69.8) |
19.8 (67.6) |
22.2 (72) |
21.8 (71.2) |
22.0 (71.6) |
20.5 (68.9) |
21.2 (70.2) |
18.9 (66) |
| Rainfall mm (inches) | 74.4 (2.929) |
45.8 (1.803) |
23.8 (0.937) |
35.0 (1.378) |
116.1 (4.571) |
173.4 (6.827) |
143.9 (5.665) |
154.0 (6.063) |
182.2 (7.173) |
301.9 (11.886) |
256.9 (10.114) |
130.1 (5.122) |
1,637.5 (64.468) |
| Mean monthly sunshine hours | 229.9 | 225.8 | 260.3 | 255.6 | 226.6 | 186.7 | 209.7 | 232.5 | 195.2 | 188.5 | 180.5 | 194.7 | 2,586 |
| Source: Instituto de Hidrologia Meteorologia y Estudios Ambientales [2] | |||||||||||||
People [edit]
The Mosquito Indians first came into contact with the English when the Earl of Warwick established his colony at Providence Island in 1639, off the Central American Coast. He persuaded their King to send his son to England. This prince, known to his descendants as Oldman (or Oldham in old documents), was received in audience by King Charles I, who invested him with a hat of state and some instruments of insignia. He returned to the Mosquito Coast to find that his father had died during his absence, and that he was now King. His son and successor, Jeremy, visited Jamaica in February 1688 and placed himself and his people under English protection. Thereafter, all his successors were confirmed in their successions by virtue of a certificate of recognition from the Governor of Jamaica.
In the years that followed, small numbers of English and American settlers, escaped convicts and slaves, settled in several centres along the coast. Many of them intermarrying with the local tribes of Indians and leaving offspring who took part in the military and administrative affairs of the Mosquito kingdom. Relations between the Mosquitos and the Spanish had always been poor, but the increasing number of settlers increased tensions further. English commercial interest in hardwood logging in nearby Honduras exacerbated Spanish antagonism and apprehensions. Consequently, official British involvement in the region steadily increased. The Mosquito King and the British concluded a formal Treaty of Friendship and Alliance in 1740, followed by the appointment of a British Superintendent resident on the coast in 1749. His brief tenure included the establishment of a more formal protectorate over the Mosquito nation, advising the King, codifying the laws and formalising a system of land grants.
The local population consists of Raizals, a Protestant Afro-Caribbean ethnic group, speaking the San Andrés–Providencia Creole, an English Creole, although most speak Spanish as well. Spanish-speaking immigrants from Colombia have increased the use of Spanish, although they remain a minority, unlike the significantly more Spanish sister island, San Andrés.
A forum titled "San Andres & Providencia" Islands of Colombia reads “…This heritage goes back to pre-colonial times, to the days of the Dutch sea captains who inhabited San Andres and Old Providence, one of whom founded Bluefields, naming it after himself…”
Getting there [edit]
The local El Embrujo Airport is served by various daily flights from Gustavo Rojas Pinilla International Airport in San Andrés. Flights are operated by Satena, as well as charter flights operated by Decameron/Searca.
A 50 seater catarmaran makes a return trip from San Andres to Providencia Island every Monday, Wednesday, Friday & Sunday. The boat trip takes 2 and a half hours, leaving San Andres in the morning, and returning to San Andres from Providencia in the afternoon.
Notes [edit]
- ^ "Why land crabs in Colombia get military protection". BBC News. 2010-06-17.
- ^ "Cartas Climatologicas - Medias Mensuales - Aeropuerto El Embrujo (Providencia)" (in Spanish). Instituto de Hidrologia Meteorologia y Estudios Ambientales. Retrieved 26 October 2012.
References [edit]
- "The Geology Of Providencia". Retrieved 2006-05-12.
- Kupperman, Karen Ordahl (1993). Providence Island, 1630-1641 : The Other Puritan Colony. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-35205-3.
- Wheat, David (2009). "A Spanish Caribbean Captivity Narrative: African Sailors and Puritan Slavers, 1635." Afro-Latino Voices: Narratives from the Early Modern Ibero-Atlantic World, 1550-1812. Indianapolis, IN: Hackett Pub. ISBN 978-0-87220-993-0.
- "The Project Gutenberg eBook of Privateering and Piracy".
External links [edit]
- Providencia y Santa Catalina Islands Oficial Tourism Promotion Office in Colombia (Proexport)
- Providencia y Santa Catalina islas Oficial Tourism Promotion Office in Colombia (Proexport) -en español-
- La Divina Providencia y Santa Catalina Islas - Local government tourism website.
- Providencia Es Pasion - Tourism website.
Coordinates: 13°20′56″N 81°22′29″W / 13.34889°N 81.37472°W
