 GENERAL INFO (Jump to Diary)Martinique is an island in the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies, in the eastern Caribbean Sea. A part of the French West Indies, Martinique is an overseas department and region and a single territorial collectivity of the French Republic. It is a part of the European Union. Martinique has a land area of 1,128 square kilometres, oval, roughly 70 times 30 kilometres.  The north of the island is especially mountainous. It
features four ensembles of pitons; volcanoes and mornes;
mountains. The highest point is the volcano of Mount Pelée at 1,397 meters.
The south is more easily traversed, though it still features impressive
geographic features. It have a population of 349,925 citizens, of which all speaks both French and Martinican Creole - both are useless to me. 86% are Catholic, 5,6% Protestants, 0,5% Muslims, 0,3% Hindi and the rest are non religious. The  history
- short: The island was occupied first by Central American Arawaks, from
the 1st century AD and the Caribs came from the Venezuelan coast around the
11th century. Christopher Columbus passed in 1493, and landed in 1502. The
French started settlement in 1635, not appreciated by the Indigenous Kalinago, but eventually, they were neutralised.Flora: The northern end of the island catches most of the rainfall and is heavily forested, featuring species such as bamboo, mahogany  ,
rosewood and West Indian locust. The south is drier and dominated by
savannah-like brush, including cacti, Copaiba balsam, logwood and acacia.I am not sure which caudiciforms I can be lucky to stumble over, but I might see Arracacia xanthorrhiza, Blechnum occidentale, Ceratosanthes tuberosa, Cnidoscolus chayamansa, Curcuma longa, Dioscorea cayenensis, Doyerea emetocathartica, Euphorbia hypericifolia, Euphorbia petiolaris, Macfadyena unguis-cat, and Talinum paniculatum. Fauna:  Anole lizards which I love
are numerous,
and fer-de-lance snakes or Martinique Lancehead; Bothrops lanceolatus, which is one of the few animals I fear, are native to
the island. Endemic reptiles also include the Martinique Racer; Erythrolamprus cursor, the
Martinique Threadsnake; Tetracheilostoma bilineatum, the Martinique
Anole; Anolis roquet, the Lesser Martinique Skink; Capitellum
metallicum, the Greater Martinique Skink; Mabuya mabouya, and
some un-described dwarf geckos.I would like to see the Martinique Volcano Frog; Allobates chalcopis, which is an endemic poison frog. Besides from the introduced mammals species, here are several native species of bats.
Time to head on in Diary 2. |
