ABOUT: VPG-DVD-164 - CARIBBEAN ISLANDS Haiti is the starting point of this journey in the Caribbean. Since the time of Columbus it has been the European idyll of paradise set amid a distant ocean. But beyond the dream is the fact that its original inhabitants were wiped out and replaced with African slaves. Now independent states have gradually emerged from the dark shadows of an inglorious past. They inhabit a tropical world, an exotic Caribbean island that consists of Haiti and the Dominican Republic. The Arawak Indians named the island, Hayti, Land Of Mountains, and later Columbus changed the name to Hispanola. Wonderful beaches and golden sand, tropical rainforests that reach almost to the sea and crystal clear turquoise water - a perfect place to relax in one of the most beautiful regions in the world. Jamaica is another Caribbean paradise and its second largest city, Montego Bay, is the starting point for tourists from all over the world. Harmony Hall is the name of an immaculate manor house situated on a turn of the century plantation, and James Bond Beach was once the winter retreat of English author, Ian Fleming. Kingston is the capital of Jamaica and the island's political, economic and cultural centre, a former pirate stronghold that is a lively mixture of joie de vivre and reggae. Nassau is the capital of New Providence Island and is only one of more than seven hundred islands in the Bahaman archipelago. It is visited by huge cruise liners that can seen from everywhere as they overshadow the city's buildings and on each side of its tranquil streets the city's pastel coloured houses look like something from a confectioner's shop. Next, Havana, the Caribbean metropolis that for many years has become somewhat run down and neglected. But nowhere else are the cocktails mixed better! Finally, Trinidad, where time seems most definitely to have stood still! Cuba and the Caribbean, a melting pot of colonial culture and an overgrown and abundant Garden of Eden.