Spotlight on a Tour: Pirate Assault!

There you are, enjoying a sunset out to sea, while all around you are people drinking from the open bar or dancing to live music. It is serene, it is beautiful, it's a raucous party.

Then the pirates attack.

Explosions light up the night sky. Random people are taken prisoner and it is up to their fellow passengers to secure their freedom. Fortunately, your MC will be on hand to help you devise a cunning plan. Dare you risk it?

Survivors will be taken to Isla Mujeres, that tropical island favoured by the pirates of old, for a delicious buffet meal at the Beach Club 'El Pescador'. Here the party continues on the sands. The return trip to Cancun is just as lively, with games, contests and a pirate show.




The cruise lasts for four hours, leaving from Playa Langosta Marina, in the Cancun Hotel Zone, km 6.5. It runs every Monday, Wednesday and Saturday, at 7pm. For those in Riviera Maya or Playa del Carmen, then transport can be arranged from your hotel for an extra fee.

Ferry Check in: 6:00pm, Departs 6:30pm, Returns 11:00pm

Pirate Assault!
Enjoy an authentic pirate adventure on the Caribbean Sea.

Pirates of the Caribbean - Blackbeard

At the very beginning of this blog, we recounted the swash-buckling, blood-thirsty true stories of the pirates of the Caribbean. Their names are so infamous and their deeds were so horrific, that they are still remembered now, in the places that they terrorized.

The Pirates of the Caribbean		Giovanni de Verrazano
Sir Francis Drake		Sir Henry Morgan
Jean-David 'L'Olonnais' Nau		Laurens 'Laurencillo' de Graaf
Jean LaFitte		Fermin Mundaca

But there was one notable ommission there. Disney's 'Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides' is in our theaters. As box offices around the world thrill to 'the pirate all pirates fear', then we should add a chapter to our terrible tales. It's time to visit Blackbeard! (And, yes, he was in Mexico too.)


Ask someone to impersonate a pirate and there is a definite accent that they adopt. "Ha-arr, me 'earties!" The cry goes out, "Thar be treasure thar! Arrrr!" Everyone is attempting to affect England's West Country tones. There is a reason for this. In 1680, Edward Teach (aka Blackbeard) was born in Bristol, which is in the heart of the said West Country. In short, they are trying to sound like Blackbeard. He is, after all, the pirate's pirate and the most notorious of all.

It has been speculated that Edward Teach was born into a wealthy, English family. He could read and write quite eloquently, which was highly unusual for any but the higher echelons of society. It's also probable that his surname wasn't even Teach. Many pirates took false names, in order to protect their family's reputation. His real name could have been Edward Drummond, though little supporting evidence has been found for that.


18th century Bristol
All that is known for certain is that young Edward boarded a ship in Bristol, bound for the Caribbean. Bristol was a huge port at the time, one of the centers of the British slave trade. Was he captured and pressed into slavery? Or did he take a job on a merchant ship? Nobody knows.

The history books only take up his tale, with any sense of surety, in 1716. It was then that Edward Teach appeared in New Providence, in the Bahamas, and joined the crew of English pirate, Captain Benjamin Hornigold. New Providence was a pirate safe harbour. The bay was too shallow to allow large navy ships to enter, so the smaller, faster privateers could dock without fear of arrest.

Even amongst this company, Hornigold was infamous. His 33 gun sloop, the Ranger, was the most heavily armed in the region and he could take any other vessel with ease. By 1717, Teach was his second-in-command and it was now that Hornigold awarded Teach his own ship. Blackbeard's career had really begun.


The two captains worked side by side, sailing in to capture merchant vessels, from Havana to Bermuda. But Hornigold refused to attack British ships. He considered himself a pirate, but one loyal to the crown of his homeland. His crew had no such scruples and the sight of unharmed merchant ships, flying the Union Jack, rankled them. There was mutiny and Hornigold retired with The Ranger, leaving Blackbeard in sole command. British ships were no longer off target.

Let us pause to get the measure of the pirate. He was a huge man. He stood 6ft 5" tall (1.96 meters) and had the girth to match. As the name suggests, he had a long, flowing beard, in which he apparently wove hemp fuses. These had been soaked in saltpetre and lime water. During fights, he would set fire to the fuses, giving the impression that his whole head was on fire. For onlookers, filled with Christian lore, it was as if they were faced with Satan Himself.


Then there was his personality. Modern analysts have studied the stories and speculated that he was clinically psychotic. Many pirates of the time would give quarter to the captain and crew of a merchant ship, as long as all of the cargo was simply handed over without a fight. Blackbeard was unpredictable.

He killed indiscrimately, simply to fuel his fearsome reputation. In one notable incident, he was alleged to have shot his First Mate dead, just to prove that he was mean. Another time, he chased down a ship, boarded it and took only the wine, before scuttling the vessel and marooning its crew. There was no reasoning with him.

The merchant captain dropped sails, then dropped anchor. He could not outrun the sloop and her eight guns. Pray they take what they want and move on, he told his crew. Give what they ask -- none of it is yours, none of it worth your life.

Behind the sloop, the merchant captain spied another approaching craft. She was big brute poking cannon from every snout. Twenty, no thirty, maybe more guns -- she was a killing machine!

The merchant captain raised his spyglass to her deck. There, he could see a monstrous figure, pointing across the water, pointing to the merchant ship, pointing to the merchant captain. "Dear God, spare our souls," the merchant captain said aloud. He had seen the devil. And the devil had seen him.
Tim Rickard, 'The Spanish Main'

For all of his notoriety, it must seem that Blackbeard operated for decades. It was actually less than two years that he prowled the Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico. During that time, the ships of no nationality were safe. (Make no mistake, many pirates acted unofficially (and sometimes officially) for various empire building governments. French pirates would attack Spanish and British ships; and vice versa. Part of the fear of Blackbeard was that he was on no-one's side.)

Blackbeard's flotilla grew. He is usually linked with La Concorde, a 'French ship of 32 Guns, a Briganteen of 10 guns and a Sloop of 12 guns', which he renamed the Queen Anne's Revenge. (It is this ship which is featured in 'The Pirates of the Caribbean' movies.) However, he owned many more than that. His prowess in overwhelming vessels was so great, that he commanded a whole fleet of pirate ships. Hence he seemed unstoppable.


Queen Anne's Revenge
As well as terrorizing the high seas, Blackbeard also held to ransom the town of Charleston, South Carolina, USA. In May, 1718, his fleet blockaded the harbour, refusing to allow supplies to enter the town. He also took hostages from a ship containing prominent Charleston citizens, who had been bound on a diplomatic trip to London. His demand was clear. He wanted medical supplies and certain medicines for his crew. If he didn't get them, then he would execute everyone present.

The town was in uproar and panic. It seemed inevitable that, even if they gave him what he asked for, he would ransack the place. For several days, the whole horizon was filled with Blackbeard's ships. Each day the people held out, the ships came closer, until eventually they handed over the medicinal supplies. To everyone's shock, Blackbeard simply released his hostages and sailed away.


Blackbeard's end came on November 22nd, 1718, off the coast of Ocracoke Island, North Carolina, USA. A British navy ship, captained by Lieutenant Robert Maynard, spotted Blackbeard's fleet. Maynard ordered his own crew below decks and masqueraded as practically a ghost ship. Blackbeard saw it and laughed. The huge pirate then boarded with just a few of his men. Immediately the rest of the British crew burst from the cabins and used the element of surprise to separate Blackbeard from the rest of his men. In the squirmish, dozens were killed, though reports vary as to how many.

What isn't in doubt was that Blackbeard received a gaping neck injury from one of Maynard's men. Even then, he didn't topple, but ended up in hand to hand combat with Maynard, surrounded by the navy. It apparently took Blackbeard 40 minutes to die, fighting all the way, until he eventually collapsed from lack of blood. Maynard delivered the final, fatal blow with his sword. He reported that Blackbeard had been shot five times and suffered 20 sword wounds, before dying.

Maynard decapitated Blackbeard and displayed his head on the bowsprit of his own navy ship. Blackbeard's headless body was cast into the ocean. The rest of the pirates fled on their ships. Of those arrested after the fight, 16 were hanged in North Carolina.

---

Places to Visit

* Mexican Carribean/Yucatan Straits: Blackbeard's ship cruised up and down this coastline during his hey-day. Anyone on the shores would have seen him at one time or another. Also look out for any unidentified lights out at sea. They are said to be the ghost fleet of Blackbeard, still roaming the area.

* Veracruz, Mexico: During the winter of 1717/18, it is believed that Blackbeard was harrying ships on the trade route in and out of Veracruz. Read more about it here.

For details of other pirate related attractions, please visit our main site or peruse the list below:

Captain Hook Lobster Cruise

* Campeche: Completely destroyed by pirates several times, so had its fort and cannons built to protect it. L'Olonnais was once left for dead on its beach.

* Chinchorro Reef, Riveria Maya: Pirates used lanterns to lure ships onto the treacherous reef. Captains would see the lights far inland, but they would believe that the lights were on the edge of cliffs. Thinking that they were safe, they would sail too close to the coastline and crash on the reef. The wreckers would then swarm over the wreckage and take off with the cargo.

* Punta Herrero, Sian Ka'an: Many night time sightings of a headless pirate. The ghost is described as a giant, colored man, who patrols from one end of the village to the other.

* Subacuatico-CEDAM Museum, Puerto Aventuras: CEDAM (Club de Exploraciones y Deportes Acuaticos de Mexico; The Museum of Mexico’s Explorations and Water Sports Club, Civil Association) is a museum based in Puerto Aventuras. The exhibits are mostly from shipwrecks, many of which were caused by pirates, recovered from the Caribbean Sea. There are a few exhibits from Xel-Ha Mayan Ruins too.

The museum was formed by divers who had been frogmen in the Second World War. In 1958, they set about exploring the wreck of El Mantanceros, a Spanish galleon, which had sunk off the coast of Akumal in 1741. CEDAM have recovered its cannons, anchor and many small items, such as glass beads, belt buckles, coins and gems. These diving archaeologists went on to explore many other wrecks, as well as cenotes, and returned with more artefacts. They will also place commemorative plaques in places where there was a notable nautical link, for example, there is one to Captain Jean LaFitte in Port Dzilam, where the pirate's grave was discovered.

The museum is open Monday through Saturday all year long from 9:00 to 13:00 hrs. (9 AM to 1 PM) and from 14:30 to 17:30 hrs. (2:30 PM to 5:30 PM)

Tulúm: The New Hollywood Hang-Out

It was once a fortress that protected from the pirates of the Caribbean; a great port, which served merchant sailors traveling as far afield as the Philippines. But these days, its ancient walls and sublime beaches are attracting visitors of another kind. Amongst the tourists flocking to Tulúm are the celebrities, who appear to be making it the season's most fashionable holiday destination.

In the Sixties, the Hollywood stampede was towards Puerto Vallarta, lured there by the Gringo Gulch love-nest of Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton (Puerto Vallarta and Hollywood Royalty). While some big names still hang out there, notably John Travolta, many others appear to have swopped coastlines, from the Pacific to the Caribbean. They are all in Tulúm.

Spotted in Tulúm, over the last couple of months, have been a host of famous faces. Amongst them were: Australia's Natalie Imbruglia; Britain's Jade Jagger, Jude Law, James Penfold, Jaime Winstone and Mel Blatt; America's Drew Barrymore, Kate Bosworth, Alexander Skarsgard, Ryan Phillippe, Amanda Seyfried, Sienna Miller, Savanna, Bridget Marquardt, Amanda Hearst, Serena Merriman and Brooke Geahan; Sweden's Mathias Bergh; and Argentina's supermodel photographer extraordinaire, Paola Kudacki.


Drew Barrymore and Justin Long, on the beach at Tulúm
Even the world's press appear enamoured by the Tulúm clamour. Last month, Vogue Italia declared 'Tulum is the new Goa'; while, just yesterday, the UK's 'Telegraph' ran a travel report from the area: 'Yukatán Peninsula: the best reason for visiting Mexico'. It led on the charms of Tulúm.

So what is all the fuss about? Tulúm is 128km (80m) south of Cancún. It is busy enough to be vibrant, but, without the Cancún crowds to swarm it, it still retains that air of seclusion. It is a town built up around an 800 year old Maya fort.


The ruins themselves are impressive, with its features, like Temple of the Frescoes and the Temple of the Diving God. There is a stele, in the precinct, that was carved a thousand years ago. There are aspects of it, which can be viewed as almost mystical in their practicality. The Temple of Winds was constructed in such a fashion as to emit a loud wailing noise, when the wind, blowing through its corridors, gets too strong. No hurricane ever took the people of Tulúm by surprise.

Outside the gates of the fort is a huge mercado (market). Tourists and locals alike haggle for goods and gifts. There can be some great bargains picked up, as well as authentic souvenirs, unlike those found in more commercialized spots.

But the real jewel, for those who like to see and be seen, are the beaches. Tulúm sits on the edge of the Sian Ka'an biosphere. This is an area of coastline, protected by the government, for its biodiversity, endangered species and magnificent flora and fauna. Sea turtles nest here. There is a coral reef out at sea, as well as submerged art, which acts as a beautiful artifical reef. The sands are white and the seas are distinctly turquoise. For many, this is the true Caribbean - a tropical island, which just happens to be attached to the mainland.

Tulum & Xel-Ha All Inclusive
Combine Maya history with natural beauty! Tour the Tulúm ruins, then swim in the Xel Ha natural aquarium.

Pirates of the Caribbean - Fermin Mundaca

Fermin Anonio Mundaca y Marecheaga was born, on October 11th, 1825, in Santa Maria, Spain. He was well educated, but as soon as his studies were completed, he crossed the oceans to make his fortune in the slave trade. He raided Mexico, in search of Mayan people to abduct and sell. He also undertook voyages to Africa, where he bought people to ship to the Americas. Both Mayan and African slaves were destined for the sugarcane plantations and mines of Cuba and the Antillas. There were rumours that he was also a traditional pirate too, but no actual anecdotes to back this up. He certainly called himself a pirate and none of the other pirates around at the time challenged him on the nom-de-plume.

By 1858, the British Navy had started to crack down upon the slave trade. Mundaca decided that it was time to retire, signalling the act with a symbolic torching of his own ship. Mundaca was wealthy enough to settle down and so bought half of Isla Mujeres. This was his tropical island retreat and he had money to spend, so he spent it. His hacienda was based near to Playa Lancheros and took over 40% of the island. It exists today and was called 'La Vista Alegre' (Joyous or happy view).

Mundaca had plenty of people to whom he could show off. In 1847, the Caste War of Yucatán had begun and, by 1858, around 250 people fleeing from it had populated the Isla Mujeres village of Pueblo de Dolores. These included fellow pirates, who no doubt looked with envy upon his hacienda. Between them, these pirates owned the other 60% of the island, upon which also lived local fishing communities. Amongst them was an emerald eyed, Mayan woman, Martiniana 'Prisca' Gómez Pantoja. She was eighteen years old, willowy, with pale skin bronzed by the sun and her beauty was already attracting interest amongst the young men of her community.

Mundaca fell in love. He called her La Trigueña (The Brunette) and had a great archway built, as the northern entrance to his estate, in her honor. El Paso de La Trigueña! The Gateway of the Brunette! He built a two-storey, palatial home overlooking a shallow valley. He created stone terraces with carved stone benches, each bearing a hand-carved plaque. He made a massive sundial for her called 'La Rosa de los Vientos' ('The Rose of the Wind'). You could tell the time by seeing upon which flowers the shadow of the dial fell, during any hour of the day. He dug a well and constructed eight walled gardens around it in an octagon shape. He extended his gardens and added a menagerie of livestock and exotic birds. He had ploughed and sown a huge vegetable garden. A second archway, as the south-eastern entrance to his estate, had the words etched into it, 'Entrada de La Trigueña' (Entrance of the Brunette). He plundered the local Mayan ruins and brought back ornately decorated stones to be used in his own hacienda. He created a warren of small pathways, lined with sea grapes and icaco, lit with torches and leading down to the bay. Coconut palms and chitale were planted for their milk. All for her.

Unfortunately for the pirate, Senorita Gómez Pantoja was having none of it. She was 37 years younger than Mundaca and already had a sweetheart of her own. She was also Mayan and he was Spanish. Three centuries of Spanish conquest was culminating even now in the War of the Castes over on the mainland. She, along with the rest of the Mayan population of Isla Mujeres, hated his guts. There was also the fact that Mundaca hadn't quite finished with his slave trading. Between 1858 and 1870, he continued to rent boats to the Government of the Yucatán, which were used to capture rebel Mayans and sell them to the Cuban plantations. Mundaca took his cut of the proceeds and he became referred to as the Spanish Consul on Isla Mujeres by the same government. He also captured Mayan people from the mainland coastline and used them as slaves to build his sprawling estate. They were made to dismantle the ancient temples on the island and use the stone for his own constructions. All in Pantoja's honor. Mundaca seemed to find no incongruity between his trade of her people and the fact that she didn't want a thing to do with him.

Prisca married her own love, Senor Martinez, and Mundaca went a little crazy watching her from afar. He became a recluse inside his hacienda, walking endlessly and stuffing his pockets full of random stones. These stones were piled up around the well, almost as a cairn to his lost love. He planted hundreds of flowers in his gardens. Except for two male servants, Mundaca saw no-one and traded with no-one. He allowed his vegetables and fruit to ripen in the ground, then fall and rot. His animals were given free rein. They frequently escaped and trampled over the crops and groves of the rest of the island. He never attempted to control them, even when they ruined the food of his neighbours.

Mundaca also went to the cemetery, in the north part of Isla Town, on the island and created a tomb for himself. The granite tombstone is peculiar. It was carved by Mundaca in 1877, the date which he added to the stone. It is intriguing to ponder upon the date. Did he intend to do away with himself in order to render the date correct? Or did he consider this the moment when his life was over, despite himself still moving and breathing in it? The tombstone shows a skull and crossbones as its icon. There is also a message for his disinterested love:

Lo que tu eres, yo fui
lo que lo soy, luego seras
-As you are, I was - as I am, you will be

In the end, he couldn't stand watching Prisca getting on with life, raising a family and making her home any longer. He left the island, in 1880, and travelled 200 miles away to Mérida. There he died within weeks. Some say that he contracted plague; others say that he just withered away alone in a brothel. His body was not returned to Isla Mujeres, to the tomb which he had already prepared. It lies empty.




* Hacienda Mundaca, Isla Mujeres: The ruins of Vista Alegre are on the south side of the island. The entrance fee is $20 pesos.

* El Cementario, Avenida López Mateos, Isla Town, Isla Mujeres: Mundaca's empty tomb with the tombstone carved by himself.

* Mérida: Mundaca died there.

Pirates of the Caribbean - Jean LaFitte

Jean LaFitte (pron. La-Feet) claimed to have been born in France and some biographers believe him. Others point out that French nationality helped greatly in avoiding the enforcement of American law at the time. And the Americans had a lot of reasons for wanting to enforce their law upon this notorious pirate.

If Jean LaFitte wasn't born in France, then it is likely that he started life in the French territory of Saint-Domingue (Haiti), in 1782, and moved to Louisana, USA, as an infant. He grew up exploring the wetlands and bayous south of New Orleans, until he'd memorized every inlet in the Gulf of Mexico. By 1805, LaFitte was running a warehouse in New Orleans, though which he trafficked the goods smuggled into the country by his brother, Pierre. Life was good until 1807, when the Embargo Act banned any American ship from docking at a foreign port. Lousiana had become part of the United States of America only three years before, but this meant that the brothers could not ply their trade as openly as before.

The brothers LaFitte decided to set up a private port on the island of Barataria. It was sparsely populated area and so small boats could slip beneath the watchful eyes of the custom officers. Business boomed again, as many privateers began to use this port, unloading their large cargos there, then ferrying the goods via barges into New Orleans. The brothers were soon bored though and so brought themselves a schooner, in October 1812. They were ready to become fully fledged pirates in the Gulf of Mexico.



The USA authorities tried, on several occasions, to arrest the brothers. However, this was difficult as the US navy was in its infancy, so was often overwhelmed and outrun at sea; while the people of New Orleans refused to testify against them, as they brought in goods and luxuries far more cheaply than the official sources could. Finally, in 1814, a high ranking citizen did give evidence at a trial against Pierre LaFitte. He was jailed for piracy, leaving Jean LaFitte to run amok alone on the high seas.

This was the time of the American War of Independence and the British were quick to see the strategic value of being able to use the port at Barataria. From there, they could launch naval attacks upon the American colonies. LaFitte was approached with both a carrot and a stick. If he agreed to let the British navy use his pirate port, then he would be given British landholdings, great wealth and the use of the British navy as personal protection. If he refused, then the same British navy would destroy the port. LaFitte asked for 15 days to consider it, then copied the letters and sent them to the American authorities in New Orleans. Within two days, Pierre LaFitte was allowed to escape from jail.

The Americans were taking no chances though. Gunships set out from New Orleans and found the Baratarian port. A battle took place, which the pirates lost. Many were arrested and taken back to New Orleans, but the LaFitte brothers both escaped. However, General Andrew Jackson had arrived in the city and he was horrified at how poorly defended it was. In particular, despite having a swollen fleet filled with captured pirate ships, they had no-one skilled enough to sail them. Forever opportunists, the LaFitte brothers struck a deal whereby any pirates fighting the British, on behalf of the Americans, would immediately be released with full pardon. Jackson accepted and the LaFittes, along with many pirates, received commendations for their 'courage and fidelity' in the Battle of New Orleans. They all received full pardons on February 6th 1815.

This, of course, did not stop the piracy. He took hundreds of ships and their cargo throughout the Gulf of Mexico. In fact, Jean LaFitte openly admitted to piracy in his later years, though he took care to keep his ports outside the USA. His most notable settlement was on Galvaston Island, in Texas, which was under Spanish, then Mexican control at the time. This was effectively a new and improved Barataria, until he was run off it in 1821. Then Jean LaFitte moved operations to Isla Mujeres, in the Yucatán, where he set about building his third and final base. However, it wasn't as large as his previous ports on Barataria and Galvaston, but is significant as he died there in 1826.

The manner of his death has passed into legend, with many different accounts. No-one knows for certain how it happened or where his body lies. Some say that he was killed by a Spanish warship out at sea, but his official biographer, Jack C Ramsey, wrote that Captain Jean LeFitte died of fever on Isla Mujeres. On the island, local oral history concurs and, furthermore, states that before he died, he buried treasure on their beaches. Tourists have been looking for it ever since.

* Posada del Capitan LaFitte, Playa del Carmen: A beachside resort overlooking an inlet which LaFitte used during his piracy.

* Hotel Petit LaFitte, Playa del Carmen: Another hotel in the same inlet used by LaFitte.

* Dzilam de Bravo, Progreso, Yucatán: Plaque commemorating him placed there by CEDAM. There is a tombstone in the cemetery there with the legend, 'Jean LaFitte ReExhumed'.

* Look out to sea. There have been numerous reports, from oil workers on platforms and fishermen in boats, that occasionally a ghostly fleet of pirate ships can been seen around the Gulf of Mexico. This has been credited as being Captain Jean LaFitte and his crew.

* Lord Byron's poem, 'The Corsair': Some scholars say that it's not about Greek pirates at all, but it is about Jean LaFitte.

O'er the glad waters of the dark blue sea,
Our thoughts as boundless, and our souls as free,
Far as the breeze can bear, the billows foam,
Survey our empire, and behold our home!
These are our realms, no limits to their sway—
Our flag the sceptre all who meet obey.
Ours the wild life in tumult still to range
From toil to rest, and joy in every change.
'The Corsair' by Lord Byron, 1814

Pirates of the Caribbean - Laurens 'Laurencillo' de Graaf

The Dutch born Laurens Cornelis Boudewijn de Graaf was better known to the Spanish as Laurencillo or El Griffe. To the Dutch themselves, he was Gesel van de West, the scourge of the West. He was born in 1653, in Dordrecht, Dutch Republic (modern day Netherlands), but was captured by Spanish slavers as a child and taken to the Canary Islands. Around 15 years later, he escaped his captures and turned pirate. Now married, to Francois Petronilla de Gurzman, Laurencillo sailed to the Caribbean as the captain of a French pirate ship.

Laurencillo was reknowned as a very handsome man. He was also extremely well-read and cultured by the standards of the day. He always carried a violin and trumpet, which he would play to entertain his crew. He also knew huge sections of Shakespeare off by heart, which he could recite in Dutch and Spanish. His favourite play was 'King Lear'.

One of Laurencillo's first recorded pirate attacks was a terrifying assault on poor, beleaguered Campeche. This town suffered several such attacks during the 128 of high pirate activity, but Laurencillo's, in March 1672, was one of the worst. After setting fire to a frigate and ransacking the town, the pirates stayed on. They were still there when an unsuspecting merchant ship sailed into the harbour and was soon relieved of over 120,000 pesos worth of silver and other cargo.

They eventually left to sail the Caribbean Sea, causing such fear and outrage that even contemporary pirate, Sir Henry Morgan, sent a fleet to stop them. Their adventures to this point were legendary. Laurencillo's men had taken a 28 gun Spanish galleon, which he renamed 'Tigre' and used as his flagship; they had taken the 'Princesa', a ship carrying the entire payroll for the Spanish colonies in Puerto Rico and Santo Domigo, which in turn became his flagship; they had succeeded in open sea battles with Spanish fleets sent to capture them. Sir Henry Morgan certainly sent his frigate, 'Norwich', in pursuit of Laurencillo, but there is no record that he actually found him!

One pirate who did find Laurencillo was a fellow Dutchman, Nicholas van Hoorn. The two fleets joined forces to attack the Mexican city of Veracruz. Their enormous armada was led by two captured Spanish galleons, to lull the population into a false sense of security. Once in the harbour, on the morning of May 18th, 1683, the pirates descended on all sides. Laurencillo attacked from the sea, while van Hoorn led his men overland to attack from the rear. This was an audacious raid, as Veracruz was protected by force of at least 700 soldiers, plus 300 soldiers its fort, San Juan de Ulúa. Nevertheless, it worked.

The citizens were rounded up and 5,000 of them were locked into the Catedral de la Asunción (the largest cathedral in the city). This wasn't the easy option for the people. They were packed in like sardines, in searing heat, with no food or water. Their ordeal lastest for three and a half days. Some climbed to the top of the belltower and leapt to their deaths, rather than stand it any longer. The wealthiest, most important citizens were abducted for ransom. The governor himself was taken and a payment of 70,000 pieces of eight (eight-reales, the currency of the time) was required to secure his release. Also taken were thirty of the prettiest local girls that the pirates could find. They were taken to the pirate's base, in Laguna de Terminos, for the pleasure of the men.

All was not well between the pirate leaders though. Van Hoorn wanted more money. He was willing to behead a few captives in order to apply the pressure. Laurencillo refused to allow this and, in the fighting that ensued, van Hoorn received a slash to the wrist, which later turned gangrenous and killed him a fortnight later. The people of Veracruz were only saved when Spanish warships were spotted on the horizon. With their wealthy captives already sold for ransom; the pirates just abandoned the local girls, who were left without food nor water for five days before they were rescued. Meanwhile, the pirates sailed out, slipping past the Spanish, to land around the peninsula on Isla Mujeres. Here the spoiled were divided, with each man receiving 800 pieces of eight.

Incidentally, there is a story told in Veracruz that the Mexican folksong, 'La Bamba', which was later made famous as a rock'n'roll song by Ritchie Valens, dates from this period. The arrogance of the pirates is commemorated in the song, with its refrain, 'Yo no soy marinero, soy capitan!' ('I am not a sailor, I'm the captain!') The word 'bamba' comes from the Spanish 'bambarria', which has a meaning similar to the English phrase, 'shut the stable door after the horse has bolted'. It's a wry commentary on the efforts of Veracruz's officials to fortify the town after Laurencillo's attack, including numerous drills, which the citizens had to drop everything to participate in. The second verse, not often sung, talks about the people shut into the cathedral, climbing the ladder to fall to their deaths.



By now, several nations were vying with each other to enlist Laurencillo into their own private service. The king of Spain certainly sent a message requesting that Laurencillo joined the Spanish navy; while the English managed to solicit an acceptance. Laurencillo didn't actually do much for them though, other than sending a captured Spanish ship, laden with sugar, to the English colony in Jamaica.

In September 1684, Laurencillo set sail in his latest flagship, Nepture, from Isla Mujeres. He had his wife on board and he was heading into Cuban waters to see what piracy could be found there. However, they hadn't got far, when a Spanish fleet of warships was spotted. One of his ships was taken, with the crew and captain made prisoner, but Laurencillo wasn't prepared for this to happen to him. He jettisoned guns and other heavy equipment into the Yucatán Strait and managed to outrun the Spanish, despite being 'only a couple of spars shot away, even though he was being attacked from both sides within musket range.' He made it to Isla de Pinos, in Cuba, where they could dock and lick their wounds.

Whether it was this or the whole catalogue of events during their marriage, but, in 1689, Francois Petronilla de Gurzman formally divorced her pirate husband. The documents were registered in Tenerife, with copies found in Seville. By now, Laurencillo was finally back in France, where he received a hero's welcome for all of the wealth diverted from the Caribbean into his patron country. He couldn't settle there though and soon headed back west. He had been awarded the position of governor of Cap François, a French colony in Santo Domingo (modern day Cap Haitien, in Haiti). Not that this slowed him down much. Even with such a respectable title, he still sailed out on pirate raids.

It was here that he met the woman who was to be his second wife, Marie Anne Le Long, who was better known as Marie Dieu-le-Vent (Marie, God Wills it), after her commonly heard catchphrase. She appears to have been a firebrand herself. After Laurencillo publicly insulted her, Marie took a pistol and marched into his quarters to demand an apology. She got one. In fact, he asked her to marry him as his apology and she accepted. Whatever the quarrel had been about, it might be worth noting that she was pregnant with their eldest daughter at the time. She often sailed out with him, earning the reputation as a 'lioness'. In 1698 though, she was at home in Cap François, with their two young daughters, when the port was raided by the English, as revenge for Laurencillo's attack on Jamaica the year before. Marie and the children were taken, but Laurencillo paid the ransom to get them back.

Laurencillo died in 1704, but there are two contenders for where this occurred. Some say that he passed away quietly at home in Cap François; others reported that he was involved in creating a French Colony in what is now Biloxi, Mississippi, and it was there where he died.


* Isla Mujeres: A frequent place to dock, take on supplies and share out the spoils of their plunder. Nicholas Van Hoorn was buried there after Veracruz.

* Baluarte de San Carlos Museum, Campeche: This museum is built in the wall of the fortress built to protect the town from pirates. It contains a lot of exhibits documenting the raid by Laurencillo's men. It is located at Calle 63 and Calle 8, Presidia Circuit, Campeche.

* The Pirate Ship “Lorencillo”, Campeche: This replica ship travels around Campeche Bay during the evening. The cruise lasts for an hour and affords stunning views of the night sky, the oceanscape and the city lights. The entertainment includes a pirate show and on-deck salsa dancing, with audience participation. Naturally, the rum flows throughout. It sails from the exit of the Pier of Lerma, daily, at 5pm.

* Veracruz City, Veracruz: Taken by Laurencillo in 1683, the fortification of the city began in earnest afterwards.

* El Pirata Lorencillo, Ricardo Flores Magón, Veracruz: A statue of the infamous pirate, Laurencillo.

* Roca Partida, nr Arroyo de Lisa, Los Tuxtlas, Veracruz: It is in a cave here, under a modern lighthouse, that Laurencillo reputedly stashed his personal treasure.

Pirates of the Caribbean - Jean-David 'L'Olonnais' Nau

Jean-David Nau was born in Les Sables-d'Olonne, in France, circa 1635, and brought to the Caribbean as an indentured slave. White slavery was harsh, but had a limit upon it. After seven years, the 'servant' was free to leave and Jean-David Nau did just that. But his life thus far, under the ownership of Spanish masters, had left him with a hatred of all Spandiards. He renamed himself François l'Olonnais and embarked upon one of the most brutal of all pirate careers. Bertrand d’Ogeron, the governor of Tortuga, gave him the ship upon which to do so.

Within a year or two, L'Olonnais (El Olonés to the Spanish) was lying shipwrecked on a beach in Campeche, Mexico. The Spanish soldiers which had destroyed his ship began the systematic approach of killing all survivors. L'Olonnais managed to smear himself in the blood of his fellow pirates and lay amongst the dead. He was overlooked and escaped once the Spanish had left. He walked into Campeche and persuaded slaves to flee their masters, in order to become his crew. The next Spanish ship to attack was overtaken. All of the crew, but one, were tortured and beheaded. The survivor was sent to Havana with a message for the governor: 'I shall never henceforward give quarter to any Spaniard whatsoever.'

L'Olonnais joined Sir Henry Morgan's fleet, as captain of his own ship, and so was there at the sack of Maracaibo, Gibraltar and Panama. He later commanded expeditions of his own, attracting 700 pirates into his fleet to attack Puerto Cabello, in Venuzuela, and San Pedro de las Colonias, in Mexico. However, even amongst such bloodthirsty company, L'Olonnais's cruelties stood out. Alexander Exquemelin, author of 'The History of the Bucaniers of America' (1684), wrote,

'(L'Olonnais) drew his cutlass, and with it cut open the breast of one of those poor Spaniards, and pulling out his heart with his sacrilegious hands, began to bite and gnaw it with his teeth, like a ravenous wolf, saying to the rest: I will serve you all alike, if you show me not another way.'

His other favourite tortures included cutting out tongues, slicing off bits of flesh with his swords or 'woolding', which involved tying knotted rope around his victim's head and tightening it until their eyes popped out.

In the end, it was not the Spanish, but a native tribe in Panama who defeated L'Olonnais. The Kuna lived around Darién and captured L'Olonnais while he and his men foraged for food there. Exquemelin wrote,

'(The Kuna) tore him in pieces alive, throwing his body limb by limb into the fire and his ashes into the air; to the intent no trace nor memory might remain of such an infamous, inhuman creature.'

* Campeche, Mexico: The beach is where L'Olonnais lay shipwrecked taken for dead; the town is where he formed a crew out of deserting slaves, circa 1662.

* San Pedro, Mexico: L'Olonnais raided there in 1667. It is here where he reputedly cut a Spaniard's heart from his chest and ate it raw in front of his victim's eyes.

Pirates of the Caribbean - Sir Henry Morgan

Hari Morgan was born, circa 1635, in Llanrhymni, Wales; he was reputedly the son of a squire. He became known by the English version of his Welsh name, Henry. In 1658, he arrived in Jamaica, where his uncle was the Lieutenent-Governor. He married his cousin, Mary Morgan. It was from Jamaica that he began life as a sailor, progressing quickly to becoming a pirate around the Caribbean Sea. His attacks included ports along the coasts of New Granada, Honduras and Mexico.

By 1661, he was in command of his own ship and soon had permission from the governor of Jamaica to attack Spanish ships on behalf of England. One of his first acts was to capture several Spanish ships just off the coast of Compeche, on the Yucatán Peninsula. Morgan and his men also over-ran the Spanish owned Island of Providence, destroying every settlement and all but one of the forts. This briefly turned into a pirate owned island, but the Spanish returned with greater forces and managed to reclaim it.

When word came that the Spanish were going to attack Jamaica, in retaliation for Providence, Morgan assembled a fleet of 500 of the most notorious pirates active in the Caribbean at the time. In order to do this, he dressed in fine silks and decked himself out in expensive jewellery, then trawled known pirates haunts to find the best. They saw his garb and assumed that there were rich pickings aboard his ten ships. Their remit was to find and capture Spanish citizens throughout the Caribbean and the Gulf of Mexico. They began in Cuba, where they planned to attack the Cuban town of Santa María del Puerto del Príncipe (now Camagüey). However, bad weather forced them to dock early. A Spanish prisoner managed to escape and warn the residents of Santa María del Puerto del Príncipe, who all fled with their valuables. Those who remained were captured and tortured for information about where their neighbours had gone. It was all to no avail though. Morgan's men managed to recover very little wealth from the town; far too little to pay his pirate horde.

Clearly there was going to have to be another raid. Morgan thought big and set his pirates towards one of the most prosperous cities in the New World: Porto Bello in Panama. What followed was fourteen days of pillage, torture, rape and murder. The city was stripped of its wealth. The pirates stayed for another month and a half, which was the time it took to transfer all of the valuables from the city onto their ships. All told their two raids brought them over 200,000 pieces of eight (the standard currency of the time, which would later evolve into the peso). By modern standards, the booty would have been worth millions. It certainty boosted Morgan's reputation. The governor of Panama itself promptly sent Morgan an emerald ring, as a bribe not to attack his own city; while the English crown sent Morgan the 34 gun HMS Oxford, a much superior ship, to help him with his career.



Despite the gift of a ship, the English could not officially be seen to endorse Morgan's behaviour. They were supposed to be at peace with Spain at the time. The governor of Jamaica was sent a message to recall Morgan and stop his piracy. This was duly ignored. Instead, Morgan sailed out with a fleet much inflated by pirates flocking to his banner. Word of mouth was a powerful recruiting tool, when the riches of Porto Bello flowed so freely. Eleven ships filled with 900 pirates set out for Cartagena, in Colombia, but first they paused for a party on Isla Vaca, in Mexico. This resulted in a rum fueled disaster, when a fuse was accidentally lit on the HMS Oxford. This ignited explosives which destroyed the whole ship with a massive loss of life on board. Morgan was one of only ten men to survive, after he was rescued from the water.

Some pirates took this as a bad omen and deserted immediately. However, there were still ten ships and eight hundred men, which set out along the Yucatán Channel towards Cartagena. Unfortunately, the wind was against them and some ships simply weren't strong enough to fight against it. Already rattled by the loss of the HMS Oxford, some crews gave up easily, so only five hundred pirates reached Colombian waters. This wasn't enough to take the heavily fortified city of Cartagena. They decided to take the Venezuelan city of Maracaibo instead. A nearby fort spotted them and gave warning in time for most of the residents to flee, taking their valuables with them. Nevertheless, the pirates stayed in the city for three weeks. They were as merciless as they had been in Porto Bello. Any remaining people were tortured and many killed, though some were kept as messengers. Then the pirates moved around Lake Maracaibo to attack the neighbouring town of Gibraltar. Here no-one had had warning, so the town was filled with its people, all of whom were tortured to discover any hidden wealth. It was all carried away.

On the way out, three Spanish warships intercepted them. But Morgan had spotted them in advance. He ordered one of his own ships to be packed with explosives. Logs were dressed up as pirates and placed around the riggings and on the decks. This fire ship was sent straight onto a course with one of the warships and the resulting explosion destroyed both of them. A second warship was captured and the third, now isolated amidst a fleet of pirate ships, was set alight by its own crew, rather than allow it to fall into Morgan's hands. The fleet managed to escape and carry its booty back to Jamaica.

Two years later, Morgan did return to Panama, despite the bribe of an emerald ring a few years previously. He took 1,400 pirates with him and the attack was so vicious that the whole city was nothing but smoldering ruins at the end of it. The modern city of Panama is located a short distance away, because the whole place had to be rebuilt. The majority of the citizens were killed, all of them tortured first for the location of their valuables. Despite all of this, there was little wealth to be carried off. Much of it had been put into safekeeping aboard a Spanish galleon anchored out in the Gulf of Panama. The pirates didn't know it was there.

Though initially arrested and taken to England for the sack of Panama, Henry Morgan defended himself in court and ended up with a knighthood instead of execution. In 1674, it was as Sir Henry Morgan that he returned to Jamaica. He took the opportunity to retire from piracy and settled down on the island. He became its deputy governor, then acting governor. He gained a reputation for drunken rowdiness and died of cirrhosis of the liver, on August 25th, 1681. He was buried in Jamaica's Palisadoes Cemetery, which sunk beneath the sea during the 1692 earthquake.

* Isla Vaca, Mexico: Morgan's ship, HMS Oxford, lies on the seabed just off the coast of Isla Vaca.

* Campeche, Mexico: Raided by Morgan in 1662. He sacked two forts and took away fourteen Spanish ships.

* Vilahermosa, Mexico: Raided by Morgan in 1663.

* Yucatán peninsula, Mexico: Morgan's ships were once stolen by the Spanish, during a land raid. He used canoes to sail around the Yucatán peninsula in order to escape.

* The drinking establishment of your choice: Captain Morgan rum is named after Sir Henry Morgan.

Pirates of the Caribbean - Sir Francis Drake

Francis Drake began life as a humble farmer's son, in 1540, Plymouth, England. He grew up to become one of the first sailors to circumnavigate the globe; and his piracy made him feared and loathed along the coastline of Mexico. There he was known as El Draque (The Dragon) for his reign of terror. It was not just ships that he attacked, but towns and cities too.

When he first set sail, in 1567, it was the young Drake who was traumatized. He was aboard his cousin's slave ship, when they were attacked by pirates in the Mexican port of San Juan de Ulúa. After a four-day battle, the English lost all of their human cargo and one ship from their fleet; but Drake and his cousin, John Hawkins, both escaped. Those who had been captured were treated mercilessly by the pirates. Many were dead. It was all too much for Hawkins, who made this is last voyage. But a nautical life was only just beginning for Drake. It was a life filled with hatred towards all Spaniards and all Catholics. Drake was a Protestant; it had been an English Catholic Uprising which had forced his family off their farm, back home in Devon, England. Now it was Spanish Catholic pirates who had attacked their ship. Hawkins and Drake limped back to England in severe hardship, as they hadn't been left adequate rations to make their return voyage. They had dreamed of making their fortune in the slave trade, but now they had nothing. Drake wanted revenge.

Three years later, in 1570, Drake was given a commission by his queen, Elizabeth I, to sail back into the Caribbean and harry Spanish galleons. Hawkins had given him three ships and Drake had hired 70 men as his crew. They descended upon the Spanish colonies, attacked the ships and returned home with a vast wealth in gold and silver. In fact, there was 20 tons of the stuff and that was too much to carry on board their ships. Drake buried what he couldn't fit in his hold, but managed to take back the equivalent of millions of pounds worth. Elizabeth I was thrilled. However, she had just signed a peace treaty with the Spanish and so couldn't openly reward him.

Drake waited until 1577, when the political winds of change meant that he could sail out again with the queen's blessing. This time he took five ships and many more men, with the intention to sail down the coast of Africa before heading towards South America. A mighty storm, at Cape Horn, convinced most of his crew that they wanted to go home, but Drake's own ship carried on. Sailing on the Golden Hinde, Drake and his pirate crew terrorised Chile before heading north.

In 1579, they took a Spanish ship, Manila Galleon Cacafuego, off the coast of Peru. The cargo taken from its hold took four days to transfer to the Golden Hinde and was enough to pay off England's national debt at the time. He returned home in September 1580. Queen Elizabeth I was very pleased with him. She knighted him a year later. Drake immediately bought a manor house and became a member of parliament. His crew received nothing.





Elizabeth I commissioned Drake to sail into the Caribbean and raid all of the Spanish settlements along the coastline. Drake set off in 1585 and destroyed three Spanish towns, in Spain itself, before heading across the Atlantic Ocean. On New Year's Day 1586, the fleet reached Santo Domingo, in the Caribbean, and plundered of 25,000 ducats. They set off again, heading into Cartagena, where 110,000 ducats were taken. Then up to St. Augustine, in Florida (now USA), which was utterly destroyed.

In 1587, Drake was back in Europe. He entered Cadiz Harbour, in Spain, and proceeded to capture and sink 24 Spanish ships. A year later, the Spanish Armada sailed into English waters, in a bid to invade the country. Bad weather and bad luck stopped them. A mighty storm paused them north, always within sight of the coast, but never able to land, as that would mean sailing against the winds. Just when they'd crested the north of Scotland and were able to use the same winds to reach the shore, the weather changed. Now the same strength of storm pushed them south in the opposite direction. Many crashed on the coastline of Ireland. The remainder were harried all the way by an English fleet commanded by Drake. Even in British waters, he was not above piracy. He attacked the Spanish payship, the Rosario, and succeeded in taking off with her wealth.

Drake's piracy continued unabated. He persuaded his cousin, Sir John Hawkins, to return with him into the Caribbean in 1595. There they found that their luck had run out. The Spanish had fortified many of their coastal towns. Then fever struck aboard the ship. Hawkins died first then, on January 27th, 1596, Drake died of fever aboard his ship. His body was thrown overboard into the Caribbean Sea, at Portobelo, Colón, Panama.

* San Juan de Ulúa, Veracruz: The place where Spanish pirates attacked Drake on his first voyage.

* Campeche: Drake raided the town twice during his pirate career.

* Hotel Francis Drake, Campeche: This hotel, named after the infamous pirate, can be found at Calle 12 No. 207 | Entre 63 y 65 Centro, Campeche C.P. 24000 For more information, please visit their website.

* Huatulco, Mexico: A port ravaged by Drake during his pirate days.

Pirates of the Caribbean - Giovanni de Verrazano

Giovanni de Verrazano (pron vay-rah-tsah'-he), aka Juan Florin, Juan Florentino or The Frenchman, was born in Florence, Italy, in 1485, but worked under a commission from the French crown. During his early career, he traversed the coastline of North America and Canada, sending letters back to Francis I, king of France, containing detailed descriptions of all he saw. These letters show that he discovered the Hudson River before Henry Hudson, but he only sailed as far as modern-day Manhattan, so didn't realise it was a river. Instead Verrazano believed that he'd found a 'large lake'. He made it as far north as Newfoundland before returning to Europe in 1524.

He was soon back, but this time it was in his other guise, as a pirate. He had first experimented with such activities in 1522, when he had taken a ship belonging to Hernán Cortés, a Spanish conquistador and now governor of the country, just off the coast of Mexico. He took pearls and sugar, as well as Mexican gold worth 80,000 ducats. At the time, Europe was alight with the news of the Spanish getting rich from their conquests in South America. Many countries despatched 'privateers', or crews with an official remit to intercept the Spanish and Portuguese ships, thus diverting the wealth into other countries. France's monarch, Francis I, was the one who provided Verrazano with a ship and crew to do just this. The age of the pirates was well and truly born.

Peter Martyr, an eyewitness, wrote letters concerning Verrazano's exploits at sea. He talked of ships lying in wait for the Spanish vessels, then dramatic chases and cannon fire. In 1521, Verrazano himself was boasting of owning four vessels for such grisly work. In 1523, the pirate was intercepted by the Spanish, whilst in possession of seven captured ships. He was forced to relinquish them. Yet another source said that he had fifteen ships at the time. What is certain is that Verrazano's notoriety as a pirate was growing steadily with each passing year.

Verrazano's crew had a reputation in the Caribbean as the worst kind of pirate. They were cut-throats, who would kill automatically without mercy or reason. They just wanted the loot and would sink any ship, as soon as its cargo had been carried away, with the loss of life of all on board. He was also responsible for abduction. He stole a child from a tribe in North Carolina, USA to take back to France as a curiousity. He attempted to take a young woman from the same tribe too, but she managed to escape. By the time he was hanged for piracy, in Puerto del Pico, Spain, in November, 1527, he had self-confessed to having plundered and sunk 150 ships, galleons and galleys. The estimated value of all the cargo that he had taken was nearly two million dollars.

Other sources state that he was never captured by the Spanish nor taken back to Spain for execution. The alternative story says that, in 1528, he achored off the coast of Guadeloupe, in the Lesser Antilles and saw members of the native population on the shore. While his crew, including his brother, Girolamo, stayed aboard the ships, Verrazano waded ashore. He was immediately set upon, killed and eaten, as the people were cannibals. Those on the ships were out of gunfire range and couldn't reach him in time to save him. Later commentators have noted that, while the population of Guadeloupe were cannibals, they only ate those whom they had defeated in battle. It can be deduced that it wasn't a friendly landing, which had led to Verrazano being eaten. It had been a fight, which the Europeans had lost.

What should historians make of these contradictory stories? It might be worth noting that Giovanni de Verrazano came from a notable family in Italy. His letters, alongside his brother's maps, were important for navigation in the New World for a century; while historians still find them invaluable as primary sources of information about that period. Spanish records are emphatic on the fact that they did hang him, with a charge of piracy against Spanish and Portuguese ships in the Caribbean Sea, Atlantic Ocean and Mediterranean Sea. It is tantalising to consider that his family did not want such a story associated with their name, hence they embraced an alternative death for him. Being eaten by cannibals in South America is a much juicier narrative and it is this one which has endured.

However, the reality is even more murky than that. It seems that a Florentine man was captured and eaten by cannibals, but his name was not given in the account. What was told was that the ship and the rest of the crew were English, it was only the pilot who was Italian. Given the English records of the time, it is likely that this man was Albert de Prato. However, a chronicler of the period, John Baptista Ramusius, noted the nationality and the fact that Verrazano had disappeared from the historical record around this time. He put two and two together and inserted Verrazano's name as the consumed Florentine.

* Subacuatico-CEDAM Museum, Puerto Aventuras: Some of the exhibits recovered from the seabed come from ships which may have been sunk by Giovanni de Verrazano and his men.



* Yucatán Strait: It was this stretch of water, separating Mexico from Cuba, where Giovanni de Verrazano and his fleet of pirates waited ready to attack Spanish galleons. Just visit any beach on the Yucatán Peninsula or its islands, or sail out into the sea, and you will be on the trail of Giovanni de Verrazano.

The Pirates of the Caribbean

For many people today, the pirates of the Caribbean conjures images of Johnny Depp and Orlando Bloom swashbuckling across the silver screen. For those who lived in the coastal towns and islands of the Yucatán Peninsula, just a couple of centuries ago, they were a dreadful and terrifying reality. Traces of these pirates are still there for those who dare to follow the trail.

The pirates first started operating in the Caribbean during the 15th century, but their 'golden' age was 1660 to 1730. Many of them were acting under licence from various governments, notably the Dutch, English, French and American administrations. Hiring pirates was a lot cheaper than declaring open war; which is what the governments really wanted to do. This was a time of expansion and conquest in the New World. The 1493 Treaty of Tordesillas, backed by the Pope, had effectively stopped any nations, except Spain and Portugal, from colonising the New World. If a non-Iberian ship was in the Caribbean or the Gulf of Mexico, then it had to be either a slave ship or pirates. There was officially no other reason for them to be there. All of the Iberian ships contained conquistadors. The Mayan ships were effectively put out of business, their ancient trade routes dismantled. 90% of the people had been wiped out in wars and through contracting European diseases. The rest could only watch in horror as their lands and mines were stripped of natural resources, usually by Africans brought in as slaves, impoverishing the Mayan homeland for centuries to come.

It was a time when Spanish galleons were taking great wealth home from Mexico to Spain. The emphasis was always on extracting goods and carrying them back to Europe, rather than building self-sustaining colonies in the New World. The only way that other nations could get a share of the plunder was to attack the Spanish and Portuguese ships returning home. Pirates could get knighthoods for attacking galleons and redirecting the wealth back to their own sovereign states. Back home, they were often lauded in public as heroes and patriots. Out in the Caribbean, they were generally viewed more as vicious, merciless thugs.

By 1660, repeated wars in the European homelands meant that the Spanish and Portuguese control of the New World was slipping. Other nations swarmed in to create unstable colonies, but no European power had the resources to send vast armies into the Caribbean. The Spanish, Portuguese, Dutch, English and French governors increasingly had to rely on private mercenaries to harry neighbouring colonies, while protecting their own. There was great wealth to be had as a mercenary and these people were, of course, pirates. The whole area, around the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea, became a lawless and dangerous place to be; where every ship and settlement was prey.

By 1720, it was all over. The European wars were largely over, leaving behind trained and huge armed forces with nothing better to do than sail out and protect the colonies. The British established a naval base in Jamaica, while the Spanish created their Costa Guarda (Coast Guard) from Mexico. Between them, they drove the pirates out of business and, for the first time in two and a half centuries, the local nations could attempt to recover. There still were pirates, of course, just not in the same numbers. Nevertheless, that still amounted to hundreds of attacks throughout the region. They tended to operate out of Nassau in the Bahamas and Isla Mujeres in Mexico, though pirates like Jean LeFitte were based further north, in the Gulf of Mexico. By now, any pirates caught were generally hanged, not given knighthoods.



The Caribbean Sea was central, so any ship coming from the conquested and plundered South American lands had to sail through the Caribbean in order to take their treasures home to Europe. Mexico's Yucatán Peninsula coast was right on this thoroughfare and so any beach and inlet could be harbouring pirate ships ready to intercept a Spanish galleon. It was the pirates, as much as the Spanish conquistadors, which destroyed the traditional Mayan trade routes and led to the abandonment of cities, like El Rey and Tulúm port.

Take a time machine and set it onto the white sands of the Mexican beach of your choice. Look out over the sea and, depending upon the year you have travelled back to, that ship out there could belong to Blackbeard, Jean LaFitte, Fermin Mundaca de Marechaja, Sir Francis Drake, Henry Morgan, Giovanni de Verrazano or any of the notorious pirates that sailed these seas. I'd come back to the 21st century if I were you. It could get dangerous.

However, for the next few days, you can peep into this dastardly world from the comfort and safety of your home, as we go on a voyage of discovery through the real life pirates of the Caribbean.

For details of pirate related attractions, please visit our main site or peruse the list below:

Captain Hook Lobster Cruise

Other areas:

* Campeche: Completely destroyed by pirates several times, so had its fort and cannons built to protect it. L'Olonnais was once left for dead on its beach.

* Chinchorro Reef, Riveria Maya: Pirates used lanterns to lure ships onto the treacherous reef. Captains would see the lights far inland, but they would believe that the lights were on the edge of cliffs. Thinking that they were safe, they would sail too close to the coastline and crash on the reef. The wreckers would then swarm over the wreckage and take off with the cargo.

* Punta Herrero, Sian Ka'an: Many night time sightings of a headless pirate. The ghost is described as a giant, colored man, who patrols from one end of the village to the other.

* Subacuatico-CEDAM Museum, Puerto Aventuras: CEDAM (Club de Exploraciones y Deportes Acuaticos de Mexico; The Museum of Mexico’s Explorations and Water Sports Club, Civil Association) is a museum based in Puerto Aventuras. The exhibits are mostly from shipwrecks, many of which were caused by pirates, recovered from the Caribbean Sea. There are a few exhibits from Xel-Ha Mayan Ruins too.

The museum was formed by divers who had been frogmen in the Second World War. In 1958, they set about exploring the wreck of El Mantanceros, a Spanish galleon, which had sunk off the coast of Akumal in 1741. CEDAM have recovered its cannons, anchor and many small items, such as glass beads, belt buckles, coins and gems. These diving archaeologists went on to explore many other wrecks, as well as cenotes, and returned with more artefacts. They will also place commemorative plaques in places where there was a notable nautical link, for example, there is one to Captain Jean LaFitte in Port Dzilam, where the pirate's grave was discovered.

The museum is open Monday through Saturday all year long from 9:00 to 13:00 hrs. (9 AM to 1 PM) and from 14:30 to 17:30 hrs. (2:30 PM to 5:30 PM)