Since the 15th century, when the great European expansion around the world began, seafarers and conquerors have faced a new and unknown world. Every place they reached, every settlement they founded had to have a name in order for it to really exist. One of the easiest ways was to convert the festival the church was celebrating that day into a place name. And since the explorations didn’t stop on December 25th, the world was full of places and cities that were called Christmas, Natividad, Natal or Christmas.
Now we can travel around the world in his footsteps.
Fort of Christmas (Haiti)
December 25, 1492 was not the best for Christopher Columbus. Before dawn, the ship Santa María ran aground off the north coast of present-day Haiti, rendering it utterly useless. The crew was rescued and with the recovered materials they built the first Spanish settlement in the New World: the La Navidad Fortress. There were a few huts and a tower that housed 39 men. However, when Columbus returned to the site during his second voyage in November 1493, he found no one alive.
Interior of the Laferrière citadel (one of the largest fortresses in America) built by order of King Henri Christophe in northern Haiti. Getty Images
No material trace of La Navidad, which stood on one of the arms of land that closes the Bay of Cap-Haïtien, right next to Bord de Mer de Lemonade, a village with a name that only exists in the Caribbean. About 20 kilometers away is the National Historical Park, which includes the remains of Sans Souci, the palace of King Henri Christophe of Haiti; the Citadel of Laferrière (one of the largest fortresses in America) and Ramiers, the only Haitian sites on the Unesco World Heritage List.
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KwaZulu Natal (South Africa)
Crocodile warning sign at iSimangaliso Wetland Park in South Africa. GETTY IMAGES (Getty Images/iStockphoto)
On Christmas Day 1497, Vasco de Gama, on his voyage to India, sailed along what is now the northeast coast of South Africa and named the bay where he landed Rio de Natal. The city that arose on this site, Port Natal, is present-day Durban. The Portuguese name sticks with the province of KwaZulu-Natal, home of the Zulus. The coast in this area has two different faces. South of the Tugela River we find the beach destination for local South African tourism. On the other hand, the north of the country seems to be the most isolated. The jewel of this area is the iSimangaliso Wetland Park, a series of beaches, swamps, coastal dunes, reefs, salty and sweet lagoons, swampy forests and wetlands stretching over 280 kilometers. The diversity of the fauna is incomparable. The park is on the Unesco World Heritage List.
Barra de Navidad (Mexico)
Boats at the dock of Barra de Navidad in Costalegre (Jalisco, Mexico). Alamy Stock Photo
On December 25, 1540, Viceroy Antonio de Mendoza traveled along the coast of what is now the state of Jalisco and we can already imagine what we have now: the population of Barra de Navidad is on the sandbar that separates Navidad Bay from the Christmas Lagoon . In those days, its excellent port conditions were appreciated and explorers who first arrived on the California coasts left here. Legazpi and Urdaneta set out from Barra in 1564 on one of the most fundamental expeditions in history, the one that led to the colonization of the Philippine Islands and the discovery of the hitherto unachieved route back to America. This finding made it possible to determine the line of the Manila galleon, which often arrived or departed from Barra de Navidad and not from Acapulco. Today the historical memory is part of the background scenery which can be enjoyed while surfing, kayaking or touring around the bay and the nearby forests.
Natal (Brazil)
On Christmas Day 1599, the city of Natal, today’s capital of the state of Rio Grande do Norte, was founded on the northeast coast of Brazil. People don’t come here to visit museums but for other reasons. In early December, the Carnatal is celebrated, an off-season carnival. The main attraction of Natal is its beaches, which you can now enjoy in the city itself, especially in the Ponta Negra district. But it is better to move a few kilometers. Heading north, all you have to do is cross the Potengi River and continue to Genipabu, where the dunes are 50 meters high and are the highest on the entire coast.
An SUV on the cliffs of Praia de Pipa, near the Brazilian city of Natal.Getty Images
However, the best beaches are south of Natal. Those of Pirangi do Norte, Pirangi do Sul and Búzios are the picture of paradise with a mix of dunes, palm trees and ocean. And if you drive a few kilometers further to Tibaú do Sul, you can swim among dolphins at the foot of the cliffs.
Puerto Natales (Chile)
Cueva del Milodón, near Puerto Natales, in Chilean Patagonia. Getty Images/500pxPlus
Until a few years ago, Puerto Natales was just one stop on the journey between Punta Arenas and Torres del Paine National Park. But now travelers pause to find out about the life of this population with a border atmosphere, which arose next to the Natalis Estuary, named after some German pioneers at Christmas 1894 Canoes of the Yagans who used to navigate these icy waters. In the area, you can barbecue with the descendants of the pioneers on a ranch or go horseback riding with gaucho guides who will later tell you stories while preparing a mate around the campfire. Literary travelers follow the pages of Bruce Chatwin’s In Patagonia to the Cueva del Milodón. Cruise ships depart from the port to visit some of the continent’s most desolate places, and travelers land next to glaciers, intact forests and beaches washed up by blue ice floes carried by the currents.
Christmas Island (Australia)
Although only 360 kilometers south of Java, Christmas Island is an Australian territory with the nearest coast 1,500 kilometers away. This remote corner, lost in the Indian Ocean, was sighted by Captain William Minors on Christmas Day 1643, but there were no attempts to colonize it until the 19th century. Two thirds of its territory is protected as a national park and the attraction of a visit is to enjoy intact nature.
A boy watches red crabs on their annual migration on Christmas Island, Australia.Getty Images
In addition, this island is the scene of one of wildlife’s most amazing spectacles: the migration of tens of millions of red crabs from the inland forests to the coast to mate and lay their eggs. It is a synchronized process of the animals with the phases of the moon and the tides. To avoid human interference, some streets are closed to traffic. They also built tunnels and the world’s only crab bridge.
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