Beaches and Islands

Hurricane Dorian made landfall in the Bahamas on Sept. 1 with sustained winds of over 100 miles per hour and gusts up to 185. Due to atmospheric conditions, the hurricane remained over the Bahamas for more than 48 hours. At least 53 people were killed, but more than 1,300 people remained missing as of press time and were assumed dead. Multiple communities were destroyed, mostly on the Abaco Islands and Grand Bahama Island, leaving thousands homeless.

The following parks and sanctuaries were so designated by the International Dark-Sky Association (Tucson, AZ; 520/293-3198, www.darksky.org):

• Located in the Yaeyama Islands, JAPAN’s southernmost populated area, Iriomote-Ishigaki National Park became the country’s first, and still only, Dark Sky Park in April 2018.

After flying from Miami, Florida, to Barcelona, Spain, I headed for the cruise terminal to board the SS Marina, which would be my home for the next two weeks, Nov. 16-28, 2018.

I would travel to Iberia and nearby islands in the Atlantic with Oceania Cruises (855/623-2642, www.oceaniacruises.com). For the cruise, airfare, insurance and transfers, I paid $7,891 as a single.

On Aug. 19 in Surabaya, on the Indonesian island of Java, dozens of students who belonged to Papuan ethnic groups were arrested for allegedly damaging an Indonesian flag. After they were released, they holed up in their dormitories, where stones were thrown and racist slurs were hurled at them by Indonesian nationalists. When that was posted on social media, riots broke out in West Papua, and the West Papua Parliament building in the city of Manokwari was set on fire.

On Aug. 19, two wildfires on Gran Canaria, the second-most populated of Spain’s Canary Islands, forced 9,000 people to evacuate. The fires were not near any major city or tourist destination, but at press time they were encroaching on Tamadaba National Park, home to some of the island’s oldest pine forests.