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Antigua and Barbuda
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    • Tim's TravelsAntigua
      Day 3

      We have misplaced the calypso window.

      January 23, 2023 in Antigua and Barbuda ⋅ ⛅ 24 °C

      I wake early. 05:45 or thereabouts. Little bit of jet lag I think. Vicki purrs quietly next to me, so I go and sit outside on our terrace. It's still dark - dawn is a good half hour away, and the sky is just beginning to grey up where the sun is on its way...

      I write and read for a couple of hours, and then realise I'm being eaten alive. Mozzies everywhere. I figure 10 hours is enough sleep for Vicki, so head back into our room. She stirs.

      We're planning a day of doing absolutely fuck all. A late breakfast, and suddenly the bar is open (10:00 since you ask). We have a beer each, followed by another. Somehow I end up drinking wine before 11am, while Vicki makes the sensationally sensible move into Vodka.

      The clouds build, and we have a couple of short, sharp rain showers. The calypso window is missing in action. We befriend some people, and prop up the bar for most of the afternoon. By sunset, the clouds have largely shifted, and the view across the bay is stunning.

      If you ask me what I had for dinner, I'm not sure I'd be able to tell you. We collapse into bed around 21:00, and moments later are asleep.

      This is our Caribbean lifestyle, and I adore it.      Read more

    • Tim's TravelsAntigua
      11
      Day 1

      No, it's DEFINITELY in half an hour...

      January 21, 2023 in Antigua and Barbuda ⋅ 🌙 24 °C

      We get off to a less than auspicious start. A few minutes before 08:00, the doorbell rings. Answering it in my PJs, I'm met by a smiling and besuited taxi driver, Neil. Time for taxi Sir! No, no, no my good man. Half past eight is what you want to aim for, for that's the time for which I booked it. I'm pretty sure it's 08:00 Sir! No - it's DEFINITELY in half an hour. We'll be out soon...

      Secure in the knowledge that I am correct, I pad back into the house, check my email booking, and wince with embarrassment. I'm an idiot. I explain our situation to Vicki, who confirms I am an idiot. I send Neil a text to let him know that I am an idiot. Our calm and serene progress towards our 08:30 departure becomes a slightly more frantic rush to try and save Neil's morning. He, it transpires, is meeting another customer at Heathrow, and is on a bit of a timetable... We manage to make it out shortly after 08:15. I am apoplectically apologetic.

      Still - we get to the airport a little earlier than we had planned, so there's that.

      Terminal 3 is, well - Terminal 3. It's not a great place to spend time. There's a decent bar though. A Bloody Mary and several ciders later (Chardonnay for my beloved), we're suitably lubricated for our flight.

      It's strangely rare for me to have a window seat. I take many photos and several videos. Vicki accuses me of behaving like a child who has never flown before. I interpret this as meaning that I am excitable, which I am.

      Neither of us is disastrously low on sleep of late, so we're both awake for the vast majority of the flight. The Virgin cabin crew are their usual wonderful selves. Their casual and friendly style isn't to everyone's tastes, but it's very much to ours. The 8+ hour flight passes quickly, and we're soon banking into a landing pattern over Antigua. It's always a huge treat to spend time in the stunning surrounds of the Caribbean, but Antigua holds an incredibly special place in our hearts, as it's where we married in 2010.

      We're staying at a new resort this time around - Escape at Nonsuch Bay. It's owned by the same people that run Cocobay - where we married, and has a very similar style and philosophy. After a quick transfer, we arrive at Escape to be welcomed by a very warm and friendly team, and a lethally strong rum punch.

      Check in is perhaps a little more complex than it needs to be, and not particularly helped by Vicki's attempt to kneecap herself on a table. Neither of us has data roaming for this trip, and a connection is required to check in on our phones. Andre is very patient with us, and we are very patient with him. At one point Vicks states that things were much simpler when we used pen and paper. Finally, our technology issues are resolved, we head to our room for a quick look, and grab some dinner - crab cakes for us both, jerk chicken for Vicks and shrimp and pineapple curry for me. Delish.

      We manage a couple of drinks after dinner, but fatigue quickly catches up with us. 22:00 locally is 02:00 in the UK, and we're ready for bed.      Read more

    • Tim's TravelsAntigua
      1
      Day 6

      Jeffs!

      January 26, 2023 in Antigua and Barbuda ⋅ 🌙 24 °C

      I've been sparing you the 'another day - still awesome!' updates, as no one needs that.

      Thursday though, we spend our day exploring the Eastern side of the island. We head initially to Laviscount Island - a new venue that's opened in the past year. It feels a little like a work in progress, but the attractions more than make up for it. We spend a delightful half hour communing with Aldabra Giant Tortoises. These awesome dudes were rescued from a Pacific island, and many have scars and deformities. They're similar in size to the much more famous Galapagos tortoises - some growing to as much as 250kg, and 1.3m tip to tail. In a staggering piece of good fortune, we learn that the biggest and oldest tortoise on the island is called Jeffrey. (For those unaware, I've called all tortoises, turtles and terrapins 'Jeff' for as long as I can remember...)

      Our wonderful guide, Shea, provides us with carrots to feed them, and we walk amongst these breathtakingly beautiful beasts for a while. Trust me when I tell you they move quicker than you'd think, particularly when food is on offer. Their shells contain lots of nerve endings, so they enjoy being rubbed and stroked. When they're REALLY happy, they extend their necks further out of their shells, and invite you to stroke their necks. We are spellbound.

      We then go and meet some indigenous Red-Footed tortoises, that can be found across the Caribbean and South America. Much smaller, but with vivid red colourings. We get to hold some teeny babies. Both of us expect to be shat on, but our new friends are much better behaved than we give them credit for.

      Next, we meet some birds. Beautifully coloured Macaws, noisy little Lovebirds, and Vicki spends some time with a cockatoo. We also meet some Antillean Iguanas, again - indigenous to Antigua. One pair are chilling in their tree. The other pair, well - I'm not sure there's a polite way of saying this, are in the midst of some frenetic sexual activity, all whilst eating some tasty hibiscus leaves.

      Shea takes us for a walk around the tiny island, pointing out some of the local fauna. Our visit to Laviscount is a brilliant way to spend a couple of hours.

      We head over to Half Moon Bay, one of the loveliest of Antigua's many (some claim 365...) beaches. It's half past beer o'clock, so we park ourselves at the Beach Bum Café with a well deserved Carib, and watch the world go by for a while... From here, we head down into English Harbour, and have a fabulous lunch at Boom. Rubbish name, great restaurant. It overlooks Nelson's Dockyard, and the astonishing super-yachts that moor there.

      We arrive back to the Escape around 15:00. I have an urgent nap, and join Vicki at the bar for sundowners. It's been a terribly tiring day, and we head back to our room to bed shortly after 22:00...      Read more

    • TravelerCaribbean Xmas Cruise 2017
      Day 5

      Snorkelling, St John's, Antigua

      December 22, 2017 in Antigua and Barbuda ⋅ ⛅ 28 °C

      On arriving at St John's, there seemed a little for us to do independently than other stops so far. Maybe not. We initially walked up to the cathedral, which seemed to be entirely locked up and quite dilapidated. Just a block over though was the National Museum, housed in the former courthouse. Some of the same contents as the museum in Bassaterre but a little more on geology and anthropology which was interesting. Final stop was St James' fort.

      We walked through ramshackle housing estates with buildings made from wood and aluminium and windows an ad hoc feature - some missing, some plastic, some glass, some boarded up. As we rounded the road into the fort it became apparent it'd be quite tricky to get to as it was seemingly in a container port...alas, we were in fact headed to the wrong ruins! Nonetheless, an interesting jaunt.

      In the afternoon, we'd a kayak and snorkel excursion planned. We took a bus ride with our local guide Darie who talked about sugar plantation history, education and healthcare on Antigua, and national heroes.

      From the centre, we took a speedboat to a kayak station amongst the mangroves. The guide spoke about the four kinds of mangroves, of which there we red ones. Apparently, they act as a nursery for all the sea young, provide wind protection and prevent sold from being washed out over the coral reef which would suffocate it. The speedboat retrieved us, and went onwards to the snorkelling site - AMAZING. From the surface it was not apparently different to any of the water over which we had travelled, but the moment you want underwater, the life was astonishing. Teems of fish, varied in size and colour, feeding off a great variety of coral, including 'brain coral'. We took loads of photos on the GoPro. The swell of the ride was quite large and we had to be really aware of the tide essentially dropping us into the coral and breaking it.

      All too soon, we were summoned back and headed to a nearby shore for swimming, birdwatching and rum punch, before speedboating back to the centre to get out taxi back to the ship.

      The taxi was about a 45 minute journey, made much longer by the crazy traffic around St John's - our guide had informed us on the way out that 'every hour is rush hour in Antigua'!

      On board, we tried out hand rather more triumphantly at the trivia quiz, winning a phone fan for our trouble!      Read more

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