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Journal Entry:

Monday, November 24, 2008 07:27:50

Caribbean 2008: 3 - Antigua & Barbuda

Thursday, November 20, 2008 (Continued)

When I chose to go through San Juan, Puerto Rico, I had hoped they might actually have a transit lounge, but no such luck. It is just like mainland USA, with the full immigration, customs and back through security process. One positive note was that there were no line-ups.

The flight was once again on a twin prop ATR, but this time almost full. Fortunately my seatmate, a Texan with the drawl and $300 (he said) Stetson hat volunteered to move across the isle to sit beside another passenger so I could fold my legs across two side-by-side seats. The 1-½ hour flight was smoother and got us to Antigua just after 10 PM.

Immigration was not happy that I had no accommodation booked, but I explained that the three hotels I had contacted had not responded. They said the closest place to stay was the Airport Hotel a few minutes away and suggested I stay there for tonight. The lady dispatching taxis in front of the airport phoned the hotel, which sent a vehicle to pick me up.

The hotel would be classified with a negative number of stars, but they had rooms available so I moved in. The lady at the front desk gave me their best room with a new air conditioner, fridge and bathroom with towels. The bed was comfortable, although it was on wheels and moved around the linoleum floor every time I turned over.

Friday, November 21, 2008

The hotel professed to have a restaurant, however they meant a snack bar for take-out sandwiches on the back street - no relation to the hotel. The scrambled egg and sausage sandwich was better than nothing.

I taxied to the dock in St. John, where they said the small catamaran ferry may not go to Barbuda due high seas. The owner & captain, Greg, loaded everyone and headed out of the harbour to test the open ocean. A seaman on incoming freight barge said we could make it, so away we went. The 90-minute crossing wasn't bad - the ferry maintained a speed of about 20 knots through the waves - but the day tour of the island had been cancelled in anticipation of bad weather.

For most of the trip I talked to Gregg, the owner and operator of the ferry service. He said the government was continually putting obstacles in the way of his operation to make life as difficult as possible. They were keen on seeing him establish the business, but now that it has proved viable he feels that they would like to take over the operation.

Two sisters from Paris in their early 20s also wanted the tour, so I suggested we team up to hire a taxi van to do the tour ourselves. Gregg radioed ahead and a van and driver were ready for us - it ended up costing less than the tour package. Our first stop was "Uncle Roddy's" restaurant, a cabin in front of the beach, to book a lobster feed for lunch, then to "town" were there was a bank - the girls needed an ATM machine, and surprisingly enough there was one on this 62 sq. km.(24 sq. mi) island. The only problem was that it didn't work, and the bank employees would not do advances on a credit card. After half an hour they got the machine working and the girls got some cash.

We were driven to the small dock, where an open boat was waiting to take us to the frigate bird reserve. The birds were plentiful, with lots of males puffing their red pouches to attract the ladies. Depending on time of year there are between 9 and 15 thousand birds on, or flying over, the mangrove bushes in the reserve.

Back in the van we drove to a rough, volcanic part of the coast where we climbed through a large cave to arrive on top of cliffs towering above the breakers below. This part of the island is dry, making a good habitant for 25-foot high cactus.

There are only a couple of small hotels on the island, and very few retired people among the population of 1.700. Fishing, lobsters and the sale of sand are the pillars of the economy - there were two large barges receiving sand-laden dump trucks when we arrived. It seems a bit dangerous to be selling off sand when the highest point on the island is only about 20 meters above sea level! The island has a radio and TV station, mobile phone, one gas station, one or two stores and a lot of wild donkeys, goats and sheep.

The lobster feed at Uncle Roddy's was great - none of us could finish it all. Cold beer accompanied the meal. After lunch we went for a swim in front of the restaurant. The girls were good company and the people on the island friendly and welcoming. Back on Antigua the ferry stopped in St. John where I boarded this morning, but I stayed aboard for the trip to Jolly Harbour where it overnights so Capt. Gregg could introduce me to his favourite watering hole, an open bar built out into the harbour. He introduced me to a number of people, which took quite a lot of beer. About 11 PM Gregg walked me to a place where I could get a taxi back to the hotel, my intention to find other accommodation forgotten.