The Old World Meets The New World (29 January 2011)

My experience of San Jaun in the limited time I have been here is a big thumbs down to the beaches here and a huge thumbs up to the Old Town. What a great place. Situated on a penninsula it's guarded by two ancient forts, St Felipe Del Morro and San Cristobal Castle and kept in great shape by the National Park people. I attempted to get the bus in this morning but failed miserably. I had to go on safari to find change as they only take "three quarters" in cash, no change, no exceptions. And then I waited and waited and waited. The queue grew longer and in the end I talked four other people into sharing a taxi as they were a bit fed up with the wait too!



You are dropped off at the end of a huge long drive surrounded by lovely lawns and fantastic sea views all around and take the leisurely, but hot walk up. There is a free trolley that goes up there and around the town but I decided not to be a geriatric and take a walk.



The city wall surrounds the whole town almost, I walked a bit of it but there were shops to be visited too....These poor people have been attacked by so many nations over the years, it was such a prize as the gateway to the spices and riches of the Caribbean and even old Sir Francis Drake had a go on our behalf, but these forts helped to repel boarders and keep them Spanish. Wonder what it was was that made them fall to the mighty US in the end....



After my history lesson I walk down into the town. Slightly hilly, with narrow cobbled streets, lovely old Spanish style churches and joy of joys, lots of oulet stores, but all tucked away behind the facades of the old buildings.



Very European feel to it with lovely wrought iron balconies overhanging the street. I visited the San Juan Cathedral and lit a candle for Kev. Retail therapy called and I treated myself to a nice Coach bag, a real bargain. But amidst these shops near Pigeon Park was a man selling pigeon (rats with wings in my view....) food, and people were throwing it everywhere as flocks of the things flew around your head. Gross. I managed to walk by without being attacked but had to go round the block to get back to where I wanted to be as I couldn't face being near them again. It was like that awful Alfred Hitchcock film...



Quite a laid back place though, the security guard by La Fortaleza, the Governor's House was listening to his iPod whilst keeping a hand on the gun on his belt....
But more history lessons were needed so I take myself off to Barrachina's, an old bar/restaurant where they invented the Pina Colada in 1963, sad to think I'm older than a Pina Colada...... A great place, full of character and music, but any hopes of a Tom Cruise lookalike mixing my said Pina Colada were soon dashed. They first ask you if you want rum in it, a particularly stupid question if you ask me. Then they proceed to pump a semi frozen colada mix from an ice cream type machine, float the rum on the top, and add the obligatory cherry and pineapple on the paper umbrella. Not sure this was how they were served in days gone by, but no matter, it tasted great. Went well with the chicken sandwich.....











A few more shops, but nothing caught my eye, so found the bus station to come back. It went all round the houses rather than on the six lane highway so I saw a bit more of what makes up urban San Juan. Past the huge cruise ship docks and equally large convention centre, then on to Condado, the strip immediately outside the town. Bordering the sea, it is fully developed with huge hotel and condo blocks, all of the usual suspects are here, Sheraton, Hilton, Conrad. One hotel I have yet to find is the Hotel Cardiovascular - who the hell would want to stay somewhere called that! The hotels and condo's, although rather crowded together looked quite posh, and the odd designer stores dotted about just confirmed this. I'm obviously in the (relatively.....) cheap seats out in Isla Verde.... But hidden amongst the condo's are some amazing old Spanish Villas and small, green park areas, it reminded me of Recoletta in Buenos Aires. We then wend our way through Loiza, not posh at all and very barrio like. Finally we get to the area I am staying and on this occasion, unlike Antigua, I manage not to miss my stop!
So from what I've seen, a good plan here would be to stay in the old town, but the trick seems to be to book early (which on this occasion I failed to do, and think accomodation in the old town is very limited). It would be a great place in the evening. After that, get a car, head for the hills and other beaches, but avoid these close to San Juan like the plague..... Hindsight is such a wonderful thing! But I'm glad I came, it was really good to see it, and a two day stop before the long slog tomorrow....
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A Rum Do (28 January 2011)

As when I landed in Antigua, I thought I had arrived in the UK, when we touch down in San Juan, Puerto Rico, this was very clearly a little bit of the US in the Caribbean. Whilst not a US state, everything about it is American. The Department of Homeland Security greet you, much more politely I have to say than their LAX, NYC or Miami counterparts. The airport is real, that is, it's big with lots of corridors and trolleys and baggage carousels which I have not seen since leaving the UK.



The brands are everywhere, Wendy's, Starbucks, Burger King, McDonalds, Taco Bell but the big difference is that everyone speaks Spanish, and the big brand signs are in Spanish too - Burger King advertising "desayuno" for example. Walgreen's is a "Farmacia" - I do like a Walgreen's, that mix of Boots and Superdrug with a bit of Woolie's thrown in! But of course, being a fluent Spanish speaker, this holds no terrors for me......


There also seems to be some discussion on the validity of claiming this as a new pin for a new country. It's not a US state, and those people who may wish to go sailing in the US Virgin Islands and claim that as a new pin, may wish to think on. Their positions in relation to the US are identical.......
Originally, I was coming here for about nine days, but the more I looked at it, the less I was sure and changed it to the two days I have planned now. As we flew in and I could see the lie of the land, I think I made the right choice. It looks from the air like a combination of Cancun and Miami Beach with long six lane highways running parallel to the coast, and huge 60's design, ugly cubic high rises competing for space along the beach.


The hotel I am in, the Verdanza, in Isla Verde, is a bit flasher than I wanted. All the more charming smaller hotels were either booked or the TripAdisor reviews made them sound both dirty and dangerous. Appears it's a place to be careful of at night in some areas.



I had originally booked to stay in the Old Town, but hotels.com managed to cock up the booking, so I am here. I am one block from the beach so as I arrive at lunchtime, I decide to take a walk down and find some lunch. I manage to penetrate the jungle of concrete condo's that border the beach, with limited acces to the beach between them through heavilly graffitied narrow alley ways.....


The beach itself is wide, with big breaking waves and the overwhelming rusty, metallic smell of seaweed which separates the sea from the beach in a wide, dark swathe. I don't know if this is normal for here or whether there has been some sort of storm out at sea washing it all in. Whatever, it's not too pleasant. The walk was bracing as the sand stung my legs as it blew about. It felt and smelt more like Southport than any Caribbean Island I know, but I suppose I shouldn't judge the whole island on this beach, am sure there are more "Caribbean" areas. And there is a great area of rainforest - which I won't see as I am going shopping tomorrow instead! Now that is supposed to be good......
On a more positive note, the beach did have a certain Latin vibe, with groups of people lounging around and listening to loud latin music, and the sound of many lively Spanish conversations going on. Wind and kite surfers were out in force, and given there's a kitesurfing school here, perhaps it is windy a lot of the time.



I have also had to change my drink of choice - rum punch seems to be off the menu, so settled for a couple of caipharina's instead. Puerto Rico is also the birthplace of the Pina Colada, not a favourite, but feel the need to visit the bar where they were created when I visit the Old Town tomorrow.... Even though this place looks towards the US rather than the Caricom countries, it hasn't forgotten its Caribbean roots when it comes to charging an arm and a leg. A small mediocre pizza and the two said capharina's set me back $40 US at lunch.... Economically I need to get to Asia fast!

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Au Revoir Antigua (24 - 27 January 2011)

I awoke to yet another fabulous morning yesterday, more blue skies, but out at sea as I walked along the beach there were a few white clouds with a beautiful rainbow. And yes, the rain came in, again and again and again.... The beach was completely empty, and no, not from the rain, but from the absence of a cruise ship, a rare happening... It felt a completely different place to yesterday's bedlam.



In between the showers I walked as far as I could and the extent of the beach erosion at the Southern end is really clear. A ruin of a restaurant stands yellow-taped off, like a crime scene, as it is in danger of falling into the sea. You can see where Sandals are trying futiley to rebuild their beach near their collapsed fence. At the other end of the beach, the sand is piling up against the cliff, where it has been shifted from one end to the other, all this a combination of bad building, sea pollution damaging the coral reefs and hurricane damage.
But it stil is a beautiful beach to walk along and to sit awhile with a rum punch, looking out to the blue sea....


I leave here on Friday, and none to soon I think! It is a lovely place but I feel I am in danger of becoming institutionalised.... There are rules everywhere at the hotel, a dress code, you have to have your beach card towel, the food never varies and to top it all yesterday, even my freedom to choose the time I eat the terrible buffet was taken away.... They have introduced three sittings for dinner and you have to book one..... It is starting to feel a bit like a care home for the elderly, especially when I spotted mashed potato and gravy on the menu..... And I also found that I was beginning to look forward to the Karaoke, not to join in, you understand, but to watch from the safety of my patio just a few metres away from the Carib Bar where it is held.... Luckily rain stopped play after about an hour as the heavens opened and the electical equipment was hastily put away... Much to the disappointment of "Black Cherry", an American girl who hogged the mike most of the time as if she were auditioning for American Idol - so the rainbow foretelling of rain perhaps did after all have gold at the end....
But I am braver tonight and head for the Manager's cocktail party, the lure of a free rum punch or two, too much to resist! Donning my cleanest (that being a relative term.....) outfit, I wander over and immediately spot a nice couple I had chatted to a couple of times, so hone in on them. They are a great couple, Jennifer, a tall elegant lady from near Wakefield and her taller, charming, retired policeman husband, Alan, they will be celebrating their Golden Wedding (50 years) on Friday. We are joined by another couple from Sussex, a prison librarian Christine and her husband, another ex copper, Bob. He has retired from the police force but is now working for security on the Olympics. I join them for dinner, and given there were two ex cops at the table, felt very gulity about sneaking a few free glasses of wine with them, they are on the all inclusive tariff, I felt like I was receiving stolen goods.......


So I get ready to move on on Friday to pastures new. I have enjoyed Antigua, and wouldn't hesitate to come back if I was looking for a nice place to loll about, (as you can see from the picture of me below, this was the view I looked at most whilst I was here, so lolling about is quite a skill....) and Dickenson Bay is as good a place to do that as anywhere in the Caribbean, with a beach that is in my top three. But the hotels are away from anywhere and a bit isolated and the sky high prices also are a bit of an issue. But a lovely place, so it is au revoir and not goodbye......


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Keep young and beautiful.... (23 January 2011)

..... it's your duty to be beautiful. However the old song goes, being in Dickenson Bay when the Royal Caribbean is in makes it a lot easier to at least feel that way. The beach late morning is heaving, with every beach bed taken, so I am forced to repair to Sneaky Pete's, who make a good rum punch and it is a great place for people watching. I am greeted by "hello princess" - a bit of a worry that my "local" knows me so well.....



The ship in today is one of the Royal Caribbean fleet that has sailed down direct from New Jersey, so meant that the passengers did not need to take a flight. Perhaps this explains the even older than normal average age. Got chatting to a really nice young New York couple who are on it and even they were surprised, they though the next onboard entertainment was going to be wheelchair races.... The average figure is also that of a McDonald's fed American (or Brit, come to that), so in comparison, although none of the following apply, I do feel young and thin, which has got to be a bonus.
Also got chatting to Pete, who, I assume, is the Sneaky Pete owner and he confirms that our theories are correct. The land based or stayover tourist trade has reduced here by at least 50% over the last years, with the cruise ship business taking over. Good for the cruise ships but less so for the hotels and beach bars. He also confirms that my memories of a deserted long Dickenson Bay and just the two hotels, Halcyon Cove and a small Sandals with a long stretch of beach bed free sand are not just in my rosy imagination. When I was last here there were very few cruise ships, Sandals was the small place I remember and you could walk along the beach for miles. The building of a new high rise wing to Sandal's and other developments too close to the sea has eroded the beach producing a rocky outcrop that wasn't here before, truncating the long sweeping bay. Also the bar I remember from before was Miller's (Ann and Ken, you will remember this) was washed away in the '95 hurricane. But I guess I cannot expect everything to stay the same.
Sneaky Pete tells me about prices here, he gets lots of complaints from people who have stopped off on St Maarten, where everything is so much cheaper. Apparently that's a duty free zone, not hampered by the high import duties and heavy paperwork that are imposed by the other islands. Now why did that not show up in our research before we came here.....
Had a fun afternoon watching the Antiques Roadshow on my newly working Slingbox (thanks to the technical assistance of Ant and Dyl who went over to the house). If it keeps working I will finally be able catch up on the X Factor.... Good thing is, it was so long ago, I have forgotten who won, so will still be a surprise..... But having it back is like discovering a whole new box of surprises - I have just watched "Dancing On Ice" which was fun, and am looking at all the other stuff that's been recorded so am in reality tv heaven. Only one downside, it obviously stopped working sometime around Xmas so it didn't record Upstairs Downstairs, but I can download that for just over a fiver on iTunes. So well set up for any rainy days..... now what time is Jeremy Kyle on.....

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Caribbean Rituals (20 January 2011)

Cruise TT, the trusty website that tells you which ships are in which port and how many passengers they disgorge on to the tiny streets of Caribbean capitals failed me today for the first time. Its info said that today was a cruse ship free day in St John's, and whilst that did mean a quieter beach, I thought it would be nice to see the town in its "natural" state, with just the usual day to day comings and goings. But no such luck. I decide to go in as I was also in need of a decent coffee and aimed for the Starbucks looky-likey, tasty-likey Ritual's coffee shop that Ant and I had discovered last time we were here. Amma blessed me after I had climbed the steep hill out of the hotel to the main road with a No 50 minibus turning up just as I got there. I paid my three EC dollars and clambered in. It was full of Mum's and tiny babies, perhaps it is clinic day. And I find myself in familiar territory as the bus winds its way through the same streets Ant and I had found ourselves in when we missed our turn trying to find the cricket stadium last time I have to say, they look a lot less threatening in the daylight! And news, the KFC on the road out is being demolished, ready for a sparkly new one or have the Antiguan's discovered it 'aint so finger lickin' good as they thought?



But arrival in town greets me with another familiar sight, the Costa Mediterranea that Ant and I saw in another port somewhere, was it Dominica or was it even here and I am having some sort of Groundhog day? No empty town after all. The taxi touts exhorting me to visit a beautiful beach, or to make up a party to go on a round island tour were still there, as were the shops selling the usual overpriced stuff. Back towards the market nothing much had changed, the old ladies spreading out their few veg for sale on the pavement, the meat market, the fish market, the Western bus station, yep, Groundhog day it is! I even board the same minibus as last time, but at least this time I don't need to find the Eastern bus station......


The bus waits a while before leaving, a few more passengers needed to make it worth the driver's while and I am amused by the sight of a group of drivers playing a raucous gambling game, right next to the big sign forbidding gambling (and other unsavoury activities) in the bus station, and also playing was the burly uniformed security guard. There are plenty of spare seats in the minibus, but next to me sits a large rasta, complete with a set of gold teeth that would rock the gold market if he ever had them taken out. Eventually he sparks up a conversation, asking me if I am Dutch, how long I've been here etc. Strangely, when I tell him of my husband back at the hotel he doesn't bother again.... Obviously he realises I am comfortable enough here....


The one thing today that is not Groundhog however, is the weather. It's perfect blue sky, a slight breeze, and even the Caribbean is behaving itself and is back to the turquoise benign sea that one expects, a change from the rougher waves of the last few days and the higher tides around the full moon.
But did I speak too soon... tonight it has been pouring with rain, enough to cancel the karaoke that was planned in the beach restaurant a few metres from my room, shame......
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This is your captain speaking..... (15 - 18 January, 2011)

.......we have just landed in Antigua, welcome to the UK.
I could have been forgiven for thinking I had missed my stop on the BA flight and gone on to Gatwick by mistake as I arrived at The Halcyon Cove Hotel in Dickenson Bay, back in Antigua. British voices are everywhere, as are copies of the Sun and OK magazine (must try to pinch one of those, have missed it.... OK mag I mean.....)
But my timing is decidedly off. I arrive and the five cricket teams who had been staying here for the Twenty Twenty tournament had just checked out to go on to the next stage of the competition in Barbados.....
I got this place at a bargain basement price (especially compared to what we have been paying out here) on ba.com, so wasn't expecting too much, but have actually been pleasantly surprised. But is the fact that ba.com were selling so low means they had a lot of contracted rooms to shift, another sign of the Caribbean land based economy being up the spout perhaps? The beach is one of the best I've seen here, with white powdery sand and real turquoise sea, more picture postcard stuff. All to do with coral rather than volcanic I understand......



I stayed here years ago, and parts of it still look familiar, it's not changed much in all that time. The room is a bit tired, but is clean, comfortable, with the usual aircon, fridge, coffee maker and flat screen tv, which is more than we got at the expensive Nisbet Plantation. And I get a sea view which is really nice. The beach is a bit busier than I remember, with enterprising locals taking up big areas for sunbeds for the cruise passengers who visit here. The hotel is at one end of the beach so doesn't feel crowded at all. Last time I was here, I was asked to be a witness at a wedding, wonder what that bride and groom are up to now.... I haven't seen a wedding here yet, but sure I will.... Food standards are no better than anywhere else we've been and the only option for dinner at the hotel (and I can't find anywhere else locally) is the "themed buffet", not one of my favourites, but unless I take a taxi ride out, there is little choice. Think it was Italian tonight as checked tablecloths appeared, but could be wrong.... And it's really expensive, but I can't mind too much as the room is such a bargain. But I appear to be the only one who has to sign for anything as I am not the proud wearer of an all inclusive wristband in a rather striking royal blue..... I could sign up for this deal for about £45 a day, actually quite reasonable given the cost of stuff here, but feel the temptation to both over eat bad food and over drink good rum punch would be too much....
There is an a la carte restaurant on a small pier jutting out into the sea called the Warri Pier, if I can scrape up something smart enough, I might try that one night. It's only open on occasional nights so I might need to plan... now where on earth did I pack that sparkly frock?



Even here, the dreaded dress code cannot be escaped. What is it about here that makes even a bad themed buffet restaurant want a dress code? Perhaps they think if people dress up a bit the food won't taste as bad? But it has been relaxed a bit apparently and I am told in the room bumph that "tailored shorts and jeans are now acceptable in both restaurants, ladies wear blouses and dresses or slacks for dinner". Wonder what it was before - suits and cocktail dresses perhaps? Now if only I owned a pair of slacks.... But Ant would still not be able to eat here...... not of course that he would want to! Having said that though, most people do seem to dress up a bit, perhaps I should make more of an effort..... Talking of cocktail dresses, I had another invite to a Manager's cocktail party. Never being one to turn down a free drink and a canape, I donned my cocktail frock (well, my cleanest skirt and top.....) and intended to go. But as in Nevis, I took one look and couldn't face it......


Had a fun day on Tuesday when I met a nice couple from the States at a beach bar who were staying at Sandals next door. They said it was very nice, but they wanted to escape for a while... Then met a crowd of the entertainment staff from a Norwegian cruise ship who were all friendly Aussies, dancers and singers and the wardrobe mistress, we had a good laugh over a few rum punches.
But most of the time I am being lazy, looking atvthe blue sea and racing against the clock to finish a book. I downloaded it from the library at home, but it disappears as if by magic after 21 days, and I was a bit slow at starting it....
Must dash now, am off to karaoke........



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Antless in Antigua (15 January 2011)

So here I am suddenly back to the single old soul travelling. We take the ferry back to St Kitts and whilst it was the smoothest one yet, it still had Gill hanging on for dear life as we crossed the very slightly choppy bit.


We had a few hours to spare before the flight, so had a last rum punch together in the duty free complex in St Kitts, remarkably empty as for a change, there was no cruise ship in. There were shops, proper shops! A little late in the day, but so amazed at the selection, we shopped....
All too soon, it was time to move on to St Kitts airport. It's billed as the "best mid size airport in the Caribbean" and boasts of bar, restaurant, info screens..... Think they were all having a day off when we were there.... Ant and I both boarded the BA flight from St Kitts, but I got off in Antigua whilst Ant stayed on to go back to London.



Very weird saying tata on a plane.... Just wish he had got off too. But we had a great time covering loads of islands. Trinidad (Ant only), Tobago, Grenada, (from here Ant also did Carriacou, Mayreau, Petit Martinique and Tobago Cays on the yacht), St Vincent, Bequia, Mustique, St Lucia, Martinique, Dominica, Guadeloupe, Antigua, St Kitts and Nevis.
In terms of real adventure, it was less challenging than other trips, but that came at a price. We now realise why there are no backpackers in the Caribbean, it's flashpacker prices only...
And the whole place, or at least certainly the places we went to, seems to have "had its day" in the tourist sense of the word. Given we were travelling in the Caribbean peak season of December/January, virtually all the hotels have had extremely low occupancy rates, but that didn't stop them charging peak season rates. Shops, bars, restaurants, tourist sites looked scruffy and often were boarded up. Prices were sky high everywhere, and whilst we understand that goods have to be transported here at a cost, there was always the feeling of being ripped off and "tourist prices" being obvious. Taxi associations (which the taxi drivers call "the Government"), set the prices at levels that are far higher than even in London, it means that there is no negotiation, just a big cartel.
But perhaps what has happened is that the tourist economy has moved from land to sea, with the land based stuff having a very hard time. The cruise ship economy here seems alive and kicking - well pehaps not kicking as the age demographic seems a little on the older side.... Regularly the cruise ships dock with totals of up to 9000 people if three are in port at once, but talking to the taxi drivers very few make it farther than the duty free area. The stats on spend are are not clear, but from our own observations, the local economies don't seem to benefit much.
The yachting economy seems to be faring a little better, again, not a scientific fact, more an observation of ours, especially in places like Bequia, whose lovely harbour was packed with all sizes of sailing yachts. English Harbour in Antigua was solid with sailing yachts and huge gin palace motor yachts, worthy of any Russian oligarch. Perhaps the land based tourist has moved East to the Tiger economies, will report on that when I get there.....

But apart from needing a Bank of England loan to pay off the credit cards, we did have a great time and here are our favourite bits.

Being met by Gill at Tobago airport (obviously one from Ant...)
Ant returning from his week's sailing course (obviously one from Gill...)
Going to Turtle Beach Hotel in Tobago where Gill really started her travel bug many years' ago.
Dinners at Maruerite's in Tobago.
Driving around and getting lost in our jeep in Tobago.
Nights in cooking pasta in Bequia and the fab beds there.
Crossing to Mustique - perhaps the crossing itself was more of an Ant high, but the cocktail at the Cotton House and rum punch at Basil's are certainly up there for Gill!
Our tiny SVG plane flight from Bequia to St Lucia.
Mad dash across St Lucia to connect with a ferry we didn't even know was running.
Another one from Ant, enjoying the ferries. Gill's high on this one was surviving the ferries.....
The hot pools in Dominica.
Learning the geography of the Southern Caribbean and bringing the map to life.
The lunar eclipse, seen in the middle of the night from land by Gill and from the sea by Ant, and communicating with each other on facebook at the time.....mad!
Two more of Ant's, Tobago Cays, his mind's eye Caribbean, and the night sail.
Hanging on in the open trucks at night careering at speed round the bends and hills in Bequia.
Rum punch everywhere, but two stand out, the first at immigration in Grenada, the second the Killer Bee in Sunshine's, Nevis. We now find out that one was packed with a mix of normal and way over proof rum....
Friendly local people everywhere, helping with the odd bus systems.
Lunch at The Montpelier Plantation, Nevis. Best food of the trip.
The Custom's Hall at St Vincent, the friendliest custom's officers anywhere amidst a complete jumble of bags, boxes and veg all tied up with loads of string.
Walking the five miles from the hills into Roseau, Dominica in the rain and sheltering wherever we could, a great way of meeting local people.
English Harbour in Antigua, and a good lunch there.
The dramatic volcanic scenery in St Kitts and Nevis.
Hopping on and off the local buses in all the islands.
Christmas lunch of Caesar Salad and dinner of lobster on the beach in Bequia.
Going to the opening night game of the 20 20 cricket in Antigua.
New Year's Eve in Bequia with the fireworks and the flares from all the yachts soaring over the harbour.
Waking up in Dingley Dell (aka Papilotte Wilderness Resort in Dominica). We had arrived in the dark so the next morning it looked like fairyland.
The rainforest walk in Dominica.
The Parang Christmas singers in Castara, Tobago.
Discovering our best beaches, Lower Bay and Princess Margaret's Bay in Bequia. Next best beach to those was Grand Anse in Guadeloupe.
Learning (aka playing) with the iPads.
All the nice, friendly and helpful local people we chatted to.

Disappointments
Taxi rip offs.
The Nisbet Plantation, Nevis
Food generally, little choice and average quality.
The stupendously high prices.
Lack of other travellers.
Disappointing beaches.
Martinique.
Guadeloupe.
No shopping!

Favourite Island Ranking
Dominica
Grenada
Antigua
Bequia
St Kitts
Tobago
Nevis
Mustique
Martinique
Guadeloupe

Biggest giggling fits
Getting completely soaked on the rowing boat up to Indian River in Dominica, and then passing perfectly dry tourists coming back as they had missed the monumental downpour....
One rum punch too many and eating Pringles to soak it up on the dock at Nevis.
Missing our stop on the way to the cricket in Antigua, and ending up we knew not where, we giggled as did the driver when we admitted our stupidity!
Getting soaked by a rogue wave on the ferry between St Kitts and Nevis - well Ant giggled as Gill took the full force...
Ant's (well deserved....) hissy fits in the reception of Papilotte and The Nisbet Plantation, well, Gill giggled anyway.....
Realising our total ignorance of the stars, the moon and the planets as we gazed into the clear night skies and tried to match them up with the iPad Star Walk app.

All in all a great trip, so the Southern half of the Caribbean ticked!
And here are some more of our favourite pics




























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St Kitts and Nevis, a country of two halves (11 - 12 January, 2011)

So it was time to get Ant's final pin of this trip and make the 20 minutes flight to St Kitts. We had separate flights, Ant's LIAT at lunchtime and Gill's BA mid afternoon.

This is Ant, I loved St kitts from before I landed, I could see the green forested perfect volcano rising up from the sea with little Basseterre and its harbour below. There were only four of us on the flight, so was through the airport in minutes. I had a real spring in my step as I jumped into a cab to the Seaview Inn, we didn't have a reservation but there were sure to be rooms, St Kitts, like everywhere else we've been is empty.

Basseterre is a tiny Georgian/Caribbean port, lots of Britishness remains in the ice cream coloured cottages. I had found my way around the eating and watering holes of the town before Gill had even arrived, managing to ignore the cruise ship terminal and it's (to quote the Lonely Planet) - feral tubby tourists.
Gill was soon here and so a rum (Gill had brought duty free) was called for, on the little flower clad verandah of the hotel overlooking the busy port entrance. We discovered Ting, a fab local mixer for rum, which made it especially refreshing. The veranda was perfect for people watching. The hotel is hostel like, and like the kind of places we usually stay in. This trip has been devoid of these little traveller filled hostels that have looked after us so well elsewhere. Not sure if this is why there are no travellers here in the Caribbean or whether they don't come and so no call for hostels. Chicken and egg. Anyway we are happy.
Dinner at the Ballalloo restaurant, which was fine and we followed this with more veranda time. We met a German traveller, who was doing our trip in reverse, so we spent time swapping tales as you do. Again, first time on this trip. Woke up to monumental rains and news that Gill had left the key in the door to her room. She assures me that she hadn't been looking for anonymous comfort!



Very soon the sun was shining, so after a quick breakfast at the Caribe Cafe, looking out over the Caribbean, we did a quick explore - Independence Square, The Circus, Slave Market (oh yes please). Nice vibe here, friendly people, but by 11.30 we were done, so Nevis and our end of trip blow out pamper, here we come!



The little ferry port is across the road from hotel, it was nice just to wheel our bags, but we do not know why they are getting bigger when we haven't bought anything.
The Caribe Breeze brought us to Nevis. Bit choppy for Gill's liking. It was great to see both the Nevis and Kitts volcanoes as we crossed the channel between them. (This is Gill - Ant tried to convince me that the sea was smooth, it was only afterwards that we read the following news story:

ST. KITTS, JANUARY 12TH 2011 – Gusty winds prevented the 2,600-passenger Grand Princess from berthing at Port Zante on Wednesday.
“The captain decided to abort docking after gusty winds clocking over 40 knots were recorded on approach,” an official of the ship’s agents, Delisle Walwyn and Co., Ltd told the Communications Unit in the Office of the Prime Minister on Wednesday morning. He said the ship will instead spend the day at sea and cruise to St. Vincent its next port of call on Thursday.
Frankly, in my view if a huge cruise ship can't dock, the sea is more than choppy.....)



Funnily, both of us had wanted to get to Nevis for many years, so we disembarked with some excitement and dragged our bags up and down Charlestown's main and only road looking for a bar or restaurant for lunch. Ignoring the shouts of taxi drivers who came down on us like termites on a freshly fallen palm tree, maybe the first potential clients they'd seen for days.
We found a local bar at the port and settled down to a rum punch to watch cricket with the locals as they ate their lunch. Anyway, one turned to two and then we got the munchies and the giggles. We left before we got ugly.
The taxi ride to the hotel took us a third of way around the island and it was with anticipation that we pulled into Nisbet Plantation Beach Resort, it wasn't what we expected at all, little lemon chalets reminiscent of hi-de-hi or Butlins, whilst the rooms were nice and we got upgraded to ocean facing, my god they have a cheek at £400 a night each. The beach is bleak and windswept, we couldn't get lunch because it was after 2.30 pm, the bar closes at 18.00, and then we discovered that we weren't allowed to eat dinner at the restaurant because Ant had no shirt, long trousers or closed shoes. This wasn't good, also there was nowhere nearby to eat or drink, so we ended up walking a mile to the supermarket to get supplies. This isn't what an end of trip pamper is all about. Getting slowly more angry Ant tries to get his money back but to no avail. We had cheese slices and home made rum tings for dinner. We are stuck here for three days. Nevis, you certainly aren't what we came all this way to find.



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Bowled Over (10 January 2011)

The hotel wasn't a promising start, being runway facing and miles from anywhere for a drink and eat, and Ant wasn't expecting to like Antigua at all. He'd known enough secretaries go there on honeymoon, that he was expecting Torremolinos. The only reason we'd come here was to go to Montserrat for the day, but ferry timetables didn't work in our favour and Winair had cancelled all flights so we had a day to explore Antigua. And surprise, surprise we loved it!!
We decided we had done enough flashpacking in taxi's so to have some fun and challenge ourselves, we would rely on local buses to get us around. Each trip costing us less than a pound. First stop St. Johns's which was surprisingly nice, apart from the two cruise ships in port obviously! Quaint, yet real Caribbean town, ice cream coloured houses, wraparound porches, people getting along with their everyday tasks. Bit of hassle around the port as we merged with the cruisies, but when we said weren't on a ship, hustlers were really friendly. In fact a theme of Antigua has been the friendliness of the locals that we certainly didn't get in Guadeloupe.
We enjoyed the ritual of a Ritual's coffee, wandered up to the cathedral, which was closed for renovation and got talking to a chap about the use of Welsh slate in the original. There was a lovely view of the town and port from up there, a nice breeze, in fact it was gorge!
So where to next? People recommended English Harbour, we made our way back to the west bus station and after only a short wait took number 17, the 30 minutes to the other side of the island. This bus was full, so we had to sit on the jump seats in the aisle much to everyone else's amusement. Antigua is a lot flatter and drier than the other islands we've been to, and appears quite densely populated in comparison. Pretty little villages merge with each other, small wooden houses, flowers, meandering, gently undulating road, azure bays and inlets in the distance, all very charming.



Yet another surprise, English Harbour wasn't full of package tourists in union jack shorts in - fact it was quite empty and very pretty. They have done a good job of preserving Nelson's old stomping ground and it is now a great yacht harbour. To add to our excitement even more, there were decent restaurants that sold proper sauvignon blanc and food that did not include plantain, cassava or rice and peas, tuna tartar for Ant, house salad for Gill. We dined on a balcony overlooking the harbour - perfect. And then to make things even better there were some shops selling linen, so yes Ant indulged!



We took a hike out to the harbour entrance at Fort Berkeley. And really enjoyed the yachtie atmosphere. By this time a cup of tea was calling, and so we sat in the shade sipping tea and were invited to join in on someones 50th birthday party, complete with cake! Nice and again yet another example of a touristic island that has not allowed itself to forget some basic humanity.
Getting back to St John's was a breeze and we planned to go back to the hotel, dump some stuff and then go see some cricket! The Caribbean Twenty20 cricket tournament starts today so we thought I would be fun.
Getting a bus back to the hotel was a problem, we waited and waited for a no. 42 but to no avail, so instead we took a 50 to the east bus station to get a connection to the Sir Viv Richard's stadium. We expected the bus to go to the east bus station, but it became clear when we left town that we had missed our stop somehow, it got darker and darker as we headed north with no idea of where we were, or to where we were heading. Eventually Gill plucked up the courage to admit our embarrassing mistake and tell the driver, he had a good laugh and took us all the way back into town! Such kindness and a great sense of humour.
A quick bus transfer this time and we were soon on our way to the stadium, in a packed minibus listening to the cricket.
The stadium looked like a UFO rising out of the Antiguan night, with its modern design and bright floodlights. It was built for the recent cricket World Cup. Tickets cost us 10EC each, about £2.50, bargain. Plenty of people but by no means full. Interesting to note just as many girls as guys many in single sex groups and all out to have a fun time. Such noise, dancing, laughter, horn playing, it was contagious. We derived as much fun watching the crowds as we did watching Guyana get hammered by Jamaica. Even the disorganised bar and food areas where we waited for ages for rum, beer, chicken and chips couldn't spoil our fun.



So our "Antigua in a day" proved to be a great adventure and we were bowled over by its friendliness and beauty.


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The Guadeloupe Promenade (9 January 2011)

During the night, the hotel du Wrec lived up to its name. We discover the odd noises heard the other night that Gill had thought was an earth mover was in fact the corrugated roof lifting off in the slight winds.... Just glad we weren't here in hurricane season. A man with a hammer was on to it first thing....


Our last day in Guadeloupe so we make for the town beach and enjoy our last decent french coffee and croissant for a while. Even early at 9am it's heaving but with the bathers doing an unusual "promenade" in the sea, walking up and down in groups, cheek kissing each other in welcome, no actual swimming to be seen. Turns out there is a strong cross current which can be used as effective exercise if you walk against it. Given the age and nationality profile here Ant (rather uncharitably I thought......) likened it to a Saga Speedo photo shoot for Health & Efficiency magazine... And no, that is not Ant in the pic, just a Euro Speedo-er whose Speedo's shrunk in the wash.



With relief, we leave the Hotel Rotabas and head into the capital, Pointe a Pitre before our flight home. We had heard the place was a bit rough, but weren't prepared for feeling that we might just have run into our own version of "Bonfire of the Vanities". Even though there was a huge cruise ship in, nowhere was open - this is still France after all, so we guess even the opportunity of making a living when your economy is f****d and unemployment is almost 25% doesn't get in the way of Sunday at home....



The fact that the shops were boarded up and no one else was around probably made the crack addicts more visible than they would normally be.... We found one dingy cafe, where a few crew from the cruise ship, any port in a storm I guess, were eating, desperate for a change from cruise ship food.



And the local KFC, busy with Phillipino crew from the ship all skypeing home on the free wifi on their Macs, looks like cruisees' tip well. We decide to eat here, the only place we could find open and also attended by two burly security guards.... It's such a shame for the place, apart from the awful graffitied boxlike apartment blocks, there is some quite nice old colonial architecture in the centre, but no one would want to linger here. A couple of locals were trying their best to stop the local druggies from begging and hassling any nearby tourist but they were fighting a losing battle. So on this occasion, even Ant was happy to get to the airport early. A lovely modern airport, more EU money, I hear you cry..... Full to the brim of people arriving and departing today's Costa cruise. We wait patiently in the departure lounge, unable even to shop. Duty free here is tiny as most passengers are on Air France or Euro charters travelling from one EU country to the next, so can't buy any duty free at all..
We take our 16 minute flight on Liat, who were only slightly late, and arrive in Antigua. We stopped here for two reasons, Ant to get a pin (Gill has already claimed this one...), and to go over to Montserrat, yes new pins for both but also to see such an interesting post volcano island. But the Caribbean economy has thwarted our efforts, no ferries timed to get there and back in a day, and the only flight, WinAir have just gone bust...
We check in at the Wind Chimes Inn, near the airport, and again the cheapest we could find, a steal at $100US. The place itself is lovely, nice clean rooms and small but modern bathrooms, but yet again a hotelier forgets location, location, location. It's situated about 50 metres from the beginning of the runway here where everything from small private Cessna's to BA777's take off and land. Great for a plane buff but last night we both thought that either the world had ended or the neighbouring volcano had had one hell of a vent as a jumbo roared into life and took of outside the bedroom windows...
No restaurant or bar here either so we get a lift to the nearest, Food Fantasy, over the local supermarket. And yes, most of the menu was a fantasy, pizza oven broken, soup off......


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Carla and Nicolas, Our New Neighbours (8 January 2011)

Today we have been subject to great excitement, security everywhere, police road blocks, diversions, all due to the fact that Monsieur Le Pres, Nicolas Sarkozy and wife Carla are in town. Lots of security around L'hotel Du Wrec so we thought he was checking in here..... But guess he has a few more Euro's than us so they are checking in to Club Med next door. We think he is looking for a new economic model for France and is checking out ditching the Euro and using seashells instead....
Diversions aside, we have travelled around Grand Terre today, the other big island of Guadeloupe. A civilised start at a boulangerie in St Anne, where, whilst enjoying a pain au chocolate and a cafe au lait, we pondered on the status of this Caribbean island's tourist trade, whilst listening to a couple of drug crazed locals spouting off.... Our pre conceived notion of a stylish, cosmopolitan, French sophisticated playground have been shattered. From what we have seen the tourist trade seems to be low end, older French people complete with their own beach chairs. We have seen very few decent hotels, even Club Med looks a bit past its sell by date (although difficult to get close as the beach, Caravelle Beach, one of the best in Guadeloupe, is closed due to the Presidential visit). Lots of places are shut down and there is an air of emptiness around, especially considering this is high season.
We visit St Francois, another small coastal town, very seasidey, with bucket and spade shops, in fact on reflection, this coast is more a bucket and spade coast than the buckets of champagne coast we had envisaged. And the Pres is visiting a farm here hence the diversions all over the place.



We find another great small farmer's market situated alongside the fishermen gutting their catches. Luckily the pleasant smell of the various spices on sale drowned that out. Ant buys some vanilla after a tortuous conversation in Gill's bad French about how long it would keep and how best to store it. We also spotted a turtle swimming about in the bay. Poor soul, it had probably swum trillions of miles to get back to it's birth beach only to find it had been washed away......
We drive along to the extreme east of the island to Pointe de Chateaux, which, being on the Atlantic, has impressive big rollers crashing in.


And then onto Le Moule for lunch, a small coastal town, complete with a French church, square and mairie, definitely for locals with no obvious tourist attraction apart from the rum distillery. We dine in the boulangerie, making the most of the bread and pastries We move on and are sad to find the distillery closed, but of course we are in France and everything is now closed till Monday.....But Ant still managed to climb up the windmill....



So back to the beach by our hotel, and we look out over the blue sea at the windsurfers and dingy sailors enjoying their Saturday afternoon. Ant has a beach nod as security helicopters buzz overhead.
Security around the Sarkozy's is tight, but after the riots in Feb 2009 where 20% of the whites fleed from the island amidst chaos and burning cars, we guess he is taking no chances. This evening,so far, so peaceful except for the loud blues being played as we dine yet again at The Americano Cafe in St Anne. And for a nation that " no speak a de english" we are surprised to find they are singing in it..... English is still obviously the "lingua franca"!
But St Anne is livlier tonight (all relative.......) with fire magicians on the beach and music to entertain the business types down here for the weekend. We have however been able to acquire a couple of Ecuadorian panamas!

We are ready to leave Guadeloupe, it isn't special at all, but we will miss coffee and baguettes. We did however earn a pin, so is worth every euro, Little else.....
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Loopin' The Loop In Guadeloupe (7 January 2011)

There are some benefits to staying in L'hotel Du Wrec, the breakfast area is so sorry for itself and served in a room that would make an old Soviet restaurant look like the Ritz, so you neither want to eat much or linger long. There was good french bread, although I think Parisian's would actually spit in the coffee... we take a quick walk to the beach and find it is almost washed away, with the hotel's old restaurant empty and wrecked. One poor guy is wheelbarrowing in loads of sand to build the beach up again, looks like a thankless task....
But after our gastronomic breakfast experience, we set off to explore in our trusty little car. It's bright metallic blue, so looks even more like a little toy one. Not sure what engine is in there, but the gradients in Guadeloupe are a challenge, we were in second gear most of the way, occasionally going up to third on the dual carriageway.
The two main islands of Guadeloupe


are shaped like a butterfly, and today we explore Basse Terre, the one which houses La Soufriere, the volcano. There are not too many roads as it is fairly mountainous so we take the loop right around the north of the island which the Lonely Planet says is the more interesting part. Its all very green but so much more manicured than Dominica. We visit the Cascades de Ecrivasses, which as waterfalls go was quite nice, but smaller than the waterfalls we had in the garden at the Papilotte Wilderness Retreat in Dominica. There was however a bit of a shop and of course Ant bought salad servers, how many more does a boy need? And it was all health & safety, so EU, with notices about not walking here or there, be careful etc., etc.

En route we stop at a musee de cacao for some hot cocao. The first cups were too sweet, so we really pissed off the proprietress by asking for ones with no sugar! We got a lecture on how this was what they always served, and we said thank you but we wanted no sugar. We won. It was worth the fight. We then find Grand Anse Beach, a big, wide sandy beach with lots of Frenchie's, all speedo's, thongs and bangers out eating cheese. Ant had a few swims and then we lay on the beach and fell asleep after a Magnum! This was a great lunch spot, again very French with huge three course lunches and wine. Being Brits of course, we had a salad and water and left no tip....




We see, and pass, several museums for costume, seashells and rum. Mind you passing the rum one was a mistake, we just missed the turn!
We then start to wend our way back via Pointe A Pitre and stop at Le Gosier where we find a great farmers market going on with local produce, home distilled rum, tat souvenirs, and enough quiche to feed Calais.


It was nice.
The island is quite built up and scruffy, with Funded by the EU signs everywhere, can't belive that we are paying for a lot of these roads. A least the other islands are fending for themselves. We also notice that the vast majority of businesses are owned and run by whites, definite economic apartheid here. Explains the riots from earlier this year.
Then back to L'hotel Du Wrec. The area around the hotel is used as parking for the Club Med beach which is open to the public and very popular. We needed to get back into the hotel but our way was blocked by a very irate Frenchman who wasn't in tune with our needs. He was very abusive and Gill (very out of charachter....) ended up calling him a "f*****g frenchman", very good for international relations we thought.


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