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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