The Antigua excursion continues. We resume off-roading and go for some lunch.
We stopped at this little store and restaurant for a restroom break, drinks, and to look at souvenirs. A civil engineer from Wisconsin and I were surprised to see that water lines in Antigua are run on the surface of the ground. We supposed you could do that in lands where it never freezes.
There are 365 beaches on Antigua, one for every day of the year. If you've only got a day, that leaves a lot of choice. Some are pink and some are white.
Most of the 70,000 citizens of this nation (made up of Antigua, Barbuda, and Redonda), live on Antigua, most in the area around the capital of St. John's.
A horse grazes in the common area.
Exotic tropical flowers grow profusely.
We continue on the coastal road towards the beach. Our guide, although nearly 40 years old, is a bicycle racer. His team has rags-to-riches stories like the famed Jamaican bobsled team. They've come close to victory on international races, although they train in spare time on a limited budget. When I asked about Lance Armstrong, the guide spoke highly of him. Armstrong discards expensive bicycle tires after one use, to avoid flats. The Antigua team was happy to accept all Lance's discards, for use until worn out.
Upon arriving at the beach, another tourist and I helped Jan and her walker down to the sand. I swam while she, exhausted, mostly sunned on the white sand. She took a brief dip.
Back on the road again and headed downhill towards downtown, the harbor, and the pier, following the other tour vehicles.
Continuing towards downtown.
We enter a shopping area. The tour stopped at a tourist shop, with whom the guides surely had an arrangement. Jan tried on several items but didn't buy anything.
We also passed the butcher shop on the way to the tourist shop.
Soccer (football) is quite popular. What's surprising is that basketball is also popular, as indicated by this poster.
The tour ended early, just before noon, and we were dropped off in the downtown, harbor area. The streets were narrow and busy, with sidewalks of varying widths and heights. Fortunately, there were level open mall areas that Jan could manage with little help behind the many buildings.
The Norwegian Spirit, our cruise ship, dwarfs the downtown buildings. In the foreground is the Jehovah's Witnesses meeting hall.
Trees and hibiscus flowers grow in the open area behind the buildings as Jan and I look for a restaurant that will appeal to her fickle appetite.
It's amazing to have such nice greenery in the heart of downtown--and to see it in early March. Recall that it was freezing when Jan and I left Raleigh.
We found a little tea and sandwich shop which appealed to Jan. It seemed expensive, with sandwiches at 9.00 or so, but when I paid, the cashier handed me half my money back, explaining that the posted prices were in Euros. She asked, "Didn't these prices seem rather expensive to you?" The shop was crowded, so we took a table outside on the sidewalk. It was shady, and the breeze made it brisk.
Jan was so tired that she kept falling asleep while eating the sandwich. I took her across the street to try on some outfits. I knew she was really exhausted when she asked to finish the shopping and return to the ship.
We returned to the ship at around 1:30PM. As Jan napped, I took these pictures at around 2:30 PM. This is looking down from the starboard side of the Promenade deck, deck 7, at other passengers returning up the pier, the harbor, and the chartered sailing vessel also at the pier.
The sailing ship again. In the background is the Tourist Bureau.
The harbor at St. John's.
The Barbuda Ferry, possibly.
The St. John's Town harbor, from the port side of the Promenade deck.
More of the harbor area is shown.
By this time we had reached our alcohol immigration limit, and had no interest in precious stones.
St. John's Cathedral (upper center) is a classic in terms of architecture that depicts the colonial period in Antigua's rich history. The Cathedral holds regular services, which can be attended. It's twin towers, baroque in style, are the tallest structures in the town. The building is in need of repairs and restoration, but that makes it even more interesting. The tombstones in the church yard are graven testimonials to the priests, prominent members of the island and of earlier times.
A pleasure boat cruises by as we look out to sea.
The boat moves on, leaving only a wake.
After watching Jan nap for a while, I returned to the deck around 5:30 PM for more pictures. The sinking sun provided a different light. This is the view from the port side.
This attractive vessel was at the next pier as viewed from the starboard side.
This is not an attempt to be arty. The breeze really put a coating of mist on the camera lens.
The water film does produce an interesting effect, however.
Back to the port side again. The promenade deck goes all the way around the ship. Each lap is around ¼ mile, and I generally walked several laps each day, while Jan napped.
Jan arose and we ate. Upon returning to the cabin, we were greeted by this alligator.
The alligator's eyes are the mints which were left for us each night.
I awoke at around 20 minutes after midnight and glanced out the porthole. Another completely lighted cruise ship was passing, in an otherwise completely black void.
Previous pictures from March 10
Next day of the cruise
Previous day of the cruise
Back to main cruise page