Anguilla – A Caribbean British Overseas Territory

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This morning we took the local bus to McDonalds in Simpson Bay to start our trip to Anguilla. Of course, we had a Macdonald’s breakfast too to set as up for the morning.

From there, we took a 12 seater fast speed boat across the water to Anguilla that took about 20 Minutes. This was a very exhilarating ride. Thankfully George was not adversely affected by the boat ride as he has been a few times in the past.

On arrival in Anguilla, we went through their immigration / customs and got another stamp on our passports. This island is just 16 miles long and 3 miles across at its widest point. It is a very expensive place to live. Like most Caribbean islands, the main industry is tourism and construction.

From the dock, we took a guided bus around the country and ended up on a private beach in Shoal Bay. By 10.00 am, we were bathing on the beach. Here we were given snorkelling equipment and beach chairs and left to our own devices for a few hours. The sun was very intense and we are guessing at around 95 degrees. The sea was lovely and clear and really quite warm. A beach attendant was available to bring you drinks to the beach if you felt lazy.

Lunch on the beach was also included in the tour. George had ribs and Theresa had a burger. There was also a great supply of authentic local rum punch on offer for those that wanted it. After lunch, we spent around an hour bathing in the crystal clear warm waters.

A few hours later, at 3.30 pm, the bus returned to collect us and take us back to the port for the speed boat ride back to St Maarten. We were offered at a seat at the front of the boa without any shade, but thankfully turned it down. Even though it was only a short ride, those that took thse seats got a bit burnt. The dock we arrived at was not the same one we left from, so was slightly disorientating to start with. At the port there was a guy with a bus offering transportation back to the hotels, but we thought that he would be a bit expensive. We headed back out to the main road and hailed down the next local bus to pass. It was just $1 each to get us just around the corner from our hotel.

We popped into the local supermarket on the way home, and we were then spotted by the owner of the property where we are staying and he kindly gave us a lift back home with all our shopping.

A light dinner and we were both exhausted from all the fresh air.

What a great day!!!

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