Blogs from Antigua, Antigua & Barbuda, Central America Caribbean - page 3

Thursday 18th December, 2014. Antigua, British Leeward Islands, West Indies A 'beach with an island in the middle' is a great way to describe this island. Antigua and its little sisters Barbuda and Redonda are the most developed of the 4 British Leeward Islands. Antigua is the largest and is roughly circular in shape and about 12 miles in diameter and has more than 350 spectacular beaches with gleaming pink-white sand backed by gently waving palms. Rainfall is low which accounts for the fact that there are no rivers. The original inhabitants around 4,000 years ago disappeared mysteriously, leaving the island uninhabited for nearly 10 centuries. By the time Christopher Columbus (CC) arrived on his second voyage in the late 15th century, the Arawak Indians were in residence, followed closely by the Caribs. Antigua was 'discovered' ... read more

Antigua, the first settlement dates back to 2400 B.C. Antigua and Barbuda are located in the centre of the Leeward Islands in the Eastern Caribbean. Antigua is the largest of all English speaking Leeward Islands and has a population of 85,000. Antiguan’s love their cricket and is home to some of the best players ever to play the game, namely Viv Richards, Richie Richardson, Curtly Ambrose and Andy Roberts. Today we did a tour of Nelson’s Dockyard who in 1784 would have had little reason to believe that the port would develop into one of Great Britain’s most important military bases. The influence of Admiral Nelson can be seen in the dramatic architecture of the forts that dominate the landscape. Nelson’s Admiralty house sands tall in the dockyard unfortunately he never slept there as it was ... read more

Antigua reminds me of a beautiful woman who is having a quiet night in, and you are fortunate enough to meet her for the first time. There is something about her, no doubt, but it is an understated beauty. Hey, need I remind you this is the Caribbean, so the island is bound to impress right? That being said, Antigua has 365 beaches which is the most in the Caribbean, and one for every day of the year as the locals are fond of saying. This Caribbean pearl is a regular stomping ground for the rich and famous for very good reason. When you first lay eyes on the beaches of Antigua it all comes into focus, as this stunning island is the most beautiful beach destination I've ever had the privilege to visit. Antigua, my ... read more

Day 4 The last thing Heidi said to us before going to bed was that if any of us woke up in the night to go to the toilet, we should check our position relative to the island and other boats – this led to me having dreams about us floating away during the night. Jackie woke at 4am but was happy to report we were still at anchor and in the right place! Our homework last night was to write a Mayday call. Heidi gave each of us a boat name to use, I had Mary Rose, Jackie had Titanic and Jo had Costa Concordia: Hopefully not a bad omen we thought! So after breakfast we performed our Mayday calls. Jackie, Jo, Heidi and myself took the dinghy over to the island again for a ... read more

Day 2 Jackie & I spent the night under the stars, there was a nice warm breeze and we were prepared to be a bit cold so were wrapped up. I slept very lightly to be honest but then again that is normal for me! There are so many new noises to get used to on the boat. Having slept outside we were the first to wake up as the morning light hit us first of course! Once the others all woke up, the students made a quick trip to the Dinghy dock at Antigua Yacht Club to drop off rubbish and CV’s for Natalie. Just before we left Falmouth we took in a Superyacht Tour, we saw “A” which is a mega yacht; The Maltese Falcon was also back in town and was anchored just ... read more