Friday, November 14, 2008

Itchy Feet in Antigua


[Maryanne]Today, Kyle and I managed to be tourists in English Harbour, Antigua. English Harbour is a very small hamlet, and is the historic location of an early (18th century) port for the British Navy. Many of the early buildings still exist, and are restored and in regular use. There is also an original fort (Fort Berkeley), and several buildings on the hills surrounding English Harbour and the neighboring Falmouth Harbour.

We took the trails from town to Fort Berkeley, and then along the coast towards Falmouth Harbour. The trails involved plenty of elevation changes, and so lots of great views. Kyle and I got a good dose of exercise after so much time stuck on the boat. Once back in English Harbour, we sampled a few more rums, and finally managed an almost rain free day! (We also picked up our fixed Genoa and installed that back on the boat!)

The day was great, and the trails we took were reasonable (but not suitable for flip flops). The coastline trail was well marked with white paint dots every once in a while (although it certainly seemed longer than the 1 miles advertised). We met plenty of wild goats, but no other tourists on the trail! The plant life was a wonderful mix, and there were plenty of small lizards rustling out of our path as we tramped through the trail. We spent some time at a beautiful Pigeon Beach (took a dip to cool down), and had great views of English Harbor and Falmouth Harbour from the higher peaks.

For the journey, we packed a small picnic and supplemented that with pasties and turnovers from the local baker - we'll definitely be back to sample more of their wares.

A great day, well apart from Kyle's conflict with a fire ant compound - he still has itchy feet this evening!

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Okay, NOW we're talking paradise here. What gorgeous photos, as always. Sorry about the fire ants, Kyle--I can picture you exactly stepping in such things. Remember poison oak? Oh, you sure do! Fire ants can't possibly be as bad as poison oak.
It all looks fabulous and welcoming and I hope you both have had a chance to catch up on much-needed sleep. Thank heavens for wifi. Otherwise, you could not share all this with all of us out here cheering you on--and many I know of who do read but haven't yet figured out how to comment. Guess the Webb side of the family is a bit slow on some of these things, but they are looking in and you have officially become our famous side of the family! More rum, please.

kate said...

I'm so glad you guys made it safe and sound! Yes, I knew you would but it's still a relief. That was quite a list of things to repair/replace/tweak! I'm sorry for it, but at least it was a good learning experience. Now you have a better idea of what to expect on longer journeys and can safeguard against it. The pictures of Antigua are beautiful (but btw, why don't the boat shops have, um, BOATING SUPPLIES?) and I'm appropriately jealous. Enjoy your time there. You deserve it!