Antigua 17 April
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Antigua – Nelsons dockyard We
are moored in Nelsons Dockyard in the south of the island, the sun is shining
and it’s hot, exactly what you expect of the weather here in the West
Indies. We
have been “chilling hard” a local _expression_ for laying about do nothing apart
from exploring and some swimming. The
annual Antigua Classical Regatta is in full swing. A fantastic selection of vintage and
vintage types yachts are lined up in the marina with their multi-billion dollar
owners, complete with all the trimmings flown in from all over the world. We spent quite some time walking up and
down the marina just looking and admiring these fantastic yachts or maybe they
qualify as ships. Eric
Clapton is moored more or less next to us (50 m) in his huge motor cruiser, well
actually more of a small hotel. The
contrast between the wealth and the poor local community is
striking. Nelsons dockyard is actually a museum with quaint looking colonial
houses and as you can tell by the name Nelson use to hang out here. The dockyard is probably the most
popular tourist attraction on the island and busloads of tourists arrive here
regularly. Tonight is the “jump-up” in Shirley heights, a weekly event where
locals and tourists meet for a traditional street party; street sellers, local
food and drink loud music, steel bands, dancing and a most likely a strong aroma
of cannabis. Lutz
is going back to the UK today and Giancarlo from Italy is arriving
tomorrow.
All
is well on the Siri Ros. Liz
– Skipper Antigua – St Johns From
the Nelson’s Dockyard we are taking trips to other parts of the island. My yesterday’s trip was to St. Johns –
the capital of the island. In
a 30-minute bus ride I was the only foreigner on the bus. The locals were
getting on and off, carrying their babies, bags with food and quite big and
heavy objects like BBQ gas cylinders.
Eventually, the bus arrived to St Johns, and moved through the town quite
slowly, because the streets were flooded by Saturday shoppers and sellers. It seems that everybody is selling something:
matches, candy, shoes, shirts.
Surprisingly, the selection of fruit and vegetables in the market (guess I expected it to be a tropical
paradise?) is not different form that in a tiny convenience store near the
Nelson’ s Dockyard. Plenty of
“mamas” sitting in small groups at every stand, cooking and selling local
cornmeal... They are literally laid
back, and not much draws their attention.
Loud Calypso music on every corner contrasts with their slow moves and
speech. I bought their cornmeal and
a local “Carib” beer it was, actually, quite good. Leo |