Tea and cake with a senator's wife

Stream
Darrell Jackson and Sarah Barnes
Tue 25 Mar 2014 15:28
We decided that a full exploration of Coddrington was called for and so a quick phone call to Morgan Freeman, sorry, George and the water taxi duly arrived on time at the beach to transport us across the lagoon to Coddrington. We arrived on the quayside and noticed a new construction which we later found out was the Fisheries complex, recently finished and funded by grant aid from the Japanese government. (The Chinese also have been in on the act, funding a new Community Centre costing $6 million). First stop was the TI, conveniently located as almost the first building we came to. It was a large building with 3 young ladies sitting behind desks and eager to assist their first tourists of the day. We soon had a map of the island and Coddrington, but new boxes had to be opened for the 2014 edition of the Barbuda guide. Surely we can't have been the first tourists this year?
Sarah assumed the role of tour guide, map in hand, and led us through the streets to a cake shop/bakers. Sadly there were no cakes and, even more surprising, no bread, but there were some mega sized scones, 4 of which were purchased along with liquid refreshments. Our tour guide took us through the highlights of Coddrington, streets set in a grid pattern with buildings of varying standards, from the large well maintained to the smallest of tumbledown "shacks" but still inhabited. It also had several churches of varying denominations. The main one being the large Anglican Church dating back to the 18 century and has plans for development.
Our quest for cake continued and we remembered an Art Cafe that we had been in on our last visit and set out to find it. Skilful map reading by Sarah soon had us walking through the blue painted gate and across the neat garden to the front porch of the house that served as the "shop/cafe". We were greated by an English lady who ran the Art Cafe and after a short chat we had ordered tea for 4. We sat down around a table covered with local guides and maps and were soon each engrossed in our own area of interest. When the tea arrived Sarah broached the question of cake and the lady regrettably informed us that she didn't think she had any, but "would have a look". She returned a few minutes later with a couple of slices of lemon drizzle cake and the last of her ginger nut biscuits, full of apologies for their soggy state. Fortunately she stayed talking with us and we found out so much about the island and it's politics from her over the next hour or so.
She was originally from Suffolk but had lived on the island for over 20 years after marrying a Barbudan, returning to England for a few months each year to see parents and now children who are at Uni there. We soon got on to what it was like to live on the island and discovered that it has been under intense pressure from Antigua to develop large hotel complexes and was for many years "mined " for sand by an Antiguan company, for which the Barbudans received no money. Fortunately the Barbudans have resisted these pressures, even pushing the portacabins of a company trying to build a hotel on an unspoilt beach over a cliff! In an attempt to control this exploitation by Antigua and developers, the Barbudan people were given land rights under the Barbuda Land Act 2007. This act makes it clear that all lands in Barbuda are owned in common by the people of Barbuda, and that no land should be developed without the "consent of the people". The act also makes it possible for Barbudans with "exclusive" rights of possession to use their property as collateral for loans at any bank. This Land Act obviously took a great deal of effort to bring about and help was given by other nationalities including a gentleman from Australia who had been involved with sorting out Maori land rights. The main driving force behind this Act turned out to be the husband of the lady we were talking to who is a senator representing Barbuda in the Antigua and Barbuda Government. No wonder she was so well versed on all the local politics!
Several hotels have been opened on the island over the past few years, but only two are still operating, Cocoa Point Resort in the south and the Lighthouse Bay Resort next to where we were anchored.
After our tea and cake we continued our guided tour which found us outside a private house with a sign on the wooden gate advertising Rotis made by "The Queen of the Rotis", who was standing next to the gate. Sarah seemed to confuse her by asking "How's trade today?", but once the confusion was sorted, 3 chicken and 1 veggie roti were ordered for collection in half and hour. Rather than standing on the street waiting, our tour guide took us back into the main square where we discovered the supermarket was closed and on the market, "enquiries to Ewan". Fortunately the bar next door was now open and so refreshments were taken alongside the resident young cats, one of whom refused to move from her chair at our table.
Half an hour later we returned to the Queen of the Rotis and were welcomed into her garden to sit on wooden benches under a rough open sided, wooden shelter where our Rotis were brought, wrapped in silver foil. Hygiene was maintained by her insistence that we used the alcoholic rub on our hands before we ate. To avoid a paramedic incident, Sarah pretended to use the rub and has suffered no ill effects from her "dirty"hands, or if she has, they are considerably less severe than if she had used the alcoholic rub! Rotis are like a thick stew wrapped in a form of tortilla and generally are curried chicken or vegetable and are very good! No knives and forks needed, just a paper serviette to catch the drips and wipe the face!
As we had passed a small green shed advertising home made ice cream earlier in the day, our guide continued our tour of Coddrington with a "hunt the green shed" walk. Again, due to her orienteering skills Sarah took us straight to the shed, but alas, it was not open. Another failed Barbudan venture? Undeterred she then took us back to near the Tourist office where we had seen a supermarket earlier in the day and we managed to purchase some fruit and veg before getting the water taxi back to the beach where we hoped to have a better look at Lighthouse Bay Resort hotel.
Once on the beach we walked along to Lighthouse Bay ignoring the 'No Trespassers' signs despite the threats of prosecution. Lighthouse Bay Hotel is a set of beautifully appointed villas, with a pool and a main restaurant/bar area; a hangar and helipad, as well as jetties on the lagoon side. However, it was completely deserted although open so anyone could walk in. None of this did anything to change Sarah's conviction that it is a CIA front for Black Opps. We did find a notice in a glass case by the outside dining area, which amongst other things stated that it was a private resort but we could apply for a day pass to use the facilities, but drinks and food were extra. The cost for the pass was: $999.99 per day. (Over £600) we decided to have our drinks back on Stream! The price of a lobster meal was $160 each, bet they wouldn't have been as good as ours from the night before, compliments of George!
Of course this meant we spent a good evening comparing scenarios about the real use of the empty hotel. With Sarah adamant that it was a front and through the hanger would be access to the underground cells where dubious people would be interrogating hapless souls. Darrell is doing his best to keep her in the realms of reality, but failing miserably!