Today's post says Antigua and Barbuda - but I only add in Barbuda to make clear this is the country to be found in the Caribbean and not to be confused with Antigua, the city in Guatemala that we visited in 2025!
Our taxi driver Latoya told us there are 95,000 residents on the island of Antigua and only 1,200 residents on Barbuda. She has only visited Barbuda twice, but many other people in her country have never been to Barbuda.
We paid Latoya to drive us to Nelson Dockyard about a 40 minute drive to the other side of the island. She was quite a character. She lives in a typical house that appears to be about 400 square feet and pays $1200 Eastern Caribbean dollars (about $615 CAD) per month for rent. We agreed to pay her $40 US to drive us to Nelson Dockyard. We decided to add in a stop at Shirley Heights for an extra $10 US.
The view from Shirley Heights!
The Antigua Naval Dockyard and Related Archaeological Sites was inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage site on July 17, 2016. Combined entrance tickets to Shirley Heights and the Nelson Dockyard cost $15 US each. At each location they asked us where we were staying. Of course we said we were on a cruise ship - and they seemed genuinely surprised. I think most cruise passengers come on organized excursions through the cruise line and arrive in greater numbers.
Wikipedia says the following about Nelson's Dockyard. "Nelson's Dockyard is a cultural heritage site and marina in English Harbour, located in the town of Saint Paul on the Caribbean island of Antigua, in Antigua and Barbuda. It is the only continuously working Georgian era dockyard in the world. It was built in the early 18th century and abandoned by the British Royal Navy in 1889. The dockyard is named after Admiral Horatio Nelson, who lived in the Royal Navy Dockyard from 1784 through 1787."
Many of the 18th and 19th century buildings have been adapted for modern-day needs and enhance the rich cultural and natural environment.
The Bakery was built in 1776 and is a small stone and brick structure, set back from the waterfront.
It seems that many people use the water around here as a modern marina, when touring the areas on sailboats, and needing to come ashore and stock up for longer journeys.
These columns once supported the Sail Loft. Large wooden trusses supported the structure above that was essentially a workspace for the repair of sails. Beneath the loft is a narrow canal that runs under the structure where longboats carried the sails that needed mending. The sails were then hoisted up into the loft where they could be repaired. In 1843, the building was severely damaged in an eathquake and then finally destroyed in 1871 by a hurricane. The Sail Loft was not rebuilt so the stone columns were capped to seal and protect them.
After touring the Nelson Dockyards, we walked 20 minutes up and down the road to Pigeon Beach. It was high noon and very hot - but a manageable distance to walk. We made our way to Catherine's Cafe to buy some lunch. I envisioned a simple menu since the restaurant was on the beach. Instead it was a lobster and fresh tuna menu. J asked the couple eating near us where they got their chicken sandwich from. They told us to ask for the beach menu and so we did! It was a tasty lunch - but expensive (nowhere near as expensive had we not discovered the beach menu)!
Our lunch view from Catherine's Cafe on Pigeon Beach.
After lunch we changed into bathing suits and rashers and walked onto the beach. We found a patch of shade. I went in the water to swim for a bit and cool down. When I returned, J went out with his mask and snorkel to see what he could discover.
It turned out to not be a great snorkelling beach but it was a lovely beach to enjoy a few hours in the afternoon. Latoya returned to pick us up about 2:40 pm (20 minutes early so we wouldn't worry) so we packed up our belongings and headed back into town.
Back at the ship, we cleaned up then went to dinner. I experienced an amazing degree of customer service tonight. I went to Guest Services to ask if a Tortola educational lecture (scheduled at 5:30 pm while we were eating supper) would be taped and could be watched on TV at a later time. The woman (Bethesde or something like that) said she would find out. I went directly from Guest Services to dinner at 5 pm with J. At 5:20 pm Carl who is the Maitre'D came to our table to tell me he had a message from the front desk. He then advised me that the lecture would not be taped! That allowed me time to eat my appetizer, leave J at the table, run to listen to 25 minutes of the lecture, then return in time to eat the main course. Things were a little slow in the dining room so that was to my benefit! I was totally impressed that the agent at the front desk would know it was time sensitive information to get to me - and passed the message to the dining room staff to let me know it! We are doing an independent trip while in Tortola and I wanted to hear what Lance Schuler would advise on getting to our destination that day. I found out what I needed to know and was very appreciative of the efforts of the Princess staff tonight!
We chose not to go see the solo magician/juggler tonight - but enjoyed a quiet night in our room tomorrow.
Tomorrow we visit St. Kitt's!
No comments:
Post a Comment