January exploring Antiguan beaches

It is time to explore some of Antigua's 365 beaches. Yes yes, one for every day of the year and all that. Tragically our beach visits have been kiteless. We learnt our lesson the hard way. To back track a few months: We wanted to learn how to kite-surf in Sicily during winter. Due to the lack of cold enthusiast instructors, the only way open to us was to buy our stuff from the friend of a friend (yes, an offer we couldn't refuse..and all that) and basically make our own way after a 'lesson' with the kite seller. This is Sicily so things are of a certain um quality but whats a girl to do? We struggled with our depowered kites in the winter gusts, watching them fall out of the sky, all the time knowing there was something set up wrong. So now we're finally in kite-surfing paradise, on a beach perfectly designed to learn, with an instructor who has American enthusiasim and Swiss precision, and he even fixed our depower problem by resetting our lines. What happens? The Captain's kite leaked on inflation and mine started whistling after a couple of hours use. Yes, Tonno kites are an awesome design but well, the quality is um shall we say at the lower end of the Chinese scale. After taking them apart to try and fix the offending bladders we saw the extent of the poor construction. After exploring internet options we have found bladder replacement is an option but of course that requires time and organisation. So for now, kiteless beach exploration.

The conclusion of the babble is that we are currently choosing our beaches for their view and swimming as opposed to their wind angle and easy launches.

Rendezvous Beach, a welcome sight after a beautiful albeit hot hike.

Saturday was picnic day. Having recently procured some proper bacon (not the American kind that is 90% fat surrounding small islands of meat) Bacon sandwiches were made and we were on our way to Rendezvous Beach. Driving almost to the top of the hill dividing our bay from its, we parked and readied ourselves for the hike. It was a lot shorter than we thought and well worth the effort. It’s a stretch of shoreline only accessible on foot, by boat or a decently driven 4x4.

Rendezvous Beach, Swim as far as you like in this 'Caribbean Blue' swimming pool

After helping a motor boat set their anchor we got down to some serious snorkeling (hmmm what do you call it when you dont use a snorkle? I spend most of my time under the water and havent mastered the use of a snorkel under these conditions...so i dont bother with one. Cinderellasis, you might appreciate that)

Beautiful fun.

Returning we passed a rare sight: Cows!!! On an island of goats, the cow is king!

Sunday was designated cooking day as the Captain has been craving fresh pasta which, despite the oddly large Italian population on the island, is not available at a Sicilian standard (their cooking beats their kites any day!) So Raviolli stuffed with Wahoo in a tomato garlic sauce it was. With lunch done and the Captain on a biscotti making mission, I had to escape before cabin fever set in and so began a solo mission to a beach near Jolly Harbour.

Beach near Jolly Harbour. Perfect for some desert flying...

When on a food hunt i drove past it and swore there would be a return trip. Back i was and so were the sandflies. But the breeze kept them off and the swimming was incredible....flat blue waters so clear you can see the patterns in the sand 3m down. Hmmmm, Imagine flying high over an extensive sand desert. Crystal clear, essentially still water has that effect on the swimming view.

Wonderfully free!

Making Lasagne with the fresh pasta.

When you have fresh pasta what do you do? Make Lasagne. Of course there is the required bottle of wine (um I'm sure you could put some in the lasagne if you wanted to). This is the bottle of Eolian Rescue fame. Yip, the one and the same bottle that the captain was given for rescuing the media mogul from down under with the same name as a member of the A-team. It was yummy!

The galley turned into a pasta factory.

I assure you with no bias at all that that tagliatelle is by far the best I have ever tasted. Italian chefs weep, you have been outdone by a British-German. It is tasty and light, fulling you up without 'sitting' in your stomach or overpowering the sauce (which in all honesty is unnecessary if you have a good bottle of olive oil, a little pepper and maybe even a sprinkle of parmesan for the sake of extravagance....)

Interesting mud-stone rock formations at the point of Half Moon Bay

Another Weekend brings another beach. This time the gorgeous Half Moon Bay.

There were quite a few Americans frequenting this corner of paradise, recognised by the enthusiasm surrounding them, their coolerboxes filled with Corona and of course the mandatory ‘football’ (not to be mistaken for a soccer ball, a mistake which is obviously only possible in print).

The um tarantula holes

We walked the curve of the bay and noticed rather a lot of people decorated with dry mud in a sort of health spa fashion. Intrigued we rounded the point following the trail of mud-people. We discovered some intriguing mud-rock rock formations, another bay with a resort, an island within swimming distance, some alleged tarantula holes (um near the sea could they possibly be crab holes?) but no communal mud-source

A Panoramic view of Half Moon Bay.

Half Moon Bay from the centre of the beach curve. Um yes, stitching photos when there are waves involved is well yes, you see.

Exploring Antigua - Falmouth Harbour and English Harbour

Becoming intimately acquainted with the local Antiguan Flora. Nope the plaster is from a Christmas day UDI. Dont ask...I dont know.

Exploring Antigua is a dangerous affair, especially when you leave the path. But there was this cave and these two little kids, you know, of the mountain goat variety, not the screaming, sweet demanding type...

The kids we followed off the mountain top. They did seem intrigued by the 2 legged creatures that had insisted on leaving the path

There were a few incidents that could have taught Charlie Chaplin a thing or two. Like the moment I was innocently descending a gravel slope (in my slops of course), slipped, landed my butt in a cactus, my cherished Hiking/Snake Defence stick flying into the air only to land on the back of my head. I kid you not! (definitely not the goat or sweet kind) But the views were well worth it.

English Harbour from our hiking view point. Well, half way there.

English Harbour is where Nelson used to shelter when he had control of the Royal Navy here. Apparently it’s a hurricane hole so boats can safely shelter here during the hurricane season. Um well, not safe enough for the insurance companies so we get to leave at the end of winter. We're actually anchored in Falmouth Harbour at the moment which is a five minute walk away. Its bigger than English Harbour and despite the fleet of yachts that would make Nelson jealous anchored in the bay (without holding tanks i'm sure) it is still THE popular spot for wake-boarding given its calm waters.

Some Antiguan Fauna. Cute, quick and everywhere

Now its back to the boat for more varnishing and recipe research. Hmmm how many times in 2 weeks can you serve chicken??? Basically there is no beef on the island and our lovely owner's wife doesnt eat fish...but she does eat seafood, just not squid...or anything that tastes fishy...or couscous...or pasta more than um once...and please can we have some variety. Now there's a challenge. Anyone know how to cook a Yam? There seem to be an abundance of this root, a plethora of breadfruit recipes but no breadfruit and few yam recipes.

At least its doable as i now own FOUR Caribbean cookbooks!

Caribbean - Dominica

At the end of the River Tour is of course a bar, serving of course rum punch. Yum yum it was good rum punch and dried us off, on the inside at least.

Indian River Bar, complete with logs turned into tiny rough furniture.

The bar was typically no more than a roof held up by some poles with the furniture and necessary bar to hold the patrons and liquor respectively. Less is definitely more in this place as the lack of walls provides rainforest decor (and i would imagine means less to rebuild after a hurricane). In the middle of the picture below the dangling pink vegetation is their version of our Bird of Paradise. It really is quite astounding how similar the plants and animals here are to home!

Drinking in the jungle. (view and rum punch)

Sailing away from Dominca we realised that the 24hours we had spent in the rain had not been experienced by those a couple of miles offshore. It would seem that Dominica lives under its own, very exclusive raincloud. This does mean that, having the highest rainfall of the area, it is a stunning island rainforest which has luckily been preserved from development, damaging tourism and local poaching (if you are found with as much as a single feather from a parrot you face up to 5 years in prison...)

Dominica and her raincloud.

Leaving Dominica another long but fun sail brought us to Antigua. Less rain and less sun meant more pleasant sailing with less sunburn. You gotta love the Caribbean constant 15 to 20 knots wind. This was a day of absolutely awesome sailing which made me realise just how lucky I am to be on such a fabulous yacht as this particular Swan! She is a wonderfully balanced, 60 footer who simply plows elegantly through the water. The Captain hadn’t lost his fishing touch and we hauled in a biggy! (yes 'we', I was the one with the sailing gloves on that had to hold it still so the hook could be removed) From our handy fish chart we deduced it was a billfish or um maybe a baby marlin or um one of those kind of big fish. It was so big and so beautiful that, yes bleeding hearts and all that, we threw it back. It seemed no worse for wear from its brief yachting excursion, making a speedy swim for freedom after being unceremoniously dumped back in the sea.

Our temporary guest, the BillFish or Baby Marlin or um one of those kind of fish

So our story restarted in St Lucia where the guests left and the boat needed to be cleaned um after 9 men lived on her for 18 days...ja well no fine... At least the captain made a start on it for me. But there were all the after party events for the ARC to relax at in the evenings, not to mention the continuous live marimba music and permanent holiday feel

St Lucia, Rodney Bay. Where it all began....again

With just the two of us on board we decided to do two long day sails with a two night stop-over in Dominica so that we could clear customs and of course do some exploring. Anchored outside Portsmouth we learnt just how long and loud the locals can party...that would be: all night and audible right across the bay. We were so tired from the trip it was no worry to us to fall into deep sleep to the reggae beat.

Dominica Island, Portsmouth. Rain, rainbows, rivers, reggae and rest.

The following day we woke to discover that the locals dont actually need sleep and their DJs dont ever lose their voice. Yip, the party was still going with the reggae booming and the crowd being hyped up by the still enthusiastic, louder than the music, same as the evening before DJ. We were then reminded to chose our local contact with the promise that on doing so all the others would leave us alone. That's how we met Albert the local river guide and were persuaded that our one venture ashore should be in a boat.

The Indian River during the 30sec interval that it wasn't raining.

Off we set in Albert's row boat and the rain (Dominica is one massive rainforest) up the Indian River. Here we have another name trying to preserve history: the Indian River is so named for the Carib Indians that used to live there and their food, the Arawak tribe. The Caribs are the tribe of cannibalistic fame, remember them in the Pirates of the Caribbean?

Another local Dominican inhabitant. I'm sure you recognise this one from home. They are everywhere!

We were very shortly informed that this was not simply a tour up a rainforest river on a Caribbean Island, including detailed teachings on the intriguing fauna and flora...no no not just that. This was also a tour of the film sets of Pirates of the Caribbean 2 and 3. 'Do you remember the witches house in the mangrove? It was right there' Apparently the all knowing, persistent Albert and his boat were employed for the filming of the movies, to ferry the stars around and fill in as an extra...

One of the few predators to live on the island (along with the 'None of them are poisonous' snakes) and apparently a vegetarian...???

Too much time has passed to try and catch up the bits in between. Needless to say there was the trip from Sicily to Palma with the regular crew of the Captain’s pro friends and some newbies; the work time in Palma and the fun trip from Palma through the Straits of Gibraltar to the Canary Island of Las Palmas.

Our dolphin escort from Palma to Las Palmas

After getting the boat ready for the crossing with its 8 guests, it was sad goodbyes and happy trip home to the wonderful wide open spaces of South Africa and the friends and family they hold. Our favourite but not so PC dinner in Las Palmas....yip those poor force fed ducks

It was perfect timing being in Cape Town for the fun wedding of a cousin, bringing almost the entire clan together. Then on to Grahamstown to visit a very missed Gran and to be pampered and exercised with laughter (and of course the bouncing boob brigade...that’s a fun story in itself). And finally home to the farm for fun and family and to see my ‘puppy’ that despite what he or I might think, is perhaps no longer actually a puppy (you try telling an affectionate full grown Rottweiler it’s no longer supposed to sit on your lap)Just one of Cape Town's spectacular beaches

A Room in the Topkapi Palace I