Sandals Grande Antigua - Part 4

Thursday

I woke up early and couldn’t go back to sleep, thinking about it being our last day and how much I still wanted to do. Why does vacation always seem to be one day too short??

We had the “Best of Antigua” tour scheduled for the morning. Our driver and tour guide, Fish, met us in the Caribbean lobby at 9 o’clock. He was an older gentleman who had been driving taxis since I was born, and he drove carefully and safely. He wasn’t very talkative but he did answer all of our questions and pointed things out along the way. Antigua is known as the land of 365 beaches (one for each day of the year) and Fish told us that we could have most of them all to ourselves. As we passed one beach, he commented that it was crowded that day. There were maybe five people on the beach. That was crowded? :-)

We drove past pineapple fields and Mount Obama, the highest point in Antigua at 1300 feet. As we started up into the mountains, it got cloudy and I was worried that we were going to have bad weather for our tour. Then I realized that we were in the rain forest. The road through the rain forest was called Fig Tree Drive because of all the bananas trees. The Antiguan word for banana is “fig”. Fish said that until he started traveling, he didn’t realize that bananas and figs were two different things.

pineapple fields

Curtain Bluff

Antiguan "figs"

Fish pointed out several houses that looked unfinished. He explained that people built their homes as they got the money to buy materials, and they would live in one part of the house while they worked on the other parts. Property taxes weren’t paid until the house was complete. That seemed like a bit of a loophole to me and it made me wonder at what point a house was considered finished. But you could tell that Antiguans had great pride in their homes. Even the tiniest ones were brightly painted and had tidy yards and flower gardens. I loved all the colors.

Our first stop was at Shirley Heights for a spectacular view of Nelson’s Dockyard in English Harbor. Then we drove down to the dockyard, where we had about 30 minutes to explore on our own. We could have easily spent several hours in the museums and buildings but since we didn’t have much time, we just walked around so I could get pictures. The dockyard was crowded with tourists but Ron spotted a little bar in a quiet area. We took a seat and ordered some rum and Ting (a Caribbean grapefruit soda) – so refreshing! It was the week of Antigua’s Classic Yacht Regatta and some of the crews were readying their sailboats for a race. Ron later said this was his favorite part of the tour, just sitting by the water and watching the crews at work.

Shirley Heights

Nelson's Dockyard boat pillars

We got back to the resort around 12:30 and spent the afternoon at the pool. Last chance for a sunburn! :-)  Then we got ready for dinner and walked down to the beach for the sunset. When the sun was just about to disappear I said, “I guess we won’t see the green flash tonight.” Right at that moment, the last sliver of sun turned green and sank into the water. Ron and I both said simultaneously, “There it was!” Ron gave me a hard time because I didn’t have the camera ready and missed it the shot. But some things you just have to enjoy with your eyes.

We ate dinner that night at Barefoot by the Sea, the seafood restaurant on the beach. Although Mario’s probably beat Barefoot in the food department, Barefoot won for the service and location. We sat with our feet in the sand, watching the fading light.

Barefoot by the Sea

After dinner, Ron was really tired and just wanted to go back to the room and go to sleep. But it was only 8 o’clock! I wanted to stay up and soak in every last minute. I was hoping Ron would wake up if we walked around for a bit, but instead he just got cranky. So I walked with him back to the room and then went out again by myself. I climbed up the pool tower and looked at the lights of the resort and the mountains behind. Then I sat by the fire pits and listened to the sounds of the waves and the tree frogs. I was so sad – we had to leave tomorrow and I wasn't ready to go. There was a Caribbean band on the stage in front of Cricketer’s Pub, and the music drifted down to where I was sitting. The band was playing “Nah Going Home” by Biggie Irie. 

And we’re nah going home till de morning come. 
And we’re nah going home till we see de sun. 

It was a such a happy song that I couldn’t help cheering up. I would worry about tomorrow when it came.
 
Friday

In the morning, we slept in and then had a leisurely a la carte breakfast at OK Corral. I had pumpkin pancakes and Ron had a breakfast sandwich as we watched the freighters pulling into St John’s port and the sailboats criss-crossing the water. One last walk on the beach. One last stop at Café de Paris for a frozen cappuccino. Then it was time to go back to the room to pack. It was another wonderful Sandals vacation. Soon Come Back!

breakfast at OK Corral

breakfast view