Our short holiday in the sun is over. Getting over jet lag is another problem, especially when coming from the direction of America and the Caribbean. I don’t have much of a problem when I return from India.
How do I rate Antigua, compared to the other Caribbean islands I have been to. Starting with the Dominican Republic, Cuba, St Lucia, Jamaica and Barbados. I still think St Lucia was the best.
We visited St Lucia in 2011, on the day of Kate and William’s wedding to be precise. We made use of the extra bank holiday on the Friday and booked our flights on Virgin airlines. They served us a special wedding lunch on the flight that day, to celebrate the occasion. I also remember watching the event on the giant screens which were set up in the duty free shops in Gatwick while we waited for our flight to board.
In St Lucia, our room at the ‘Rendezvous’ had a tastefully decorated gazebo style balcony overlooking the sea. I watched the sunrise from my new favourite spot every day, reading my books and sipping my early morning tea. One day it poured down with rain and the hotel staff were busy finding us group activities to do to make sure everyone was happy. I was just happy to sit and read my book in the lounge area listening to the patter of the heavy rainfall. I find the sound of rainfall rather calming as if it is trying to wash away all my troubles.
There were lots of activities we could join in. I tried the pilates and yoga classes. I also tried my hand at archery. Initially I thought I had no chance and that it was a sport for those with strong arm muscles and later found out that it was more technique than muscles and quite enjoyed it once my arrows started hitting the board.
I also tried to enrol for scuba diving lessons, but when I said I had asthma as a child they wouldn’t take me and wanted a doctor’s letter. In those days I was too scared to put my face in the water and so didn’t think that scuba diving was going to be easy. Anyway the last time I spoke to Ciro, he only had one more exam to complete before getting his instructor status and has promised to teach me to scuba dive when I go to visit them.
We had a casino night one evening. I’m not a gambling person, purely because I never win anything. I don’t even play the lottery. We were given an equal number of tokens to begin with. As usual I started off losing, but then my luck turned at some point and the pile of tokens in front of me started growing rather than disappearing. I remember the other men on the table starting to get a bit jealous. It was a fun evening and I ended up winning the second prize I believe, a sweatshirt. I didn’t quite like the look of it and so asked if I could swap it for something else from the gift shop and they relented. I got Kavitha a pretty T-shirt the next day.
We went on a couple of tours around the island while we were there and saw the Pitons, walked around the local town, climbed the nearby cliff to where the lighthouse was. The food was one of the most delicious and healthiest I have ever had.
If I ever decide to go back to the same Caribbean island again it will be to St Lucia. The other places I have been to, I think once is enough. The Canadian teacher I met thought Aruba was the best. I’ve never been to Aruba. I don’t know if I will change my mind if I go to Aruba. Maybe next year I can put that theory to the test.
