More Valley Church Beach

G went for a short walk between showers and saw this conch shell washing up in the surf.

Even with the clouds and rain, the beach, and especially the water color, was gorgeous.

Finally, the rain looked like it was here to stay, so we gathered up our stuff (G carried the 50 pound beach towels) and walked back down the sand road to the main road, Valley Road. Several taxis stopped, wanting to pick us up, and since their minivans were already almost full, the price was a bargain ($8 per person)...but the bus is only $1.50 per person. Besides, we really like riding the local buses. We waited less than 2 minutes along Valley Road when a privateer minivan stopped and we climbed in, dripping water on all the other riders in the process.

Here we were, careening down the left side of the road in a pouring rain, the windows of the minivan totally fogged up, and undoubtedly on bald tires. A taxi just couldn't provide that same kind of adventure!

After the 10 minute walk from the bus station to the ship, everything was wet and oh so sandy. After we dropped everything in our cabin, G immediately went to a hot tub saying he'd take care of things when he returned. I couldn't wait, and spent 30 minutes washing the sand off of sandals, the tarp, swimsuits and me. I was caked in it. I never did make it to the hot tub; a hot shower held more allure. By 4:15pm I was showered and warm and dressed for dinner. By 5pm we were up in Skywalkers for sailaway.

Horse back riding on the beach

G wants to try this next time. With my allergy, it's obviously not an option for me!

Valley Church Beach

The drizzle set the tone for our day on the beach. As we approached the turnoff for Valley Church Beach, we saw the church on a hill on the left side of the road. We thought. But the driver continued on, so we thought perhaps we were mistaken. We'd only been to the beach once before. No, we were right. The driver suddenly remembered we wanted to get off there, and proceeded to slam on the brakes on the wet road, and then started to back down the road. We kept assuring him we'd walk back to the turnoff, but he continued to back up. Nervously, we turned around and eyed the curve in the road just behind us. Thankfully the driver thought he had done his penance for forgetting, and stopped the bus to let us off.

By the time we started down the sand road to Valley Church Beach, it was raining a bit more ambitiously. And for the rest of the afternoon, we had intermittent showers. The sun never really came out, but only once was the rain really heavy. Unfortunately, everything we had got drenched (and thank God for that waterproof iPhone case. G was afraid to take his out of its plastic bag).

We set our tarp under a tree first and foremost for shade, in case the sun came out, which it didn't, but it did provide a bit of protection from the rain. Undeterred, I blew up a float and splashed about in the water. There is a bar/restaurant called The Nest at one end of the beach that rents chairs and umbrellas, but we like the quieter end of the beach. Unfortunately, there's a bit of a drop off getting in the water, and I misjudged getting back out, not standing up in time because the tiny shells pieces were painful to walk on. Instead, I got dragged on my knees up on the beach, and my razor cuts aren't my only issue any more. Fort Lauderdale, good razors and bandaids can't get here soon enough!

Photo 1: marsh near Valley Church Beach

Photo 2: storm clouds loom in the distance. This is the storm that provided a really heavy rain and left us (and our towels) totally soaked.

Day 4: Antigua

I love the Caribbean!

If the ship feels like home to us, these islands feel like our neighborhood. Today in Antigua proved to me, in a way two days at sea did not, why we love spending our winter this way. The weather wasn't perfect, but in the end it was a perfect day.

I was up early to walk this morning, and although there was no thunder and no lightning, there were some large, ominous looking clouds. By the time I finished two miles, a light mist was falling. We went to breakfast in the dining room, and took our photo IDs required to get back to the cruise ship pier, and walked over to Redcliffe Quay to use the Big Banana wifi (Big Banana is a restaurant in Redcliffe Quay). The holy grail of wifi meets five criteria: free, fast, cool, quiet and shady. Big Banana meets two of these (free and quiet), which isn't bad for the islands. I was able to get a broken Skype call out to mom, and download my emails. The sun was out and the air was humid and hot.

Eventually, the wifi slowed to a snail's pace, which was frustrating enough for us to finish up and return to the ship to pack for a day on the beach.

This was our first beach packing exercise this winter. Luckily, snorkel gear and wetsuits weren't required; otherwise, we'd have even more things to pull together. But even for a simple beach day, a serious amount of stuff is required. We put ice in a metal water bottle and took a beer and a Coke (for G) and a water bottle for me in our big cooler which doubles as a beach bag.

We walked off the ship for the second time, and walked along the waterfront past Redcliffe Quay and down Market St. to the bus terminal (Google Maps Wesf Bus, St. John's Antigua). There was a #15 bus to Valley Church Beach already there (we usually take the #17), so we boarded it. And waited.

Do you remember my blog post about waiting on a bus in Antigua last year? Well, it was that all over again. People boarded with their shopping, raw meat and fish, wrapped in newspaper and packed in bags, buckets and baskets. Thankfully, a woman boarded with a bag of spices and sat near us, providing a natural air freshener. A man popped his head in the door selling water bottles and Cokes. People came and went, babies cried, babies were born (okay, maybe that's a stretch). You know, it was riding a bus in Antigua. The driver doesn't leave until every seat (and that includes the jump sets that unfold down into the aisles) Is filled.  The limited aisle space was littered with shopping bags, buckets and baskets. Just as the bus finally left the station (really, a parking lot), it had started to drizzle again.

Lovely.

Photo 1: a bit of a sunrise
Photo 2: packing for a few hours on the beach

Valley Church (we think)

We decided to bypass the taxis on our return, and walked down the dirt road to the main road to wait for a bus. While we were waiting, I looked across the road and saw this church, which I'm guessing is where the beach got its name. Several taxis stopped and asked if we wanted a ride to the ship, but when we told them we were waiting for a bus, they waved and drove on. Finally, a taxi-looking minivan stopped with several locals already seated on board. The driver said it was a bus. It looked legit, and he said it would be $1.50US per person to go back to St. Johns. Certainly the price was right. It was a 12 passenger van, and we had as many as 14 passengers and one driver at one point. As usual, Caribbean rap music played on a radio, and, shoulder squashed to shoulder, G and I bopped in unison. We were taken to the same bus station, but a back area, not the main area.
We've learned not to try to figure out the economics of island buses. There are sometimes main buses (small) and always minivans that are privately operated along the same routes for the same fares.
Hey, it works for us.

G in the bright blue waters of Valley Church beach

Valley Church beach on Antigua

Antigua claims to have 365 beaches, one for every day of the year. That's true, I suppose, if you count every spit of land between two rocks as a beach. But the truth is that Antigua does have incredible beaches. There are only a few really long stretches of beach, but when they look like this, a few is enough.


After breakfast in the dining room (see previous photo), we gathered up our beach gear and headed off the ship. Our huge beach bag/ insulated cooler is full of sand, and every evening we debate the value of cleaning it out before the next day or waiting until the end of all these cruises. I do think it's kind of a losing battle.


We walked past the taxi drivers wanting to take us south, to Valley Church beach or Darkwood beach for $8 per person each way to the local bus terminal (not nearly as fancy as Barbados'). It's about a 10-15 minutes walk from the ship, and it's a real education the whole way. There are no supermarkets here, no Targets, no Home Depots. Most things are sold on the side of the street, on a 2x4 table if it's fancy, or a tarp on the ground if not. Antigua is definitely not third world; it may not even be second world. It's just that the huge majority of the world doesn't live in US standards and Antigua is no exception.


But you would be hard-pressed to find friendlier people anywhere. In the past, when G and I have taken buses to the far reaches of the island where few tourists go, and waited by the side of the road for a return bus, car after car stopped, their drivers inquiring if we needed help.


We love Antigua.


But for you to understand riding a local bus on Antigua, it would be easiest for me to describe our experience this morning. We arrived at the bus "terminal" shortly after 10am. The bus terminal is across the street one direction of the Antigua fish market, and across the street the other way of the produce market. Dotted nearby are these street vendors selling everything from undergarments to pirated DVDs to fresh fruits and vegetables. Many people get to St. Johns (the capital) by bus to do their marketing. We asked which bus goes south to Darkwood beach, and were directed to about a 20 passenger bus. We were the first to board, and the driver, who had been standing outside the bus, climbed in the driver's seat (on the right side; they drive on the left here). My first thought was that this was a good deal- that we had arrived just in time.


How wrong I was. I asked the driver how often this bus ran. He said every 30 minutes. After a while, I began to think we would be waiting on that bus the whole 30 minutes.


That would have been nice. In reality, over the next 45 minutes people climbed on that bus with bags of fresh fish and produce, then would step off and go buy a cold drink from someone selling them out of a cooler, then get back on the bus. A friend would stop by, come in and sit down, and have a chat, and then get off the bus. Some people sat on the bus for 25 minutes, then got up and walked off, with no explanation. The driver would leave the bus, then come back. He'd pull forward a foot or so, then stop and get back out. A white couple got on, also from our ship. When we asked them where they were from, they said Colorado Springs. The absurdity of this, the four of us sitting on this bus, the only white faces in a sea of black ones, and from homes less than an hour apart back in the states, struck me as very funny. Finally, just about the time the fish started smelling in the shopping bags, the bus filled, and only then did we leave.

You just don't get that kind of experience on a taxi, and that's why we love taking the local bus. Also, it costs only $3EC per person, or $1.50US each way. With no extra charge for the entertainment.

The beach was worth the wait. We were advised by the locals to try Valley Church beach, which we had never visited before. It was a great suggestion and we had a GREAT day!