Well we arrived in the St Johns Harbour in Antigua on time and our tour for today is leaving at 0845 which is rather early for us. However with an early breakfast under our belt we disembarked and headed down to where there were several ladies waving flags with numbers and we found our group. It seemed rather disorganised with lots of people form two ships all fighting to meet their tour guides but with all the efficiency ??? that the West Indies is renowned for. Finally we were allowed to board our small 16 seater bus with plastic seats, nice? and we headed off at 0915 out of town which was very busy traffic wise.
Our lady tour guide was clearly quite knowledgeable and she did not stop talking pointing out this church and that government building and medical centres etc. The roads were of Surrey Standards ie with loads of bumpy roads and many potholes. Our first stop was at the Historic Shipyards Museum where out tour guide had to handover to the appointed one by the museum and she tried to treat guest’s like we were naughty school kids by saying come stand by me , I am not starting until everybody can here, etc..
So we commended our walking tour around English Harbour which was quite busy due to their being the annual Antigua Yacht Show taking place with lots of rather expensive boats which were there for people to look at before they rent. As I had left my AMEX card back on board we did not bother looking and so we continued our walk around. We were offered a fruit punch or Rum punch but in view my issues I avoided and then we headed back to the bus.
From there were were driven up to the top of the mountain where you could get panoramic view of the Harbour and surrounds all very scenic. The Tour Guide pointed out Eric Clapton's hideaway on the end of the peninsular.
It is quite warm today with temp around 32 C and so a number of people did not get off the bus as it was to warm. From there we went to another viewpoint where there were a few local traders selling their wares with no doubt the tour guides getting a cut. We then headed back to the Port with the tour lady pulling out her Country Flag and singing the countries anthem, she tried hard this lady..
We arrived back at the port and went straight to lunch of salads before retiring to the room for a quiet and cool afternoon. In the evening we went back to the restaurant and had a light meal and no alcohol to talk of. Clearly we are not up for disco or shows but watched a film on the Tv with Olivier Colman and Colin Firth about a single lady with some mental issues and who is lonely as hell who befriends a Dark staff member for a minor romance before she looses it again. A good film. Then to bed as we have an early morning tomorrow as we have to clear USA Immigration which could start as early as 0715.
