Antigua

Third island we went to was Antigua.  Not many pictures from this island, but good stories.  After debarking, there were so many taxi drivers vieing for our business, it was annoying and crazy.  Instead of using one of them, Nathan headed up to the taxi stand and asked for one. At this point I thought he was crazy because there were so many other drivers to choose from.  Well, the one who wasn't fighting for us, got us.  And he was great!  Antigua was a poorer island, and a desert, but beautiful beaches.  365(one for every day of the year).  Nathan wanted to go to one called pinching bay, and then from there take a trail up to an old leper colony to check it out.  I was up for the adventure, so off the two of us went.  We told our cab driver where we wanted to go, so he got us as close as he could, then told us how to get there on foot. He also said he'd come back later that day to pick us up.  Well that seemed like a good idea so we said sure.  He dropped us off at Hawksbill resort, which had just closed for renovations.  But people can still walk on the beaches.  We start to walk, but the lady in the security station on the road that goes through the resort told us to get to pinching bay we needed to go down the street and over.  So we start walking, and get to another resort (Galley Bay) and ask for directions.  This lady said she's heard of people going to pinching bay, but only by boat, but suggested taking a road over yonder.  Okay, so we start off, find the road that we think she means, and start walking.  It quickly becomes a dirt road, country road, inhabited by goats, cattle, and then a hog that jumped up very quickly from it's mud bath.

 

 By the first of the goats

Well, pigs can be dangerous, and we grew a bit uneasy.  Needless to say the rest of the walk we carried clubs (large branches) that we found by the side of the road.  Well, the road dead ended, with not a beach in sight.  We didn't feel like trespassing on a desert island, that is not part of the U.S., and the only beings we had passed lately were three hogs.  Back we went, all the way to Hawksbill, then because we weren't driving the lady at the security gate said we could walk through as long as we stayed on the road (wish she had told us this earlier!).  We walked through the whole resort, and ended up at Eden beach. 

It was beautiful, and we had it to ourselves!  No vendors, no people, just waves and us!  I cannot believe we found this beautiful beach, that isn't private, but because of how hard it is to get to, might as well be. We snorkled, read our books on the beach, and I collected shells and a piece of coral for every kindergartener in James' class (I volunteered there every Thursday and did a science experiment, so I wanted to bring them something from the ocean).

I collected too many coral pieces, so on Antigua's Eden Beach, this in the sand, high enough on the beach away from the water that it is probably still there :)

When we got back to the ship, we weren't allowed to bring back shells.  Even if you bought them. Say wha?  My bag goes through imaging, and the worker says "do you have any shells in there" ...I say "um, yeah" (I mean what do you say?  You can't lie, he saw them on the x-ray). So he takes me out of line and has me THROW THE BAG AWAY THAT I HAD THE SHELLS FOR THE KINDERGARTENERS IN!  I look in the garbage can (which is a normal one, right by the elevators) and it is just full of shells.  We go up to our room, and I tell Nathan, "nope, I'm going to get those shells back".  "Just don't get in trouble" he says.  So I change my hair style, and my sun dress to a dark blue that won't stand out, and switch bags to Nathan's backpack.  I figured I could go down on the elevators(I figure out the right one) grab it when there's a crowd around the elevators...long story short, it worked and I got the shells back.  AND all the kindergarteners loved getting a shell and a piece of coral in the shape of a Y.  Yep, I'm a rebel and a sneak.  Made me feel like Neal Caffery (from one of my favorite TV shows White Collar).

After that adventure, after the adventure, Nathan and I got to use our favorite part of the ship...the gym.  He biked and I had a wonderful personal training session-crossfit style!  We aren't your typical cruisers :)Wonderful day!