I liked the Bahamas. Some people say it has sold its soul to America and Vegas style hotel chains, which it has in part, but I think it has plenty of soul left to go round.

They love eating conch basicaly all the time, which mystifies me as it's a bit tasteless, but somehow this is endearing. They have this beautiful millions of tiny islands thing going on, so the sea views are always different and you're a mere boat ride away from an uninhabited cay. And it feels very James Bond at times - not only does it have sharks (you should leave the beachesa t sundown because that's when they come into feed), but it also ahs Sean Connery (retired and living it up) and part of Casino Royale was also filmed there

There's also the other side of the island, which is that things don't work that well, there's big brain drain with all the successful people trying to escape to the US if they can. They have few local businesses, and all the US chains like Dunkin Donuts, Starbucks, and Macdonalds are cleaning up. And a fair bit of serious poverty to balance out the extreme wealth, and one of the highest HIV rates in the region. But this kind of stuff is pretty common in the region in general...

'Duncan' donuts

Relaxing with the cruise ships (my family visited, was amazing)

Sharks. You can do dives without cages and watch them be fed. Yikes.

Part of one of the luxury hotels where Casino Royale was filmed.

Antigua

So, I promised I’d do an entry once a month, and I’m going to quickly try and catch up on June, July August by briefly covering a few countries in next few entries.

Antigua – pretty but dull. I went there on a Sunday morning, and nothing was open. Nobody was in the streets. Nobody in fact seemed to be on the island apart from one stray family I saw on a jetty. Felt a bit like a zombie movie with all the deserted streets, except without the undead nightlife.

But I will give it points for prettiness. It was lush and green, and had an amazing naval dockyard. But then all the islands are pretty. Apparently it also scores high for corruption, by some accounts the most corrupt in the region, with legions of dodgy banks and pyramid schemes. They were hit pretty hard though in the downturn and now everyone in Antigua mentions this and looks a bit glum. I have also heard that it really picks up in the sailing season, whereas during hurricane season all the fancy yachts with their money and glamour go to safer climes.

Pros of Antigua: unusual shape (kind of splattered), green, pretty, and great if you like pyramid schemes. Cons of Antigua: too quiet, difficult to get anything done. Overall score: I would in fact rank it lowest in my Caribbean island league table. I feel bad about it because it's still lovely. But someone has to be at the bottom. But they need all the tourists they can get in the downturn so don’t let this put you off…

Empty streets... (and tiny banks, no longer propped up by stolen money...)

Sunsets (and zombie hands?)

Mangoes! Beautiful green everything.

Pretty indeed.