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.