Puerto Rico and Southern Caribbean Cruise Jan 2020 - Day 4 - Antigua
Antigua
I set my alarm the night before for 7:15. PM. Oops. I woke up at 7:45, which is pretty late for me, but I was pretty tired. I quickly roused everyone and we tossed on some clothes and went up to Cabana’s. We raced through breakfast, returned to the room and grabbed all our stuff and were out the door on time at 8:35. Whew!
We met up with our boat at 8:50 for our day with Adventure Antigua on their Eco Tour. As we made our way along the coastline, the guides pointed out interesting things along the way. We made one more stop at a large resort to pick up a couple more people, bringing our total number on the boat to 16, which just about the right number of people for the size of the boat.
Our first stop of the morning was Hell’s Gate, which is a really cool rock formation with a natural bridge. We were given the option to explore the cave and natural bridge, snorkel, swim, or just chill on the boat. Everyone decided to head for the island. We all hopped off the boat and swam over to the small island where we were led up and into a small cave. On the other side of the cave, we were able to climb up and onto the bridge and have a great view. We climbed back down on the other side of the bridge and swam back to the boat.
Back on the boat, we made our way over to Great Bird Island where they anchored next to a beach and we had some time to swim or hang out on the little beach before lunch. After awhile, we all came back on board and they set up some lunch for us. After lunch, we had the option to take a guided walk around the island. We were told about a special snake, the Antiguan Racer that is extremely rare. This endangered species is found only on Great Bird Island and was nearly wiped out when rats were introduced on the island and preyed on the baby snakes. Eventually someone realized what was going on and they were able to kill all the rats on the island and now the snakes are making a comeback. We were told they are so rare and also well-camouflaged that we wouldn’t see any at all (but if we did it wasn’t a problem because they are non-venomous).
Can you see the snake? That’s a photo of an Antiguan Racer. One of the kids actually spotted it and we all got to take a look. We also saw a variety of birds and a whole bunch of lizards (that the snakes like to eat). We got to the top of the island and were treated to an incredible view of many of the small islands that make up Antigua.
After we walked back down to the beach and waded back to the boat, we set off for our final stop of the way. A little ways out from Great Bird Island we stopped at a reef and had two snorkeling options - a longer, more advanced snorkel (with better stuff to see) and a beginner snorkel. Emmaline and I choose advanced (Roger stayed on the boat and took a nap). We saw a ton of fish and coral as well as a conch and a stingray. It was really great snorkeling and I think better than the snorkeling we did in Tortola (at Norman Island and The Indians).
We all got back on the boat and as we made our way back to St. John’s, we were treated to some really delicious banana bread by the wonderful crew of our boat. We had a truly fantastic day. I really loved this excursion. I felt like there was an appropriate amount of time at each stop and there was a nice variety of activities. The crew was really friendly and seemed to love sharing their beautiful islands with us.
We got back to the ship around 3 PM and took showers before going up to deck 9 for some snacks and lingered for awhile, eventually watching the sunset while we sailed away. After that, we reorganized our things, got ready for the next day while watching some stateroom TV. I worked a bit on my trip report and then it was time for the show. This evening Lynn Trefzger was performing her main show in the Walt Disney Theatre so we went to enjoy that. It was a very similar show to the last time we saw her perform, but still very funny.
After her show we headed for Azure to participate in a juggling workshop with Charles Peachock (the juggler from the first night’s show). This was a ridiculous amount of fun and I’m so glad that we went. By the end of the workshop, I actually was able to juggle 3 balls for a couple of seconds. Hey, it’s a start!
Apparently that's my concentrating face.
After that it was time for dinner and our first night in Triton’s, which I always enjoy. After dinner we were pretty tired from being out in the sun all day so we all went back to the room and went to bed.
Click here for Day 5.
We met up with our boat at 8:50 for our day with Adventure Antigua on their Eco Tour. As we made our way along the coastline, the guides pointed out interesting things along the way. We made one more stop at a large resort to pick up a couple more people, bringing our total number on the boat to 16, which just about the right number of people for the size of the boat.
Our first stop of the morning was Hell’s Gate, which is a really cool rock formation with a natural bridge. We were given the option to explore the cave and natural bridge, snorkel, swim, or just chill on the boat. Everyone decided to head for the island. We all hopped off the boat and swam over to the small island where we were led up and into a small cave. On the other side of the cave, we were able to climb up and onto the bridge and have a great view. We climbed back down on the other side of the bridge and swam back to the boat.
Back on the boat, we made our way over to Great Bird Island where they anchored next to a beach and we had some time to swim or hang out on the little beach before lunch. After awhile, we all came back on board and they set up some lunch for us. After lunch, we had the option to take a guided walk around the island. We were told about a special snake, the Antiguan Racer that is extremely rare. This endangered species is found only on Great Bird Island and was nearly wiped out when rats were introduced on the island and preyed on the baby snakes. Eventually someone realized what was going on and they were able to kill all the rats on the island and now the snakes are making a comeback. We were told they are so rare and also well-camouflaged that we wouldn’t see any at all (but if we did it wasn’t a problem because they are non-venomous).
Can you see the snake? That’s a photo of an Antiguan Racer. One of the kids actually spotted it and we all got to take a look. We also saw a variety of birds and a whole bunch of lizards (that the snakes like to eat). We got to the top of the island and were treated to an incredible view of many of the small islands that make up Antigua.
After we walked back down to the beach and waded back to the boat, we set off for our final stop of the way. A little ways out from Great Bird Island we stopped at a reef and had two snorkeling options - a longer, more advanced snorkel (with better stuff to see) and a beginner snorkel. Emmaline and I choose advanced (Roger stayed on the boat and took a nap). We saw a ton of fish and coral as well as a conch and a stingray. It was really great snorkeling and I think better than the snorkeling we did in Tortola (at Norman Island and The Indians).
We all got back on the boat and as we made our way back to St. John’s, we were treated to some really delicious banana bread by the wonderful crew of our boat. We had a truly fantastic day. I really loved this excursion. I felt like there was an appropriate amount of time at each stop and there was a nice variety of activities. The crew was really friendly and seemed to love sharing their beautiful islands with us.
We got back to the ship around 3 PM and took showers before going up to deck 9 for some snacks and lingered for awhile, eventually watching the sunset while we sailed away. After that, we reorganized our things, got ready for the next day while watching some stateroom TV. I worked a bit on my trip report and then it was time for the show. This evening Lynn Trefzger was performing her main show in the Walt Disney Theatre so we went to enjoy that. It was a very similar show to the last time we saw her perform, but still very funny.
After her show we headed for Azure to participate in a juggling workshop with Charles Peachock (the juggler from the first night’s show). This was a ridiculous amount of fun and I’m so glad that we went. By the end of the workshop, I actually was able to juggle 3 balls for a couple of seconds. Hey, it’s a start!
Apparently that's my concentrating face.
After that it was time for dinner and our first night in Triton’s, which I always enjoy. After dinner we were pretty tired from being out in the sun all day so we all went back to the room and went to bed.
Click here for Day 5.
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