Antigua ... known for its beaches

Today, Feb. 25, was our first excursion.  We pulled into the harbor at St. John’s, the capital of Antigua.  The island is in the Eastern Caribbean, and is 14 miles long and 11 miles wide.  There were four big cruise ships docked here today, but the Royal Princess was the largest.  And we were proud she was ours for a few weeks, the biggest, baddest ship of all.

It's easy to tell which one is the Royal Princess.

Jaz’s and my excursion didn’t leave the dock until 11:50 a.m. so we got off the ship and walked around town a bit.  As the temperature averages 75-85 degrees, and the humidity is low, it was perfect. 

These headstones were along the walk and we wondered if they'd been moved and just put here.  There seemed no rhyme nor reason to where they were standing.

This sign just amused me.  Many are hand-done and simple like this one.

The island is marketed as having 365 beaches, one for every day of the year.  From the ship we could see a number of them, white, beautiful sand and turquoise-blue water.  It’s the water and beaches of tropical dreams.  The houses around the port are colorful … orange, lime-green, blue and more … and lend a gaiety to the area.

One of the many beach areas along the shore ... and there were many we could see just in the area from the ship.

It's hard to see, but the colorful buildings stand out.  The lime green, one in particular.

Everyone seemed quite friendly.  The island only has 85,000 people and today they were overrun by probably 11,000 tourists.  But they love it, or so they say, as 85 percent of their income comes from tourism.  Ships come in about five days a week, so there are a lot of tourists visiting at any given time.  They didn’t make much off of us on this day as neither of us bought anything.  I usually do, but just wasn’t in a trinket-buying kind of mood.  I wanted the walk and to look around.

We got back to the ship and had a coffee and a small bite to eat since we’d be gone for about four-and-a-half hours.  We’d decided that this cruise we would book all of the extreme and adventurous tours.  Today we would be kayaking, a first, snorkeling and doing a hike up a mountainside.

Loved kayaking.  I never thought I'd enjoy it so much.

The kayaks each held two people.  They were bright-orange hard plastic, with places to stick your feet and your butt.  They were not real comfortable.  I’d been a bit unsure, but once on the water, had a ball and absolutely loved paddling.  We paddled around mangroves, with our guide in the lead.  He showed us a variety of sea life … sea cucumbers, starfish, jellyfish.  We, of course, wanted to race him back.  He was young and strong and two old ladies were no match.  But I like to think we gave him a run for his money and he did think we were okay. 

We paddled in and out of the mangrove trees in the park.

From the kayak we went in the square-prowed boat to a snorkeling place.  I still had an issue with getting my head in the water.  I stayed in for a short time but got back in the boat without really getting my head under.  I still enjoyed my time as I love boats, so all was good. 

We all got back into the boat and headed to the shore.  They had rum or fruit punch and banana bread as a little snack.  They make a lot of rum here, but it still wasn’t a draw for me.  Then our guide asked who wanted to climb the hill to see the view.  We did. 
 

On shore in the little tide pools I found these little things that looked like mushrooms growing in the water.

  The climb was rocky, with what appeared to be lava, and some sand.  I was not the weakest link.  And, in fact, was first up.  It was a great view with some birds flying around and an opening in the rock below where you could see the water.  It was a great day.

You could see the water way, far down.  Don't venture too close.

Jaz and others enjoyed the water prior to getting back in the boat and heading back to port.

We got loaded back into the two boats that had carried all of us out and raced back to the marina.  Fast was awesome.  We won!!! 

The drive back to the cruise port was a bit slower due to traffic.  I don’t know that I’d ever get used to driving on the right-hand side of the road, and I know it’d be even more difficult to navigate a round-about going to the left rather than the right.  It was quite unnerving!!  But a great day!!