Regal
Princess/Antigua
Sunday, October 20, 2024
Sun, 86F
Even though we were expecting rain, Antigua greeted us with full on sunshine! And heat! And finally, LAND!! This is our fourth visit to Antigua, the last time was in 2019 with our Wisconsin friends Donna and Lawrence.
From the blog,
February 4, 2019: “We started the day with Lawrence of Antigua which
inspired our Lawrence to say he was Lawrence of Wisconsin. Antigua Lawrence was
a good tour guide, and his Nissan bus easily held 18 passengers. The island is
not volcanic so there are no high mountains as we drove along the English side
of the road. It is not a large island and has a population of about 100,000.
The main industry is tourism. In the 18th and 19th centuries,
sugar cane factories were the economic advantage. We passed old sugar cane
factories as we drove along. We stopped at several overlooks to see the
beautiful harbor. In one area we could see both the Atlantic Ocean and the
Caribbean Sea.”
2019
According to the Internet, the tropical islands of Antigua and Barbuda are located in the heart of the Caribbean about a thousand miles to the east of Jamaica and half that distance from Trinidad on the coast of South America.
The Flag of Antigua and Barbuda
Ironically, Wikipedia
states that the island of Antigua was born out of the sea by a volcano about 30
million years ago (contradicting our 2019 tour guide). On the northern flank of
this volcano, reefs were formed, hence the greater part of Antigua is low lying
and is composed of limestone rock.
The population of Antigua
is approaching 93,000. Days and nights are refreshingly cooled by the gentle
trade winds.
This morning when we arrived, it was already very warm. We did not have a tour scheduled and walked the area built for tourists. In truth, some islands have areas built for tourists and if one looks beyond that area the living conditions are exposed. Many (maybe even most) of the islands we visit are economically dependent on the cruise ships that visit regularly. It is a different atmosphere compared to the ports in Europe.
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