04-25-2013, 02:45 PM
<P>Tuesday April 16<P>I'll start out with 2 videos.<P><u>Take-off/Leaving Montserrat</u><P><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bS-_dROr-7w&list=UUNjuRhVoz-ip9V0fZpNtIpQ" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bS-_dROr-7w&list=UUNjuRhVoz-ip9V0fZpNtIpQ</A><P><u>Landing in Antigua</u><P><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uq7smd8x1ow&list=UUNjuRhVoz-ip9V0fZpNtIpQ&index=2" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uq7smd8x1ow&list=UUNjuRhVoz-ip9V0fZpNtIpQ&index=2</A><P>We leave Montserrat for Antigua today. It's a bright clear morning. We can see Redonda and Nevis clearly. Our flight leaves at noon. Sun picked us up at 10:45. We stopped at Gingerbread Hill to drop off some other guests on the way. Sun's parents own Gingerbread Hill. It's a cute place with some really great views.<P>We arrived at the airport at 11:15. We checked in and paid our exit taxes. You pay the exit tax for Antigua in Montserrat too. The flight over was pretty good but we did run into some clouds over Antigua and my stomach ended up in my throat. Poor Matt's leg had to hurt from my death grip. The landing was smooth.<P>The immigration lady in Antigua was not very nice at all. The customs guy was awesome though. He just looked at our passports and said "welcome" with a smile.<P>We exchanged some more money and grabbed a taxi. We had a lady cab driver. The ride from the airport to Falmouth Harbor was $82ec and took about 30-40 minutes.<P>Check in at The Catamaran Hotel was easy. We prepaid when we booked. This place is a little more $ than we usually spend, $150usd a night. It is also one of the cheapest-for-niceness places I could find in Antigua that is self-catering. We opted to rent the room safe and that was $3usd per day. We are here for 5 days.<P>After we checked in and were shown our rooms, we hopped on the free kayaks at the hotel and went around the harbor. We stayed away from the big sailboats. God forbid we accidentally hit one.<P>When we were done kayaking, we went to Sweeties for lunch. We had big salads with grilled chicken, 2 Wadadli beers and an ice cream cone. Total for lunch was $54ec. While we were eating Terry rode by on her bike. She stopped and we talked for a while. We made plans to meet up.<P>Bailey's grocery store is next door to Sweeties and it's about a 5 minute walk from our hotel. We grabbed some beer and snacks and headed back to the hotel.<P>We took a walk around the neighborhood. Up and down around 4 or 5 blocks. We walked down the beach which was not kept and could be really nice. There is a rasta shop/bar on the beach next door to us but they were closed. They open about 9pm but I heard it's a younger crowd and not so good 'natural' vibes anymore. We went back to Sweeties and ordered alcoholic milkshakes. I had rum raisin with egg and rum and Matt had rum raisin with egg and Guinness. His milkshake was bitter and gross. Mine was fantastic.<P>Back at the hotel, we dropped our laundry at the front desk. They send everything out to a local woman. Total for both of our clothes was $20usd. They came back the next morning so fresh, white-whites and pressed.<P>For dinner we made corned beef hash with fried potato and cheese with crackers. It doesn't sound wonderful but we love corned beef.<P>Matt ran to the store to buy some gin and tonic water. When he returned we sat on the veranda and had a few drinks. Our neighbors came out and I recognized her as the woman that sat in front of me on the airplane to Montserrat. I asked and I was right. We had a good laugh. What a small world!<P>They were serious birdwatchers and that is why they came to Montserrat, to see the Oriole. The also went to Barbuda to see the Frigate sanctuary. We had good conversations with them, sharing adventures and I learned a lot about birds and what is endangering them. For example: the Oriole in Montserrat is almost extinct because NOT because of the volcano, it's due to an invasive black tree rat. People started killing the rats and now the birds are coming back. Neat huh?<P>We went to bed about 9:30.<P>Montserrat Airport and a plane like the one we flew on.<P><a href="http://s194.photobucket.com/user/jeannie_brim/media/Montserrat%20and%20Antigua/IMG_2647_zps12c81fde.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i194.photobucket.com/albums/z97/jeannie_brim/Montserrat%20and%20Antigua/IMG_2647_zps12c81fde.jpg" border="0" alt=" photo IMG_2647_zps12c81fde.jpg"/></a><P>In the plane<P><a href="http://s194.photobucket.com/user/jeannie_brim/media/Montserrat%20and%20Antigua/IMG_2650_zpsf8aab218.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i194.photobucket.com/albums/z97/jeannie_brim/Montserrat%20and%20Antigua/IMG_2650_zpsf8aab218.jpg" border="0" alt=" photo IMG_2650_zpsf8aab218.jpg"/></a><P>View of Montserrat<P><a href="http://s194.photobucket.com/user/jeannie_brim/media/Montserrat%20and%20Antigua/IMG_0215_zps3b1ba45c.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i194.photobucket.com/albums/z97/jeannie_brim/Montserrat%20and%20Antigua/IMG_0215_zps3b1ba45c.jpg" border="0" alt="Flying into Monsterrat photo IMG_0215_zps3b1ba45c.jpg"/></a><P>My view<P><a href="http://s194.photobucket.com/user/jeannie_brim/media/Montserrat%20and%20Antigua/IMG_2655_zps540c8c21.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i194.photobucket.com/albums/z97/jeannie_brim/Montserrat%20and%20Antigua/IMG_2655_zps540c8c21.jpg" border="0" alt=" photo IMG_2655_zps540c8c21.jpg"/></a><P>Coming into Antigua<P><a href="http://s194.photobucket.com/user/jeannie_brim/media/Montserrat%20and%20Antigua/IMG_2660_zps271b9e28.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i194.photobucket.com/albums/z97/jeannie_brim/Montserrat%20and%20Antigua/IMG_2660_zps271b9e28.jpg" border="0" alt=" photo IMG_2660_zps271b9e28.jpg"/></a><P>The beach and view at The Catamaran<P><a href="http://s194.photobucket.com/user/jeannie_brim/media/Montserrat%20and%20Antigua/IMG_2668_zpsed715b8d.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i194.photobucket.com/albums/z97/jeannie_brim/Montserrat%20and%20Antigua/IMG_2668_zpsed715b8d.jpg" border="0" alt=" photo IMG_2668_zpsed715b8d.jpg"/></a><P>The green building is Cambusa Italian Restaraunt. It was FANTASTIC!<P><a href="http://s194.photobucket.com/user/jeannie_brim/media/Montserrat%20and%20Antigua/IMG_2670_zps96a30cae.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i194.photobucket.com/albums/z97/jeannie_brim/Montserrat%20and%20Antigua/IMG_2670_zps96a30cae.jpg" border="0" alt=" photo IMG_2670_zps96a30cae.jpg"/></a><P>View of the harbour<P><a href="http://s194.photobucket.com/user/jeannie_brim/media/Montserrat%20and%20Antigua/IMG_2671_zps66a4cbc8.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i194.photobucket.com/albums/z97/jeannie_brim/Montserrat%20and%20Antigua/IMG_2671_zps66a4cbc8.jpg" border="0" alt=" photo IMG_2671_zps66a4cbc8.jpg"/></a><P>The hotel<P><a href="http://s194.photobucket.com/user/jeannie_brim/media/Montserrat%20and%20Antigua/IMG_2669_zpseb3168f1.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i194.photobucket.com/albums/z97/jeannie_brim/Montserrat%20and%20Antigua/IMG_2669_zpseb3168f1.jpg" border="0" alt=" photo IMG_2669_zpseb3168f1.jpg"/></a><P><a href="http://s194.photobucket.com/user/jeannie_brim/media/Montserrat%20and%20Antigua/IMG_2676_zpsbb25ab1e.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i194.photobucket.com/albums/z97/jeannie_brim/Montserrat%20and%20Antigua/IMG_2676_zpsbb25ab1e.jpg" border="0" alt=" photo IMG_2676_zpsbb25ab1e.jpg"/></a><P><a href="http://s194.photobucket.com/user/jeannie_brim/media/Montserrat%20and%20Antigua/IMG_2672_zps48217fe0.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i194.photobucket.com/albums/z97/jeannie_brim/Montserrat%20and%20Antigua/IMG_2672_zps48217fe0.jpg" border="0" alt=" photo IMG_2672_zps48217fe0.jpg"/></a><P><a href="http://s194.photobucket.com/user/jeannie_brim/media/Montserrat%20and%20Antigua/IMG_2674_zps8d618b21.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i194.photobucket.com/albums/z97/jeannie_brim/Montserrat%20and%20Antigua/IMG_2674_zps8d618b21.jpg" border="0" alt=" photo IMG_2674_zps8d618b21.jpg"/></a><P><a href="http://s194.photobucket.com/user/jeannie_brim/media/Montserrat%20and%20Antigua/IMG_2693_zpsd041e7f6.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i194.photobucket.com/albums/z97/jeannie_brim/Montserrat%20and%20Antigua/IMG_2693_zpsd041e7f6.jpg" border="0" alt=" photo IMG_2693_zpsd041e7f6.jpg"/></a><P>This used to be a restaurant that was next to the hotel. Rumour has it that the owner stiffed a bunch of the workers on pay and they had their own island justice. He escaped with his life and the guy's father had to come down the settle payments.<P><a href="http://s194.photobucket.com/user/jeannie_brim/media/Montserrat%20and%20Antigua/IMG_2680_zps98091dc4.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i194.photobucket.com/albums/z97/jeannie_brim/Montserrat%20and%20Antigua/IMG_2680_zps98091dc4.jpg" border="0" alt=" photo IMG_2680_zps98091dc4.jpg"/></a><P>Lots of lizards here. I think chameleons. They were always changing colors.<P><a href="http://s194.photobucket.com/user/jeannie_brim/media/Montserrat%20and%20Antigua/IMG_2679_zps85eaaa45.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i194.photobucket.com/albums/z97/jeannie_brim/Montserrat%20and%20Antigua/IMG_2679_zps85eaaa45.jpg" border="0" alt=" photo IMG_2679_zps85eaaa45.jpg"/></a><P>Lunch at Sweeties<P><a href="http://s194.photobucket.com/user/jeannie_brim/media/Montserrat%20and%20Antigua/IMG_0223_zpsa496c622.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i194.photobucket.com/albums/z97/jeannie_brim/Montserrat%20and%20Antigua/IMG_0223_zpsa496c622.jpg" border="0" alt="Salad at Sweeties Antigua photo IMG_0223_zpsa496c622.jpg"/></a>