English Harbour, Antigua

RETURN TO ANTIGUA
Seb and I came to Antigua last March and stayed close to St John's in a place called Deep Bay. This time we headed in the opposite direction to the southern tip of the island in English Harbour, site of Nelson's Dockyard.

Seb at the Antigua Yacht Club, English Harbour

English Harbour is about a 30 minute drive from the airport through central Antigua. From here, Guadeloupe is about 40 miles further south, and Montserrat about 33 miles to the southwest. The reason for coming back to Antigua is to use it as a launching point to reach Montserrat - with that now complete we had the best part of a day to enjoy the beach. the harbour and the dockyard.

Nelson's Dockyard

A LITTLE HISTORY

The Arawaks called Antigua 'Wadadli'; a name seen in many places, most importantly for me on the label of the best local beer. Columbus sighted the island in 1493 but it was the British that set up the first permanent European colony in the 1630's but the economy, based on tobacco, never flourished. It wasn't until Sir Christopher Codrington arrived from Barbados in 1674 and established Betty's Hope, the first of many sugar plantations with the help of African slave labor that Antigua matured economically. Codrington leased the island of Barbuda from Britain to establish food crops for the many slaves and named it's capital city after himself. Tobacco crops were converted to sugarcane turning Antigua into a prosperous plantation economy, prompting the British to build fortifications around the island and a naval base in the very south named after Lord Horatio Nelson - Nelson's Dockyard.

By the mid 19th century the sugar market declined, slavery was abolished and as plantations were closed down instead of handing the land to the former workers a handful of former owners maintained control forcing many into shanty towns or to be supported by the church, which explains so of the poor housing particularly around St John's.

November 1st, 1981 saw Antigua & Barbuda become an independent nation within the British Commonwealth, and Vere Cornwall Bird, after whom the international airport is named, became the first Prime Minister. My visit coincided with the 2014 general election where the incumbent Baldwin Spencer from the ruling United Progressive Party (UPP) faces a challenge from the Antigua and Barbuda Labour Party (ALP).

ANTIGUA QUICK GUIDE
Capital: St John's
Currency: East Caribbean Dollar (US$1:EC$2.6)
Language: British English
Drive on the Left
Beer of choice: Wadadli

Panajachel, to Antigua, Guatemala

VOLCANOES

I love volcanoes. For some reason I just love they way they look. When we arrived in Panajachel, a lovely little town on lake Atitlan, we found no fewer than three huge volcanoes scattered around the lake - all of them over 3,000m. We booked two nights at the Santa Elena guesthouse for about US$10 a night and had dinner by the lake. In the past this little town was renowned as a hippy hangout but it seems to have changed a little since the 60s. We took a boat across to a small town on the other side of the lake, San Pedro, and got lost in the maze of streets in the afternoon heat. I had been tempted to try and climb the San Pedro volcano but I couldn't agree a decent price with a guide. In the end we were happy to just walk around and catch the boat back to Panajachel as the sun went down.

The bus that deposited us in Pana - chickens not visible

 San Pedro Volcano from Lake Atitlan

Today we're in Antigua but in a few short hours we catch a shuttle across the border to Honduras - it leaves at 4am. Today has been one of those days to remember because I finally got to climb a volcano, an active one at that. Pacaya is right next to Guatemala City and at 2700m it isn't the tallest volcano in the area but it is the only active one. We had been warned about bandit attacks over the past few years but the tour company here in Antigua assured us that we would have two tour guides and three armed guards during our climb which helped to calm any fears. The climb was a lot harder than I expected. The last 40 mins was straight up through loose volcanic rock. At times we were taking one step forward and sliding two steps back. But onwards and upwards we climbed until we finally reached the windy summit just before sunset but we didn't stay long. I couldn't feel my ears and the steam made it difficult to breathe and see much. A quick look into the crater though revealed a strange red glow - lava?. On the walk down we slid most of the way down the scree slope then emptied our shoes of all the rocks before continuing. The sun sank and was quickly replaced by a brilliant full moon to light the path. The lights of Guatemala city glimmered in the distance, beckoning me to return back down to earth. The feeling returned to my ears.