Author: Tim

Thursday, April 6 – transit from Montego Bay, Jamaica to Miami

This Morning’s Menu – last breakfast in Montego Bay

• Orange Juice
• Fruit Plate
• Pepper Steak
• Green Banana
• Yam
• Plantain
• Callaloo
• Fried Dumplings

I’ve been spoiled. I’m going to miss these breakfasts!

I have an early afternoon flight today to Fort Lauderdale. I used the driver who picked me up at the bus terminal for the ride to the airport – 15 minutes, 15 USD.

Travel Note: The Montego Bay airport is massively busy! It’s well organized though – both the airline check-in and the security screening. (unlike a certain ferry terminal I encountered that shall remain nameless!). Just get there early! I arrived 3 hours before my flight.

I’m flying Southwest today, and I tried checking-in online yesterday but received an error message. Following that I called customer service, who worked on the issue for 45 minutes, to no avail. I was told I would need to check-in at the ticket counter today. Ugh! I’m sure my boarding position is going to be terrible. Yep, it’s C9! Fortunately it’s only a 90 minute flight (where I’ll be stuck in a middle seat…)

Follow-Up: While waiting in the gate area prior to boarding, my name was called amongst a group of passengers being asked to report to the agent. It turns out I was randomly selected by TSA for a bag search. That’s kind of annoying, but it’s also a good thing because the search starts early in the boarding process and once it’s complete I can get on the plane. Nice! I ended up sitting in an exit row aisle seat!

(Did this story just completely bore you to death? Apologies!)

Side Note: I’ve noticed during this trip that when certain airlines are making announcements at the airports, instead of mentioning “passengers” or “customers”, they are now using the term “guests”. Really? Am I now sounding like the old guy yelling at the kids to stay off his lawn? Probably…

I mentioned a while back why I was traveling to Miami on this trip. Here’s a quick refresher: When I was trying to book my transit from Jamaica to Belize it was either going to be prohibitively expensive or of a brutally long duration. This diversion to Miami seemed to be the best alternate. I know what you’re thinking though: After flying in and out of Miami, spending two nights in an accommodation, plus all the other minor associated costs, wouldn’t it have ultimately been less expensive just to shell out for the high cost fare from Jamaica? Probably, but my cheapness just wouldn’t allow me to pull the trigger on a (relatively) massive ticket price. I’m certifiable, I know! (BTW, the cost of the Southwest flight was $208)

Okay, so I’m arriving in Fort Lauderdale, and in a couple days I’ll be flying out of Miami, so I reserved an Airbnb close to the Miami airport. It turns out it’s kind of a long drive between those two airports. (And I’m probably the only one who’s just realizing this!) After collecting my bag, I checked on a Lyft ride to the Airbnb and it was going to cost $65 and take 70 minutes. Mmmm, flashback to Dominica! There has to be an alternate means of transit, right? And after a little research, I discovered that, yes, there is! My route turned out to be as follows:

• Shuttle bus from Airport to Train Station: free
• Train from Fort Lauderdale Airport Station to Miami Airport Station: $3.75
• Lyft from Miami Airport Train Station to Airbnb: $6.00
• Total Time: 100 minutes

Side Note: You may be wondering why I chose to use Lyft instead of Uber? Well, I usually compare prices between the two, but in this case I had no choice. That’s because Uber no longer works on my phone! I last used Uber in Panama in January with no issues. Well, since then they’ve issued an update to their app that is no longer compatible with Apple iOS 12, which is what my iPhone 6 is stuck using. I’ve had this phone 8 1/2 years, and it may be getting to the point where I need to get a new one. I hate planned obsolescence!

Friday, April 7 – Miami

I have a couple places I’d like to check out today.

The first stop is the Vizcaya Museum (thanks for the recommendation Ali!). To get there I’m going to use the Miami Metro system. The walk to the Miami Airport station took 15 minutes; the train to the Vizcaya station cost $2.25; and the walk to the museum lasted 10 minutes. I love public transport!

The Vizcaya Museum and Gardens is the former villa and estate of James Deering, of the International Harvester fortune, located on Biscayne Bay. The villa was built primarily between 1914 and 1922, and the property originally consisted of 180 acres.

An amazing place! Thanks again Ali! The museum entry fee was $25 and I paid another $5 for a 30-minute guided architectural tour.

My plan is to walk back to the apartment, which should take around 2 hours. On the way is my second stop: Sanguich de Miami – a sandwich shop in Little Havana that I read about.

Saturday, April 8 – transit from Miami to Belize City

My short Lyft ride to the airport this morning cost $7.

My flight is on American today, and I ended up using miles to book it. The one-way ticket cost $6 + 26,000 miles. However, for an additional 10,000 miles I could upgrade to business class. It’s only a 2 hour flight, but I went with the upgrade mainly so I wouldn’t have to pay to check my bag. Not sure if 10,000 miles are only worth $30, but who knows when I’ll ever utilize the miles? And it turns out the Miami airport was very busy on this Easter weekend, so the access I received to the American lounge via the BC ticket was a nice perk.

I was a little disappointed that the BC passengers did not receive a meal on the flight. I know it was only 2 hours, but I figured we’d a least get a sandwich. Nope! Just an offering of some pretzels, chips, and cookies. I did have 2 mimosas though, so there is that! (And I did some eating in the lounge too!)

Travel Note: I had a check-in problem on American too. I had a feeling I knew what the issue was in this case though, and I was right – my one-way ticket to Belize. It’s the same problem I had on the very first flight of this trip with Air Canada – no return or onward ticket. I was prepared this time however and showed the ticket agent my itinerary to Madison on the 19th…on American Airlines!

Travel Note 2: At not one of the immigration points on this trip was I asked by an officer if I had a return or onward ticket. Thereby confirming my assumption that the policing of this policy is solely under the purview of the airline, ferry operator, or similar. Interesting…

I booked my ride from the airport through the B&B where I’ll be staying. It cost 30 USD for the 20 minute drive.

For dinner, the B&B owner recommended a nearby Chinese place. Perfect!

Tuesday, April 4 – Montego Bay

This Morning’s Menu

• Guava-Pineapple Juice
• Fruit Plate
• Salt Mackerel Fish
• Green Banana
• Yam
• Plantain
• Callaloo
• Fried Dumplings

No big plans for the day. I’m just going to walk around the area to the north of the B&B. (amongst the cruise passengers)

This turned out to be my last meal of the day. These breakfasts fill me up!

Wednesday, April 5 – Montego Bay

This Morning’s Menu

• Pineapple Juice
• Fruit Plate
• Callaloo & Swordfish
• Yam
• Green Banana
• Plantain
• Fried Dumplings

I noticed another cruise ship in port this morning. And I think I’ve seen pretty much all I want to around here…okay, I talked myself into it – I’ll be hanging out at the B&B today! Worked on this journal entry, did some Miami planning (my next stop), and spent serious time in and alongside the pool! A good day!

Travel Note: I have a feeling these past few days have been kind of boring to read about. I apologize for that. It’s been a relaxing time for me though. I’ve enjoyed my time here (mainly because of the B&B, obviously!).

Jamaica Information

• Currency: Jamaican Dollar
• Language: English
• Vehicle Traffic: Drive on the left
• Weather: It’s hot here! Highs in the upper 80s; Lows in the mid 70s; fairly high humidity
• Covid Entry Requirements: There was a health check upon arrival at the airport. It consisted solely of a query regarding travel history over the past six weeks; whether or not a passenger has traveled to a high-risk area during that time period.
• Mask Wearing: There are more people wearing masks here that I’ve encountered in the other places I’ve visited on this trip. Still a big minority of the population though.
• Electrical Outlets: U.S. Type
• Drinkable Tap Water: Yes
• Timezone: Same as U.S. Central

Sunday, April 2 – Montego Bay

For breakfast, we have a choice of Jamaican or American style. I plan on going Jamaican throughout my stay! Ya Mon!

This Morning’s Menu

• Sorrel Fruit Juice
• Fruit Plate
• Akee & Saltfish (I had this in a patty from the Devon House Bakery in Kingston)
• Yam
• Green Banana
• Plantain
• Callaloo (grown on the property)
• Fried Dumplings

Wow! What a breakfast. I’m stuffed!

That meal left me a little lazy. I ended up spending the entire day on the property. I worked on a journal entry, did some reading, and of course made maximum use of the pool!

Breakfast was so filling that it ended up being my only meal of the day. To be honest though, the fact that the taco shop is closed on Sunday, and my general laziness, might have also played into the decision!

Another Travel Note: I was talking to Xavier and he asked a good question about my travel map. He noted that when looking at the map, some numbers are missing. Great observation! This occurs when I have stopped at a location more than once. When this happens, one number will overlay on top of the other for that particular spot. This occurs in Panama (I had a layover there on the way to Barbados), Dominica (two stops), Grenada (two stops), and St Kitts (layover there on the way to Antigua). I think that’s all of them! If you have a question about the numbers, you can always refer back to the list.

Here’s a link to the map.

Monday, April 3 – Montego Bay

This Morning’s Menu

• Pineapple Juice
• Fruit Plate
• Escovitch Fish (Red Snapper)
• Yam
• Breadfruit
• Green Banana
• Plantain
• Callaloo
• Fried Dumplings

Another great breakfast!

Okay, I need to get out and walk off some of these calories! My plan is to checkout a few sights to the south of the B&B.

So, my walk out to the peninsula turned out to be like the one I took on the way back from Marigot in St. Maarten – long, and unpicturesque due to the many resorts and private residences blocking access to the waterfront. Bummer! Oh well, I did end up with 28k steps for the day. And to reward myself for the effort (and to sooth my disappointment)…

Sidenote: When I went to Cali Taco on Saturday the counter person there asked for a name to place on the order. So, upon my return today she remembered my name, and so did the cashier. Funny! (Although, they probably don’t get that many old white guys in the shop!)

Friday, March 31 – Kingston

I’m kind of behind on my journal entries…a top priority today!

The internet here is rather slow, so it took forever to upload my photos to the journal. Oh well, I’m working on island time!

I finished the journal update by mid-afternoon and decided to go back to the Devon House Bakery to get another patty. I went with fish this time (3 USD). I then roamed around the corner; back to the ice cream shop. But it was jam-packed with people today too! Worse than yesterday. As much as it pained me, I didn’t feel like waiting. Lame, I know!

Travel Note: I meant to mention that the stay at the B&B here marks the first time I have not been in an Airbnb since the hotel in Bogota way back in January. Kind of a long stretch. I just found the Airbnbs to be more economical when visiting the islands.

Saturday, April 1 – transit from Kingston to Montego Bay, Jamaica

I’m taking the 10am bus today to Montego Bay. And I’m happy because I only have a 10 minute walk to get from my B&B to the bus terminal!

The trip took 3 hours, which included a 10 minute rest stop, and cost 30 USD. The bus was 90% full (and 90% of those were locals). I’m staying at another B&B in Montego Bay, and they arranged for a taxi to pick me up at the bus terminal (located at the airport). The 15 minute ride to the B&B cost 15 USD.

This B&B is the most expensive place I’ll be staying at on the trip…by far. 247 USD/nt. I’ve been spending less on accommodations than I expected, so I decided to splurge a little. I’m glad I did; this is a nice place!

Immediately after check-in I put on my swimsuit and hit the pool!

By late afternoon I was getting hungry. Crystal, one of the B&B staff, told me about a taco place nearby. I’m there!

Sunday, March 26 – St. Maarten

Not a whole lot to write about today unfortunately. I worked on a journal entry, prepped for my Jamaica visit, and went for a swim at Simpson Bay. Tomorrow should be more interesting…

Monday, March 27 – St. Maarten

I’m traveling to France today! It’ll be a short trip. The walk to Marigot, the capital of St. Martin, will take about 45 minutes.

For my return, I planned on making a counterclockwise loop around Simpson Bay Lagoon. It seemed like it had the potential for some great views of both the lagoon and Nettle Bay. That sadly wasn’t the case though. Access to both of those bodies of water was pretty much blocked by resorts or private residences.

And it turned out to be a long walk! I ended the day with just under 34k steps, so there is that! (the 2nd highest daily output so far on the trip, exceeded only by my slightly longer trek in Barbados).

Tuesday, March 28 – transit from St. Maarten to Kingston, Jamaica

I have a mid-morning flight today. As with my arrival here, I’m traveling to the airport on foot (a 20 minute walk). Avoiding taxis makes me happy!

My non-stop Caribbean Airlines flight to Kingston took about 2 hours and cost 316 USD. The 737 originated in Barbados; after we boarded in St. Maarten, the plane was three-quarters full.

Travel Note: I was not asked about onward or return travel by the Caribbean Airlines ticket agent in St. Maarten.

St. Maarten Information

• Currency: It’s interesting, both the Netherlands Antillean Guilder and the U.S. Dollar are accepted here. In fact, in the grocery store for example, both prices are indicated for items.
• Language: English
• Vehicle Traffic: Drive on the right
• Weather: High in the mid 80s, Low in the mid 70s, moderate humidity
• Covid Entry Requirements: None
• Mask Wearing: Rare
• Electrical Outlets: U.S. Type
• Drinkable Tap Water: Yes
• Timezone: Same as U.S. Eastern

Prior to my arrival I had arranged a ride from the airport with my Kingston Bed & Breakfast; that trip took 30 minutes and cost 40 USD.

Travel Note: The lock on my door wasn’t working, so they gave me 4 USD off per night. Gee thanks! I could lock the door from the inside, but I couldn’t lock it when I left. I was assured that it would be no problem, only staff would have access to the area. Whatever, I still took my important stuff with me whenever I left. Kind of a hassle, but it turned out not to be an issue. I’m still trying to figure out though why it’s so difficult to fix a door knob?

It was late afternoon by the time I reached the B&B; I was content to rest up for tomorrow.

Wednesday, March 29 – Kingston

I have a few places within walking distance that I plan on visiting today. Let’s do this!

Unfortunately, the taking of pictures was not allowed within the house. Most of the rooms have been converted to display various memorabilia, with the exception of the bedroom and recording studio, both of which remain relatively intact. Entry to the museum was timed via a tour guide, who was very good. Including a 15 minute documentary at the end, the tour lasted an hour and forty-five minutes and cost 25 USD. And it was popular! There were around 20 people in our group.

Side Note: One the wall in one of the rooms I noticed a citation presented to Bob in 1978 by the Wisconsin State Assembly! I didn’t have the time to read what it was for. I did a little research online, but couldn’t find any additional details.

Next on my journey was a visit to the grounds of Devon House. The home was built in 1881, and is the former residence of George Stiebel, Jamaica’s first black millionaire. The name comes from the property previously being called Devon Penn before Stiebel made his fortune in Venezuela and returned to purchase it.

Thursday, March 30 – Kingston

With the help of the B&B staff, I’ve hired a driver today to take me up to the nearby Blue Mountains. You may have heard of this area due to their famous brand of coffee. I could have chosen to go on a coffee tour, but since I’m not a drinker, I decided to go on a hike instead.

Our destination is Holywell Park, a nature preserve that is part of the Blue and John Crow Mountains National Park. There are many trails throughout the park, and I’ve chosen a couple that I think will fit into my allotted hiking time of 90 minutes as my driver stands by (I don’t like having to be on the clock while I hike, but don’t really have an option in this case).

The drive from Kingston to the park took around 90 minutes and was mainly on a slow and winding narrow road. It was a pretty route, but because of the road conditions, we were unable to stop and take any pictures.

Side Note: The main road to the park cuts through a Jamaican Defense Force (JDF) base. On both our ascent and descent from the park, our vehicle was stopped while we waited for army drills taking place nearby to be completed.

I ended up spending 2 hours on the trails. We then had another 90 minute drive back to the B&B. Total duration: 5 hours, at a cost of 87 USD for the driver. Not terrible, I guess. There was a 10 USD entry fee for the park. In hindsight, I’d say the excursion probably wasn’t worth it. The hiking wasn’t all that spectacular. Oh well, I had to give it a shot while I was here.

Later in the afternoon I returned to the Devon House shops to try another Jamaican favorite – Jerk meats (the island barbecue). The meat is covered with a sauce and herbs and then slow-cooked over a coal fire.

Following my jerk meal I walked around the corner to the ice cream shop, but it was packed with customers. Sadly, I passed…

Kind of a disappointing day: the uninspiring hike, the uninspiring jerk, and no ice cream. But I need to stay positive – a couple new experiences that I’m fortunate to be able to undertake. (And regarding the ice cream, that’s my own fault (lack of patience!)!)

Wednesday, March 22 – St. Kitts

I’m kind of tired today. And it looks like it’s going to be a rainy morning (a rare occurrence on this trip!); seems like a good time to work on a journal entry. I also need to do a little planning and prep for my next stop – Sint Maarten.

St. Kitts Information

• Currency: Eastern Caribbean Dollar
• Language: English
• Vehicle Traffic: Drive on the left
• Weather: High in the low 80s, Low in the low 70s, moderate humidity
• Covid Entry Requirements: None
• Mask Wearing: Minimal
• Electrical Outlets: U.S. Type
• Drinkable Tap Water: Yes
• Time Zone: Same as U.S. Eastern

By mid-afternoon the weather had cleared, so I went for a swim at Frigate Bay.

Corrections & Amplifications

In a previous post I incorrectly identified the island that could be seen from Brimstone Hill. It is actually St. Eustatius, not St. Martin. There’s a map at the fort identifying the various sights on view from the hill, and I obviously misread the notation for this (shocking, I know!). Sorry about that. And thanks for fact-checking me Chuck!

Thursday, March 23 – transit from St. Kitts to St. Maarten

I have a mid-morning flight today to St. Maarten. The short ride to the airport cost 21 USD.

Travel Note: The ticket agent in St. Kitts did not ask me about any onward or return travel from St. Maarten.

My Airbnb in St. Maarten is located in Simpson Bay, which is right next to the airport. Rather than taking a taxi, I decided to just get there on foot. The walk took 20 minutes.

This afternoon I went on a grocery run. It was a 30 minute walk to get there, but let me say that it was worth it! The store (Carrefour) was the best I’ve encountered so far (better even than in Antigua), and the prices were the lowest I’ve seen in the Caribbean. Very nice!

Sint Maarten / Saint Martin

St. Maarten/St. Martin is a unique place. This small island is seamless (there are no border gates), but is governed by two nations – France and The Netherlands. A call from the French side to the the Dutch is an international call; currencies are different, same with language and electrical currents. I chose the Dutch side – mainly because it’s less expensive and they speak English!

Friday, March 24 – St. Maarten

My usual first day in a place will hold form today – roaming and exploring. And what I’m seeing in the small town of Simpson Bay reminds me a lot of the stretch of highway A1A along the Florida Atlantic coast. Many shops, restaurants and hotels. They even have casinos here. None of it is all that attractive or interesting to me. But that’s okay, there are plenty of other things to see here. (One bright spot: there is no cruise ship terminal here, that is located further to the east in Philipsburg)

Book Recommendation

Last fall I went to see the musical Come From Away, which tells the story of the 38 international flights that descended upon Newfoundland following the closure of U.S. airspace on 9/11. It’s an amazing story about how the people of Gander, Newfoundland met the passengers of these flights with open arms. The musical was based on the book The Day the World Came to Town. After seeing the show I placed a hold on the eBook through the library. Well, I finally received my copy last week. A great read. I’m guessing most of you have already read the book (I’m late to the game, as usual), but if you haven’t, I highly recommend it!

Saturday, March 25 – St. Maarten

Today I’m going to take a tour of the beaches located around this part of the island. One is particularly interesting. Let’s go!

Monday, March 20 – St. Kitts

There is a UNESCO World Heritage Site on the island that I’d like to visit today. There’s a problem though. The taxi ride from my apartment to the site will cost 65 USD. Each way! Sorry, that’s not happening! I need to find an alternate method to get there. After a little research, I’ve come up with a solution…

In the neighboring town of Basseterre they have a bus terminal where I can catch a ride to the site (and back). There’s one caveat though – from what I’ve read, the drawback of the bus ride is the fact that it drops off its passengers at the base of a steep hill that leads to the site, whereas a taxi will take the passengers to the top of the hill. Mmmm…I’m up for the hike! How bad can it be?

The walk to Basseterre from my apartment took 40 minutes. While I was in town I stopped by the tourist office to confirm that I could take the bus to the UNESCO location. The woman there confirmed my plan, but did warn me about the hill. I’m still going for it!

When I got to the terminal I went up to the first bus in line to ask the driver if he was going to Brimstone Hill (the UNESCO site). He confirmed that he was, and that he would stop at the base of the hill to drop me off (there are no set bus stops, you just shout to the driver when you want to exit). The buses don’t depart the terminal until they are full; fortunately though this bus only had a couple spots left to fill, so I only had about a 5 minute wait until we departed.

So, we’re rolling along and I’m confident that the driver will stop for me at Brimstone Hill. Well, all of a sudden I noticed a sign for Brimstone Hill, and we’re not stopping! I kind of looked out the window and said, “Hey, I was supposed to exit there!”. The woman sitting next to me asked if that’s where I wanted to stop, and when I said yes, she yelled out to the driver to stop. He immediately recognized his mistake and put the (mini)bus in reverse to take me back to the site entrance. And it turns out the woman sitting next to me was the bus driver’s Mom. Pretty funny!

The ride to Brimstone Hill took 25 minutes. The cost?? 1.30 USD.

Brimstone Hill contains a well-preserved (and restored) fortress designed by British military engineers and built by enslaved Africans. The first cannons were mounted on the Hill in 1690. By 1736, the fort had 49 guns and was considered impregnable. However, in 1782, 8,000 French troops attacked the fort and took control from the British. Ironically though, a year later the Treaty of Paris returned the island and its fortifications to the British. In 1852 the troops at the fort were reassigned and it was abandoned. The restoration of the fortress began in the 1960s. The entry fee was 15 USD.

The walk up the hill actually wasn’t bad at all. Took 20 minutes (including photo stops). The hills in Dominica and St. Vincent were much more difficult to hike. (Including the volcano, of course!)

I had a 10 minute wait to catch a return bus to Basseterre (just wave your hand, and they’ll stop). On my walk back to the apartment I stopped for another smoothie – this time I went with pineapple/strawberry, with a touch of ginger. Awesome!

Tuesday, March 21 – St. Kitts

Nothing very special planned for today. I’m just going to take a walk back to Basseterre and roam around a bit.

Had to make another smoothie stop on the way back to the apartment. This time I went with Roland’s recommendation: banana, oatmeal, green peanut, beet root, ginger, coconut milk, almond milk, and vanilla yogurt. Very good!

Friday, March 17 – Antigua

I have some things I need to get done around the apartment today: laundry, journal entry, St. Kitts planning (my next stop), and some personal finance stuff. Boring, I know, but necessary.

Antigua Information

• Currency: Eastern Caribbean Dollar
• Language: English
• Vehicle Traffic: Drive on the left
• Weather: Highs in the low 80s, Lows in the low 70s, moderate humidity
• Covid Entry Requirements: None
• Mask Wearing: Occasional
• Electrical Outlets: U.S. type
• Drinkable Tap Water: Yes, but it didn’t taste the greatest!
• Time Zone: Same as Eastern Time in the U.S. (now that Daylight Savings Time is in place)

Saturday, March 18 – transit from Antigua to St. Kitts

My flight to St. Kitts is at around 3pm, and I was able to get a late checkout from the Airbnb, so my morning was rather leisurely.

Travel Note: When staying at an Airbnb, without a car and in a location with no Uber/Lyft service, I’ve learned that it’s important to acquire taxi driver contact information, whether it’s via the Airbnb host or the driver who picked you up from the airport/ferry terminal. It’s not like when you’re staying at a hotel, where taxis are readily available.

For my ride to the airport I used the driver that picked me up on my arrival in Antigua – Chamouy. The ride took about 20 minutes and cost 25 USD.

Side Note: Chamouy has worked with my Airbnb host for quite a while, and he filled me in on the weird configuration of the building where the Airbnb is located (all commercial except for one apartment). Apparently the entire building used to be apartments, but it was decided to switch almost all of it over to commercial space in order to generate a more dependable rental income stream. Interesting.

My flight to St. Kitts was with British Airways. Like my previous BA flight, it was on a wide body 777. In this case, the flight arrived from London; some of the passengers deplaned in Antigua, and the rest got off in St. Kitts. Not many passengers boarded in Antigua (maybe about 10 of us). The flight to St. Kitts took 20 minutes and cost 153 USD.

The taxi ride from the airport to my Airbnb in Frigate Bay took 15 minutes and cost 21 USD.

Sunday, March 19 – St. Kitts

This morning’s priority was a grocery store run. The walk there took 30 minutes each way. Not terrible!

After that, I just took a walk around the Frigate Bay area where my apartment is located.

I spent the rest of the day working on this journal entry, watching March Madness, and following along online as the Wisconsin Women’s Hockey Team won their 7th National Championship. Amazing!!

Also, I’ve updated the map to show my latest movements. The link is here, in case you haven’t bookmarked already (and if you haven’t, what are you waiting for?!?).

Tuesday, March 14 – Antigua

I’m going to take a walk west today; ultimate destination is Fort Barrington. With photo diversions along the way, it should take about 2 hours to get there.

Fort Barrington is situated on Goat Hill, the westernmost entry point into St John’s Harbour. It was built in the late 18th century to control entry into both St John’s Harbour and the neighboring Deep Bay.

This was a great walk. Well worth the effort. The views from the fort were amazing!

Wednesday, March 15 – Antigua

Road trip! I’m traveling to the south of the island today to visit Nelson’s Dockyard and English Harbour. My mode of transit will be (mini)bus.

The walk from my apartment to the bus terminal took about 20 minutes. Then there was a 20 minute wait for the bus to depart. And then it took 40 minutes to reach the dockyard. The one-way bus fare was 1.40 USD.

Nelson’s Dockyard is a cultural heritage site and marina in English Harbour. It is part of Nelson’s Dockyard National Park, which also contains some other sights that I will be visiting today. It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and is named after Admiral Horatio Nelson, who lived in the Royal Navy Dockyard from 1784 through 1787. The entry fee to the park complex was 15 USD.

Adjacent to the Dockyard is a trail that leads to a Guard House located at the entrance to the Harbor.

To view the other sights in the Park will take a little walking. (A guide at the Dockyard suggested I take a taxi, but you know that’s not going to happen!)

My next stop is Shirley Heights, a restored military lookout and gun battery. The lookout is on a high point (about 490 ft.) that affords a superb view of English and Falmouth Harbours; claimed to be the best view in Antigua. We’ll see (literally!). To get there, one can either go via the road or a trail (most visitors drive there). Can you guess which route I’ll be taking?

Next on the excursion is the Blockhouse, which is a combination of a small fort and garrison complex that was used by British soldiers in the 18th and 19th Centuries. Again, I could get there by road or by trail. Which will I choose?

My last stop in the Park is Dow’s Hill. It was originally used as a fortification (ca. 1789) to secure the ridge above the Dockyard from a land attack. Today the site contains some ruins and an Interpretation Center that presents a short history of the island. Also, more great views!

Another fun day on Antigua! Finished off with a return bus ride back to St. John’s.

Thursday, March 16 – Antigua

Another walkabout today. This time to the west of St. John’s, where I’m going to visit another fort and some beaches. Let’s go!

Wow! The beaches I’ve visited today are wonderful! And I can’t get enough of the beautiful water! A great day!

I’ve done a LOT of walking the past three days; over 25k steps each day. It feels great!

Sunday, March 12 – transit from Dominica to Antigua

I spent the morning working on a journal entry. I was supposed to depart this afternoon at around 5pm on a direct flight to Antigua, arriving about 40 minutes later. However, I received an email on Friday night from the airline with a schedule change. I’m now departing at around 8pm, with a stop in St. Kitts, arriving in Antigua around 9:45pm. Oh well…

I had already arranged for the late checkout and airport taxi ride based on the 5pm departure. I probably could have changed both to the later time, but for reasons I’ll get into, I decided to just go early and chill out at the airport.

I have mixed felling about this Airbnb in Dominica. I like the host, Corinne. She’s very nice and has been very helpful. (She moved to Dominica 20 years ago from France) I also like the location up in the hills, and the bar a few steps away! However, the apartment doesn’t have air conditioning. I’m not even sure why I booked it, because usually for this trip I’ve been filtering the Airbnb search to include only those places that have A/C. I was probably just rushing through to get the reservation. The issue isn’t the temperature though; there’s a nice breeze up in the hills and it cools off at night. The problem is the lack of screens on the windows. I’ve been getting eaten up by mosquitos – I think mainly while I’m sleeping. There was a mosquito net provided to go around the bed, but obviously it didn’t work very well. On the other hand, maybe I wasn’t using it correctly – it’s been well established that I’m basically an idiot!

Another thing that kind of annoyed me was the constant noise in the area. Dogs barking, roosters cock-a-doodle-doing, and music playing (not from the bar). Fortunately, I slept fine, because I have earplugs (Travel Tip!). And it’s weird because just up the road at the Morne Bruce lookout there’s none of that noise. Very peaceful. That’s why I hung out there so long yesterday while eating my (late) lunch. Anyway, it was only 3 nights, so that’s good. But for these reasons, I decided to just go to the airport early.

And did I mention that the airport is located in the north of the island, where I stayed during my previous Dominica visit? So, you got it; I now have another 80 USD taxi ride to the north! And to make it even worse, I possibly could have taken a minibus to the airport from Roseau at a significantly lower cost. However, the buses don’t operate on Sundays! (If I had simply switched my locations during the Dominica stays – Roseau first, Marigot second – I would have saved at least 100 USD in taxi fares. Ugh!). Okay, I think I’ve beaten this subject to death. Time to move on.

I booked the driver (Ramirez) who picked me up on Thursday at the ferry terminal to take me to the airport. Since we had some time, he ended up taking me on a scenic, non-direct route to the airport, which was nice of him. So I ended up getting to the airport about 4 1/2 hours before my flight, but that was fine.

Side Note: The Airbnb host (Phillip) from my last stay here on Dominica works at the airport as an air traffic controller. I happened to see him while I was waiting at the airport. Funny! He was surprised to see me (I hadn’t told him I was coming back, not sure why).

After a while, a man and his young son joined me in the departure area. The little boy (probably 3 years old) was a wild child, running around and yelling. I thought it was pretty funny. His dad was kind of busy on his phone, so eventually the boy (Deshaun) came over to where I was sitting and we ended up playing together. That was fun, and a nice diversion as we waited to depart.

The LIAT Airlines flight (189 USD) ended up departing on time. It’s interesting that the flight originated in Barbados, stopped in Dominica, stopped in St. Kitts, and then finished its route in Antigua. While in route, the passengers who were continuing on to a later destination just stayed on the plane. The type of plane used was the same as my other Caribbean flights – board from the rear, 2×2 seating in about 20 rows. The flight departing Dominica to St. Kitts was completely full.

The women sitting next to me from Dominica deplaned in St. Kitts, so that seat was empty while we refueled and waited for the St. Kitts passengers to board. During that time Deshaun was running up and down the aisle (more hilarity) and eventually found his way to me and planted himself in the empty seat. Pretty funny! (His dad thought so too!). Eventually the flight attendant made him return to the seat next to his dad.

The flight to St. Kitts took about 50 minutes and the flight to Antigua 20 minutes, with an on-time arrival there.

Another Side Note: Talking to some of the passengers on the two flights, it sounds like LIAT Airlines is kind of a horror story. Cancelled flights are not uncommon. One person told me they recently had a 6am flight on the airline; they arrived at the airport at 4:30am only to be told the flight was cancelled. With no rescheduling information. Ouch! I guess I was lucky having to deal with just a reschedule. (Although, I did wonder, if this airline is so terrible, why do these passengers with the bad experiences keep flying with them? Must be the only option…)

My Airbnb is in St. John’s, about a 20 minute drive from the airport. Fortunately, my Airbnb host arranged for a driver to pick me up, which was appreciated with the late arrival. The ride cost 25 USD.

Travel Note: I’ve found that one of the tricky aspects of staying at an Airbnb is actually being able to find the place where you’re staying, especially on these small(ish) Caribbean islands where addresses can be rather informal. It’s not like a hotel or resort, which is well know to the taxi drivers; it’s basically just a house or apartment. So, it’s important to get good directions to the accommodation. Or better yet, have the host arrange for a driver who already knows how to find the place (like what happened tonight).

Another Travel Note: I was NOT asked by the ticket agent about any onward or return reservations from Antigua. That’s the first time an airline hasn’t checked on that.

Monday, March 13 – Antigua

I slept in a little this morning after my late arrival last night. I eventually got motivated though to make a grocery run. There is a Epicurean Fine Foods market very close to my apartment, about a 10 minute walk. This is definitely the nicest grocery store I’ve been to so far on this trip. By far. But still a notch below the typical U.S. grocery store.

By afternoon I was ready to scope out the area. The St. John’s waterfront is about a 25 minute walk from the apartment.