Akeem and Levi (Forts and Snorkels)

We had decided to take the ferry from Antigua to Barbados even though it was $100 US for each of us.  Basia was going to go birding there, and we wanted to join her.  We gathered all our photography and birding stuff and went down to breakfast and met another of our neighbors, who told us that after we got to Barbados, we would have to pay $180 each to get into the bird sanctuary. Another said it was on the opposite side of the island from where the ferry would dock.  With only forty-five minutes before the ferry left and Basia already on her way, it was time for a quick decision.  Four hours of transportation and $560 for about two hours of birding?  Nope.  We would find another way to spend our first of two days in Antigua.

Paul offered that he was going to a nearby fort and the beach near it, but he had already left. Rina and a friend were going to the fort and leaving in about twenty minutes. It sounded like some walking was involved, so I would go and Dusty would stay to man the ship. I messaged Paul to let him know that we were coming, only to find out that he had gone to a different fort than the one we were going to, Fort James. In all the excitement, Kat and her husband, Mark, decided they were going also but would start out about a half hour later.

When our group met on the dock, Memo and Deborah had gathered as well. Deborah, however, was not a keen walker, but I had researched the buses in the area, as is my wont, and there was one about a quarter mile away that would get us pretty near the beach and Fort Barrington. Potential problem solved

Leaving the port, we were met by the usual taxi drivers and folks trying to sell one thing or another. We pushed through until one was polite and professional enough to offer us a round trip to where we were going for $5 each. And we wouldn’t have to pay him until he picked us up and got us back to the ship. Rather than mess with the local bus, this private transportation would really be convenient, especially for Deborah, as she was really not a good walker. Yes, I said that twice.

We agreed to the price, and he led us to a small bus that could accommodate twenty-eight people. He had the air conditioning going before we got on, and it was a welcome relief from the already building humidity.

The drive from the port was about twenty minutes through the town and part of the countryside and finally down a dirt road to the sea.  It would have been a brutal walk, and now I was happy that Deborah had come along.

Akeem, the driver, made sure that I had his phone number so that I could contact him if I needed to.  On the way out, he had been talking to Rina about something that other folks from the ship might be interested in too.  A sunset celebration with a steel drum band and barbecue.  It was on the other side of the island, and he could fill the bus for $7 each to take us there and back.  Rina was all about getting something like that going and was on WhatsApp posting the information within an hour.

The rocks and waves in front of us were definitely not where we wanted to go.  Across a little bridge was a path that led two directions.  One way would take you up to the top of the overlook where the old fort was, and the other went through a small patch of trees to the Deep Bay Beach about a hundred yards away.

While I was making sure that I could communicate with Akeem, the others started toward the fort.  By the time I had crossed the bridge, it was clear that Deborah was going to bypass the hike up the hill and go directly to the beach beyond the trees.  When I caught up to Rina, Memo, and others, they were at a section of the climb steep enough to have a long rope there to keep you from having to crawl up the sandstone slope.  It looked like the rope had been there for several years but could still accommodate the weight of a few climbers.

Fort Barrington is truly more of a lookout than what I would call a fort.  It could probably house a dozen people, and it looked like there were maybe four or five cannons there at one time.  But its views were amazing.  You could look down on the crashing waves on the rocks where we had been dropped off on one side, and the other had calm water backed by a long, sweeping sandy beach. Kind of a classic tropical view.

We poked our heads in and out of the various rooms of the old stone structure and then walked along the ridgeline toward the point of land jutting out into the Caribbean Sea. The four of us were working our way down when it became clear to me that it would be a lot of work to climb back up in order to return to the beach where we had planned to spend a couple of hours.  I let the others know that they could explore as much as they wanted, but I would meet them at the beach we had seen below with and hang with Deborah.

The way back down involved a little scooting on my butt to accommodate the steep incline, but I made it to the split in the trail and headed through the trees to the beach beyond. A couple of picnic tables with yellow umbrellas marked the one and only business at this end of the beach. A guy had an open grill with a few coolers containing fresh ingredients to serve up grilled seafood and rum punch. The gent claimed that it was the best in Antigua.

Beyond the dining establishment out in the water, I could see Deborah up to her chest in the bright blue water with a small dark head bouncing up and down next to her with a huge smile on his face. Deborah invited me into the water and introduced me to Levi. He was about ten years old and had been keeping her company while the rest of us had been exploring.

At this point, Memo came swimming up, having dived in at a spot about a quarter mile away. It turned out that he had given his clothes and such to Rina and a friend, and they were just now carrying them back to the beach beyond the trees.

I had a couple of snorkels in my bag that I had brought along that were just sitting on the beach.  I asked if either of them wanted to use my extra one.  By the time the words were out of my mouth, I heard an intense little voice from behind me saying, “Please, please, please, can I use it?”  It was Levi, and I got the feeling that he might like to go snorkeling.

After confirming that neither of my traveling companions had an interest in using my spare, I extended the offer to Levi. His eyes almost popped out of his head, and his huge smile got even bigger. It was apparent in short order that although he may not have his own snorkel, he definitely had used one before.

I started out along the rocky edge of the bay, and Levi stayed at my four o’clock, never more than six feet away. The perfect little dive buddy. The visibility was not great. We didn’t see too much, but his enthusiasm was infectious. I asked twice if he was ready to go back, and twice he asked if we could go a little longer. Finally, I had to be the grown-up and insisted that we return before we got out too far or became too tired to be safe.

When we finally climbed up onto the sandy shore, Deborah was at one of the tables under the umbrella enjoying the best rum punch in Antigua and the only one in our current view. A offered sample proved the veracity of the vendor’s claim. Good punch with a punch. Rina was sitting at the other end of the bench on her phone, tallying up the number of people that wanted to go to the sunset celebration. She already had a dozen and climbing.

This place was a gem, and Akeem was the kind of person you want to find when you’re in a new place.  Deborah had already ordered some grilled shrimp with grilled corn and grilled garlic bread.  Memo was sprawled out on a blanket provided by our food and drink master.  JR was helping Rina out with coordinating the evening activity that was only a few hours away.

As Rina was checking her messages to set up the sunset party, she got another message. This was from Kat and Mark. Oh my god! They were walking to the beach that took us so long to drive to. I felt terrible. With a check on GPS, we could see that they had covered over three miles and were less than a mile from us. They would just carry on and get here when they got here. They were definitely going to take advantage of the return bus ride.

At this point, the lunch showed up for Deborah, and it looked like something from a magazine. Beautiful, fresh-cooked shrimp and corn with the grill marks that tell you what your nose already knew. Outdoor cooking at its best.

After a while, things wound down. Levi wandered away. The food was shared and finished. We were just about ready to go meet Akeem and the bus when we saw Kat and Mark trudging down the beach. Soaked in sweat, but grinning from ear to ear. They had marched about four miles in the tropical heat and gotten there in time to get their feet wet and catch the bus. That’s when I knew that we had to share this with everyone else on our ship.

When we got back to the waiting bus, I asked Akeem if he would be able to do the same run from the ship to this beach the next morning. He said he could, and I started to do the same thing that Rina had done for the sunset party. WhatsApp postings for a $5 round trip to the coolest beach with a fort to check out if you wanted to. There was also a hundred-year-old shipwreck just about 500 yards out from the beach worth trying to check out.