Life Is A Beach, In Antigua
Antigua is the archetypal Caribbean island – candy-coloured villages, lively locals, rums sold in shacks and aquamarine sea with 365 mostly white sand beaches – that’s one for every day of the year. If ever there was an Island to visit for a beach holiday, this is it!
It was the morning after a rum-fuelled rambunctious night at Shirley Heights and I had the mother of all migraines. From the map, we could see three beaches within 15-minute walk of our hotel in Falmouth Harbour. Chiny brought me some breakfast; I popped some migraleve and hoped for some relief. It wasn’t exactly happening quickly enough so we set off in the direction of Pigeon Beach hoping the crisp morning air will do me some good. Just as we got to the beach, I dug a shallow hole and was violently sick. Interestingly, I felt a bit better. It was a small sandy beach right next to the road with quite some activity going on that early in the morning. There were a few people swimming, a cleaner gathering fallen leaves and a fitness boot camp with a good-looking instructor. We decided to keep on walking through some dirt path and stumbled upon a completely deserted beach with not a single soul in sight.
I found a comfortable rock to get some rest while Chiny got to work writing our names with some pebbles we found on the beach. It didn't take long before we were running around like children, getting sprayed by the waves and were going to climb some rocks before we saw some scorpions.
After a few hours of playing and resting the sun became too intense and we had to leave. On our way back to the hotel we saw a sign for a photo exhibition, we followed it to the Inn at English Harbour just to find out it had ended. The hotel has an infinity pool with stunning views of the Nelson Dockyard so we got a sun bed, ordered some Pina Coladas and just before we could get into the pool I had another migraine attack. As we hadn't planned on staying out as long as we had, I didn’t pack my pills. Talk about my poor decision making skill!
I slept off while Chiny was left to decide between carrying me back all by herself and ordering a taxi for what really is a 7-minute walk. She went for the latter and when we got into the room, tucked me in bed. As it was our last night in Antigua we decided to have a quiet meal in South Point, a boutique hotel with a restaurant right on the water. To be fair, everything around the harbour is right on the water. The food was forgettable, however, the chilly sea breeze, fiery cocktails and night-time views of the water made up for the eye-watering bill.
“Life wouldn’t be the same without best friends. They’re the friends that can be counted on to be there at a moment’s notice. The ones who love, laugh, support, and cherish – in both good and bad times.” #NationalBestFriendsDay.
I'm glad I get to experience some of the most difficult moments, in some of the most beautiful places, with some of my best friends.
