Fond Memories
My trip to Anguilla started as a jaunt from St. Maarten....
I stayed with a group of friends on the Dutch Side of St. Maarten. It was a holiday on the day we went to Anguilla. Most of the stores were closed and I was dying for a coffee. I didn’t find coffee, but I did have one of the best vacation days of my life.
To get from St. Maarten to Anguilla, we took the ferry from the French side. I had to take my passport and go through customs when we arrived in Anguilla.
After we cleared customs we headed out to get a taxi. AXARob was trying to pre-arrange this with Glen... but he was unable to get a hold of him. We ended up riding with Tom. I was real surprised with how the Tom handled his Taxi, he would take us to our destination, and then after we were returned to Customs, we would pay him at the end of the day.
Our main objective was to get to Gwen's Reggae Beach Bar, which is located on Shoal Bay. Along the way we would stop at the Pyrat Rum Distillery.
The first thing I noticed was that Anguilla was not as commercially developed as St. Maarten.
I think there are only a handful of commercial flights a day that arrive and depart from Anguilla. The runway was as equally short as St. Maarten's. But you fly in over more land, and there isn't a bar at the end of the runway.
Within a few minutes, we arrived at the Anguilla Rums ltd - Pyrat/ Patron (satellite). Distillery. It is housed in an unimpressive building. Don't judge this rum, by the looks of the building. Some of the smoothest rum flows from here. They have rum tastings for the variety of rums. Just make sure you get a taste of Pyrat Cask 23
They have a little gift shop and store. After a few tasty samples, our group headed out.
Our destination for the day was Gwen's Reggae Bar on Shoal Bay. When we arrived I was stunned how pristine the beach was. For the next few hours we were the only five people on it!
It was still pretty early. After getting our chairs and umbrella's I took a walk up the beach. Around the point, I could see the other guests staying at the resort. After scoping it out, I was able to get some snorkel gear. My plan was to swim the reef.
You can see the reef in this satellite view. I snorkeled along the reef from the point to Gwen's. The water was less than 10 feet deep.
Up next was hanging out in the surf and finding shells. Later I would find out that there is more aquatic life here than along the reef.
We settled in for a some food and drink from Gwen's Reggae Beach Bar. Gwen and Tapa have had several restuarants in Anguilla. I hear each was as tasty as their current endeavor. By now a group of divers had arrived. We actually recognized some of them from the Ferry Ride. We beat them to this pristine part of paradise.
The group ordered a variety of food. While it was being prepared we enjoyed some carib's.
Teasing Gwen earlier in the day may not have been my best move. She poured me a fistfull of tequila that I chased with the carib. AXARob joined me by chasing a fistful of rum and carib.
Our food barely arrived in time to save me. It tasted even better than the smells that wafted down from the kitchen as we waited.
After a short nap, I was ready to enjoy the remainder of our day. Gwen really did not have many gifts. But I noticed she had some unique pieces of sea glass. I decided that this would be a unique gift to bring back from the islands. AXARob and I wandered up to the shop.
The day was winding down, and our Taxi arrived to return us to Customs and ride on the Ferry. On the way back, I shot this picture of this interesting building. I think it was called the Data Barn or Internet Barn. Some day I will return and figure it out.
We passed customs and began waiting for the Ferry. I started shooting video from the Customs area as we waited on our Ferry. Last word of advice... Don't shoot pictures in customs
If you would like to learn more about Diving or Snorkeling in Anguilla, checkout these books.
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