Beautiful Antigua - Part One

We arrived at the Grand Pineapple Resort yesterday in time to unpack, shower and eat dinner.  Craig and I met a couple of English ladies, Liz and Janet, at the bar  while we waited for the other half to arrive.  They were quite interested in our lives in the Arctic and the conversations were brilliant! We also explored the resort and waited for Sandy and Keith to arrive at 9:30pm.  They showered and we all met at the main bar to have a night cap.  While there we met some more great English people, and by the end of the evening we were laughing and sharing stories with each other, needless to say we closed the bar down a few hours later. 

This morning we woke to the crashing sounds of the waves hitting the beach and when we went outside our balcony much to our surprise there were some mongooses making love to each other.  This is the first time we have seen mongooses and Antigua has plenty roaming freely on the island.  Another free animal is the cat, which we have come to love and of course feed whenever we head for a bite to eat.

We met Sandy and Keith for breakfast and we had a few visitors, it seems like all of the island's birds show up the same time for breakfast.  You learn very quickly to cover and guard any food or drink that is on the table as these creatures are not scared to sneak a bite off your plate.  We read that some people didn't like the begging cats or the birds but all of us don't mind at all - actually I think we all kinda enjoy having them around.

After breakie we headed up the trail, past our rooms to Mary's Outhouse, a very rustic restaurant which serves a mean BBQ daily from noon to 4:30pm.  The views from the top are amazing and we could of stayed there all day but the beach was calling our names.  We visited the beach vendors and Sandy and I bought a beautiful ankle each, which the local ladies make.  We decided that today was going to be a day of rest and relaxation but it ended up with Sandy and Craig playing 3 games of beach volleyball...so much for relaxing. 

Tonight we feasted on a fine dinner of Jerk Cornish Hens and Pork Tenderloin - both with all of the fixings.  (and yes we fed the regular cats that joined us for dinner). Tomorrow is the Manager's Cocktail Party being held at the Garden Gazebo at 5:00 - 6:00pm local time, so if you go to the resort's website you just might see us waving back at you.

Talk soon!

The entrance of the Reception

 The Reception area

 Our room

 Next three pic are of the view from our 2nd floor balcony

 All of the pathways are surrounded by lush greenery and well lit at night

 Our view this morning, the beach is just on the right

 An example of what happens if you do not cover your food - thankfully our neighbours were finished

 Walkway to Mary's Outhouse where I tripped - surprised?

 The Gazebo on top of the hill, that's the resort to the right

 Mary's Outhouse

 You can leave anything and everything there with your name on it

 Another example of the collections at Mary's

 The view looking towards the resort

 Keith, Sandy and Craig enjoying the views and a taste of the local beer.

 Craig and I

 One of the many cats that hang out on the island

 Felt sorry for the guy as he had an eye infection. wished I could of helped him, other than feeding him

 A mongoose

 The side of Mary's Outhouse with real outhouses in the background

 An old telephone booth at Mary's

 Heading back down

 The view of the beach area

 Beautiful flowers on the island

 And yet another one

 The colourful beach vendors

 Sandy and Craig playing beach volleyball - yeah they will be sore tomorrow

 Many palms on the beach