When most people think of Antigua, they think of an island full of beach resorts, all inclusive hotels, pina coladas and palm fringed beaches. It's normally a mixture of good and bad, the usual when it comes to a popular tropical, beachy holiday tourist destination. When i think of Antigua though, i conjure up an entirely different image in my mind.
I am lucky enough to know the different side to the beautiful island of Antigua. My grandparents made the life changing decision to move from Dorset to Antigua when my mother was 10. My Grandfather was a lecturer and had taken a post at the college on the island. My mum lived and went to school there for a few years before being shipped back to England for a British Education, returning to the island and her family every school holiday. Even long after my grandparents retired, they continued to happily live on the island for another 37 years, only returning to the UK last year for health reasons.
For this reason, i have visited Antigua, and the real unadulterated Antigua, countless times, and every time i return, i grow to love it more and more.
When i was younger i yearned to stay in one of the glamorous beachside resorts, with a swimming pool, international restaurants and endless entertainment on my doorstep. I didn't want to stay at my Grandparents modest house in the middle of the island, in an unspoilt local village, eating corn on the cob from vendors at the side of the road, chasing goats from the garden and catching the local bus to the beach. I wanted the glossy Antigua that was advertised in the brochures, not the slightly rough round the edges version that i experienced. But as i have grown older (and wiser) i have come to appreciate the unique experience i have been given. I know Antigua as a laid back island of great personality, of old fashioned but welcoming people, of beautiful, unspoilt beaches and delicious local food.
When i'm in Antigua, i love to hire a car and get around a bit. That is one thing that staying in a beach resort never really lends itself to, adventure. Despite it's diminutive size, there are actually things to see on the island, and especially and a dedicated people watcher, i love to just drive around and observe. I love the local villages, the men sitting on their porches just whiling the day away, the children playing in the street, or walking to and from school in their pristine smart uniforms. The ladies gossiping outside the shops. It is nice to watch people just being. It seems that people on the island are simply content with life.
After driving around a bit i like to park up at the side of the road and then take a running jump into the sea at one of the local beaches, the best way to cool off. To me it far exceeds wading through foreign beach goers planted in their sun loungers to take a dip in the sea surrounded by others. There are so many lovely local beaches that are not so often visited by the foreign tourists and are more somewhere that locals go at the end of the day, or on weekends to relax. These beaches have the atmosphere of real Antigua, with whole extended families sat together with a barbecue on the beach.
The inner parts of Antigua are intriguing, and in some places they can lead you to believe that you are somewhere else entirely. There are swathes of rainforest that sweep the island, concentrated round the area of Fig Tree Drive, which now has been commercialised slightly, but not yet ruined. The hilly landscape provides some great viewpoints and you can feel as if you are in a tropical jungle.
Despite my singing it's praises, even in my lifetime, i can recognise that it isn't the island it used to be. And i'm sure my grandparents could relate to that even more. Some of the more remote, local beaches are succumbing to development. Darkwood beach, one of my all time favourites, has finally been discovered by the developers and last time i visited (Nov 10) i noticed a development of very swanky beach houses (no doubt marketed at rich foreigners hankering after their own slice of beach paradise) being built overlooking the beach. Another favourite of mine is Pigeon Point beach, tucked away behind a huge hill, and only accessed by a truly awful rutted excuse for a road, or by boat. Even at busy times, it is never full of the usual loud tourist hoards, it has a great little cafe at the end of the beach (run by a local friend of my Grandad no less!) and it has plenty of shelter under the trees the fringe the sands. Although last time i visited, i noticed they had built a children's playground set a little way back from the beach. This seemed a little unneccesary, and i'm no expert, but i would have assumed that a beautiful white sand beach and calm, warm crystal clear waters would be enough to amuse any child?
I have a very different relationship with Antigua than many tourists do, ( i have to remind myself that i am still a tourist, albeit not a typical one) i appreciate it's natural beauty, not the beauty given to it by well designed luxurious resorts and tourist attractions. I see it as somewhere with great personality and identity, not just another beach destination, and i sincerely hope that it's authentic charm is preserved for others to realise.
