OUR SUNDAY ' WALKABOUT ' .............

We took the dinghy ashore on Sunday morning and found the path that leads to the end of FREEMAN'S BAY in ENGLISH HARBOUR, ANTIGUA ........... The name 'Freeman's Bay' speaks for itself .......... And in no time at all, we are climbing the cliff face that overlooks the deep blue ocean and some very deep water ....... We are surrounded by a vista of splendor ......... All around us is a rich variation of flora and the most striking of which are these smooth-leaved century plants that are now in full bloom ............. Brilliant yellow flowers, alive with finches and humming birds ......... It's the humming birds that seem so much faster than the eye .......... In and gone, in a flash ........ Should have been called 'Flashbirds' ........ And in places where nothing ought to grow, there are 'Turk's head' cacti with babies ...... God's own cactus garden ......



The coastline has that 'jigsaw' look, as though someone has layered the island by putting a stack of loose pieces on top of one another ........... Oh, that's right ...... The volcanoes did all that ...... Almost forgot .......



The trail that we are following along the cliff edge is a perfect path sculptured to the contours of the hillside and breath-takingly beautiful ........... The kind of walking that makes you feel " GRATEFUL TO BE ALIVE " in capitals ........



And out at sea, and far below us the yachts slide past .......... And as we walk on we notice that 'new' yellow growth on the spiky cactus plants ..... 'New' growth since the last hurricane season, when this exposed coastline would have had a 'thrashing' .......



Just do a double-click on this panorama shot .......... Or any other photo for that matter ...



And despite the apparent smoothness of the ocean, there is still a five-foot swell running, that makes going to windward a real 'slamming affair' ............



Back in the anchorage, we take the dinghy 'oceanside' for a quick ride and see the century plants and their yellow flowers from a whole new perspective........... MAJESTIC is the only way to describe the view ..... Sheer Majestic ...... O.K., Now that was our morning walk, and by the middle of the afternoon we are once again ready to do it all again, this time by climbing the hillside to SHIRLEY HEIGHTS along a different bush trail .........



We think our dinghy is pretty well 'anchored' with a stainless steel chain and a padlock ...... Anchored just like these bromiliads to a cactus ......... No-one is going to mess with them, now are they? ......



The mountain trail winds through the foliage ever upwards like a tunnel, until finally you emerge to this 'grand view' overlooking Freeman's Bay, with its anchored yachts ............ Ours is in there somewhere ........ We take our time looking down upon this magical world and marvel at our good fortunes ........... For we are surrounded by lush growth and a beautiful temperature in the 80's ........ And nobody is fighting anybody here ............. How nice ....



We finally emerge from the tunnel path at SHIRLEY HEIGHTS, where we dine on chicken, drink several pink rum drinks, and dance our little hearts out well into the night, all the while being serenaded by this marvelous pan band ...........Indescribable, the music, that is ........ You have to be there to hear it ........ Imagine the "William Tell Overture" being played with fifteen pans .... Or just listen to a little video clip at the end ........ And so for a 'finale' for our Sunday 'walkabout' we took on the best challenge of all ...... Go down that mountain trail in the dark, fully fed, fully rum enhanced, and pan music ringing in our ears all the way down ........... "THE HILLS ARE ALIVE WITH THE SOUND OF MUSIC" ....... Considering we only had one of those $4.00 LED flashlights, the type ladies carry in their purse, we did incredibly well by only falling down twice ......... The second time was in our bunks back on board ....... So ... Goodnight... We will pay for all that activity, tomorrow ......



Oh, and in case you didn't know ....... You can feed hibiscus flowers to baby tortoises, for they seem to love it ....... And the cricket players here in ANTIGUA dress up in yellow and green as camouflage, we think ...........