Port 30 St John’s, Antigua

by Ed · March 10, 2022

OK, let’s get this correct from the start. Pronounce the island’s name an-tee-guh, not an-tee-gwa. Got it?

Greetings!

We had a leisurely arrival in Antigua on Mar 7th, 2022, pulling in after 8 AM. But we were ready to go! We have a tour today!

Entering the harbor we see a round fort perched high atop the hill on our port side. I believe this is Fort Barrington.

On our starboard side was a small island and a curious structure reaching side to side from a series of dark structures. Had this been Polynesia we would have suspected an oyster farm. But with better pictures I discovered this is actually a remote pier for a large ship! The dark sections are dock sections with large barrel fenders, and the arms support access to a series of mooring bollards.

Again on the port side, another fort overlooks the harbor. Clearly it is not maintained based on the growth of trees all over the structure. I believe this is Fort James. We’ll see this from the other side soon!

Then another fort is visible on this spit of land! It might be Fort Bay. Apparently there are over a dozen forts on Antigua!

A ship is in port ahead of us. I have never seen any markings like this. But what I can read looks German.

And sure enough, all of the writing is in German! This is a ship for Tui Cruises.

We can see a bunch of bicycles lined up on the dock! I guess it makes sense for European passengers who are very active in bicycling! More ships should offer this!

On the other side of our dock is a sleek British cruiser!

As we are tying up to the dock, I can see a beautiful church rising above St John’s. Sadly, I don’t anticipate getting any closer to this church than this. I doubt our tour will take us there.

On the dock we are welcomed to Antigua! We won’t be going to Barbuda.

We board our bus and meet Mike, our tourguide and professional photographer. He is taking us to four locations, will give us tips on photographing the sites, and will critique our photos! Thank goodness for digital cameras!

We first travel to an abandoned fort, Ft James – the one we saw from the bay as our ship sailed by! Mike gives us our assignments and 25 minutes to roam.

I like my photos of the ammunition bunker, …

…the inner fort entrance with the cannon visible under the “bridge” (the tree tells us to look under the bridge, and the doorway invites us in!), …

…and the entry to the inner fort with the dying structure visible over the wall, as well as the dilapidated house visible through the gate.

But the photo I chose for the “show and tell” is this one of the exterior wall with the cannon peeking over the top and the bay stretching out before it.

Mike liked the photo, and suggested I look at it in black and white. So I did! It really pops and the clouds demand more attention!

I also like this narrowing stairway.

In black and white it looks like this. Without the greenery the eye is more easily drawn up the stairs to the doorway.

Here are a few other fun photos:

This graffiti art was inside the larger collapsing building. The figure in the gas mask is interesting, and the foreshortening of the arms and body are really striking!

I was curious where the cannon were pointed. All but one was aimed toward the distant point with Fort Barrington. This covers the entrance to the bay!

Here is the cannon line.

Next we traveled to Betty’s Hope Plantation. During the drive we shared our Fort James photos and listened to the comments and suggestions Mike had to offer.

At Betty’s Hope Plantation we learned the plantation was once of the biggest sugar cane processing sites on the island, providing sugar products to Great Britain. The founder, Mr Codrington, learned how to make the windmills to process the sugar cane, and turned windmill construction into a big business, buidling them for other plantation owners. He had two windmills on the plantation.

This is one shot I realy liked, and converted it to a black and white right away!

Our third stop was Devil’s Bridge on the Atlantic coast. The bridge is a relatively thin structure that is very open underneath and is hammered by the waves. I could stand here all day watching the waves!

What caught my attention, though, was a blowhole I observed just north of the bridge. I tried and tried to get a picture of the blowhole spouting, but kept missing. I finally videoed the waves pounding and blowhole spewing so I could do a screen shot. But when I started looking at my photos for the show and tell, I discovered my very first photo had already captured exactly what I wanted!

And in black and white, it is even more striking!

Up on the top of the bluff, Mike pointed us to a rock with a coin in it. It turns out to be a triangulation point for the US Navy, laid in 1954!

Our fourth site was Long Beach. Mike wanted to show us his “tree family” which is a tree stump with several figures carved into it. I wasn’t very excited about this, but here’s one photo of it to complete the four locations. This is “Daddy.” Apparently no one knows who carved this tree, and lore says this is not its original place. So the tree is a mystery! And the beach is lovely! Soft, powdery sand, and a row of shops along the walkway make it a nice destination!