Going to Anguilla

Anguilla is the northernmost island of the Leeward Island, located about 270 km east of Puerto Rico, and just north of the island of St. Martin, in the Eastern, sharing maritime borders with Antigua and Barbuda and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Formerly a British colony and briefly united with St.Kitts and Nevis in 1967, now being a self-governing dependent of the UK. Territory consists of the main island of Anguilla and a number of uninhabited smaller islands and cays. (This information is not mine, but was taken from Nations Online )

Before we got onto the boat, we had to get our passports checked at the immigration office before we could set foot on their boat, which made sense seeing that we were entering into a totally different country. As aforesaid, we had a big group which meant that we had to wait a while to get everyone checked at the office, so in the mean time, my sister ( check out her blog @ sojournsofacaribbeantraveller.blogspot.com ) and I decided to take a few pictures to kill the time.

Whilst on the way to Anguilla, our group was so big we needed two boats,so the captains decided to race to Anguilla which was absolutely fun to experience. Reggae music blasting, people singing,screaming and the captain laughing oh what a day this was!

Once we got over to Anguilla, there was a a mix up because our transport got our times wrong so we had to sit and wait for a while before they came, but that didn't stop us from exploring the area, checking out the souvenir shops and taking pictures. From all the pictures that we've taken on this trip the pictures we've taken in Anguilla were some of the best.

Once our transportation had arrived, we got a tour of the rather small island. The driver carried us to a hotel, that being the Four seasons where he said many famous individuals like to get away from life and hideout. After the tour, we had were taken to shoal bay where we spent the rest of the day and ate food from Gwen's Reggae Bar & Grill where every Sunday there would be live entertainment and it so happened that we were there on a Sunday. So we took a dip in the extremely salty water and then came back out and got our food to eat.  

After bathing in the beach and changing back into our clothes we sat down ate and listen to reggae music enjoying the wonderful sea breeze. The music was so good that people started to dance and it was really nice to see that music could bring people who've never met before get along like they were long time friends.

Visit to Marigot

Whilst Phillipsburg is the capital for St.Maarten on the (Dutch side), Marigot is the capital for St.Martin on the (French side). Our visit to Marigot allowed us to cross the border. Whilst crossing the border, the tour guide (Mr. Coolguy) made a joke stating that individuals who didn't have their passports on hand would have to exit the bus and walk back, as they wouldn't be allowed to cross the border.

Individuals who didn't have their passports started to worry about the impending situation that would soon face them. Mr. Coolguy started to laugh and said it was a joke they pull on all tourist that take the tours. As the tour went on, we were shown historical statues and sites as well as places of interests. Mr. Coolguy also informed us there were 37 beaches in total on the island both private and public. Also informing us of the country's national drink which is guava berry liqueur

Upon our arrival to Marigot, we were granted an hour to explore the surroundings. Mr. Coolguy pointed out some places of interest, those being Fort Louis, West Indies shopping mall, local stores, the world clock and the Carnival village.

When the allotted time was up, we made our back to the Dutch side. On the way, we came across this site seen in the video. Also, Mr. Coolguy also mentioned to us that there were several "Adult Entertainment" businesses like El Capitan & Casa Blanca also stating that adult entertainment businesses were illegal on the French side and that it was only allowed on the Dutch side.

Pool time at the Resort

From the previous post about Night Life in Simpson Bay, mentioning the Italian restaurant "Sale&Pepe", my sister and I decided to go to the restaurant and buy some food. On this day, there wasn't any planned activities and was a free day. We planned to buy Italian food and then go swimming in the main pool, upon entering the Italian restaurant, we were greeted with friendliness and warm smiles which was rather nice. Whilst talking to the attendant, she noticed our "accent" and asked where we came from and said Trinidad and she smiled and said she knew a few Trinidadian people. When finished ordering, the total came up to US $36 and she charged us only US $30.



After eating, gathered all our stuff and made our way down to the pool. The atmosphere at the pool was wonderful, everyone was friendly and there won't any problems at all. We swam from one end of the pool to the other multiple times enjoying every minute of it. Taking pictures and underwater videos made our free day so much better. Individuals at the pool even came over and talked to us for a while because they heard our "accent" and wanted to know where we were from. Telling them we both were from Trinidad and yet again the infamous question popped up, "Why are you here, isn't Carnival going on right now in your country". Informing them that not everyone in Trinidad celebrates Carnival, which to them was a strange thing to hear.

As we begun to get tired we got out of the pool, washed off, ate,drank and watched the sunset at the harbor counting our remaining days at the resort, which we tried not to count because to be honest, we honestly didn't want to come back home...at least not right away. But time flies and we knew we'd have to get that into the routine of setting up late at night to do assignments for our Masters.