The Braemar – Milly Space

St John, Antigua was our next port of call and we hired a jeep off of a friend on the island. Antigua is famous for it’s cricket and one of first stops was The Sir Viv Richards Cricket Stadium, named after local boy and hotshot batsman Sir Vivian Richards. Fast bowlers Andy Roberts and Curtly Ambrose also hail from Antigua.

We then moved onto Half Moon Bay in the Parish of Saint Philip. This crescent shaped bay is just one of Antigua’s stunning beaches (there are 365, one for each day of the year). It rests on the south eastern coast, facing the Atlantic and is almost a mile long, with amazing surf and calm turquoise seas.

After a drive around St John, we tucked into some tropical ice creams at Tropical Time Out Ice Cream Parlour and Deli. The ice cream is made fresh to serve with a whole host of flavours include pistachio, passion fruit sherbet, bubble gum, birthday cake and caramel crunch, to name but a few.

We have been to Antigua a few times and it never fails to delight. The island is beautiful and the locals friendly. The Caribbean cruise season is sadly nearly over now, sadly cut short this year with the corona virus issues, but hopefully we will return again winter 2020.

A year ago today> Who would have guessed this craziness would still be a part of our lives?

The wonderful Cuban government gave the Braemar ship a safe haven and a flight passage home. I had been on the ship for five amazing weeks. The first two we island hopped the Eastern Caribbean The next two we island hopped the Western Caribbean and also visited Central and Southern America. We had a few issues and port refusal entries on the way due to Covid-19 on the ship but our real problems began trying to get flights home. No port would accept the ship to allow us to disembark and fly home. After nine days at sea Cuba came to our rescue and what an amazing country it is. We left under police escort, a barrage of press photographers and roads lined with police and curious locals filming our journey, waving- many with their faces covered.

Leaving the seaport. Coaches and police await departure.

On our coach seats there was a touching gift from the Cuban Government that made me smile- so kind.

The drive to the airport revealed a rural and stunning country. I truly felt I had gone back in time. Cars were old and battered, looking like they were from the sixties or seventies. There were people on horseback and horse and carts, motorbikes and cycles. It was a privilege to visit. I had already planned to visit Cuba later in the year and this tantalising glimpse has made me more determined to return.

Roads cordoned off to allow our convoy to pass.

And look at this magnificent old plane: sitting on the side of a runway.

To conclude this post we arrived at the airport in convoy still. Security was a scanner in a camouflage tent. Then back in the coach to the plane. Again to a whole load of media attention.