new video on the Xtreme Tour around Antigua

New video of our Xtreme round the island trip by Roddy Grimes-Graeme of www.acquafilms.com (the best photo and video company in Antigua)



For more info on this excellent snorkeling adventure around antigua with an exclusive stop at Stingray City please visit www.adventureantigua.com

The Environmental Awareness Group 2010

Well as many of you know, an unofficial Environmental Awareness Group (EAG) membership drive was forged by some of us who felt that the EAG wasn't getting the support it needed to accomplish its stated goals. Their membership went from about 20 people up to over 200 within a few months. Finally after three months delay there was an AGM and a new executive board was elected which comprised of some of the new members mixed in with old board members. The EAG board is made up with the following people:

Lia Nicholson - Executive Director
Kim Derrick - President

Brian Cooper - VP

Chris Pratt - Secretary

Carol-Faye George - Treasurer

Hyacinth Techeira

Robby Breadner

Andy Williams

Ashton Williams

Eli Fuller
According to the accounts which reported up until June 2009, the total membership and fundraising efforts for the year leading up to that time brought in a total of under EC $800 or US $300. Without proper financing the EAG was unable to hire a full time Executive Director or CEO. With the help of it's new members and new board members the EAG is now dedicated and in a position to make sure that the ED is full time. The organization is looking very good for 2010 with all sorts of projects and events planned and/or being planned. There are four board members who are very web savvy and of the four, three are very good at internet marketing using new media. With the help of it's new members and board members the board members who have been running the EAG from it's creation will finally have the help they need to do more.

Within the next few weeks we hope to have a system set up that will enable people to send donations from abroad as well as for them to join as members using credit cards. Antigua's conservation movement needs plenty of help and we hope that you ca be part of the movement. Please visit http://www.eagantigua.org/ for info on the EAG. There are changes coming soon to the site so please bookmark it and visit it again in the near future. Also, please look for them on facebook by searching for Environmental Awareness Group.

Shark attack in Florida

As a former kitesurfer, I was even more interested upon hearing about a fatal shark attack yesterday in Florida. I don't know the details, but it seems that a young man was bitten by a shark while he was out kitesurfing. Read here. I have actually windsurfed in the area that he was bitten, and know that every year there are huge migrations of sharks off the Florida coast as they follow huge schools of biat fish. In fact, I saw sharks many times while i windsurfed up and down the East coast of Florida. The waters along the coast are usually very rich with bait fish and other predators. In the very murky waters that you find along that coastline it is very common for sharks to come into very close contact with people. That being said it is exceptionally rare for anyone to be killed. We won't know what happened but my guess is that he fell in and just happened to be in an area where a large feeding shark was looking for prey. It's a terribly sad event especially with only a few fatal shark attacks in the USA every 10 years. As you know if you read my blog, my most visited page is the one I wrote a few years ago about sharks here in the Caribbean. The Caribbean gets very few shark attacks and we have never had one happen around Antigua. Of course there are sharks in most parts of the tropics, but with the very clear waters they can see their target prey very easily. Read here for more about Antigua's dangers.

Statistics on Antigua and the population census.

When I was a little kid in the late 1970s, we learned in school that Antigua had a population of about 80,000. I didn't know any Jamaicans, Guyanese, or people from Dominican Republic and most of the villages around were small and compact. During the 80s and 90s Antigua went through a huge construction boom while at the same time there came huge immigration form countries all over the Caribbean and the world with the above nationals being the largest contributor to our workforce. Villages grew and some new villages were born. Every now and then someone tells me that they live in a village I have never heard of. Huge areas of what was once bush and cane fields became residential neighborhoods. Now wherever you go you will meet nationals from all over the world who now reside here in Antigua. On Market Street it's more common to hear someone speaking with an accent that isn't Antiguan.


The point of all of this isn't to say anything other than most Antiguans believe that our population has grown significantly since the 1970s. In 1991 in the middle of the immigration and construction boom a population census was carried out. IT was also a time when a large percentage of the population didn't trust the leading party for one reason or another. I was living in a house with three other youth. One wasn't Antiguan and didn't have a work permit, and he chose to avoid the census. I knew so many people who decided to steer clear of the census because they were worried that somehow the immigration department would receive info on them. This was silly, but it did happen. There were so many people here working and living "under the radar" that it is my firm belief that the 1991 census was totally incorrect. Most people think that our nation's residential population is closer to 100,000 than the 68,000+ that is officially quoted.

So what is the big deal right? Well there are huge implications for all sorts of things including taxation, the social services, and of course general statistics. The crime rate seems to be the one quoted most frequently in the papers and on the internet these days. Our murder rate is one that has been quoted to death recently. Of course if you use the official population of 68K then our murder rate is high, but if an accurate figure was given on our population then the rates would seem more reasonable if that word could describe a murder rate. For some reason, people don't seem to think about this as a major problem. I do and wish someone would figure out that it's time to correct it.

good job JD and crew!

From: M SHYMKO
Sent: Saturday, January 30, 2010 3:53 PM
To: admin
Subject: 4-Snorkel Stop Adventure with Lunch

There were four of us - my husband, myself, our son & his fiancee - so there were a couple of age groups involved. We all thoroughly enjoyed the tour. My husband and I have done Stingray City in Grand Cayman but this one was exceptional as the rays seemed much friendlier here. The lunch we had was delicious and we were impressed with how well the crew cleaned up - I don't think you could tell anyone had eaten there. Our son and his fiancee loved the snorkeling and we were all very impressed with the crew. The captain was JD and one of the fellows was Jason - I'm afraid I don't remember the other boys name but they were exceptional. There were a group of people from Italy sitting behind us and they talked all while the crew were giving us instructions and explanations on the tour. The crew all handled the rudeness very well. Much better than I would have - they are to be commended.

In my son's words - "the tour was phenomenal" and I thought you should know how well your people are doing their jobs.

Linda Shymko

This tour was sold by a travel company for cruise ship passengers called Shore Trips. The real name of the tour is the Xtreme Circumnav (round the island). Check the video of the tour here:

whale tale

The night before was silent and starry after I left the Haiti fundraiser, and along Fig Tree Drive after midnight I knew that the next day's adventure would be memorable. We hadn't really planned a big outing, but a trip over to Barbuda was going to be a must. It had simply been too long, and when you have a sunday without any wind Barbuda seems so much closer. Of course 26 miles isn't that far, but the shallow shelf between the sister islands can provide some awefully choppy seas when it's windy. When I got to Curtain Bluff the stars reflected on the still water and lights were visible from Montserrat. Stunnning! I was exhausted after serving drinks for the past six hours but still excited about the prospects that were waiting for me in the morning.
I woke early and looked out the window. Ocean Nomad didn't move at all on the dock below and the water looked like it had turned to ice. Not a single ripple moved anywhere. I sent out a few texts to people I thought would be awake and might want to join us on a Barbuda trip, and quickly had a few replies. Within two hours we were leaving Jolly Harbour and on our way to Palmetto Point. As we passed the hotels on the west coast, I told everyone to keep an eye out for whales. I said it was early in the season, but very possible to see them in these conditions. We didn't see a thing on the way over until about a mile off when all of a sudden we spotted dolphins off our starboard side. These guys didn't want to hang out with us and only briefly showed themselves before going deep. Just after we got to the point we saw another pod of dolphins, but again they were not excited about seeing us. Usually a Barbuda trip involves plenty of snorkeling, beachcombing and other active sort of things, but as soon as the anchor was dropped into the sand below, a  bottle of wine opened up and I knew this trip would be more of a relaxing one. We had a swim enjoying the pelicans that were doing spectacular dives into bait fish nearby. After a few drinks and a bit of time to enjoy the beauty of the long beach we then decided to head up to Spanish Point. Just after leaving anchor I noticed something black break the surface of the water about two miles to the west. I told Roddy that it could only be one thing. Whales! Enjoy his video:

www.adventureantigua.com

The Adventure Antigua facebook page is growing.

We now have 670 fans of the Adventure Antigua Facebook page and the number is growing once again. Check http://www.facebook.com/AdventureAntigua if you would like to become a fan too. I usually try to upload photos and videos there as often as i can. People also can upload their own photos and videos as well as post comments and reviews. I did my first Adventure Antigua Eco Tour ten years ago this month, and I have to tell you it feels good to know that we are still here trying to make sure that people have a great holiday here in Antigua. It feels even better when people tell us that the "highlight" of their cruise or vacation was the day they spent out with us on the water. Anyway, please visit our facebook page and become a fan if you can.