Endangered Green Turtle killed by Montserrat's Volcano

Caribbean Helicopter Pilot Greg Scott, took this photo recently as he made a stop with scientists to an area that had recently been covered by an ultra hot pyroclastic flow. The area is along the North East side of the Caribbean island of Montserrat and as they inspected the shoreline there days after the eruption, temperatures just below the surface were still above 200c. This unfortunate green turtle washed up on the shore after being killed by the massive eruption which happened on Feb 11th 2010. According to reports there was quite a wave of superheated ash in the massive pyroclastic flow that came down over the water and into the sea. Of course among many species of wildlife that would have been in the area would have been turtles like this one which feed and live in the area. On the island there were many other animals and plants that were killed this time as well. There was no human lives lost because of the evacuation ordered by government and careful work done by the scientists there. The 6 satellite photos below (click on the image for bigger version) show the huge plume of ash as it explodes from Montserrat. Photo 1 shows the start of the eruption on the 11th. Here in Antigua we were very lucky not to have had more ash particles landing on us than we received. As the sat images show, most of the ash moved east between Guadeloupe and Antigua. My boats still had a thin layer of ash all over them. What a mess!

This photo taken from 6000 feet by Greg shows the area hardest hit by this recent eruption. This was where the old abandoned airport was up up until the 11th. It is now totally covered by as and rocks. In the photo you can see new coastline that was created by the new flow as well.

This photo was taken a day or two after the eruption and shows water boiling around the newly formed coastline. You can even see geysers spouting over the top of what was once ocean.

According to greg and the international scientists there, this volcano is far from being done! Caribbean Helicopters takes guests there on trips most week days.

A private Eco Tour to Great Bird Island.

On average we do about 5 private tours or charters a month. This month we have had more than usual with childrens birthday parties as well as big birthday parites. We have taken out the skipper and crew off on one of the huge mega yachts from English Harbour and have even taken out incentive groups from Welch's Fruit company! It's been a busy one. Yesterday using the dolphin catamaran I had a very enjoyabe private charter coming from the Mill Reef Club. We have only done a small handfull of tours from there and it was nice to actually collect our group from their house right on the beach.
The tour was an eco tour kind of day where we sailed through the narrow channel near Devils Bridge and down wind towards Great Bird Island. The winds in the morning were fairly light and the sailing was slow but peaceful on the way down. Bird Island was very nice with the waters being very clear and the island not too busy. Our regular Eco Tour came up to the island while we were there and moved off to see Hells Gate before we left. Even though i have been there about a million times, I still love being out there and seeing all the cool stuff. While we were anchored up off the beach we spotted a huge spotted eagle ray, a little hawksbill turtle, red billed tropic birds as well as the magnificent frigate birds.

The small hike up to the top of the island was great, and it was the first time i had been to the top in ages. The view from there is probably one of the best in Antigua. The wind had come up and the birds glided happily above us along the ridge.
The sail back was a bit more choppy until we were inside the reef once again as the winds were up to about 18 knots. The kitesurfers and windsurfers up at Green Island were enjoying the wind. There must have been 25 yachts anchored up behind the reef there including Genesis, the sister to our Ocean Nomad.
Private Charters are often a less expensive way for a large group to see the islands, and one of the the only ways for a small group to be on their own. I enjoyed the trip yesterday. Thanks!

Antigua's Donkey Sanctuary - interesting info

This info came from my friend Jennifer:

Antigua’s Donkeys

Historically, donkeys were a very important part of life in Antigua. They were used as work animals in the sugar cane fields and by crop farmers to carry their harvest to market. In the 1960’s, the economic focus in Antigua began shifting from agriculture to tourism and the donkey’s usefulness began to decline. Many were turned out to fend for themselves and, of course, have reproduced at will, resulting in a very large stray and roaming population.

While most of us appreciate the donkeys and their importance to the nation, the fact remains that when allowed to wander at will they invade farmers’ plots and residents’ gardens and eat down the vegetation. They also present a danger on the roads, especially at night, and need to be properly controlled.

The Antigua & Barbuda Humane Society, located on the eastern side of the island near Bethesda, offers a permanent home for donkeys at risk. The Donkey Sanctuary currently shelters more than 80 donkeys but this number is by no means finite. Although all stallions are castrated on arrival, more often than not the mares are already in foal when they arrive. As the gestation period is almost a year, there are frequently surprises in store.

In addition to the foals, a favourite of visitors to the Donkey Sanctuary is Stevie, an adult donkey who was struck by a vehicle and is now totally blind. Because of the special care and attention that is given to Stevie he is able to manage quite well and loves the extra attention he receives.

It is also the Humane Society’s plan to gradually bring all stray and roaming donkeys into the Donkey Sanctuary in order to keep them safe. The Government of Antigua & Barbuda has promised to allocate additional lands to make this possible. The Humane Society will have to find the funds for the fencing materials but the Government has promised to assist with fencing labour.

In addition to providing limited grazing and carrying water to them, the Humane Society also feeds the sanctuary donkeys purchased pellet feed every day, which is a significant drain on resources. In the past, the Society has received occasional grants for fencing projects and shelter construction but feeding the donkeys is primarily the Humane Society’s responsibility. When paddocks become overgrazed, the Society cuts and carries grass and bush, and begs stale bread from the local bakeries. The dry season, January to August, is particularly difficult. To help raise funds for feed, the Humane Society sells T-Shirts at the sanctuary and offers an ‘Adopt an Antiguan Donkey’ programme (see their website for details: http://www.antiguaanimals.com/ ).

The Donkey Sanctuary is open to visitors Tuesday through Saturday from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Visitors are welcome to help brush and feed the donkeys, and take as many photos as they like.

More here:

Dear Friends,

Please join me at Abra’s on Thursday Feb 11 from 5-7pm for a preview showing of “One Love One Heart”.

The pieces I am showing are mixed media: photos and paint, on canvas and recycled wood blocks, finished with layers of epoxy resin, a new medium for me!

Exhibition will run until March 10. Opening night Snacks and wine compliments of Abra’s team!

Sales to support The Donkey Sanctuary at the Humane Society-- With each piece sold one donkey will be fed and housed at the sanctuary in your name for an entire year—A representative from the Humane Society will be at the event with more information on this special program.

Feel free to pass on this invite, event is open to public.

Hope to see you there,

Jennifer Meranto

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.

More Whale news in the Caribbean.

Caribbean whaling countries urged to capitalise more on quid pro quo with Japan


By Observer News - Wednesday, January 27th, 2010

A former top regional fisheries official says Antigua & Barbuda and other Caribbean members of the International Whaling Commission (IWC) should leverage for more than just fisheries assistance from Japan in exchange for their votes.

The advice comes from Horace Walters who was St Lucia’s chief fisheries officer and a former head of the Eastern Caribbean Cetacean Organisation (ECCO).

Antigua & Barbuda, Dominica, St Kitts & Nevis, St Lucia, St Vincent and the Grenadines and Grenada belong to the IWC, which was set up in 1964 to provide for the proper conservation of whale stocks and the orderly development of the whaling industry.

Walters says their support for Japan is a principled position which affirms their own right to exploit the surrounding marine resources, but it must move beyond that.

“I think the time has come to expand the co-operation, not just in fisheries but in other areas,” he said. “Japan has capacity to do all things and whereas they might have concentrated their efforts in the fisheries sector, where we made the request and the request for assistance came from the government, right now, I think that the governments ought to review the requests they make to Japan because our fisheries sector is well established.

“We have the vessels; we have the manpower and the resources are there. So it is up to us to continue to develop the fisheries sector, but then the co-operation can be expanded to include a number of other areas.”

Walters said with Antigua and the other pro-whaling islands being threatened with tourism boycotts, the prospects for Japanese tourists should be explored.

“We should be looking for Japanese tourists,” he said. “We should be looking to bring a Japan Airline to Jamaica and to have a link between Jamaica and the islands with Japanese visitors.

“We should be looking to bring a lot of Japanese visitors to the island, not just Americans or Europeans. That’s not the only area but I think it will be left to the government to decide where they want the co-operation with Japan.”

Walters’ comments come at a time when the anti-whaling lobby in Antigua & Barbuda is again pressing government to turn its back on countries like Japan and Norway – the main whaling nations.

Well you know what I think about all of this. You can read more here.

Whale video taken yesterday

Yes, we were very lucky to have totally calm waters yesterday and ended up doing a trip to Barbuda. On the way there we spotted two pods of dolphins, but they didn't seem that interested in us at all. After we arrived there and had a swim, I saw a black object break the surface a few miles off and figured we were in for a treat. Armed with cameras we arrived nearby and switched off the engines. The mother and calf came alongside and did about five circles around us before swimming off together. We had 30 minutes of fantastic whale viewing both in and out of the water. Several of the people with us couldn't be held back and went snorkeling with the amazing creatures. Here is a movie taken with our little cheap camera. http://www.acquafilms.com/ were on board with us so hopefully they will have some awesome footage to show us soon.

stuff

After we got married in November several people asked us what was the craziest gift we got. It's kind of a funny question, but I suppose most people expect the usual assortment of wedding gifts. We were delighted to have gotten so many lovely wedding gifts, and yes some of them were things we were hoping to get. We didn't realize it at the start of the plans, but people expected us to have a wedding registry. "It's what you do", so we made one.
We didn't even open any of our wedding gifts at first because after spending a night at Blue Waters hotel we flew down to the Grenadines for a week of honeymoon chill time. After we got back it was time to open gifts and try to figure out where to put them. Most were things to use in our house, and as it's not possible to fit them into our rented appartment in Jolly Harbour we had to put them in storage. I am sure many newlyweds have to do this sort of thing, and we now have even more reason to get our house built. That's another big adventure that's waiting to start up.
Back to that funny question about what was the craziest gift we got. We never really had a crazy gift although a tiny James Bond style waterproof video camera called a GoPro was probably the most unusual. Today I finally had a chance to test it out. I didn't use it underwater but as you can see it works just fine:


This camera will hopefully help this blog with new unusual content. I can't wait until it's good windsurfing or surfing weather. The video will give you a great view of some of the things we get up to.
Anyway, the person who asked me the question went back to Holland before we got our truly crazy wedding gift. One of our craziest friends was kind enough to get us a massive 60+ pack of toilet paper. And that's it! The most unusual and wacky wedding gift we received. Thanks Choppa!

a post from the Antigua Tourism Forum:

Adventure Antigua Classic Yacht w/ Eli Fuller (video links)


by jburton on Mon Jan 18, 2010 12:22 am



We chartered the Adventure Antigua Classic Yacht for a day - January 5, 2010. It is "a 40 foot wooden classically built Carriacou Sloop". It was just the two of us, my girlfriend Dianna and myself.



The day was completely awesome. Tour, snorkeling, fabulous lunch, sailing. There was some larger ocean roll this day and that was a hoot. The day couldn't have been more perfect. Eli, Jason, and Daniel were a fabulous crew and group of people to spend a day with. I recommend this charter strongly. It is worth every penny spent.



Thanks for such a great time, Eli. I can't say enough good things about that day.



I'll post more video links as I get it all processed and reviewed.



----



On the Adventure Antigua Classic Yacht with Eli Fuller

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RX0wYCdQDEc



On the Adventure Antigua Classic Yacht with Eli Fuller (file 2)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uq7BigYmTsU



Perini Navi yacht seen from Adventure Antigua Classic Yacht tour

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-HC4SUMeeW8



Snorkeling - On the Adventure Antigua Classic Yacht with Eli Fuller (file 1 of 2)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kknUGpG-dgE



Snorkeling - On the Adventure Antigua Classic Yacht with Eli Fuller (file 2 of 2)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t_rCFPWlezs

www.sailing-antigua.com

www.adventureantigua.com

Eathquake relief info for Haiti here in Antigua

Many people emailed us and called us wanting to find out if Antigua received any of the effects from the quake that destroyed much of Haiti main city. We were far away enough not to feel anything at all. In fact we are about as far from Haiti as the US mainland, but as is the case in most countries the sadness has been felt here too. There have been numerous funraisers organized and plenty of info about how to help the vitims in Haiti is available. People here know that it could have happened to them and there is quite a bit of empathy for the Haitian people. There is a big event next weekend in English Harbour which we have donated to and hopefully will be helping out with. I hope to see you there.

Great event at Nelson's Dockyard on SATURDAY January 23rd. Lots of bands playing and much fun guaranteed, all for a good cause.


We need to make much money to help people in Haiti.



PLEASE COME, ALL OF YOU IN ANTIGUA !!



See all details on http://www.antiguanice.com/v2/client.php?id=806&whatson=1#event763

logos now on Dolphin

here is a photo of our Dolphin catamaran now up at The Verandah Resort and Spa.

The launch of our other sailing traditionally built boat.

Our second Carriacou Sloop "Zemi" was launched this past Sunday. Launches only ever happen down there on Sundays for a number of traditional reasons, and it all went well according to reports, photos and videos. I was unable to leave Antigua due to several important meetings (one with Sandals about the future of our relationship with them), so I was especially happy to see all of the photos and video of our boat's launch. For those of you reading this who don't know what this is all about, I will just tell you that each island in the Caribbean designed and built their own version of a smaller cargo boat during the early colonial days. Due to "progress" all of the wealthy islands started purchasing fiberglass and steel boats from North America and Europe and one by one the tradition of building wooden boats from scratch died from island to island. Carriacou in the Grenadines is the only place left that is still using the old designs and techniques to build these fantastic boats. Hundreds of years ago boats needed to be able to carry a huge cargo and to do it fast and this design spec remains. Of course these work boats are still used to carry cargo and to do other commercial activity, but they are for the first time being purchased as private yachts. There are several these days doing charter including our other Carriacou sloop Ocean Nomad. See http://www.sailing-antigua.com/


The word Zemi is an ancient Amerindian name describing usually pyramid shaped object which essentially was a concept, meaning both a deity, or ancestral spirit, and a sculptural object that houses the spirit. Our eco tour boat is called "Arawak Odyssey" and I am glad to have another boat recognizing the people who lived here before the Europeans arrived. Their culture was so rich and was so bonded with nature.

My dad has the largest collection of Arawak Zemis and I will copy one of them for the boat's logo. Here is a collection of photos that was put together by Samantha Enoe. She is the daughter of the designer and builder Alwyn. As you can see the boat was launched without the rig. We build that next and then sail her up to Antigua before The Antigua Classic Yacht Regatta. Enjoy the slideshow!

www.adventureantigua.com

Xtreme round the island photos and reviews.

Xtreme round the island tour (circumnav) photos and reviews are always nice. Here is one I copied from the the Antigua forum. Click here.

However radical and wrong they may be....... at least someone is standing up to Japan.

Scientists declare Dolphins 2nd smartest life form

Last night I finally had a chance to see the internationally famous and award winning movie The Cove which documents Japans position on whaling and specifically on the incredible slaughter of 23,000 dolphins a year in hidden cove. It was excellent and you should try to get a copy online here.
Of course Antigua is mentioned in terrible light because of it's support for Japanese whaling. My dad was even interviewed since he was the International Whaling Commission representative prior to Japan's blood money being given to our country. READ HERE. Of course Antigua isn't alone, but it's terribly sad to know that our leaders can be so ignorant. Anyway, today scientists were quoted in the BBC article as saying that new research suggests that Dolphins are way smarter than they had thought and should be treated as "non-human persons".  READ HERE
Keep in mind that when you go to a dolphin park to swim with these non human persons you are not only doing something questionable, but you are helping the slaughter of thousands of other dolphins in Japan. Want to know why? See the film.

Used Day Charter Saling Catamaran for Sale

"Dolphine" a 52 foot Buhler sailing catamaran with twin 75 HP Yanmar diesel engines. She is registered to carry 49 passengers, but could carry more as it's a very very wide boat. The boat has had quite a bit of work done to her recently including an engine rebuild, and is ready for use in the day charter industry. I am not sure of the exact year that she was built but i am guessing some time in the late 90s. This is a money making machine if put to work in the right market. The owners are asking US $150,000 and the boat is available for sea trials at any time. IF you are interested please call me on 268 725 7263 or email me on eliantigua(AT)gmail.com and I can give you more info. 

happy new year from adventure antigua!

Hi there, I'm writing this blog once again from my phone. It seems that recently time has been zooming along faster than Xtreme goes on the way back to the harbour. Last week our Eco Tour boat experienced some engine problems. This kind of thing usually happens on the busiest week of the hear and it wasn't a huge surprise. Our crew sprang into action in an effort to fix it in time for the next day's tour. Even after putting in an almost all nighter the boat wasn't ready for our tour right at the final hour. Without any time to spare, the decision was made to use our new sailing catamaran Dolphin for the tour. The guests, many of whom were on a cruise, took the alternative boat and had a great day out. After plenty more hard work by the crew, the Eco Tour's boat was fixed today and is ready for tomorrow's private tour. Although the end of 09 was quite challenging, the 1st of 2010 started out very well. Our Dolphin boat will start doing tours up at Verandah for that hotel and Pineapple late next week. In these challenging times its people like our regular adventure Antigua team that make it all work so well. In my opinion, Tony, Jd, Shamel, Trevor, Chris, Leslie, Jason, my sister Nell and my mom Jill all put in so much effort to make these tours the best in Antigua. There are many more people out there helping us too. THANKS TO YOU ALL.

new catamaran goes out for a cruise.

A1Marine in Jolly Harbour has spend the past few weeks helping us get the Dolphin ready for tours and charters. Dolphin is Adventure Antigua's new sailing catamaran. Today we are taking her out on a test cruise to see how the modifications work. Tours on the new Catamaran will start up the first week of January 2010. We will have several half day trips and several full day snorkeling cruises as well. The boat will spend most of the week based in Dian Bay on the Verandah dock and will take passengers from The Grand Pineapple Beach Resort and Spa as well as the Verandah Resort and Spa. More info and photos to come soon!
http://www.adventureantigua.com/

Interesting question to us about our tours and my reply

On Thu, Dec 17, 2009 at 10:03 PM, !@!#@#@$$#$%$ wrote:

Hello,


My name is"""""""""""""and my husband and I will be travelling to Antigua from the $%^%$#%$%$. I have been reading your blog and I am very saddened by what it seems is happening to local tour companies there. My husband and I usually go on trips to places where we can try in some small way to support local businesses. We usually stay in smaller places, lodges and eco-resorts. We would like to book with your company precisely because it is smaller and seems to hire more local people. We are sorry we will not be there for one of the classic sailing tours, but have been getting information from Nell about dates and the other tours. (She is very helpful and answers e-mail very quickly.) We are going paddling on the 23rd and thus the 22nd and 24th are days available for us. I was going to book the Xtreme Tour, but I wish to ask about the trip to Stingray City. I am, however, a bit uncomfortable going to a place that seems to fence in rays? I am not wishing to be rude or presumptuous. Might you be able to tell me if they do any preservation work or are affiliated with any such group? The other option for us is the Eco-Tour, but we were reading on Tripadvisor that there is a one-two hour trip once on the boat to pick up people from other hotels. We will already be driving for nearly one hour in and back each way so we wonder if this review was accurate? Thanks for the specifics. It will help us choose tomorrow if you are able to e-mail back.
There are still many people who travel and look for companies like yours. There is a niche for smaller companies with better service and a focus on local development, I think. The information on your blog would be helpful on other sites such as antigua-nice, I think, where I also looked for info, or on Tripadvisor, if you could somehow manage this. I really wish you success in mobilizing locals and politians to act. Ultimately they would be helping, supporting and protecting Antiguans, I think.


Sincerely,
@#@#@!####$$!@ in Toronto

Hi there! Thanks so much for taking the time to email. Two very good questions, but the answers to them may still make it hard for you to decide. Here goes (Xtreme Tour): Stingray City originally used a fence to keep the rays in for several reasons. See here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/antiguan/237351819/in/photostream/


The main one was that it takes a few months for rays to be conditioned A.K.A "tamed" into feeding. They are just like Pavlov's dogs. If they even hear the boat engine they come around expecting food. The guys there fed these enclosed fish four or five times a day until they just were conditioned into expecting it. While this was going on there were several alleged attempts to sabotage the business by another operator close by. The cruise ship excursion industry (which i am happy not to be directly involved in up to now) is even worse than the hotel excursion industry. Anyway, they kept the fence there and ended up putting a security shack there. Each night one of the park's employees would sit in the shack keeping watch. Check the image here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/antiguan/237351703/ They then made a policy of only hiring people from the nearest village where all the fishermen in the area come from and everyone kept an eye out for it. Since then they have removed the shack and have also removed the fence. In the jellyfish season (summer time) moon jellyfish can now come into the area. That was another cool thing about the fence, but moon's are not that bad anyway. For now there is a swim line like you see at hotels which is just a line with floats on it to keep the swimmers contained within a perimeter. The rays are free to swim and go wherever they want, but always return at feeding time to get an easy meal.

A few other things to remember is that southern stingrays are fish which are not endangered or threatened at all unlike tuna for example (many of which will probably be extinct within the next 20 years). However in Antigua, people still eat rays and many are caught accidentally as by catch in nets. You can read more about that here in one of my blogs on netting and another on the North East Marine Management Area which is where many rays are killed (and also where stingray city is). Stingray City does quite a bit of community work including environmental cleanups other things like that. They are always willing to help me in any campaign or activist work that I suggest. They are also members of the Environmental Awareness Group. Anyway, if you need more info on any of this you can email me again.

OK. Info on Eco Tour concerns: The Eco Tour starts in Jolly Harbour at 9:15 am with the first pickup. You tour out through the huge marina and cruise out into Mosquito cove passing Pearns Point. Here you can usually see Montserrat and it's very active volcano as well as Redonda in the west. On clear days you will also see Nevis and on extra clear days you can see St. Kitts and Guadeloupe too. Anyway, you then cruise past the beautiful Five Islands Harbour, Pinchin Bay and then you see the unusual and very interesting Hawksbill Rock just outside the hotel with the same name. Of course one of their four beaches is the famous Nude Beach where you can find Captain JD and Captain Tony getting all over tans each week. (hahahahaha) We occasionally collect there guests here as well as some from Galley Bay. This is at about 9:25 am. Then we cruise out past the next point and past Galley Bay. We get a good view of the beautiful Deep Bay with it's old wreck (Andes 1905) just as we pass Georgio Armani's houses on the point there. From here we either go into St. Johns or directly to Dickenson Bay depending on our reservations. Sometimes we have direct Internet bookings from cruise ship passengers and will go into Deep Water Harbour to collect them. On those days we also occasionally collect guests from the Grand Pineapple Beach Hotel and from the St. James Club too. To get there we have to pass the interesting Fort Barrington which is now part of the national parks of Antigua and Barbuda. We get into St. Johns at 9:50 and are leave at 10 sharp. On the way out of St. Johns we stop and give a little history of the old Fort James which also served to protect the harbour. Great photos here! We pass Runaway Bay and get to Dickenson Bay at 10:15 where we collect the remainder of our guests (including Pineapple, Verandah and St. James Club guests if we didn't stop in St. Johns.) From here we depart in five to ten minutes and cruise up past Sisters island and then Blue Waters Hotel and the Boons Estate, up the coast towards Prickly Pear Island and the start of the North Sound (and marine management area). We pass the beautiful Jabbawock Beach and the Kitesurfing school on our way up to Shoal Point and then up to Long Island (Jumby Bay). We are now in the very protected North Sound. It's here that we anchor up serve drinks and speak about the history of the area and then about the ecology of Long Island and especially about the Jumby Bay Turtle Project. We arrive there at 11 am. If you come to St. Johns then you will have been on the boat for an hour and if you went to Dickenson you will have been on the boat for just over 30 minutes. All of it is excellent sight seeing and i would recommend paying the extra cab fare and going to Jolly Harbour for the start. This way you get an awesome tour of the west coast. Some people just want to snorkel and couldn't care less about history, ecology, or anything other than snorkeling. I understand that and understand why the trip up to the islands may be not that interesting. We have seen whales, dolphins, rays, endangered birds and all sorts of cool stuff along the way to the North Sound. I am eager to see what comes up every time i leave Jolly Harbour. The journey up the coast is beautiful to me, but as you can see from Trip Advisor, its not for everyone. By the way, after drinks and the history/ecology talks we then cruise past the fascinating Maiden ISland which R. Alan Stanford chase my eco tour from all those years ago. Here you can see his artificial barrier reef. Then it's over to the mangrove habitat of Guiana Island. Loads of interesting stuff to see and hear about here. We spend so much time there as kids fishing. Such a cool spot. After that we cruise up in between the little islands like Lobster, Exchange, Rabbit, Hells Gate and all the rest of them passing nesting birds (depending on the time of year) and wonderful picturesque vistas. This is one of my favorite places on earth and so beautiful! Check the map here: http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3434/3291375692_d5d9d9ac47_o.jpg We are usually passing through these islands on our way to Great Bird Island at about noon. We arrive at 12:15 or so at Bird, have some more drinks and then get off the boat for the nature walk up to the top of the island. It's high enough so that you can see the entire area. Some of the best "holiday style" photos are taken there. I think Antiguanice is putting some up that a guest shot on the eco tour later today. Since your question was about the start of the tour, i will leave it there. You know about the rest of the tour and all the caving, snorkeling and other cool stuff done on eco tour. Hope you had time to read all of this. I think i am going to put it on my blog for today. Thanks for the inspiration!

eli

more news from around Antigua

Rob Breadner and co. have recently started an online media company and have featured several of my eco type blogs. Check it out here: http://www.365antigua.com/green/NEMMA.php


Tonight there is also an interesting video being shown at the Antigua Museum about Aids awareness. Contact the museum for more info.

Adventure Antigua Diversification

Two big changes:

1- For nearly eight years I have been asking the different government representatives that have come and gone for some help regulating certain things about the way excursions are presented and the way they are sold. Minister after minister heard me and others in the excursion business speaking about many things we felt were unfair, but nothing was ever done. Specifically here on this blog we will speak about excursion companies being directly involved with the sales of tours. It's important to first point out that the average sales commission for tours like ours is 20%. That deposit that you pay your rep or tour desk isn't a deposit for the excursion company. It's a commission for the person making the phone call. In some cases we are paying 30% commission and I know others who are paying over 50% for some of their tours. Over the past ten years a few of the largest excursion companies have moved sideways into tour handling a.k.a. "ground handling" and tour sales. It is alleged that Tropical Adventures which is one of the biggest excursion companies has shareholders who are also shareholders of Sun Tours which handles all of the Virgin Holiday repping on the island. Many people complain that Virgin reps here in all the hotels predominantly push Tropical Adventures tours which include The Excellence trips, the Jeep Safari tours, The Tiami or Mystic sailing catamaran, kayaking and other tours. They are the biggest and most diverse excursion company and it was a very smart business move for them to also allign themselves with the biggest handler of tourists coming into our country. I don't know how many Virgin Holidays guests come off those 747 jets but you see their reps with their nice red and pink uniforms in all the hotels. Whenever our boats are slow Tropicals seem to stay full. The excursion companies complain about what they feel in an unfair advantage. Virgin does sell Adventure Antigua, but I know many tour companies that say they get no sales from them. It's like Donald Trump says though.... "It's nothing personal. It's just business"! In order to survive, Wadadli Cats was forced to do a similar thing. They formed a company called NX Tours to run tour desks in the hotels. Many hotels that didn't want to deal with staffing and organizing the sales of tours farmed out their tour desks to NX. At one time they had tour desks all over the island from St. James Club on the Atlantic side to Jolly Beach on the Caribbean. When a guest came to the tour desk and said that they would like to go snorkeling, you can imagine what tour would be the first one presented. This kind of business is common all over the world and locally several other companies followed suit. Recently Bo Tours purchased a catamaran and went from being a ground handling company to also being an excursion company. The next big move was that hotels starting buying their own boats and doing their own tours.
What does all this mean? Well it has many impilications. The first thing it means is that people who come to Antigua will be given a very slanted version of the available activites. The other thing which I have always been afraid of is that the smaller guys get marginalized. Which tour desk or ground handling company is going to tell their guests about a little glass bottom boat tour that costs US $40 and pays a US $5 dollar commission? It's terrible but the reality of presenting tours and selling tours to guests in these islands has changed for the worse in my opinion. Some of these ground handling companies now are coming up with a list of crazy policies which make it even harder for small companies. At the end of the day Adventure Antigua has had to make changes to their policy. My personal position remains the same, but my company's policy has been forced to change. The old addage of "if you can't beat them, then you join them" seems to fit here. A company called Antigua Adventures has been formed to pretty much do the same thing as Bo Tours, NX Tours, Sun Tours and the rest of them. Antigua Adventures is slowly moving into the market by running a tour desk first at Verandah Hotel. The Verandah Resort and Spa is a carefully designed hotel sitting in Dian Bay. For more info on this very cool resort you can check their website here.
For now Antigua Adventures is learning how the tour desk has been operating before making any huge changes. One of the biggest problems on that side of the island has always been the huge additional cost of cab fare. We are working on several plans to make this less of a burden on the guests. The other big problem we have noticed has been that there were so many tours being sold a the resort that people had a hard time deciding on what tour was best. We have cut some tours that the Management of the hotel felt were unsafe and we will also be trying to give the guests the best value for money that is possible while making sure that they are offered the best of the tours available. We are not just pushing our tours, but for a change guests at this hotel may start to hear about Adventure Antigua.

2- Adventure Antigua has always felt that we were going to be different from all the other tour companies by offering tours to small groups. Our biggest boat eventually got to be the 52 footer that we run the eco tour. It was built in the USA to carry 49 passengers, but we designed the layout to keep it around 25 people. Even at 25 guests we had many compaints from the old Eco Tour supporters. Seen here our old eco tour (done on our second eco boat which is now in the Indian Ocean) took a maximum of 10 guests.

Before that boat we had one that took only 4 guests. That's how we started out!! Lunch in the old days was pretty cool as seen here at Bird Island, but not that great when it rained as you can imagine.

Now of course, we have the Eco Tour powercat here:

and the Xtreme boat here:

 and the Classic Yacht here:

What we have found is that there still so many people out there who like the big catamaran tours and this month we have decided to further diversify our business in order to meet that demand. It's not exactly our forte, but after all the lessons we have learnt in what is nearly ten years of operation, we feel that we will be able to offer an excellent sailing catamaran tour. Our newest boat "Dolphin" is currently in Jolly Harbour undergoing some rennovations and should be ready to do it's first Adventure Antigua catamaran cruise before the new year. Plenty photos and info to come! For now here is a little one that kinda gives you an idea of what it will look like:

We are all very excited about this change because we feel that with the addition we will be able to reach a wider group of holiday makers and therfore spread the Adventure Antigua quality around a bit more. IF you have any questions or suggestions about our new hotel business or about our new catamaran..... or anything to do with our company please contact me on eliantigua@gmail.com
Happy Holidays!

Want to help less fortunate kids? Check this one out on thursday....

In the spirit of Christmas, we will be showing our appreciation to individuals and groups within our community involved in charitable and meaningful service along with distributing gifts to children in need.




We are counting on your generosity in the form of donations of all kinds –time and participation, as well as gifts for the underprivileged, or a monetary contribution.

We especially encourage families with children to participate in this golden opportunity for them to understand and appreciate the true meaning of gift-giving at Christmas time

Please contact us by phone (see below for our contact information) BEFORE TUESDAY to pledge your contributions to the “giving” component of our event.



Contact information:

Robin Margetson: 771-3748

Michael John: 725 9595

Josiane Salmon Whyte: 724 3855

Gilda Alexander: 726-6688

Event: SOUNDS OF CHRISTMAS 2009
"A Night of Song, Lights and Giving "
What: Fundraiser
Start Time: Thursday, December 17 at 7:00pm
End Time: Thursday, December 17 at 11:00pm
Where: The Holy Family Cathedral grounds next to the Mount St. John hospital.

I will have more info on this tomorrow, but for now think about taking some time out of your schedule to come help less fortunate people out. I have a few friends who are starting a mentoring program out. It sounds pretty cool.

Sandals Antigua Excursions and tours

Recently Sandals decided to farm out their tour desks in all of their resorts to a Company called Island Routes. This new company is spending huge amounts of money to market their tours online and within their hotels. They are telling all of the tour companies that we will see a huge jump in our sales within Sandals owned resorts as well as outside. They are selling online to anyone. There has been quite a bit of talk about the implications of this among tour companies. Sandals can be very aggressive with their business practices. The new company has already started making big changes within the hotels across the Caribbean. One of their policy changes may be pushing Adventure Antigua out as well. We have until December 31st to make changes to the way we do business if we want to remain being sold at the Sandals Grand Resort and Spa or at the all inclusive Grand Pineapple Beach Hotel. For nine weeks we have been feverishly working on making these changes but they are not completed yet.

We are currently trying to work with them on a solution, and Adam Stewart, CEO of Sandals and top boss at Island Routes, has given us assurances that he want's us all to work together.

If we don't make the adjustments in time (dec 31st) and do get kicked out of their tour desk this will be a surprise to me. We will still keep collecting guests from the beach as we have always done. Even if you are staying at Sandals or Grand Pineapple Beach you will be able to book what was once their top selling tours if you go directly to our site:

www.adventureantigua.com

We have a new Eco Tour and a new Xtreme Round the island video coming soon to youtube the websites, twitter and the blogs. I am sure people will post them on http://www.antiguaforums.com/ and tripadvisor too. Isn't the internet a savior for small business?! With or without Island Routes we will continue to provide the best trips to people coming to Antigua as well as those coming to the Sandals chain of resorts.

A round the island tour special this sunday

www.adventureantigua.com 

intertesting new article and research about coral reefs

This article points out what we have been saying here in Antigua for quite some time. The best way to save  a coral reef and the fishery it supports is to ban fishing for a while. It's that simple...

I just hope that my good friend Brother B and his team at the Fisheries Ministry can get the wheels turning on the NEMMA so that some of the fish we have in there can be protected. So many species are now extinct from our waters. It's very sad, but can be helped with some hard core enforced protection.

Read the article about a live Caribbean reef here: The Cuban Reef Project

I took the photo above recently at the Tobago Keys National Park where so many fish that i used to see as a kid swam around freely. There were even conchs at the snorkeling sites where all the boats were tied up. WOW!

our second Carriaco Sloop almost ready for launching.

While on honeymoon in the Grenadines, we went over to Carriacou for the morning to have a look at our new boat getting built there. Ocean Nomad's new sister is almost finished and looks even better. Two feet longer at 42 feet, she is bigger all over and seems to have been finished a little finer. There was a mad rush to put Ocean Nomad into the water a few years ago in March so that we could race in the Antigua Classic Yacht Regatta a few weeks later.
This one is being finished more slowly and with more care.
Of course with Christmas and all the holidays associated with it, we are not pushing for a launch date to happen until early in the new year. As you can see the planking is done and most of the cotton caulking is finished as well.
Pitch has been used to fill most of the deck seems as well as much of the caulking below the waterline.
The cabin top which is a little higher on this boat is done as are the hatch covers which are very beautifully finished. We are going to keep this one to do private charters and high end cruises.

Of course it's main job will be taking the boss, his wife and friends out cruising and camping on our weekends off. I can't wait.


This man below is Alwyn Enoe the boat designer and builder.
These boats are built traditionally using local timber for the main structure and other Caribbean basin wood for the planking. No fiberglass is used and the entire process is done in a mostly sustainable manner. This is green boat building at it's best and we are delighted to be part of the process. We will keep updating you with photos and video. I have one or two friends who are counting on this boat to be ready for the Antigua Classic Yacht Regatta 2010. I am very sure it will be sailing in style then.

Ministry of Sound comes to Antigua tomorrow night (friday) at Abras!

Ministry of Sound is a huge international record label which mainly produces very cool music mostly associated with clubs and disco sounds. They own several dance clubs around the globe with the one in London ranked in the top ten in the world by DJ Magazine in 2009. Whenever you go to the UK you see their CD compliations on the shelves of all the music stores. They do over 800 events internationally hosting nearly a million people each year. For the first time ever, this huge international dance sound will be hosting an event here in the Caribbean on Antigua. A friend of mine has invited them and will be hosting the crew while they are on the island. Abracadabra is the spot tomorrow night (where else could do it?) and it looks like it will be plenty of fun. Come out and check out the sounds of something different for a change. I'll see you there!

Galley Bay's sister resort: Palm Island

As many of you know if you have been following the blog, Mykl and I recently got married and had our honeymoon booked on a tiny island in the Grenadines called Petit St. Vincent or PSV.

To cut a long story short, we liked PSV but it wasn't what we had expexted. If you are from the Caribbean and have been lucky enough to visit many other areas around the Caribbean then PSV isn't that special. We checked out after a few days and moved a few miles over to Palm Island.

It was the first time we actually relaxed since we got married and although we only had three nights there, Palm Island was perfect for us. The beaches, the gardens, the trails, the rooms, the snorkeling the endless shady areas, the pool.... it was all what we had been looking for and we were very happy to have made the move. To be fair to PSV, i will write a bit more about it another time. In the meantime, if you have been to Antigua a million times and want to try something different for a change have a look at Palm Island which is actually a sister hotel to the other Elite Island Hotel "Galley Bay" here in Antigua.

We are now back to work and there is plenty of it. Adventure Antigua staff meeting today at 12:30!

just married

For the past few weeks I have been unable to write consistently for a very good reason. In fact, it's the best excuse i've ever had. On november 11th I flew down to tobago on BA with my fiance. It's a direct flight and a very easy one that runs twice a week from antigua. We had less than a week before we were to be married at a small family ceremony overlooking the water. My family and a few close friends jumped on the BA a few days later and joined us at Mykl's parent's hotel "Kariwak Village". On the afternoon of the 17th in perfect weather we were married in a beautiful ceremony. I'm using my phone at the moment and don't have any photos. All i can say is that it was perfect and we felt blessed.
A few days later we were in antigua to have the big reception party and a simple vow renewal on the beautiful beach at "The Tides" on the north shore where i grew up. This time 250 friends and family joined us 4 the celebration. Again we were blessed with perfect weather, wonderful food and an awesome party.
The good people at JHR Caribbean Real Estate who sold me a piece of land in Jolly Harbour offered to fly us down to Petit St. Vincent in the Grenadines which is where we are now. A friend who works here got us a very special honeymoon rate and we r making the most of it.
Today we will take a very short excursion over to Carriacou to see our almost finished sloop. It will be the second sailing vessel in our small fleet as we try to move to a more eco friendly business. For more info check www.sailing-antigua.com
Back here later for a beach BBQ. Life is beautiful! For all those people who helped mykl and i get here today as a married couple we thank u so much.
Back in antigua on the 30th.

Antigua's Ministries of Finance, Tourism, Agriculture, and Fisheries... This is for you!

Rather that make you read too much from me, I have just pulled two articles from the net that came out this week and another I wrote a few weeks ago. The first article shows how much money you will save and make by getting the chief fisheries officer and Minister responsible for Fisheries to work harder on getting our Marine Management Area set up according to the specific agreement signed by Baldwin Spencer. He agreed to receive the grant money needed to set up NEMMA in a contract made with the World Bank and the other aid agencies involved. It's an OECS project.
This is a vital article for all our government policy makers. They should read it or at the very least be told about it by the relevant government aids.
Click here for BBC Article.
As you will know from reading my blogs (i hope you check them from time to time), the NEMMA is now law and the only reason that there is no manager or board of directors for the North East Marine Management Area is that some servants of the people are dragging their feet. Our funding runs out in April of next year. Read all about it: Click here
When you read the above articles you can almost imagine that the first one was written with Antigua and Barbuda in mind. There is no doubt that we make a very good example of what not to do with your natural areas. One look around Antigua and Barbuda and you will see the lack of government environmental policy. The leglislation may be there but the will to take that legislation to the next step and one of enforcement is missing. The people of Antigua and Barbuda along with the leaders of this nation should be shown how protection or key natural areas is vital to our very survival as a small island nation.
As you will read in this Chinese article (printed in English), we can not escape the effects of inaction and the responsibility isn't just resting with large nations like the USA. We must act as well! Click here for the Chinese article about Antigua's vulnurability. 

Big Holiday discounts offered on Antigua hotels.

I have heard that Jolly Beach is doing huge disocunts over the holidays.

Verandah Hotel too. Check this link:


http://au.sys-con.com/node/1184242

Anyone looking for a good hotel job?

Hi there, I have become involved with a new company that will be working closlely with Verandah Hotel up at Dian Bay next door to Devils Bridge.


Simply put, the company is looking for someone full time to manage the sales of all tours at the hotel. They have a very unique situation and together with their high occupancy the job has very good opportunity for success. The job will have a basic wage of EC $2600 a month and all of the sales that you make will carry good percentage of the commission that you will keep too. If you are chosen and do a good job then you will d overy well financially and other opportunities will open up. Of course the job is a challenging one and you will find out more about it if you are chosen for an interview. This note is open and anyone can see it if they are a member of facebook. Pass this note arround if you like to as many people you think that may be interested. Spread the word to those who are not on FB. I am already in talks with a few applicants, but all applications will be considered if they come in before November 21st.
Applicants should have a working knowledge of computers and the internet.

They should be willing to work from 7 am five days a week (which will include one weekend day). Sometimes the days could be from 6:30 am and on other days work may be scheduled from 8 am.

They should be very outgoing and have a friendly personality. We are speaking about sales to visitors of Antigua and Barbuda.

A very good knowledge of Antigua and Barbuda is important.

A good smile and positive attitude will sell tours so this will be a plus for sure.

They should be prepared to do simple bookkeeping.

Experience in sales will help you but it isn't a prerequisit.

Applicants must be legally permitted to work in Antigua and Barbuda without work permits. The company will not be making any work permit applications, so keep that in mind.

If you think you are interested or know someone who is please contact me with your resume on my eliantigua @ gmail.com address.

Work starts December 1st so I need to hire someone very quickly. Thanks!

A tribute to one of Adventure Antigua's finest:

Later this week Gilly Gobinet, mother of the late Francis Gobinet, will be showing art that pays tribute to Francis. As many of you know Francis passed away earlier this year.

From the Antiguanice Abracadabra Restaurant Page:

GILLY GOBINET ART SHOW


November 12th 2009.



Water colours by Gilly Gobinet from 12th November to 14th December. Call us for more details 461 - 0761/464 - 6084



"Aspects of Antigua"- a tribute to the memory of Francis Gobinet

By Gilly Gobinet



Antigua is where Francis grew up, where he went to school, where he hung out & limed, especially at Abras with all his friends & family, and where he developed his love of the sea, which was to be his destiny in all senses of the word. These paintings are images of some aspects of Antigua that he cherished.



You are invited to attend the opening of this exhibition at Abracadabra, English Harbour

on the 12th of November from 5pm to 7pm.



Wine & Canapés- compliments of Abracadabra



The exhibition will run from the 12th of November to the 11th of December 2009.

Very important Environmental Awareness Group meeting and election today.

Yes today is the day when the Environmental Awareness Group meets and tells it's members about what it's been up to for the last year. As there are so many new members this year, they will also try to give people a better idea about the group's purpose as well. Since they finally gave the members the bylaws last week, I think people will have a good idea after reading this section:



Anyway, some of my friends have offered to be on the list of candidates for the election to the new executive board which means that there is a good chance that there will be some new young blood helping to run the EAG. I wasn't sure they were interested in being on the board at first and was worried that I would be trying to make changes by myself if I was elected. I know there is resistance to any effort to change how the EAG has run. The meeting is tonight (monday) at 7 PM upstairs of the Antigua and Barbuda Museum in St. Johns. If you need directions you can call the EAG today on 268 462 6236. To join the EAG as a member which gives you a vote at this AGM it will cost you EC $50 or US $19.
If you care about the future of Antigua and Barbuda then you should come out early, become a member, listen to what they have been up to and vote in a new board. After that I am sure the new board will be able to get more of section 6.2 above done. The EAG has to!