Some great Eco Tour photos from our facebook page

These photos were taken by Captain JD and crew Nicola & Natalie out on the Eco Tour. Our captains take photos and post them regularly to our facebook page. Anyone can "like" our facebook page to see more. Hope you enjoy the photos of this highly acclaimed and well reviewed day tour in Antigua. For more info on this special snorkeling and sightseeing trip please check our website.

 

 

Follow us on Facebook, twitter, flickr and google+

If you like seeing new Antigua photos, hearing about our reviews and tours as well as our day off adventures you should be following us on one or more of these.

Our Twitter name is Antigua. Click here to get there.

Of course our popular Facebook page where we show many of our tour photos can be found by clicking here. 

We are now on google+ too which is a new and interesting networking tool. You should set up an account for the hell of it. Either way follow us by clicking here.

Of course one of our oldest new media pages is our Flickr page which is where we store many of our best photos. Click here for that one.

Our website which has been up without much of a change since about 2002 will be going through some big changes over the next few weeks and you can get there by clicking the link below.

www.adventureantigua.com

www.sailing-antigua.com

Amazing short film on traditional Caribbean sailing.

This potentially award winning film is a totally Antiguan production. We in the Caribbean should be proud of the film but even more proud of what it's about. Here is a trailer for Vanishing Sail.
Vanishing Sail - Trailer from alexis andrews on Vimeo.


More about the film from their website. Click here

This "trailer" is for a documentary film that is still in production, estimated completion by winter 2013.

Shot in Carriacou in the Grenadines, where the last Caribbean boatbuilders maintain a tenuous grip on their traditional skills. In St. Barth's where the smuggling trade in liquor & cigarettes thrived. And Antigua where the Carriacou vessels race each year among vintage yachts in the Classic Regatta.

Mixed with rare archive footage, interviews with the last old Caribbean sea captains - the film combines dramatic sailing footage with narration and an original soundtrack to tell the story of the Vanishing Sail of the West Indies.

www.sailing-antigua.com 

www.adventureantigua.com

Adventure Antigua needs your help.

Adventure Antigua needs your help: Caribbean Travel and Life magazine is having some special awards for best excursion companies. We are in the Best Excursion Company list, at the bottom of the poll. Please vote for us! 

Click here.

Amazing Review of our Xtreme day trip here in Antigua.

From Tripadvisor this week:

“The only way to see the real Antigua”

Reviewed December 4, 2011 

I've been going to Antigua now, on and off, for just over 25 years (so you have an idea of the perspective I'm writing from I'm now 29), but my first time on the Adventure Antigua 'Extreme Tour' was only four years ago, and every time I've been back to Antigua since I make sure that this trip is the first thing I book up, and will continue to do so. I really couldn't recommend it enough, whether you've been going for years, are visiting for a week's vacation, or if you're stepping off a cruise for just the day.

To give you a bit of an insight, the extreme tour takes you all the way around the island, stopping off at some of the most stunning locations the Island (and possibly the Caribbean) has to offer, which are only accessible by boat. Parts of the trip will be done at speed (hitting 45 knots or so on the flat Caribbean side of the island), but the gentle Atlantic swell on the east side is taken a little more leisurely, and always in comfort. The boat is definitely fit for purpose and given the limited numbers on the trip you feel like you're getting quite a private experience.

On board will be a mix of people from all over, and of all ages, although on the trips I've been there weren't any young families, but I think this must be as I tend to travel outside of the school vacation periods; plus if I was around 8-12 (and upwards) I'd have loved this. Also on board are the captain and two crew members, each of whom are very knowledgeable of the island, fun and charming. As you go around they will give you some history of the island, including English Harbour and Nelson's Dockyard, and also fill you in on the properties of the rich and famous. You'll be very well looked after throughout, the food is great and you'll be well-watered (the rum punch comes out towards the end of the tour, after the activities).

So, if you've been going to Antigua for a while and haven't done this - book up! You'll no doubt see some awesome spots you haven't seen before and I'm sure you'll learn something about Antigua (even if you think you know it pretty well - like I thought I did). If you're going for the first time and take the tour you'll be way ahead of the game - plus from the boat you'll also be able to plan the other beaches you should check out during your stay (like Halfmoon bay) and get tips from the guys on board as to where else is particularly worth visiting (which you may not get in a guide book/travel brochure). And if you're just visiting for the day this is a no brainer - you'll avoid the crowds and the corporate charters that barely scratch the surface, and see the best of what the island has to offer.

I've recommended this trip to all sorts of people - mates on a 'girlfriends have no holiday left, reckon we can get a way with a week in the caribbean kitesurfing?' trip, friends on their honeymoon, and my parent's friends, and they've all come back raving about this. You won't be disappointed.

Many thanks to Captain Ross, Trevor and Serge for the last trip.

www.adventureantigua.com 

Used Day Charter Catamaran for sale.

The catamaran had now been sold. Thanks anyway. April 2012


We have decided to make a few more changes to our operation for the season and big news will be coming soon. It's all very exciting indeed. To make room for these changes we are selling the catamaran we have been using.

"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. 

Going to Antigua on a Cruise?

Yes, it's "Cruise Ship Season" and there are ships in port most days here in Antigua. Adventure Antigua doesn't have any contracts directly with cruise ships, but we have been taking cruise passengers on our day trips for about 11 years. Captain JD added some great photos to our facebook page of yesterdays tour including a few going back into port. Our guests were all posing. Here is one.

And YES WE CAN HAVE YOU BACK IN PORT IN TIME.
That is always the most asked question, but we have been doing this safely for eleven years and counting and will collect you after your ship gets in and have you back in time to get you on to your ship with plenty to spare. In fact we often get back before the cruise organized tours. Check our recent reviews on tripadvisor if you would like to see some reviews from other cruise passengers.

Trip reports and reviews help little businesses.

Our great reviews on Trip Advisor keep coming in with an almost equal amount between our two most popular day trips: The Eco Tour and The Xtreme Circumnav. Click here to read some of the most recent trip reports. 
These reviews help our company and our team so much and we appreicate the time you take to write them. If you have been out with us and would like to write one, then you can write your own review after clicking here. 
You can also write one on Cruise Critic and or Antigua Forums. Thanks again, Eli
www.adventureantigua.com

My favorite fishing slideshow of Antigua images

As the oldest image in the slide show clearly demonstrates, fishing has been part of my life since my earliers memories. This photo of me fishing with my dad, brother and sister in the North Sound off Great Bird Island was taken on the same type of boat that I first used on my Eco Tour back in 1999. A small barracuda, a bar jack, a spanish mackerel, and another larger "barri". These same fish can still be found in the North Sound, but these days with the increased use of gill netting, the numbers of fish have dropped considerably. I don't want this blog to be a controversial one arguing for more fisheries protection like many of my writings before. Instead this is one showing most of my favorite fishing photos. Almost all of them were taken by me here in Antigua. I hope you enjoy checking them out. We here at Adventure Antigua are always asked if we do fishing charters. Some day that may be an option, but for now we just do it for fun on our days off.

www.adventureantigua.com

Birding photo contest

The Environmental Awareness Group is giving all the digitial photography enthusiasts a chance to test their skills this month with a birding photography contest. Click here to find more info. I have decided to clean my dirty lens and get out there. Today was my first try and I managed to get a few nice shots of pelicans and ruddy turnstones. Antigua and Barbuda has so many cool birds at this time of year and with the clear skies that we have been having lately we all should be able to get some nice bird shots.

 

www.adventureantigua.com

Fun photos from our tours

Our Captains regularly take photos while out on our tours. These three images were taken By Captain JD Hall while coming home from our Xtreme Round The Island tour. For more info check photos, description and videos on www.adventureantigua.com

Who is Baldwin Spencer Speaking to here?

Last week there was an article in the Daily Observer newspaper here in Antigua which described a speech the Prime Minister of Antigua and Barbuda delivered to people at the start of Caricom Energy Week. Click here for the article.
Here is a quote from the article:

The prime minister said, “The continuing rise in the price of oil coupled with the escalation of tension in the Middle East and in Libya has major economic implications for Antigua & Barbuda and the region. Without swift and decisive action, the end results could cause significant damage to our economies,” the prime minister pointed out.

 Whenever I hear anyone in our government speak about alternative energy I take deep breaths. In one sentence I will explain why: It is illegal for any citizen to use solar or wind power in Antigua unless they live in an area that the government doesn't provide electricity. So.... you can see why I think that the PM's speech is ridiculous. In fact all speeches and press releases to do with alternative  Energy here in Antigua are pointless unless they do something about the legislation.
In the Observer article he goes on to say:

“We are required to devise ways and means to develop our renewable energy resources with the aim of changing our energy matrix to ensure the production of cleaner energy and thereby reducing our carbon emissions.”

The maddening thing is that the PM and his government know that it's illegal for citizens like myslef to put solar panels or a wind turbine up in order to try to make use of this lovely wind and lovely sun. He knows it yet he makes empty speeches that can only have the goal of fooling uneducated people who don't know what's going on into thinking that the PM and this government actually care about the things he's speaking about. I'm sorry to be so upset about this but we have been speaking about this for years. In fact, after I wrote the article on the massive government oil spill and slick which still oozes oil into the water each day (click here) I was invited to The Prime Minister's office where THE ENERGY DESK was due to speak on their progress.

The large panel of both governmental and non governmental pundits had a task to help Antigua consume less imported oil and to move to more renewable energy. While there I asked them all what was the point of sitting there speaking of all the smart things we could do if it was still illegal for people to use alternative energy methods on their own. There was no answer. Anyway, I am happy to see that others are just as frustrated. In a follow up article in the Daily Observer newspaper the former hear of National Energy Task Force, Edward Baines, is quoted as saying:

"I am still not certain that too much is going on. There is a lot of talk that is going on, but in terms of the action…. (the prime minister’s speech) it’s very vague.”

He went on to say the same thing about the legistlation:

“Almost everyone said one of the first things that needed to be done is for the APUA Act of 1973 to be revised, especially the part that says APUA has the sole responsibility for generating electricity. That has not changed in law as yet. Everyone in that task force said this is the first thing that needs to be done."

You maybe can understand after reading all of the above why I would like to know who Mr. Spencer is speaking to. It just doesn't make any sense. It would be so easy for him to really "act with a common purpose" as he says in his speech. Get the legistlation changed Mr. Spencer. I agree with you in your Observer quoted speech that: "There is no time for delay.”


As a side note: Antigua and Barbuda uses more imported fuel oil than any other OECS country. We import a staggering 1.6 million barrels of fuel a year. According to The Daily Observer's article: ".......the nation consumes 400 per cent more petroleum than Dominica, 250 per cent more than St Kitts, Grenada and St Vincent and 50 per cent more than St Lucia."
I am going to build my first home over the next year and I would like to use alternative energy to power it. I would love to do this legally Mr. Prime Minister.

Be careful who you take advice from

I started Adventure Antigua using a tiny locally built boat back in December 1999 taking a max of about 4 guests snorkeling and sightseeing. Together with my team we have managed to grow this company to the point that on a maxed out day we could take over 100 guests. The way we were able to do this with very little help from the uncooperative banks here was by simply making sure that all of our team mates loved working on the boats and that we all had the ultimate goal of making sure that our guests' day with us was the best day of their holiday. Anyway, of course there's plenty more to it than just that, but if you judge us by our reputation especially as seen on sites like tripadvisor then I think you will see that we have been very successful. "Word of mouth" is how we get almost all of our business and we are always acutely aware that our performance on the boats will be judged and will be talked about back at the hotel, on the cruise ship, back home and also on the internet.

When people do internet research about our company they usually enjoy the tour even more because they end up getting exactly what they expected. Thankfully more and more people are doing this type of research before the come on holiday and we are getting more and more satisfied customers.
Every now and then people arrive here who didn't have a chance to do any research at all and have to ask for advice on what to do while here on the island.
We get bookings from almost all the hotels, guest houses, villas and other types of accommodation because after over ten years we are well known locally. That being said there are several resorts here that have such high front desk turnover that their staff are often unaware of what's on offer. Unfortunately many of these front desk people are not encouraged to learn about the various tours on the island and despite our best efforts confuse other tour companies with ours and vise versa. There is one hotel I can think of which happens to be one of the most expensive of all here in Antigua that asks us at least two or three times each year what time our kayaking tour starts. We gently remind them that we don't do kayaking or deep sea fishing, telling them our tours consist of.
Hotels are on such a tight budget that they front desk staff often are doing way too many jobs and can't possibly do a good job of being tour reps as well. Tours are booked and or are booked and canceled without us every knowing. Funny enough most of the cancellations that we are not notified about come from the most expensive three hotels on the island.
Another problem with waiting until you get here to find out what's good is that there are many people employed on the beach and even within the hotels by certain tour companies to only sell for them and not to reccomend any others. This means that you don't always get a balanced opinion of what's on offer.
Anyway, my point in all of this is that I think that if you are coming to Antigua on holiday you are often far better off doing research on tripadvisor or Antigua Forums than waiting until you get here to find out what's good and what's a "must do".  If there any hotel managers reading this, then I urge you to have your front desk staff monitor those sites above. Google search a company to find out more if you would like to send your guests out with them. While you are at it check what people have been saying about our company recently. Click here and tell your staff. Your guests will enjoy their holiday that much more.

www.adventureantigua.com 

Our Facebook Eco Tour Photos

Don't forget to check out our Facebook page. If you are going or have been on our famous Eco Tour your photo may end up on the page. Click here for a direct link and remember to "like" the page. Here is out latest crew photo taken right at the end of the tour.

www.adventureantigua.com

Opening a coconut with your bare hands.

This blog was fun to write. I originally posted in March 9th 2007 and think it's a good one to repost. Feel free to share this one around as some people may find it useful. 

Since i was a kid i have been intrigued with coconut trees and coconuts in general. My earliest memories are of "tyrone" coming to my grandparents’ hotel in an old dilapidated pickup with a bunch of young scruffy guys to "clean the trees". My grandfather's property had loads and loads of coconut trees on it and the danger of a coconut falling and causing injury was always a problem. Instead of paying someone to come and cut down old branches and take down ripe nuts, he would call tyrone. Tyrone's business wasn't cleaning trees at all, but was really selling coconuts and coconut water. When my cousins and i were little there were two important occasions when we would all gather around. The most important was when the lobster man came....we would wait around while 20 or 30 lobster were boiled in a big pot so that we could get the legs that dropped off. Yum yum....we could never get enough freshly boiled lobster legs. I still think they are the best thing on a lobster. Of course the other time was when tyrone and his men came to clean the trees. Those guys seemed to just walk up the 40 foot tall coconut tree like it was on level ground. In those days they just had a rope and a machete and they would climb up and pull themselves into the branches. Once up there they would tie one end of the rope onto a bunch of coconuts, cut the stalk and then lower it down to be untied by someone below. Usually trees would have several bunches. Once all the nuts were collected and taken back to the truck it was our turn to feast. Tyrone could open a "jelly" in about 3 seconds, chopping away the bottom of the nut in a blur. Now it was nearly impossible for a kid under 10 to drink all the water out of a jelly nut, but we would try every time. Once you gave up or miraculously finished it, you would hand it back to him. Tyrone would then cut a "spoon" from the side of the nut and then chop it in half. These guys never wore gloves or shoes, we would marvel at how skillful they were. Now i guess i should clarify what a "jelly" is before i go on. A jelly is a green or young coconut that hardly has any "meat" inside of it. The meat is very thin and delicious with a soft consistency kinda like jellow or jelly. None of us would ever dream of eating hard coconut.....yuk.

Anyway, when i was about 6 years old my parents split up and my mom took us off to England. One of the things i remember is seeing old hard coconuts without the "husk" on them in the markets there. Mom got one once so that we wouldn't forget what they were like, but the meat inside the old coconut was about half of an inch thick and dry as hell. That was good for cooking with bit not fit for eating just like that. Man i missed those green jelly nuts. Anyway, my mom realized this a few years later and we move back home thank god.

Anyway, since then i have always chuckled under by breath whenever i have seen tourists try to open coconuts. One great one is when they find an ancient brown coconut that has been on the ground for months and think that they are going to find something delicious inside. The pain and suffering that unfolds next while this unfortunate soul frustratingly tries in vain to open the thing is comical in an evil kinda way. I am sorry but it’s true. Another good one is when a proud dad tries to do some father son bonding when he finds a big fully mature coconut on the beach. He nods to his son as if to say "look what your dad is gonna do son...you are gonna love this". After 15 minutes of bruised fingers, sweat carrying sunscreen into his eyes, and a few curse words thrown in for good measure..the dad finally says, "son this one isn’t any good".

Now that is even sadder than the first one so the purpose of this blog is to help all the dads out there make their son's proud. If you come across a coconut in the future you will be able to open it with your bare hands after reading the rest of this. I am even gonna throw in pics too.

As a single guy, who doesn't have kids i still happen to know what it feels like to open a coconut for loved ones as you will see below. I am going to use my "kids", Sparky and Lila in this guide. They both worship coconuts and have done since they were little pups. This pic is of them bringing their dad the nut they have found:

You don't want to have a coconut that is too dark. The darker and older looking it is, the more hard the coconut meat is going to be, and if it’s too dark or even brown the nut can be sour. Green ones have the jelly and with a little yellow or even orange in it they are gonna have some good meat inside the nut. Once you have the nut you want to find a rock, a pavement or a bit of concrete. Just so you know, it will stain the ground so don't get the hotel upset if you are using their nice walkway. haha

Ok, hold it firmly in your hand with the top of the nut facing up. The top is the side that was once attached to the tree. This first photo is of the bottom and it’s the side that will be facing down, and is also the side you will be hitting directly onto the rock or walkway.

Hold it tight and hit that end down hard being careful to hit it "plum" right on the bottom, and don't let it go. After one good hit you may see vertical cracks appear, but you must keep hitting it a few more times sometimes. Anyway, the worst thing to do is to try to pull off a section before they are all ready to come off. You see, the nut will almost always split into thirds and you want to keep them together until all are ready to separate. Sometimes they don't all come free at the same time, so keep hitting it on the bottom and eventually it will open up like this (this is the top and not the end you are hitting against the rock):

From here you should be able to start pulling of the outer skin. You will be left with a very furry looking thing like this:

Throughout the opening process you must always remember which side is top and which side is bottom. Now you have to hit the opposite side or the top side in order to free up the thickest part of the fuzzy "husk". After a few decent hits you should be able to just peel it all away like this:

Keep peeling and you will end up with a nut that is clean and ready to be opened. At this point your onlookers with be intently looking on with anticipation and watering mouths (like this:)

Without tools this is tricky if you want to drink the coconut water. You now have to tap around the bottom of the nut moving it each time you tap it so as to try to create cracks around the edges. You should end up with something like this or better:

If you are lucky you will be able to take some of the shell out and drink the water. This takes some skill and luck. If it doesn't go well and the water leaks all over the place all you need to do is hit the nut a few more times and start sharing the bounty. I can open a coconut this way in about 3 minutes in a rush. It can be a bit more difficult taking the older and harder coconut meat off the shell once its open, but you can just let them gnaw at is which is what lila loves to do anyway. Hope you had a laugh and will use this guide some day. If you have any questions please use the comment section and i or some other coconute expert will answer.

www.adventureantigua.com

New Adventure Antigua Video coming soon!

At Adventure Antigua, we have been thinking about making changes to our Eco Tour video for some time as we felt that the day the footage was taken wasn't sunny enough and also we didn't really have enough footage to make the tour look as cool as it acutally is. This has been one of Antigua's most talked about tours for ten years and it has been featured in all kinds of magazine articles and TV presentations. Anyway, Acquafilms recently did some more footage and managed to sneak in a small amount of helicopter footage with Caribbean Helicopters. The stuff they got was amazing and hopefully we will have our new movie soon. It will be replacing this one which is still a great version of our famous tour:

Adventure Antigua goes to Panama's Whale Watching Conference.

Adventure Antigua goes to Panama's Whale Watching Conference, but with a slight change of plans. As mentioned a few weeks ago in this blog, I was nominated to attend a special United Nations Environment Program (UNEP). Anyway, my ticket was sent and I booked to go until yesterday, when I had some news that prevents me from leaving Antigua. Sadly I will miss the trip, but missing it for something even more important here makes it easier not to attend.
I knew that this was a very important meeting for tour operators and more importantly for environmentalists. Adventure Antigua prides itself on being both.
When I made the decision to cancel my flight yesterday I knew I had to get someone else to attend, and the first person who came to mind was our main Eco Tour guide Nicola Nash. Read a little about her here.

I think it's funny that the title on that blog from back in January was Adventure Antigua's Other Eco Ambassador. Since writing that piece she has taken a very active roll in the Antigua Sea Turtle Project which is managed by my wife and is always willing and eager to be involved with anything eco. Of course she loves seeing whales and dolphins and whenever she sees them she tells everyone. As you would expect, my ticket was non refundable and non transferable so Adventure Antigua had to pay for the ticket last night. WOW going last minute from Antigua to Panama City isn't cheap!! Worth it I am sure though. As someone who has studied marine biology, she was and is the perfect replacement for me at this conference which as their first emails explains will help us (and whales) here in Antigua and the Caribbean:

......is a first attempt to bring together marine resource operators and managers from the Wider Caribbean Region (WCR). It will include 4 days of hands-on training and discussions in order to:
Discuss the formulation of an overarching code of conduct for observing marine mammals in the WCR;
Assess the extent of problems and needs, and identify opportunities for improvement of existing marine mammal watching operations; Identify new areas that might support marine mammal watching activities; Document existing marine mammal educational materials; and
Standardize data collection forms used by operators.
and ....... to facilitate the conservation of marine mammals and contribute to the Action Plan for the Conservation of Marine Mammals in the Wider Caribbean. 

I hope to be in close contact with Nicola and will make sure that the media and other tour operators get a very good briefing once she returns. We are lucky here in Antigua and Barbuda to have beautiful humpback whales passing through between January and May. In the past year while out boating we have also seen many other marine mammals including Bottlenose Dolphins, a Blainvilles Beaked Whale, Spinner Dolphins, Pilot Whales, and others that were not close enough to ID. I am happy that we can learn more from this important event and hopefully we will be able to enlighten many here on the island too.

www.adventureantigua.com 

"Red Skies in the Morning"

Here is a bit of fiction that expresses what many of the caribbean's fishermen experience and remember when they are older and can no longer go to sea.

The nocternal syphony performed by crickets, and tree frogs slowly comes to an end before dawn when a few feathered singers join in. This is the time of morning that fishermen are up getting ready to set off.
This morning is special though as the only noise to be heard is song provided by the birds, crickets and frogs. The beautiful melody provided by the trade wind as it rustles through the coconut tree branches isn't around today and neither do I hear the quiet lullaby of the waves against the shore. This is one of those special mornings where the night's cool from the land is stronger than the warmth of the sea. There is no breeze at all and I am always happiest when we have these still conditions on a fishing day. The funny thing is that most fishermen that i know hate it when the seas are as still as this, saying that fish don't bite when it's so calm. That's a matter for them.

As I leave the house with my foul weather gear and cooler a shiver runs through me. I don't know if it's the cold or the nervous anticipation that i often get on perfect mornings like this one. The stars are slowly disappearing into a purple background which changes colours to violet and then pink as fast as it swallows the constellations. 

By the time i get to the boat the sky is a brilliant orange and I take a moment to look around smiling even though we are the last boat to leave port.
It's going to be a special day..... I know it.

www.adventureantigua.com

An Antigua slide show that will make you book the holiday.

I have posted this here before but this past week someone said they saw it for the first time and was convinced than if someone sitting in an office somewhere in a big city saw this they would stop what they were doing and book their holiday. These photos were taken by me and all have something to do with my job at Adventure Antigua. Enjoy!

Adventure Antigua will be on Canadian TV

Earlier this year we were luck enough to be involved with a Canadian TV production that was done for National Geographic Kids. The Program is Called "Are We There Yet?" and is a travel adventure series for kids and their parents. It's a fantastic show and hopefully we can get it here too. Anyway, the trailer for this years season recently came out and in it you catch a glimpse of us sailing with the kids. We are seen in minute 3:32 below. When i find out when the episode featuring Antigua and Adventure Antigua is going to be shown i will let everyone know. Enjoy the show's season preview here:

www.adventureantigua.com

Adventure Antigua set to attend whale watching workshop in Panama

"Dear Mr. Fuller,
03 October 2011
Re: Workshop on Marine Mammal Watching in the Wider Caribbean Region Panama City, Panama 19-22 October 2011

The United Nations Environment Programme-Caribbean Environment Programme (UNEP-CEP), through its Protocol on Specially Protected Areas and Wildlife in the Wider Caribbean Region (SPAW) sub-programme, and with the support of the National Environmental Authority of the Government of the Republic of Panama (ANAM) would like to invite you to attend a Workshop on Marine Mammal Watching in the Wider Caribbean Region. The Workshop, which is being funded by the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, U.S. Marine Mammal Commission, the French Marine Protected Area Agency, UNEP-CEP, the SPAW Regional Activity Centre, Humane Society International, International Fund for Animal Welfare, the World Society for the Protection of Animals and the Pacific Whale Foundation will take place at the Radisson Summit Hotel and Golf in Panama City, Panama, 19 – 22 October 2011.
The Workshop is a first attempt to bring together marine resource operators and managers from the Wider Caribbean Region (WCR) and you have been selected to attend because of your work as a tour operator. The Workshop will include 4 days of hands-on training and discussions in order to:
Discuss the formulation of an overarching code of conduct for observing marine mammals in the WCR;
Assess the extent of problems and needs, and identify opportunities for improvement of existing marine mammal watching operations; Identify new areas that might support marine mammal watching activities; Document existing marine mammal educational materials; and
Standardize data collection forms used by operators.
..........
We look forward to your participation in this workshop to facilitate the conservation of marine mammals and contribute to the Action Plan for the Conservation of Marine Mammals in the Wider Caribbean.    We have also attached a copy of the Workshop’s draft agenda for you to review."

So this is great news for Adventure Antigua and for all tour operators here in Antigua. As many of my readers know, I think that Antigua's governmental support for Japanese whaling is totally flawed in so many ways. They are not representing the interest of Antigua and Barbuda.

For more on some of the things i have written about whales and our Japanese designed fisheries policy check this:   http://antiguaisland.blogspot.com/search?q=japan

I'll come back and share what i have learned with other tour operators and the people of Antigua and Barbuda.

A few of my videos where we had fun with whales and dolphins: 

A fun Antigua video

This video shows a selection of interesting places and things to do in Antigua. They didn't speak with my company when they came out, so Adventure Antigua wasn't featured. I guess we are still a hidden secret within a hidden secret. lol
Anyway, enjoy the video:



www.adventureantigua.com

No reason that Antigua's fishers can't go off shore.

When speaking about sustainable fishing and specificially about fishing for pelagic species, the people representing the commercial fishermen of Antigua and Barbuda keep saying that fishermen here in Antigua and Barbuda don't have big enough boats. I have been saying that this isn't true for years because I see little pirogues from most of the English speaking islands to our south way out in the Atlantic off shore fishing for deep sea species. Hell, when i was 16 years old I would take our little 40 hp powered boat fishing way offshore and to Barbuda. Things have changed a bit for us since then:

Also as mentioned time and time again in my blogs, we see small Guadeloupean and St. Barts boats in our waters fishing too. Click this blog to see what i am speaking about. See how the boys from St. Barts catch pelagic fish easily from small boats in this video:


Recently one of our friends who fishes all season long here in the deep waters off shore took one of Antigua's smallest commercial fishing boats out 25 miles east of Antigua to fish on one of the Guadeloupean FADs. These photos below were taken by someone on our open boat between storms and trust me, it wasn't nearly as calm getting there or getting back. They ended up with about 300 lbs of tuna and mahi mahi.
The time for fishing sustainably on and almost collapsed inshore fishery should be at an end and we need to encourage fishers to move to more sustainable methods. Click here for more on sustainable fishing. 

Here is a photo taken from their boat:

As you can see: the boat isn't big at all. In fact, the wide angle camera shot makes the boat look way way bigger.

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I don't ususally take other Antiguan writer's work and post it, but this time the author gives full permission in her first line. I am "macoing" her very good facebook note.
 

Friends, Facebookers, Maco's all...lend me your ears.

Yes it's been quite a while since I wrote a note but if you've read any of my notes before you know that when I do put one down, there is a reason, and the madness has method and rhyme.

Considering the nature of what I'm about to address, I know that not everyone may agree and thats fine, but to be brief, and "crispy" as someone called me today...let me put this as a disclaimer: This is Marcella Andre's facebook page. Its not my job hence I subscribe to my own code of conduct, I'm not looking for friends or enemies for that matter, neither favours nor accolades. I'm just sharing my thoughts. If you don't like what you will find in this "note" take it to the Lord in Prayer...or in simpler terms Bite Me! If you have a dissenting view, please dissent with respect for me and others. Whew!! that was a load off my chest.  

The Context

I have a feeling that some of you who posted comments to my preview think that I am about to talk about Sargasso Weed and its myriad effects...but no, sorry, thats not it. I think I'll leave that to Eli Fuller and marine biologists thankyou. The title of this post should give you an indication that I'm referring to our tourism product. Yes...the Beach is just the Beginning they say....And then what???

Setting the Scene

For the last five weeks, I have been "tour repping" every weekend. For those of you who don't quite get the concept let me explain. A particular tour company in company requested my services for this 5 week duration because they recently struk a deal with a number of travel agencies in the French Caribbean. To ensure excellent service, they needed a french speaker to assist them with the guests experience while here. Each weekend there was a total of about 100 visitors from Martinique staying for a week, and placed at Veranda, St. James, Jolly Beach, Galley Bay and Halcyon. (BTW, Thanks for the reccomendation to the person who suggested me) (Side note: parents, please implore your children to learn another language or two, you'd be amazed at the opportunities that just this skill creates...Thanks to my momma I can proudly say I speak two and a half languages in addition to my mother tongue)

Anyhoo...back to the topic at hand. As a tour rep, basically you are expected to meet the guests at the airport when they come in, visit them at the hotel specifically for the purpose of "selling tours", and also be available to them should there be anything they need to resolve with the hotel, any queries they may have on anything at all...basically they own the right to your attention for the week while here.

The experience has been fantastic. You know I'm a "people person" so that aspect of it has been great, and just the opportunity to use my french is always welcomed. The experience was also a learning experience and it is one that led to the question that I am trying to get an answer to...after the beach what?

You see, in my "tour repping" orientation, I was handed a list of what we offer to our visitors. It reads something like this...Shirley's Heights,Historical Tours... Catamaran Tours (x 2 different companies x 3 excursion possibilities-bird Island, Cades Reef, Circumnavigation, all going to the same places) , Barbuda Tour, Stingray City, Helicopter Tours, (hella expensive!!) Island Safari (where you see among other things "fig tree drive"), Zip Line, Deep Sea Fishing, Horseback Riding (wow!)...you get the drift? There are quite a lot more but they are along the same lines. I worked with four pages of possibilities but there were many more....along the same lines, just different operators. One of the things a tour rep needs to know is the type of tourist that they are dealing with. Once you have figured that out, then it helps you decide what tours you are going to pitch. By the end of week one I had decided to stick to Catamaran, Town, Island Tour, Stingray. Those are the ones that were most likely to sell. Additionally a tour had to be created specifically for them that included a french speaking person who could explain to them what they were seeing.

In one of the groups there were three girls who did practically everything they were offered. They spent a total of at least U.S. $700.00 individually on just excursions. Let's not forget they were also paying for a week at Veranda, did some shopping and dining outside of the hotel. Because they were such good sports, and because they were some pretty cool chicks, I offered to take them to a restauraunt that they had heard about and wanted to go to - Warri Pier. So there we are, sitting at dinner, four of us,they are telling me that they had a great time, showing me pictures of all their "adventures" - oh wow....picture from the helicopter- beautiful beaches...next set of pictures, at the beach from one of the catamaran tours , next barbuda's beach - excellent, next set - in the water at stingray city....a few at Shirley's heights etc.....so as we conversed that evening I asked them about their impressions of Antigua and though I was a little hurt for Antigua and its offerings I also was not surprised at what they said.

They expounded in great detail on the fact that though they had a great time (because they planned to no matter what), yet they still have not been able to identify Antigua's "culture" or what Antigua represents, or what thing, way of being is Antiguan. Big surprise. (NOT!) I listened as they told me that the people at the dockyard need some customer service training (forget what I said above,...I'm available to facilitate!:-) because the person said to someone else within earshot of the visitors "I only speak one thing - E N G L I S H" and then practically dragged through the Dockyard tour as if they were harrassing her. I know you've heard this one before but they also visited a couple places in Heritage Quay and they felt as if they had been judged already because they did not appear to be americans with lots of U.S. dollars to spend or even British people with the power of the pound behind them..so they were ignored. Undaunted, the ladies still shopped because of course what the clerks would not have known is that the spending power of the Euro was on their side. Note well, that despite the great time they had, those unpleasant experiences were still recalled as a part of their overall "experience". Oh and one last gem... they found that we sure do play a lot of reggae and dancehall here. No joke. I'm just telling you what they told me - their perceptions.

So think about it. What really do we have to offer to the caribbean tourist? How does a caribbean visitor discover the heart and soul of Antigua while in Antigua? In my attempts to encourage the purchase of excursions I was actually met with responses like " we have water around us too...thats not really interesting to us" "we want to discover things Antiguan" and really, they are correct. No brainer. If I live on an island (as I do) I really don't want to spend my money in someone elses island visiting beaches and circumnavigating because I can do that at home. If I'm going to the beach on another island, getting there will not cost me US 120.00. I want to discover and understand the people, their culture, what is unique to them.

This year I visited Guadeloupe three times. Each time I discovered something interesting and different that showed me who they are, what is important to them, what their values are (none of them were on a beach).

The Reality as I see it 

The truth is that here, we are a melting pot. (Matter of fact, I think they should just go back to that idea "melting pot of the caribbean"). We have assimilated everyone else's culture in a plethora of ways. If that's what it is, work some aspect of that, if that is not the way we would like to be perceived, then we have to actually find some way to promote the remaining "things Antiguan" that we still hold some pride for.

Why for example can we not have a mini excursion that takes people through the process of making Cavalier Rum..with a culinary experience involving the use of cavalier at the end of the trip. How about the pineapple farm tour and again the same experience at the end...? How about actually creating an event that gives visitors an experience and education of our "culture" and history even including the melting pot reality and leaves them feeling like they learned something and had a great time doing it? Add some food and drink to that too...

I do not claim to have all the ideas but seriously...up to now we don't know who we are? We can't decide, plan, get creative with how we present ourselves? Cha man! :-) Our toursim product needs to wheel and come again...and not just for the caribbean tourists either. The beach for North American and European visitors is no longer a novelty...its stale.

When speaking to my students about presenting themselves through a resume and cover letter, I remind them that if you choose to used played out shit (well not in those words..) like "i'm dedicated and willing to perform for the best of the company" that they have just cast themselves on top of the pile of others because they have presented no unique selling point about themselves. They've got to look for that unique selling point or points and sell away!

So...after the beach, What??

And by the way...let me not even start on this thing we call "culture". As far as I'm concerned, they can just close the department of culture and put out tenders for people with real creativity, talent, organisation and ideas to run it.

My name is Marcella A. Andre and I approved this message! :-) Remember, the Beach is just the beginning.... This is the beginning....so what's in the middle and the end?

A very interesting video on the Sargasso problem in the Caribbean

More and more islands have had problems with Sargasso (sargassum) weed washing ashore in unusual amounts. If it's the first you are hearing about it, you can read this blog. Click here and Click here for an update to the first blog.
Here is a video out of Barbados which does a pretty good job of explaining further.

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Tropical Storm Maria misses Antigua despite forecasts.

In all my years I have never seen Antigua and Barbuda prepare like they did for this tropical storm. Tropical Storm Maria was forecast to come over the top of Antigua on Friday night and Saturday morning but the storm which had not been behaving as forecast from the start, veered north and didn't give us much of anything. On Friday which was a lovely sunny day, the schools, banks and many other businesses closed early. JD and I decided that we better go and firm up the boats in the afternoon and spent a few hours putting out extra anchors and extra lines. We prepared for a Cat 1 hurricane even though we knew that we would probably not even see 50 mph squalls. Nothing happened on Friday night and again on Saturday it was a lovely day for the most part. On Saturday night when the storm was well north of Barbuda we saw quite a bit of lightning. Then late in the night the winds switched to the south and we started getting some squalls. According to the facebook group "Antigua Weather" we received a few gust around the island in the 35 mph range and quite a bit of rain. Sunday it rained on and off the entire day which was perfect for those of us who love to chill on Sundays.

Why did Antigua prep so much for this storm and almost miss hearing about the last one? Well the answer is simple and should be a lesson to the authorities. This storm turned into a Depression and was given a forecast track by the National Hurricane Center quite far east of the Caribbean. This gave the weather people and the media time to speak about it for days and days before it "arrived". It was never forecast to become a hurricane anywhere near us and yet you would have imagined a category 5 was bearing down on us. People were scrambling to take their boats out of the water and board of their homes. I even heard nails being driven in the dark on Friday night. All in all I guess it was good for people to go through a drill. We even found some areas that we need to work on with our boats, but I just hope people and the media can be as energized when the storm goes from a tropical wave to a hurricane just off shore. Let's hope we don't see one of them.

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