Thursday, January 17, 2013

Bike Ride Through South Antigua


Monday, January 14

We decided to take our bikes ashore and bike around the southern part of Antigua. The swells had subsided a bit, so it wasn't as difficult to get the bikes on the dingy as we had thought. We rode out of the marina and headed south on the main road. The elevation change was minimal for the first portion of the bike ride, so it was really enjoyable. We stopped along the road at Dark Woods Beach which has a beautiful view of Montserrat and the erupting volcano. We continued along the main road, passing one of the main pineapple farms where they grow the Antiguan Black Pineapple. After passing a couple of high-end beach resorts, the road started to head inland, away from the coast, through the tropical rainforest and farms of banana and mango trees, pineapple, and lots of wild goats. We even saw a random donkey running down the road which appeared to have gotten loose from its post since it had a collar and rope tied to its neck. As we rode further inland, the hills got steeper and steeper. After walking our bikes up two very steep hills, we decided to turn around since it appeared that there were many more hills up ahead that were longer and steeper than the ones we had gone up! We rode back to the harbor, and stopped at a local fruit stand on the way back to buy some black pineapple and mangos.

Dark Wood Beach with view of Monserrat volcano errupting

Antigua Black Pineapple Farm 

 Downhill view of Morris Bay

Biking Through Tropical Farms Inland


When we had arrived back at the boat, we decided to change anchorages to hopefully avoid another sleepless night of large swells. We sailed south to Carlisle Bay which is a beautiful and very protected bay at the southern end of Antigua where the luxury Carlisle Resort is located. We had a much more comfortable night in this bay, and with fewer neighboring boats. 

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