by Gilly Pickup
- 26/12/2007
Elegant retreats, friendly locals, leisurely lifestyle –this is Antigua, the sunniest island in the Eastern Caribbean and so laid back it is almost horizontal.
With a necklace of 365 pristine, palm-fringed beaches (according to the unsubstantiated count of the tourist board), sun-worshippers are in their element – after all, where else could you stay for a year without visiting the same one twice?
When it is not targeting sun-loving holidaymakers, the yachting fraternity and golfers, this Caribbean island can be sure its never-ending stream of celebrity visitors such as Charlotte Church, the Beckhams, Timothy Dalton and Roger Moore give it an iconic appeal. Giorgio Armani owns a rather splendid place on the northwest coast at Galley Bay Heights.
There is no shortage of places for travellers to hang their hat in Antigua, but Galley Bay Resort, one of the Caribbean's most prestigious hotels, is the kind of place the term "exclusive hideaway" was invented for.
Nestled on one of Antigua's west-coast beaches, Galley Bay offers guests mega doses of superior service, great food and understated, rustic luxury. Languishing in 40 acres of lush, tropical gardens bursting with hibiscus, oleander and bougainvillea, it is somewhere to take your relaxation seriously. But there are plenty of complimentary facilities to take advantage of for those who do stir from their sun lounger, such as an air-conditioned fitness centre, tennis court, jogging path round the lagoon, croquet lawn, bicycles, windsurfing, Hobie-style catamarans and ocean kayaks.
The picturesque Fig Tree Drive is the island's most scenic route. It has to be said that driving along these curly roads can be something of an adventure. Besides potholes big enough to hold a party in, local motorists represent a hazard, frequently deciding to stop in the middle of the road to chat with friends. The good news is driving is on the left, just like it is back home.
As you pootle through the lush vegetation of the rainforest, banks of silk cotton trees mingle with mango, guava, orange, banana and coconut palms. Crumbling sugar mills, remnants of the old plantation days, are all around you because Antigua was once home to a thriving sugar industry with sugar cane juice the island's lifeblood.
Betty's Hope, built in 1650, was one of Antigua's first sugar plantations, and its success led to the island's rapid development of large-scale sugar production. Ruins of two stone windmills and parts of the stillhouse remain, along with a visitor centre and an enthusiastic caretaker who offers informative tours peppered with historical insights.
A place of living history, its records for the year 1827 list 310 slaves, who are detailed in the archives. There was poor Molly Beard, described as a "lunatic"; George Collins, a saddler, who was "in deep decline"; and Charles Bird, a doctor, who attended the manager as well as the workers.
Antigua is still proud of her British ties and for a frisson of historic atmosphere visit Nelson's Dockyard, the only working Georgian dockyard in the world. It was named after our very own Horatio, who was stationed here as a young captain more than 200 years ago to develop British naval facilities at English Harbour and enforce stringent commercial shipping laws that made him unpopular with locals and traders.
It also brought him into conflict with Antigua's governor Sir Thomas Shirley, whom Nelson described as a "great ninny" for ignoring what he considered unlawful trading. Due to hostile attitudes, Horatio spent almost all of his three years in Antigua on board ship. He declared sulkily in correspondence that the harbour was "a vile spot" and that the island was an "infernal hole".
Nowadays, even though Nelson was less than complimentary about the island, Admiral's House Museum proudly displays relics of his time there, including his four-poster bed (though word has it that it wasn't built until 50 years after his death), while mementos including his actual telescope, charts and even his tea caddy are there too.
High above English Harbour and the dockyard stand the ruins of garrison buildings and fortifications of Shirley Heights, with Guadeloupe and Montserrat visible in the distance. On Sunday afternoons, the bar at this former British lookout station, with its gasp-inducing drop to the churning waters of English Harbour below, pulses with harmonious rhythms. Steel bands pump out old Bob Marley songs and the whole area becomes an impromptu open-air club where tourists and locals enjoy a boogie and sizzling barbecues.
While most leisure pursuits for visitors to Antigua involve the sea or golf, cricket is the national passion. Much more than a sport, it is almost the national religion. The island's most famous son is cricketer Sir Vivian Richards, who has a home here. St John's, the island's capital, a mass of wooden houses brightly painted in bold poppy reds, rich saffrons and giddy neon pinks, has renamed the rickety street where he was born in his honour.
There isn't really much to see in St John's, though some may feel it is worth a visit for the duty-free shopping – look out for cashmere, crystal, jewellery and luxury labels. Two of the best areas in which to shop, if you can bear the sight of cruise liners the size of parliament offloading thousands of day-trippers, are Heritage Quay, with its casino, bandstand and clocktower, and the more rustic Redcliffe Quay, where buzzy restaurants and shops inhabit restored Georgian buildings and brick warehouses.
For seekers of a chilled-out holiday, the slice of paradise that is Antigua is one big stress-buster – the perfect antidote to the strains and frustrations of everyday living. It's just that sort of place.
See more details on Antigua at www.antigua-barbuda.com; tel 020 7258 0070
