TRAVEL: Antigua
It's easy to go green in Antigua!
Most people go to Antigua to get brown, but now the islanders are keen for visitors to go green.
So environmentally conscious has the island become that a new eco-friendly hotel has opened – the Verandah Resort & Spa on Long Bay; its neat, low-rise buildings surrounded by 30 unspoilt acres on the eastern coast and overlooking a powder-soft, sandy beach.
As so often happens abroad, the taxi driver we had for our journey from the airport to the Verandah was more tour guide than cabbie.
He was proud to point out a most beautiful cricket ground that has been created within the airport complex. Complete with floodlights, the ground was staging an inter-island Twenty20 competition as we passed.
Heading across the island we passed the main cricket Test ground too, named in honour of the island's most famous player, Sir Vivian Richards.
Possibly because Antigua is a small island, boasting only around 76,000 inhabitants, everyone seems to know everyone else.
You speak to the taxi driver and he knows Sir Viv, you chat to a waiter and find he went to school with another former giant of West Indies cricket in its golden era of the 1970s and '80s – the fast bowler Andy Roberts.
Our first impression was that everything had smartened up since we were last here.
Maybe the worldwide property boom has helped in the meantime – what we remembered as run-down shacks back in the 1990s have been given a good lick of paint and looked rather cosy as holiday boltholes.
Roads in the Caribbean are never going to get you anywhere fast, but even so we managed to reach Verandah within an hour of touching down, which locals reckoned was pretty good going.
The resort has been created on the quieter, eastern side of the island. The Atlantic side (the right) of Caribbean islands is always the less-developed – and windier – coast, with most of the luxury resorts situated on the west.
Although it is certainly breezy at Verandah, the resort lies on a tranquil bay and is largely screened from the windy Atlantic.
The resort has made a commitment to meet the highest environmental standards and management are quick to point out its green credentials.
These include the rational use of energy and water, the use of biodegradable cleaning materials, the supporting of a carbon offset programme and – wherever possible – buying sustainable goods from local producers.
No cars are allowed on the large complex. Our cottage was very close to the main pool area and also to the three restaurants, but we were a small hike away from reception so we often took advantage of the various golf-style buggies available to ferry guests around.
One of the local attractions is Devil's Bridge – a rocky promontory lashed by Atlantic rollers about a mile from the Verandah. We decided to get up early to visit it.
Rising with the sun, we left the complex on foot and headed on to a grassy, hilly area where mules and goats roamed. The bleakness and the greenery put us in mind of Dartmoor, but there the similarities ended, as the blazing early-morning sun and the warm winds would have seemed out of place in a Devon landscape.
We clambered down and there was the bridge, being pounded by the waves, with the rock formations helping to churn the sea into a frothy white mess.
The endless battle between water and rock was raging, and we could imagine the sea eventually winning and the bridge dividing and falling.
For those wanting to explore a little further afield, the spectacular English Harbour and Nelson's Dockyard lie to the south of the island.
Antigua and the Caribbean featured prominently in the Napoleonic Wars, with Nelson and the British fleets often putting into West Indies ports.
The dockyard, named for the hero of Trafalgar who spent his early career in Antigua, dates from 1745 but was abandoned in 1889 before restoration work began in the 1950s. There is a museum featuring Nelson memorabilia.
Nearby – and affording great views – is the garrison and look-out Shirley Heights.
Antigua boasts 365 beaches, one for every day of the year – unless it's a leap year!
Most resorts on the island, Verandah included, slash their rates during the summer to ensure a good flow of visitors.
Check out the prices – and you might be pleasantly surprised to find how cheaply you can go 'green' on one of the most beautiful islands in the world.
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Weather for Biggleswade
Saturday 11 February 2012
Today
Sunny
Temperature: -6 C to 0 C
Wind Speed: 5 mph
Wind direction: South east
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Temperature: 1 C to 3 C
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