Travel Story and photos by Barb & Ron Kroll Antigua and Barbuda What do the following have in common? Barbecue parties with spectacular sunset views, a different beach for every day of the year, African board games, the world’s sweetest pineapple, pink sand, man-o’-war birds, Hurricane Irma, Princess Diana and Hollywood legend Robert De Niro? They’re all associated with the twin-island Caribbean nation of Antigua and Barbuda. Antigua (pronounced An-tee-ga), the largest British Leeward Island, is located southeast of St. Martin and east of St. Kitts and Nevis. According to a direction sign that we saw at a resort, it’s also 4,070 kilometres from Montreal. Our flight from Toronto to Antigua’s V. C. Bird International Airport took five hours. As beautiful as ever, Antigua displays very few signs of Hurricane Irma’s hit in September 2017. Shirley Heights Lookout is a scenic place to meet other visitors and some of the friendly 99,500 inhabitants of this 180-square-kilometre island. Here, on Sunday evenings year-round, you can join hundreds of people drinking rum punch and dancing to live steel band and reggae music. The aroma of sizzling barbecued ribs, burgers and chicken permeates the sultry air. As the sun sets over the neighbouring islands of Montserrat and Guadeloupe, people sit down to eat and enjoy the panoramic view. In the late 18th century, the viewpoint was a fort overlooking English Harbour and Falmouth Harbour. From Signal Station, flags (during the day) and guns (at night) alerted the island of impending attack from enemy ships. The ruined and restored military buildings remain today. Barbecue with a view 20 | www.snowbirds.org
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