My husband and I had an old friend, Margaret, staying with us for a short while. This prompted me to become a tourist for a few weeks as we looked for ways to ensure she had fun while on Anguilla. This proved interesting.

Happy Margaret with furry friends

As readers of this column will remember, we love Scottish Country Dancing. Our friend does not, sad girl! Playing tennis is not her forte either although she does make a good ball-girl, whizzing about the court very professionally. So we have been on the wonderful beaches and played in the surf at Rendezvous Bay, snorkelled at Shoal Bay East (which for Margaret was a bit difficult as she is as blind as a bat without her glasses) and sat in the shallows on the beach at Island Harbour with our heads in the water. We watched the fish swim past us, evading the predatory fishing nets thrown out by local fishermen intent upon using them for bait to catch Wahoo in the deeper water off the beach.

We watched Margaret ripen from a ghostly white to an attractive tanned colour along the way.

Margaret at Island Harbour beach

Of course food was a major concern for our friend. This was her second visit to Anguilla but there were many tempting places and lots of culinary delights still to try. Some of the restaurants were beginning to shut for the end of the season so it was a bit of a scramble to get to them before it was too late. We were lucky to arrive at Overlook for brunch on Mother’s Day, the last day of operation this season. In England Mother’s Day is in March and we Brits celebrated then. Her sons took her out for a meal and our son sent his mum an emailed IOU which I intend to redeem when he comes here for a visit in September!
This visit our friend tried Roti at the tiny, but perfectly formed, Roti Hut by the airport’s runway, which was a first for her and she found that she liked this scrumptious Caribbean dish. Margaret loved the shrimp at the delightful Veya, along with the peaceful ambiance and the well trained staff. She discovered Pyrogies at Stanley’s little wayside restaurant, which really should have some signage to help people find it. It was only that a friend gave me detailed instructions, which, coupled with determination, led us to this little gem on the road off the junction opposite Proctor’s supermarket.

Mr Petty’s museum is of course a must for all visitors to Anguilla. A lifetime of collecting ancient artefacts, revolutionary memorabilia, photographs and reflections of Anguillian life, leads to a visit lasting on average at least two hours. I find the museum fascinating and have brought several visitors to discover the treasures within the quaint little building opposite East End Pond.

A tour around the gardens at CuisinArt has been another highlight of our friend’s visit this year. I have lived here for two years now and had not realised the sheer diversity of plants within this hotel’s gardens. Our genial host took us over some of the grounds, tasting tamarind, sniffing herbs and marvelling at the variety on display. It was a shame that photographs were discouraged. After taking a couple of shots I was politely informed that I should have asked first. I can take a hint so there will be no photographs to remember these exquisite gardens by, or to share with you, dear reader, which is a shame.

No holiday is complete without a party! This year my husband has finally got around to refurbishing the rusty but capacious barbeque in the garden. He ingeniously painted it with black engine paint and then he and a friend from down the road fired it up and we had a BBQ party at home with a few friends to help us test out the new artwork. It survived, as did our friends when they tried out my experimental version of baked plantains wrapped in bacon! I made them too big and will scale them down in future but boy, they were tasty! My thanks to my friend Carolyn for the recipe.
Margaret has discovered some of the personalities on the island this visit: Mr Petty, a ‘perfect gentleman’, and the very friendly Smitty, in Island Harbour, who was happy to pose with my friend for an informal photograph.

Shopping was interesting too. At the post office my friend loved the ‘Goats of Anguilla’ series of stamps and this was in her suitcase to go back to the UK, along with some Pyrat rum, several tee-shirts and fridge magnets.

While Margaret was here she had some vivid dreams which made us roar with laughter when she recounted them the following morning. Before anyone contacts me, no, she had not been at the ganja, but she did discover a liking for rum punch which may have been the basis for beans growing through the ceiling, pushing cars into cesspits and having to cook the chicken when invited for dinner, only to find that she did so on the wrong day!

All in all, I found it fun hitting the tourist trail. Margaret beat us both at miniature golf, not difficult as my husband and I are both quite useless, and she was game to try the new experiences Anguilla offers its visitors. Life was much quieter when she went home!

| Printer-friendly page | Send this article to a friend |

World News