Near the remote eastern end of Anguilla is a beautiful, long, curved bay with sand, snorkelling, palm trees, and one building, a fun beach bar. . . .
June 1, 1997 - Site Map.

The bay is shallow and sandy along the shore. The swimming is excellent, since the shore is protected by reefs, which also create good snorkelling. Start at Palm Grove and snorkel toward the offshore rock. Keep your eyes peeled for small Rays, they are beautiful and like sandy areas. You can swim out into the bay for a long ways and still stand up. The coral and fish get more interesting the further out you go. Last week Brennan Rego (a young visitor from Sun Valley, Idaho) spotted 3 sea cows blending into a coral formation. These look somewhat like 6 inch snails without shells, but they open up like Venus Fly traps if you bother them and can even spray a purple dye that is hard to get off.

Directions: There are several ways to get to Junks Hole. Since Palm Grove Bar has put up signs, it is very easy. From The Valley, take either road to Island Harbour. Go through the village and about 1/2 mile beyond. At the top of the hill, turn left on a wide, straight gravel road that slopes down. The road divides in a Y in about 1/2 mile. Keep right and head toward the palm trees.

For more pictures of the area, see this report on Fishing for Jacks at Junks Hole.

Beach Shack. My wife Mary Ann has updated our Tropical Construction web page with the plans that were submitted to planning, and approved.

Ferryboat Inn is a small, family-run hotel in Blowing Point. It now has a web site.

Zara's Restaurant on Shoal Bay now has its own web page. Read our earlier news report.

Travel agent Kathy Smith specializes in Anguilla (she was just here guiding a small group of travel agents to see the resorts on Anguilla). She works at home over the Internet. Here are some of her trip reports from Anguilla: May 1997 trip, Dining in Anguilla, and Hotels in Anguilla. She can help you select the right resort and then book it for you. Her email is [email protected]

Ruel Phillip, a student leader at the Computer Club has created his own home page.

Meads Bay. A nice picture of Meads Bay right next to Malliouhana Hotel.

Professional Services Group have put up a web site, offering real estate, corporate services, document services, and computer services. The site includes a clickable map of Anguilla with raw land, resorts, and homes for sale.

Webster-Dyrud, the Anguillian law firm, now has www.webster-dyrud.com as their home page.

There is a site in the UK that claims to link to three firms with cheap flights from London to Anguilla. Has anyone tried any of these firms?

Here is one of the new stamps, with information about the fruit provided by the Philatelic Bureau of the Anguilla Post Office.

Soursop - Annona Muricata

The Soursop plant favours the red, mineral-rich soil called "Red Bottom", which accounts for a large percentage of Anguilla's arable land. The Soursop usually assumes a heart-like shape, but is known to also grow round or irregular.

The fruit is green in colour with a tough skin with brittle thorn-like projections. A milk-coloured juice is extracted from the pulp and made into drink. Adding water and other desired spices, the Soursop also makes a delicious frozen dessert localled called "Special". The fruit can also be eaten unprocessed.

To see all the fruits in the new definitive stamp issue, visit this web site and link to the on-line order page too.

Carimar Beach Club is offering 7 nights for the price of 5, starting at $650 per week for an apartment.

Llloyds Guest House gives you the 7th day free when you stay a week (and the rates are very reasonable to start with).

Steve Donahue discounts his Tainos villa by 30% from to $1,000/week, gets a $185/week car rental rate from Conners, and discounts the whole rental 5% for 15 days or more.

Cedars Villa is only $600 per week.

Allamanda Beach Club has studio apartments at $77 per night, including tax and service.

Latest information on Summer.

Humidity. I have been tracking it with a new sensor. The highest humidity is during a rainstorm: up to 86% during the recent tropical downpour. Lowest humidity is at mid-day at about 53-58%. The humidity typically starts high in the morning at about 80%. As the temperature rises from 78F to 82F during the morning, the humidity drops to about 60%, so you don't really notice. What really determines comfort level is the wind - as long as it is blowing, Anguilla is cool!

Long Bay has perfect sunsets, beautiful cliffs in the late afternoon (picture), a small pond and a couple of scenic palm trees (picture). The sandy beach is effectively divided into two beaches by some protuding rocks that extend into the water.

There are at least 3 roads to the beach at Long Bay. Coming from The Valley direction, you turn right off the main road at the Long Bay Vilage road (to Malliouhana hotel). The easiest route is probably to go past Mahogany Tree Park into Long Bay Village. Go over the speed bump and turn right on the straight gravel road at the Travelling Post Office sign (also a new sign to "Oliver's Seaside Grill, opening soon). Halfway down the road you will see a dirt road to the right. Follow it to a clearing near the left edge of the pond. Park and follow the easy trail 50 yards to the left edge of the east part of the beach.

Or, turn right after the Mahogany Tree Park at the small adandoned church and the roadside water spigot down a dirt road. Keep to the right and after a short ways the road will take a 90 degree turn to the right - find a spot to pull over and park here. At the point of the turn, a very rough road continues a few hundred feet. Walk this to the open field, and cross to the far west corner. A moderately steep path will take you down to the right edge of the east part of the beach. Wear sturdy shoes and enjoy.

Or, to reach the west part of the beach, continue through the Village and turn right just before the Carib Cafe restaurant, straight over the hill. On your left is the back of Malliouhana hotel. In front of you is a new house and the beach.

Many times, it's the same, but on 2-3 occassions, I've saved as much as $150. Right now in June you can save money as long as you're booking from an airport that services San Juan with both USAir and American. (competition makes a big difference!)

According to Steve, both USAir and American have reduced there fares - if you know how to get them. Example:

Baltimore (BWI) to Anguilla (AXA) on AA is currently $653 round trip. But, if you book round-trip Baltimore to San Juan (SJU), M-Th fare is $287 (F-SU $318), then round-trip SJU to AXA, at $209 (F-Su $213), you get the same flights for $500 + tax. If you book BWI to SJU, then SJU to St. Martin (SXM), the fare comes down to $287 BWI-SJU and $187 SJU-SXM, for a total of $474 + tax (F-Su $515 + tax).

Remember, ask for separate fares for each segment of your trip - not a round trip fare - and ask both USAir and AA to use "K" fares to get the price - and be flexible in your travel times. And if you fly to St. Martin, you can get the Link ferry to pick you up right at Juliana Airport and take you direct to Anguilla.

More tips: the Anguilla Air Fare Bulletin Board.

The Roti Hut is located in George Hill, just west of The Old House restaurant, in a parked food wagon that has sprouted a sign, awning, chairs, and parking. The owner and cook is Heather James, who learned to make Roti while living in Trinidad. Heather will soon be moving across the street to a renovated quaint old wooden house.

Prices at the Roti Hut are very reasonable: EC $10 for Vegi Roti (US$3.75), EC$12 for Boneless Chicken Roti. They sometimes also have Goat Roti, Fish Roti and even Conch Roti when in season. Fish Roti is made with a firm local fish like Old Wife (Trigger Fish), seasoned, then steamed, flaked, and curried. Served in the Roti shell with curried potatoes. Reservations not required.

Anguilla's Revolution was an unusual one. No one was killed, the main issue was Britain's insistence on making Anguilla independent but subordinate to St. Kitts, and the result was that Anguilla became a colony directly administered from London. For more information, you can read an excerpt from Donald Westlake's entertaining history of the Anguilla revolution, "Under an English Heaven".

Update: The National Trust has published a book of poetry by Daisy Richardson. And read more about the museum exhibit on the net.ai site.

The National Trust has published the May issue of their newsletter on the web. Read about the Year of the Reef, the Revolution exhibit in the museum, the Iguana and Sea Turtle projects, and the full scholarship awarded to Trevor Gumbs (assistant landscape manager at Cap Juluca) to take a course at the Royal Kew Gardens.

June is Sea Turtle Month in Anguilla. We have hawksbill turtles that nest here and green turtles that forage for food here. The goal is to raise awareness of what the turtles need to thrive.

"The best rates are between April 15 and December 15. Temperatures are mild year-round, thanks to trade winds. What's Free? Beaches, including those outside the poshest hotels, are open to all and uncrowded except in high season. Parades, festivals, regattas are free. What's Almost Free? Small, one-of-a-kind museums charge nothing to $5 per adult, children half-price or free. Music by local and visiting artists in schools, churches, town hall, day trips to other islands -- charge small amounts. Sounds funky, but its all fun. Best Sleep. Sonesta Beach Club has a "Discover Anguilla Getaway" package Apr 7 to Dec 22 for just $99 p/p dbl. 1-800-SONESTA and ask about other deals."

Courtney is the main organizer of this summers' Anguilla International Arts Festival. He also owns and operates the Devonish Gallery in George Hill, on the main road, which displays his works and that of other popular artists on Anguilla. They also mount exhibits of art work. Courtney is usually in his studio creating in the mornings, but can often be found in the gallery in the afternoons. Telephone: 264-497-2949.

Updates: Courtney exhibits in the USA, Sept 25-Oct 17, 1997. Read the article.

Date: Tue, 15 Apr 1997
From: [email protected] "Judy Van Amerongen"

We just returned from a wonderful vacation in Anguilla. We stayed at the Anguilla Great House Beach Resort on Rendezvous Bay and rented a Jeep to see the rest of the island. The restaurants were excellent all around and I am very happy you featured Rafe's in your news - we had an excellent time and were well fed. For just $20 U.S. we had two orders of ribs and garlic bread, one order of chicken, 2 cokes and three beer. What a bargain! We also tried out the Hill Street Restaurant in the Valley. It too, was a good value and excellent food.

Little Bay was the highlight of our trip. We decided to travel down to the beach the hard way (using the rope), but it was worth the day. We bought some cheese and fruit from the IGA and our snorkel gear and made a day out of it. The "hidden cove" at the end of the beach was entirely ours and we used it to watch the birds and take pictures of the various plants and insects. Underwater views were fabulous!

The wreck site is protected by law in Anguilla. This company was formed to protect, research, and promote the historical wreck site. Principals in the firm are Leander "Bull" Bryan who discovered the site, Raymond Knutsen, and David Stevens. By next tourist season they should be organized to lead guided dives of the protected wreck site and promote it as a tourism development.

They have searched the archives in Spain to find the reports of the 60 young monks who were stranded in Anguilla in the 18th century, then had them translated into English. The monks were educated missionaries on their way to Mexico. Apparently the involuntary visitors did not find Anguilla as hospitable as it is now.

• Prices in Anguilla.
• Shipping your belongings.
• Coming with computers.
• Omolulu Private School.
• Renting year-round and looking for a job.
• Lawyers with e-mail.

Latest information on Moving.

In June, a field archeology team from the University of Vermont will be visiting Anguilla to work on a site in Sandy Ground. The 16 students will be staying at Spindrift on Sile Bay.

Anguilla has two Shoal Bays -- and both have "shoals" or reefs-- Shoal Bay East gets all the publicity, but Shoal Bay West is a perfect, crescent shaped beach at the West End of the island. . . .
June 15, 1997 - Site Map.

Returned from my second trip Anguilla this year. Stayed at Covecastles and loved it. Plan on coming down again in August to get married, and have reserved a fourth 10-day stay starting right after Christmas.

Next time you write about a restaurant you should look at the tiny operation at Covecastles.There are many fine restaurants on Anguilla but here we had the best meal ever. The chef is the key and he is from l'Aureole in New York and is out of this world. We had a reservation there for our last night in Anguilla and did not quite make it!

Mark Boyer was so excited by the meals at Covecastles that he posted a glowing report at two sites on the Internet (here and here):

Covecastles has jumped to the top of our list. Their new chef is in a class by himself. The food was better than most of the meals I've had in Boston and New York in the last year. The menu is truly distinctive, and the chef does some great daily specials if he has the time. I had a potato-crusted snapper that was unquestionably the best meal I've ever had on Anguilla. We were there twice, and each time was excellent. I won't go into detailed course descriptions, but I urge any serious restaurant-goes to give Covecastles a try. Be forewarned: reservations are limited subject to the number of villa guests in residence at any given time. We had to wait four days to get in the first time.

Covecastles is running a Summer Dream Special: five nights with daily breakfast served in your one bedroom beach house, plus one of the fantastic dinners, for $2250/couple, including the 18% tax and service charge. Telephone: 264-497-6801. Fax 6051.

Update: There was a special boat race on July 27th, 1997 from Sandy Ground to Grand Case in St. Martin, continuing to Blowing Point, and back to Sandy Ground. The "UFO" from Island Harbour won the prizes for all four legs of the race. UFO also managed to win two of the big races during the 1997 Carnival week in August, but broke a boom at the start of the Champion of Champions race.

There is a good on-line article on Boat Racing in Anguilla by Judith-Anne Sadler at this web site.

The What We Do In Anguilla tourist guidebook is now on the web. This large web site has all the text and the pictures from their 1997 guide book, including a page with two nice beach pictures.

Cinammon Reef Resort has a redone web site at www.cinnamon-reef.com with lots of new reviews, current menus from their excellent Palm Court Restaurant and information on Chef Vernon Hughes' appearance on the Discovery Channel.

The Calabash Travel Site has a set of Anguilla Web Pages.

Frank Bombino and Rosa Quintana of Puerto Rico have added an Anguilla photo page to their web site. Frank is a Caribbean Travel Consultant. By pure coincidence, just as I was editing this link to his page, Frank emailed me about an article in the June 11th issue of the NY Times on-line Cybertimes that uses Anguilla as an analogy in a discussion of fonts on the Web: Font Wisdom: A Letter-Imperfect World by Peter Wayner. "Anyone who is worried about fonts on the Web should take a drive on the roads of Anguilla. Drivers there use the left side of the road because the Caribbean island remains under the control of the British. The cars, however, usually come with steering wheels on the left because they're imported from the United States. It's been this way for years, and no one seems ready to fix it."

Did you know that there was a city of 883 people named Anguilla, Mississippi? This web page describes it very briefly, but I met a couple from Anguilla Mississippi when they fulfilled their life-long dream to visit Anguilla BWI. Apparently, Anguilla Mississippi was named after Anguilla BWI by a Georgia planter who bought part of a cotton plantation in Anguilla BWI in the last century. He may have brought Sea Island Cotton from Anguilla BWI to the islands of Georgia, and he subsequently moved to Mississippi and founded a city. Small world.

Here is an interesting article on Beach Erosion in Anguilla, but I noticed that some of the beaches that are shown eroded by Hurricane Luis have regained their sand since the article was written.

The program included classical, spiritual and pop selections. One of the vocal soloists with the band, Malvern Gumbs, is an Anguillian Belonger who lives in St. Thomas. Nicole Hodge, a tall, beautiful elegant 6th form student at ALCHS performed two solos with the band: The Impossible Dream and Somewhere Out There. She was incredible and had the audience on their feet applauding (see picture). The band was best on their medley of Leroy Anderson tunes and a Big Band medley.

No, it isn't really hot. In fact, the average high June temperature of 86F is only 4 degrees above December's 82F. (Source: CN Traveller) The humidity keeps within a comfortable range on most days (58-67%), average rainfall is 2.8" for June, and the cooling wind is almost always blowing gently from the South East.

How does June in Anguilla compare with other places you might visit, say Orlando Florida? The average June high temperature in Orlando is 90.5F, average rainfall is 7.3", and average days of precipitation is 14. (Source: Weatherpost)

• The Owen House: architectural and cultural study.
• New sculptures from Courteney Devonish communicate healing.
• International Arts Festival in Anguilla, starting July 28th.
• Still the Proud Rebels by Lena Gumbs
• What is the Internet by Pat Hunte
• An Interview with "www.news.ai"
• The Challenge a short story folk tale by Judith-Anne Sadler-Bryan
• How to Use Anguilla as an International Financial Center
• A Goat Proof Garden
• Anguilla's Heritage Collection museum
• Wallblake House in serious need of repair
• Sprinter Ras Bucket Honoured on Anguillian Stamp
• The Stranger a fictional essay by 16-year old Candis Adams.
• The Beekeepers of Anguilla
• Islie Dabasha's Rainbow Recording Studio
• Rondoletia anguillensis a new species of shrub
• Cap Juluca's Eddie Webster is Employee of the Year, and our first Tai Kwon Do black belt
• Mother a poem by Anita Richardson
• The Fisherman's Song a poem by Patricia Adams
• Carimar's Delroy Lake wins Supervisor of Year
• How the 17.5% Land transfer tax effects property valuation
• How Under 15 Cricket is doing
• Profile of Olive Rogers, veteran of the Anguilla revolution
• Memories of Anguilla as it was in 1959/1960

Of course you can buy Anguilla Life magazine in Anguilla, or you can subscribe for US$20/year by calling 264-497-3080 or sending a money order to Box 109, Anguilla.

Proprieter and chef John Brooks (picture) ran a restaurant in US St. Thomas for many years. He came back to Anguilla on the death of his father and decided to move his business "home". Their motto is "Three Cs: Cleanliness, Classiness and Coziness".

The restaurant is also a good place to try some authentic Caribbean fare such as their Sunday Morning Brunch Special of Saltfish, Eggplant, Boiled Egg, Bagel and Bush Tea (local herbal tea) or Coffee. Telephone: 264-497-2242. Call for Take out orders.

Directions: In The Valley, turn at the stop light and go up Coronation Avenue toward Crocus Hill. Turn right after Public Works on a paved road, at the signs to North Side Village and Paradise Restaurant. For some adventure, continue on this road -- it is the back way to Shoal Bay through the bush, and passes Pitch Apple Hole the home of Anguilla's fossil giant rodent.

Anguilla speaks English, but the local dialect can be puzzling for new visitors. Here is a short course in "Anguillian":

1. Directions.
2. Character.
3. Greetings, good manners.
4. Food and agriculture.
5. Verbs.
6. Nouns, pronouns and prepositions.

Visit Julian's Local lingo page and buy a copy of Ijahnya Christian's book, "Dictionary of the Anguillian Language" at the National Book Store or the Arts and Craft Center.

Anguilla has new stamps featuring the fruits of Anguilla. Here is one of them, with information provided by the Philatelic Bureau (in the post office--visitors welcome!). See all the fruits at this web site.

Like the Soursop and Mango, the Cashew is found growing primarily in red soil. The trees cast their pungent blossoms in early spring and the fruits mature in about sixty days.

The kidney-shaped nut at the end of the pedicel or swollen stark of the flower is the actual fruit. The nut is dried and roasted and the kernel extracted. The Cashew Apple (or Cherry as it is sometimes called) usually ripens to a red or yellow colour and can be processed into jam or stewed. The Cashew nut when placed in the ring, turns a common marble game into a keen test of skill.

Anguilla is spread out, so a car is very useful. Many people rent a car by the week or month while they decide on buying a new or used car. We brought a new Jeep Cherokee with us, and found a person to fix it, but once had to Fedex the car's computer back to Canada for a test! Easiest is to buy a car locally for which there are parts, service, etc. The Japanese often sell simpler models here than in the USA. One established car dealer is Anguilla Motors/Island Car Rentals with Nissan, Mazda, Mitsubishi, Daihatsu. Their phone is 264-497-3723. We purchased a new little Hyundai locally from Apex (phone 264-497-2642) and it has worked better than our expensive Cherokee .

Many people bring a car with them and they manage. Shipping cars to Anguilla costs something like $1,200 and there is duty on the car and the shipping (going up to 40%) so cars are more expensive here.

Insurance is required for registration - slightly cheaper than I was used to, but with lower liability limits. You take your car to Public Works to be inspected before it is registered. Drive very defensively and wear your seat belt. Anguilla has goats on the road and some people who drive fast and pass on blind corners. You can get a driver's license at the Treasury in the The Valley. You just need photographs and a copy of your current license.

Continue virtual vacation with previous issue.

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