Anguilla News, 2000/05/14


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There is a major resort upgrade going on at Shoal Bay East. . . .

2000/05/14 - Click to enlarge pictures

Changes at Shoal Bay Beach Hotel

New fantastical tropic swimming pool, an elegant wide entryway leading to new office, palm trees everywhere, heritage pavers for all the walkways, patios and driveways, new building on the water for watersports plus a bar and grill, lush new landscaping, new kitchens and colorful decor and bedding in the suites - this is what is happening at Shoal Bay Beach Hotel.

The pool, the watersports center and the palms are already done and work continues feverishly on the pavers. Landscaping was designed by architect John Fillhart of Miami, who also did the Frangipani Beach Club.

According to manager Dorothy Pickering, the resort has 26 one-bedroom suites and a two-bedroom suite. The suites feature sitting and dining areas, bathrooms with shower, cable TV, radio, telephone, and fully equiped kitchens. Bedrooms has queen beds or two twins. All rooms have a terrace or balcony facing directly onto Shoal Bay beach. The deluxe beachfront suites offer air conditioning.

Rates from April 16 until Dec 19, 2000 vary from $125 to $175 for one bedroom suites suites and $275 for the two-bedroom suite. Christmas season rates are $300 to $650, and high-season 2001 runs from $285 to $625. All rates US$, plus 8% tax and 10% service charge. Visa/Mastercard/American Express accepted.

Phone: 264-497-2011
Fax: 264-497-3355
Toll-free: 800-869-5827
Email: [email protected]

Flower and Garden Show

How to top the First Annual Flower and Garden Show? Have the second one.

The Anguilla Beautification Club held their 2nd Annual Flower and Garden Show on April 29-30, 2000 on the grounds of Ruthwill Auditorium in The Valley. The high point of the show is awarding the winners in the floral competitions. There are many categories including miniature flower arrangement.

Other displays featured produce from local farmers (we bought some incredible tomatoes), submissions by primary school children for a competition, displays of goat resistant plants, herbs from the CuisinArt gardens, local art work, the "Corner of My Garden" photo competition, traditional foods, and displays by local nurseries.

We picked up a list of Goat Resistant Plants, including Oleander, Periwinkle, Parsley, Coriander, Stingy Thyme, Mint, Coleus, Asparagus Fern, Purple Allamanda, and more. But the list comes with a dose of skepticism - next to it was a sign up sheet where you could check off supposedly "goat-proof" plants that you had personally seen goats eating. If they get hungry enough, they will eat almost anything that isn't deadly poison.

The program guide was a bargain at only US$4. It contains a weatlh of useful articles and pictures on gardening in Anguilla: How To Make A Garden From Scratch, Growing Orchids in Anguilla, The Ultimate Challenge, Hibiscus, The Grounds of Government House, Plant Production by Leaf Cutting, Rocks Can Be a Garden Too, Goat Resistant Plants...Well...Maybe, Air Layering, Beautifying Sandy Ground, Herb Garden Basics, Specialist Fertilizer for Anguillian Soils, Growing House Plants, Some Flowers Do All the Work For You, Pest and Pet Control, and Hydrophonic Basics.

The two day event drew a good turnout, including tourists! There was always a line at the container where the high-grade tropical topsoil was for sale. Activities included tours of hotel gardens and demonstrations of air layering and hydrophonic plant towers,

More photos of people at the show can be found on the Photo.ai web site: Click Here.

Weather in Anguilla

Weather Summary	Satellite
Sunny 81F 27C 65% Humidity,	May 13
Low temp since last news report	75F 23C
High temp since last news report	84F 28C
Low humidity since last news report	51%
Tropical storm web sites	Link Alt
Anguilla weather forecasts	Link Alt

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Sherricks Bay

Anguilla has several beaches that are completely undeveloped. On May 8, 2000, Roger Fenn and Dorothy Chaisson (email: [email protected]) of Maine visited one of them and prepared this report for you.

"At the West End of Anguilla is a small, secluded beach on Sherrick's Bay. To go there head straight west on the main road which runs through the island. Instead of turning left toward Cove Castles after the West End Salt Pond, continue straight on the narrow local road through West End Village, then stay left until the road ends at a sandy path leading to the beach on Sherrick's Bay."

Here are pictures from Sherricks Bay, looking West, then East toward Cove Castles.

"The west end of the beach looks toward Lower West End Point, which could be reached by some serious bushwhacking. The water's edge is a mix of coral, limestone, and sandy areas. Much of the sand has washed away from the waterfront, which limits swimming until sand washes back in the future."

"More sand is along the back edge of the beach, where you can stretch out and enjoy really beautiful views of St. Martin and other islands to the South. There's also a view of the rear of Cove Castles. At the east end of the beach is a rocky divide, a small coral shore, then Sherrick's High Point, which divides Sherrick's Bay from Lower Shoal Bay (West) and Cove Castles Resort."

Guest article.

Altamer Resort Under Construction

Anguilla will soon have a new luxury resort in the West End. Mike and Rebecca Eggleton are creating a beachfront hideaway on 5 acres at the east end of Shoal Bay West (i.e., next door to Blue Waters). The resort includes a fitness center, pool, and tennis court.

The tall structure has incredible views on each level, especially the top level (see picture). Altamer even has an elevator to provide access for the disabled. They are planning for "one of the premium ultra luxury resorts in the world". The name of the resort is Altamer (which is derived from the word "high" in Italian and "sea" in French). They have full page ads in the newspaper this month seaking staff to operate the resort.

Construction manager is Audley Carty, pictured right. Completion of the first phase, which offers 5 bedrooms for groups of up to 10, is scheduled for July 15, 2000. Construction on Altamer Resort will continue in the slow season, first creating a restaurant on the point, then 2 more villas with their own pools, and finally a conference center.

Rebecca and Mike (pictured below) currently divide there time between Moscow and Istanbul, but hope to spend more time in Anguilla. They are already getting more involved in the community and have become sponsors for Slick Carty's competition in the Sydney Paralympics.

Altamer's on-site Chef prepares three meals daily and snack; selected beverages:sodas, juice, water, spirits, and house wine (access to the 1,000 bottle fine wine cellar is extra), cognac and digestifs; full time staff: concierge, chef, guest personal assistant, housekeeper and gardener; laundry service (excluding dry cleaning); sports equipment: use of snorkeling equipment, non-motorized boating equipment; transportation to/from Anguilla Airport or Ferry Landing; use of facsimile in Altamer villa (phone charges are additional); use of computer equipment (Internet access charges are additional); and New York Times facsimile service.

Web site: www.altamer.com
Email: [email protected]
Architect: Myron Goldfinger, who did www.covecastles.com

Anguilla Diary: April 26 to May 14, 2000

Here is a day-by-day compendium of news items, as we gathered them - starting with the most recent.

Saturday, May 13, 2000

Caribbean Job Fair. Roddy Heyliger (email: [email protected]) writes that this web site that matches people with jobs in the Caribbean will be "island hopping to Anguilla" over the next month, building contacts and links: Click Here.

Friday, May 12, 2000

Parade of Troupes, 1999. Netconcepts has added brilliant pictures from the last carnival to their Photo.ai web site: Click Here.

Thursday, May 11, 2000

Tackle Box Sports Centre. The Tackle Box now has a web page. This store is located in The Valley, across from the Anglican Church and back from the road slightly (across the lane from the English Rose restaurant): Click Here.

Wednesday, May 10, 2000

Villas.ai:
Private villas for rent.

Sunny-Day Villa. Dan Rosenblatt has created a web page for his villa at Seafeathers. Two-bedroom, two-baths, deluxe appointments. $160 per night through Dec 14, 2000: Click Here.

Anguilla Questions?
Email the Tourist Board at [email protected] or the Hotel Association at [email protected]

SUNY Education Program In Anguilla. State University of NY is holding a summer education program for Anguillians again this summer, but this time the classes are on the island instead of in upstate NY. These are intensive 2-week courses in Hospitality Management (call 497-2944), Agriculture/Landscape (call 497-2615), Small Engine Repair (497-2416).

Tuesday, May 9, 2000

Public Holidays 2000. The Government web site has a list of holidays, including a new one: Caricom Day, Monday July 3rd: Click Here.

Villa Fairview. On the grounds of La Sirena resort (giving you access to pools and restaurants), Fairview has a master suite with king bed, second bedroom with queen, and tiny child's room with twin bed. Bedrooms are air conditioned. This is their closest villa to the beach: Click Here.

Monday, May 8, 2000

Translations:
In the archive

Success on a Plate. Article about Anguillian restaurants and CuisinArt resort from the The Sunday Times of London by Chandos Elletson . The article seemed pretty accurate, except that he mislabelled a photo of Nat Richardson with lobster at Palm Grove as being taken at Scilly Cay: Click Here.

CEG Newsletter. Read issue #14 of Graham Crabtree's newsletter from Anguilla, this one mostly about the new budget: Click Here.

Government Email Directory. From the Government of Anguilla web site: Click Here.

Sunday, May 7, 2000

Menus.ai:
Restaurants and menus.

Coconnos/Siblings Restaurant in Blowing Point. Howard Felsher (email: [email protected]) writes
We have been to Anguilla many times (where else would one go?). When we cannot get to Anguilla, your newspaper supplies us with a taste of it; it nourishes us. Apropos of nourishment, I've not seen anything in the Anguilla News about a relatively new, and wonderful, restaurant in Blowing Point. It's called either Coconno's or Siblings (owned and operated by the Davis brothers). I've eaten there several times, with my wife and other friends, and loved it each time. Marvelous fish, chicken and ox-tail stew. Plus the top-notch Anguilla accoutrements of rice and peas. They also have ice cream. Usually it's packed with Anguillians, but very rarely have I seen any tourists there.The tourists are missing a great bet. What's more, it is quite inexpensive. One of the reasons it's so good, I'd guess, is that the Davis sibling (hence Siblings) who mostly runs it, Winston (Shabby) Davis, got his training at Blanshard's and, before that, at Mangos. Even now, Shabby does a lot of cooking at the Cuisinart Resort.

Saturday, May 6, 2000

Chief Minister Off to London. Read story about it in the Daily Herald: Click Here.

Internet Yellow Pages:
All known Anguilla sites.

Registration for Ai Domains. If you have an Anguilla domain name such as news.ai you need to fill out the official registration form, which you can find at nic.ai: Click Here. This is because a new firm is negotiating with government to take over registration of AI domains. As I understand it, domains will still be free for Anguilla-related businesses and individuals. If your web page is with us at news.ai, we will do this for you. If someone else maintains your web page, remind them to fill out the form. If you maintain your own web page, you have to do it yourself.
Here are the instructions for filling out the form:
Authorization: leave blank
Credit card number/authorization: leave blank
Anguillian person/org: put your name or the name of your business or organization. Since all existing domains will most likely be grandfathered, just put your name.
Complete domain name: enter one domain name, without the www, such as news.ai
Organization using domain name: enter your name and address. Use your Box number if you don't have a street address (very likely in Anguilla). Leave State and Postal Code blank if country is Anguilla.
Administrative Contact: If you have an NIC handle (they are two letters and 4 digits), enter it and leave the rest of the address blank. Otherwise fill out your full name and address.
Technical Contact: Same as Administraive Contact in most cases. Fill out the same way.
Billing Contact: Same as Administrative Contact in most cases. Fill out the same way.
Prime Name Server and Secondary Name Server. To get these log onto a UNIX system and type nslookup, then set querytype=any and the name of your domain, such as news.ai. NSLOOKUP should print the host name and internet address for your name servers (the first is the primary). For example:
news.ai nameserver = ns6.pair.com
news.ai nameserver = ns0.ns0.com
ns6.pair.com    internet address = 209.68.1.21
ns0.ns0.com     internet address = 209.197.64.1  
When you have completed the form, mail it to [email protected]

Friday, May 5, 2000

Calendar:
Events, holidays, activities

Oratorical Competition. The tourist board is sponsoring a competition of high school students on Tuesday, May 8, 2000 at 7:30pm in the Teacher's Resource Center Auditorium. The public is invited.

Ashley Brooks Road Rally. Sunday, May 7, 2000, starting at 3:30pm. Starts and finishes in front of Ashley's Supermarket. See athletes compete from the six primary schools, Gloria Omolulu School, and the high school.

Fascinating Business Story.

Anguilla Forums:
Tête-à-Tête
Travel Talk
Carib On-line

Alfredo and Wendy Merat are a husband and wife team who run a successful luxury villa firm, Overseas Connection. They represent some of the finest properties in the world, from Bali to Europe and the Caribbean. On Anguilla they represent a number of villas, including the Cerulean Villa, which they helped develop and market, consulting upon staff, amenities brochures and press and public relations. With a four-star chef, beachfront setting, spectacular pool, tennis court, concierge, and full staff, Cerulean is almost always occupied. Recently, Wendy Merat dropped by our "under construction" complex and gave us some tips on what would make it a world-class villa. She had a lot of good suggestions. We were suprised how differently we, as full-time Caribbean residents, look at a villa, compared to a tourist who has saved hard all year for one or two weeks in paradise. To read the fascinating story of how Alfredo and Wendy started their business, Click Here.

Thursday, May 4, 2000

Anguilla Questionnaire. Thelma Lee's tourist questionnaire has been simplified and hosted with an automatic polling service. If you are a fan of Anguilla, fill our her survey and see what other people have answered (after some answers are collected): Click Here.

Government Phone Directory. From the Government of Anguilla web site: Click Here.

Wednesday, May 3, 2000

Loblolly House and Ocean View Apartments. Alex Chassels (email: [email protected]) has created a web page for the two bedroom/two bath villa that his parents Angus and Mary Chassels have on Anguilla, along with the Ocean View apartments in Island Harbour, owned by Boyston and Iona Webster. Click Here.

Tuesday, May 2, 2000

RayKel's Restaurant. Here is a picture to go with the recommendation from Martin Durand (email: [email protected]):
RayKel's is a "local" eatery on Queen Elisabeth avenue, right after the Stoney Ground elementary school. One menu a day, posted of a blackboard outside the place early in the morning. Prices are around 15 $EC and the menu is quite varied (I saw and tried the ox-tail stew and a fish curry, with rice-and-peas and cole slaw, that rivaled the same at a "tourist" place for the same price in $US.

Fujau Restaurant. Here is a picture to go with the restaurant recommendation from Martin Durand (email: [email protected]):
A suggestion for your menus.ai page: Fujau's
It's located behind ScotiaBank. You don't go for the decor but the food is great, the prices are (tourist-wise) ridiculous with ribs or meat curry at 15 to 20 $EC (EC !) fish at 15 $EC and conch at 20 to 25 $EC. You can get all items to take-out. The kind of place that is ideal for lunch.

Beaches.ai:
Over 30 Anguilla beaches.

Beachshack. Mary Ann's Tropical Construction web site has been updated and will probably be updated more in the days to come. The home page format has changed slightly to be a rolling news log, where the newest story is always at the top, much like this Daily Diary of the Anguilla News: Click Here.

Under an English Heaven. Click below for the first 3 pages of "Under an English Heaven" by Donald E. Westlake. This book is 264 pages and was published by Hodder and Stoughton, 1973. Light-hearted "recital of the events leading up to and down from the British invasion of Anguilla on March 19th, 1969". Out of print, but copies are for sale at most gift shops on the island: Click Here.

Sunday, April 30, 2000

Villa Pasatiempo. This 2 bedroom villa on the grounds of La Sirena resort has views of the ocean, of the tropical gardens, and of the pool. King bed and two full-size beds, which are air conditioned. Spiral staircase to sun-deck on the roof. Click Here.

Saturday, April 29, 2000

The Origins of Boat Racing. Racing handmade, open sailboats is the traditional national sport of Anguilla. For an article by David Carty on why, Click Here.

Build Your Own:
Beachshack

Seashore Villa. Looking for two king-size beds and two doubles? Click Here.

Friday, April 28, 2000

Pirates! Jason Butterworth (email: [email protected]) pointed out an article in History Today about a 17th century pirate who captured the Spanish maps of the Pacific, escaped hanging several times, and was last heard of on Anguilla, where he claimed he was Governor: Click Here.

Building Better Software. I thought that some of my readers might wonder what I do here in Anguilla. I write software products and I also write papers about programming and related topics. My latest one is Building Better Software: Click Here.

Thursday, April 27, 2000

Hotels.ai:
All the resorts/hotels/inns.

Villa Del Mar. A two bedroom villa on the grounds of the La Sirena Resort (i.e., pools and restaurants). Air conditioned bedrooms, one with King bed and another with two doubles. Short walk to Meads Bay. Click Here.

Wednesday, April 26, 2000

The Round House. This villa is next door to Paradise Cove and Sonesta Resort. The upstairs has a master suite, with kitchen, dining room, and living room, while downstairs is a another suite with 2 or 3 bedrooms. Walk to Cove Bay. Click Here.

Bird Expert. Steve Holliday is in Anguilla collecting information on the bird population. Read about it in the Daily Herald: Click Here.

Stories from the previous and earlier News.ai issues.
Black Garden Bay	Foods NinetyFive
Le Bistro Restaurant	Daily Diary
Island Harbour Picture	Hibiscus Villa

About Anguilla

Anguilla is a coral island in the North Eastern Caribbean, six miles from St. Martin. Click Here for a map showing Anguilla's relative location. The web pages about Anguilla have been indexed by topic in an Internet Yellow Pages:

Anguilla Internet Yellow Pages
Apartments Air Travel Archaeology Artists Auto Rental Bars Beaches Boats Books Business Carnival Cays and Islets Churches Clubs/Teams/Assoc Conferences Construction Discussion Forums Diving Events Explore	Ferry Service Fishing Foreign Language Galleries Glassbottom Boats Government Guest Houses Hidden Places History Hotels Hurricanes Internet/Computers Language Local Life & Culture Maps Massage Menus Moving Museums Music	Nature News Personal Pages Racing Sailboats Real Estate Restaurants Schools Search Shopping Sports St. Martin/St. Maarten Stamps Taxi Services Telecommunication Tips & Pointers Tourist Information Villas Water Sports Weather Weddings

Searching the News.ai Site

Indirectly, this page links to all known Anguilla web sites, including the many articles in the Bob Green's Anguilla News. To read past issues by date, Click Here. The four year news archive can also be searched by key word:

Recommended Vacation Villas

Our villa on Shoal Bay beach: Bellamare.

And ten minutes away, our villa in St Barth that is totally secluded and private, but close to everything in St Jean, and with unbelievable views.

There is a major resort upgrade going on at Shoal Bay East. . . .