"The only disappointment I had was not finding the natural stone bridge described in the book Discover Anguilla." Denise Irvine, recent visitor from New Zealand. . . .
August 1, 1997 - Site Map - Click to enlarge pictures

The book Discover Anguilla is by Caroline Ward and Clive Carty, 1988, Friedman Group, NY. It has the best photographs of Anguilla, taken by Derek Fell of Pennsylvania. They cover the people, natural attractions, architecture, land and sea life, even food, and include pictures of a natural stone bridge in Anguilla.

The bridge is not difficult to find--here are the secret directions. Follow the instructions for Jobsie Bay, park, put on shoes or hiking sandals, walk around the west edge of the bay, then west along the rocky coast for about 60 yards. (Here is another view.)

Olive Hodge at the Anguilla Drug Store (809-497-2738) takes credit cards over the telephone and will mail this book and others to you.

Kimberley will represent Anguilla at the Caribbean Travel Organization conference on Aruba this September and will be chaperoned and coached by her mother Lavern Webster-Richardson. First prize in the contest, sponsored by CNTraveler magazine, is $2000, with $500 for 2 runnerups. Kimberley lives in Cedar Village, North Side, a settlement of about ten people, and is a Class 3 student at Valley Primary School.

The essay is the property of CNTraveler, but they may allow us to reprint it after the competition.

Anguilla Hosts International Beauty Pagaent. Miss Haiti won the Miss Ecstasy Beauty Contest last Saturday night at Landsome Bowl.

Aid for Montserrat. The Central Baptist Church of Rey Hill has gathered EC$6500 from its members and passed it on to Wilma Daley of MONAXA, which is a group of Anguillians and Montserrations living here which was formed to raise funds for the volcano threatened island. They will have a booth at the Carnival village, selling Montserrat's national dish, goat water, as well as drinks and volcano T-shirts.

New Area Code May Still Fail. If you call Anguilla on our new 264 area code and get a wierd message like "do not dial 1 for a local call", use area code 809 instead. Then call your local phone company and place a complaint and send an email to Cable&Wireless telling them 264 does not work from your location and give your phone number so they can figure out which switch is not programmed correctly. The old 809 area code is due to be cut off on September 30th, just at the time people are booking for tourist season!

Robert Harris Is New Governor. The acting Governor Robert Harris has been sworn in as Anguilla's new British governor. Mr. Harris came to Anguilla as the deputy governor under Governor Houle, but has been the acting governer for quite a while, as Governor Houle had to take medical leave due to a serious illness and never returned to the job.

Work Starts on New Police Hdqt. There was a ground breaking ceremony for Anguilla's new state-of-the-art police headquarters building. Designed by architect David Brazier who has a house in Old Ta, it will be paid for my the British and built by Orchard, Romney, Beck and Associates.

American Cuts Back. Every September American considers reducing the number of flights to Anguilla due to lower traffic. This September 4th, AA switches to one flight per day from San Juan to Anguilla at 1:12pm and return at 3:39pm. For ten weeks you will not be able to reach Anguilla in one day from most places in the Western USA--as I found out when I tried to confirm my return ticket from Los Angeles to Anguilla on September 4th!

She would be the first Wedding consultant in Anguilla on the Internet (and one of the first in the Caribbean too). Tania started her business a short time ago with a web site and she has already done 6 weddings, with more booked. She loves looking after all the details so that everything turns out romantically perfect. For example, on June 16th the couple pictured above came from their honeymoon hotel in St. Martin (the room was a wedding gift) to be married on Shoal Bay. Their car broke down on the way to the ferry, but Tania waited 3 hours for them at the dock. The day was a public holiday, so Tania arranged to take the couple to a Commissioner of Oaths to sign the paperwork. In spite of the late start, she got the bride and groom, the cake, the champagne, the minister, the maids of honour she provided, the flowers, the palm arch, and Dumpa's Steel Band to Shoal Bay in time for the ceremony. She even arranged for a video of the entire wedding. As the last ferry leaves Blowing Point at 7pm, she sent her assistants rushing back to sign the happy couple into the manifest and make certain it did not leave without them! The bride wanted a special cake with basket weave in the frosting and sent a picture of it - Tania found a baker in West End who could duplicate the cake exactly.

Español

An article in the Wall Street Journal on June 20th says that "Americans are flocking to the Caribbean in record numbers this month to get married. The appeals of the Caribbean are many. It costs less to combine a wedding and honeymoon in one trip, the settings are magnificent and the distance cuts down on the guest list." They also point out that the June temperatures in Jamaica, where a quarter of the visitors are for a wedding or honeymoon, hover in the 90s with average humidity of 78%. Anguilla is more comfortable at 84F and 64% humidity, but tuxedos and long wedding gowns are discouraged. Tania suggests wearing something loose and comfortable and putting the bride's hair up if the wedding is outdoors in the breeze. Tania sees her job as looking out for the interests of her couples: such as negotiating a 20% discount when they eat at Straw Hat Restaurant. Weddings on the Go: 264-497-2685 fax 8416. [email protected]

Arts Festival attracts 70 artists from many countries to compete for the $10,000 first prize. The festival has many activities, including a children's art workshop with a children's competition featuring a first prize of EC$700. The festival kicked off with a cocktail party for all the artists and sponsors. Internationally famous George Sumner, shown in the picture talking to organizer Courtney Devonish and artist Patricia Fay, has painted a special work for the festival that echoes the three dolphins in the Anguilla flag . It will be for sale with profits going to fund the next festival. There are posters of the large artwork available at $25, $50 signed. Contact Devonish Gallery.

Carnival. The island is deep into the yearly Carnival celebration, with activities until August 11th. The Mirrors Night Club above Vista Market has a Carnival special: all drinks $2 from Midnite to 1AM. There will be live music at some night spot every night: Dragon Disco, Pump House, Johnnos.

Kids 'n Karnival. Saturday afternoon, August 9th. Games, face painting, stilt walking, clowns, science center, arts and crafts, story teller, races, horse rides, Calypso karaoke. Dozens of activites for children. Adults welcome, with a child! 10am-2pm Carnival Village. Free!

Tennis Camp. 70 children have signed up for tennis camp at the Webster park courts. Coaches Mitchelle Lake and Shawn Romney attend college in the US on tennis scholarships.

Fun Day for children was organized at Webster Park by the Optimists Club: races, games, horse riding. All for EC$0.25 per child!

The Circle Inn is located up on Roches Hill overlooking The Valley, in a modest residential area. Turn up Coronation Blvd toward the baseball field and Crocus Hill. Turn right at the sign for Circle Inn after the beautiful stone Methodist church on the left. The road twists and turns, but there aren't any turn offs. Just follow the road until it makes its way to the top of the hill. There you will find the Circle Inn. I thought I was in completely alien territory, but I quickly ran into an electrician I know and Shamash, the chef at Zara's Restaraunt.

Feedback on Sally's Circle Inn. Donna Lambert reports: My husband Bob and I read about Sally's Circle Inn in the Anguilla Local News before we visited Anguilla two weeks ago and we want to add our compliments on the fine service, food, and hospitality we received there. After finding the Inn, we ate there several times and were always pleased with the quality, price, and especially the portion-size! My husband has never cared for macaroni and cheese, but he loved Sally's version, and our last day there she was gracious enough to share her recipe with me. Thank you again, Sally!! The ribs, chicken, potato salad, lasagna, rice and peas, as well as the macaroni and cheese were all delicious. This was our first trip to Anguilla and we want to thank everyone we contacted for their hospitality and tolerance. We got lost several times and people were always patient and kind in helping us find our way -- especially one young man who spent much time directing us to Little Bay. In any case this young man obviously knew his island and loved it very much -- a joy to see in one so young. We stayed at Milly's Inn on Shoal Bay and were very pleased with our accomodations. The beaches are wonderful, of course, and the weather perfect, but the kindness of the people we will remember as well.

Message: Hi. Today the temperature in Anguilla is 86 and the humidity is 69%. How is it in Minnesota?

Reply: Today we are pushing 90F, humidity is in the 80% range, tomorrow is warmer and higher humidity! Minnesota wins!

Thunderstorms! July had some impressive thunderstorms, which blew out modems, and a few rainy tropical wave days, but was generally nice. We in Anguilla are spoiled, however. The temperature rose above our normal 85F to hit 88F last week and many locals were complaining of the heat. Humidity has been steady around 60% to 68%. Humidity rises to 90% in the middle of a tropical downpour, so I have dropped the column on "maximum humidity in the last 30 days" since it is meaningless. The "lowest humidity" column is a better indicator of comfort.

Donna Hilliman is the first member of the Computer Club to complete all five levels of software training. Each level requires mastering 6 or more skills, such as preparing a spreadsheet, mastering the keyboard, writing a BASIC program, designing a house, learning DOS and Windows, and much more.

Computer Club Expanded Hours. The Computer Club is open Monday through Thursday in the summer, with 9am-noon set aside for children and 1-3pm set aside for teens and adults. Meetings are held in the back of the Arts and Crafts building next to the library. The club would be glad to recycle your unneeded 72-pin SIMMS and IDE disks and notebook disks.

Donna is from Guyana and worked determinedly to complete testing on all five levels before returning to Guyana to lead a butterfly expedition into the interior and then take over operation of the business left to her by her father. As one of her exercises, Donna prepared a web page on her home village in Guyana:

Kamarang, Guyana Kamarang is one of the many Amerindian villages on the Upper Mazaruni River. It is at the junction of two rivers, these are the Kamarang River and the Mazaruni River. To get to Kamarang you take a plane from the Ogal Airstrip which is on the East Coast of Demerara in Georgetown, Guyana. You fly for about three quarters of an hour to Kamarang Landing. The village has a mixture of different people living there, but most of them are the Amerindians. These people are mostly fishermen and farmers so they try as much as possible to cultivate the land around them. Some of the vegetables that they plant are cassava, yams, dasheen, tanias, plantains melons. They also harvest coil worms to make Crab Oil, they are very sweet to the taste buds. This is all for now about my village. I hope you like it. Donna Hilliman

Every saturday morning from 9:30 to 10:30 AM is "Children's Story Time" at the library, hosted by Judith Sadler-Bryan, and broadcast live on Radio Anguilla (AM 1505, FM 95.5). Judith always starts with a story of Ananse the clever spider, who tries to trick the other animals and get out of work. When I dropped in, guest story teller Charlotte Berglund read the story "Ellie and Ollie Eel". 11-year old Tamara Hodge and six-year-old Marie Harris read stories to the assembled children and the radio audience also. Little Marie (see picture below) was concentrating so hard on getting the words right, that her voice sometimes dropped to a whisper. No problem--Judith summarized each page for us as she finished it. The children who participate in Story Time can earn a book of their own to keep.

Visitors are welcome to drop their children off for Story Time too. And starting August 13th, the Library will host a three week story telling workshop for 10 to 12 year olds.

Librarian Jane Greel says that when a child gets turned on by reading, they soon devour every book in the library. Anguilla has a great new library building with room for lots more books. Bring along any books for young readers that you aren't using anymore and drop them off at the Library main desk, attention Jane Grell. Especially welcome are picture books, folk tales, mystery stories, and reference books. Do you have a bookshelf of a well-loved juvenile series: Nancy Drew or the Hardy Boys or the Baby-sitters Club or Encyclopedia Brown? And Jane says not to forget the adult readers: paperbacks are fine. She never has enough romances, mysteries, or best sellers to satisfy the demand.

Anguilla National Library
Attention: Jane Grell
The Valley, Anguilla, British West Indies
Email: [email protected]
Phone: 809-497-2441. Fax: 809-497-3408.

Sea Fan Coral. The Anguilla Post Office still has copies of the three-stamp set that shows the species of sea fans found in local waters. See them at this web page.

Fish of Anguilla. Errol "Junior" James of the Computer Club has put up a site based on the fish stamps of Anguilla and a personal home page.

Hansa.net of Anguilla has a web page about location optimized commerce on the Internet.

The Escape Artist has an Anguilla page on his site, which is about escaping from America: "Tomorrow we will live where the best real estate exists, where the least crime and repression exists, where population pressures have not decimated the environment and where business is encouraged and not hindered by legislation. We will live there regardless of that place's global location or it's former political posture."

More Web Sites:	German Anguilla page	Full Wired text
Another 5-day forecast	Anguilla National Museum	NetCarib Anguilla page
World Travel Guide	Cap Juluca	Net.ai
DEA Bank Sting	Timeshare fraud	Anguilla beaches

The fruit is less than 1" in diameter and has a green skin. You crack the skin and push out the nut inside, which is large and has a thin layer of yellow fruit around it. Pop it in your mouth, suck off the fruit, and spit out the nut. Genip will stain your clothes badly, so eat them at the beach. At first they seem sour, but the taste grows on you quickly.

The scientific name for Genip is Melicoecus Bijugatus. It is also known as quenette, and mamoncillo. The Genip, which grows in clusters, vary in size, shape and taste from tree to tree. One tree can produce an amazing number of fruit clusters. The fruit, high in acidity, range from very sweet to extremely sour, and are often eaten as they are harvested.

Continue virtual vacation with previous issue.