TravelTalkOnline Forums Trip Reports (Read Only) Trip Report and Photo Archives Days 25-27 Anguilla

24/2/11 Thursday
We packed our stuff and prepared for the next phase of our holiday, a few days in Anguilla. We only took a few things, leaving most of our luggage on the boat for now. Went to our new favorite breakfast restaurant, La Sucriere, for coffee, pastries and a ham and cheese croissant. We took the ferry from Marigot, $15 US each one way the ride was smooth even though the sea was still kicked up a bit. After clearing C&I we rented a car from Moinsel Taxi and Car Rental at the ferry terminal; $30 a day plus $5 day for insurance, a temporary license is required and cost $20. We don’t usually rent cars in the Caribbean because we prefer the local buses, but it is a necessity on Anguilla. Somehow we managed to find our accommodations, Lloyds Guesthouse at Crocus Bay. I had read many good reviews about it on TA and we weren’t disappointed. It is a cute little place, two minutes from the beach, and at $145 a day breakfast included it is just right for us. We drove down to the beach at Crocus Bay, although nice it would turn out to be the least beautiful of the beaches we would visit during our stay.

The beach at Crocus Bay
There is a resort on the beach and the smell of the grill got us a little hungry so after some time lying around we headed off to The Valley. First order of business was to get a local sim card for our digicel phone; we find the $5 or $10 EC the sim cards cost save us a lot on roaming charges, downside is our friends and families don’t know it is us because we have a different number in each country. A local man we chatted with at Crocus Bay recommended Lisa’s so we tried it for lunch. It is a small place in a newer strip mall, we both had the jerk chicken served with salad and rice, $11 each. The boneless breast meat strips were spicy but not overpowering. We then headed out to Shoal Bay, I sailed to Anguilla for a day a couple years ago and Kim has wanted to visit ever since she saw the photos. My honey is a sun goddess and loves her beaches so I knew Anguilla was the island for her. The wind was blowing hard and the sea was too rough for comfortable snorkeling, but Kim sunbathed while I strolled up and down both ends of the long beach.

Shoal Bay Beach
We had a drink Madeariman Reef Bar as the sunset provided the perfect ambiance. We went back to the hotel and each enjoyed a nice long shower, a real treat after two weeks on the boat.
25/2/11 Friday
Breakfast is included in the room rate; eggs, bacon, toast and fresh fruit with coffee and tea. Everything was nicely cooked and the fresh juice was outstanding. We met a couple from Portland that were working their way south so we exchanged tips on St. Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines. The wind was blowing a little cool, and honey doesn’t like cool so we drove to the West End and visited Shoal Bay West. This is another lovely beach and St. Martin was visible in the distance. I swam while Kim caught some rays.

Shoal Bay West
After a while we left and took a ride around the island then headed back to Shoal Bay, this can get confusing, were we spent the rest of the day just lying in the sun.

The anchorage at Road Bay
On our journey yesterday we smelled the most incredible chicken BBQ, coming from under a large tarp along the side of the road in The Valley. It turned out to be Kens BBQ and we stood patiently in line with about a dozen locals waiting for the next batch to be ready. The chicken leg and thigh is $3 US, garlic bread $1 a serving. They don’t serve side dishes which would have made the meal complete. Afterwards I was still feeling a little peckish so we headed down to the Roti Shack. I had a spicy goat roti, large and freshly prepared along with a Heineken, Kim had an order of plantains, total bill $14 US; not bad but still a bit of sticker shock after spending so much time in the windwards. It was back to the hotel with plans to go see some live music, but after a full day in the sun we just didn’t have the motivation.
26/2/11 Saturday
We had breakfast again at the hotel, same as yesterday and just as good. We went on the prowl for the requisite souvenirs. A man at Kens had suggested we try Upper Shoal Bay so that was where we headed. The beach isn’t as long but there are a lot less people, basically us and a mom with kids from Montreal.

Upper Shoal Bay
We walked down to Gwens Reggae Bar for a beer and met a woman who is active on the TA Anguilla forum. She told us that there was a get together planned at the bar that afternoon with live music; we had planned to go to Smokeys on Cove Bay but figured we would save ourselves some driving and accept the invite. A quick trip into town was in order so we could get some money from the ATM to cover tomorrow’s transportation costs back to St. Martin. We had read great reviews about Hungrys Food Van so a pitstop was made and I got a bowl of goat soup from the very tempting menu; the menu included peas and pig tails, and also lobster and corn soup among more standard types. Most of the soups are $6 a bowl with the exception of the lobster that is $7. Back to Gwens we went to find the party just getting off the ground. The crowd was made up of mostly middle aged Americans and we sat and chatted with a couple from Clearwater Florida. The band played many classic rock songs tinged with a reggae beat.

Beach party at Gwens
It started to break up around 4:30 so we headed off for some food, Kim not having eaten since breakfast. We decided to go back to Hungrys for some of the highly recommended quesadillas and were very happy with them. The grilled tortilla shells were packed full of breast meat and mixed vegetables, a very good deal for $6. To top off our supper we returned to Kens and had the chicken and rib combo $6, and an order of garlic bread; just as delicious as the day before. Again the plan was to go out for the evening but since we had a few during the day we decided to leave the partying for regatta week.
Since we will be in St. Martin for the remainder of our holiday I will be posting the trip reports on that forum.