A week in Antigua

The Carribean has never really been on our list of places to go to, but we were lucky enough to be invited to experience Antigua for a week, with around 40 other content creators. The whole trip was in partnership with the Antigua and Barbuda Tourism Board, who organised some activities during our conference week.

Check out the vlog below to view our full experience in Antigua: from joining the choir, kayaking, ziplining, cooking with rum to drinking all the rum punches.

One of my favourite days of the week, was the Sunday morning hike with the Wadadli Trail Blazers. A local hiking group that took us to an amazing viewpoint overlooking the most southern tip of the island. They leave at 6am every Sunday to hike around English Harbour up to the Shirley Heights lookout.

This was one of the first activities we did for the week in Antigua, so it was great to talk to the locals and get a perspective of what the island looks like.

I didn’t expect to see so much cacti around the hiking trails and as it was early in the morning it was beautiful lighting all around. The hike is overall quite easy, with a few uphill sections at the end towards the lookout at Shirley Heights.

If you’re looking for something to do on a Sunday evening in Antigua, Shirley Height’s lookout is the place to be. Every Sunday, there’s a sunset party where you can enjoy rum punch and eat from a typical Antiguan barbecue, whilst listening to the steel drum bands with an incredible view.

Joe and I explored a lot of different areas of Antigua during this trip, as we both chose separate activities from the options offered. Whilst I was still asleep at 5am, he managed to go on a road trip with other fellow photographers, to explore the bluest seas and whitest sands in Antigua.

Carlise Bay and Jolly Harbour are only two out of the 365 beaches Antigua has, but absolutely stunning nonetheless. From the West to the East, it takes you an hour to get across the island by car.

We were in Antigua during ‘Chase the Race’, sailing week.

Check out Joe’s vlog from the early morning photography mission, below. They went to some truly beautiful spots and even diced with the drone gods for some scary flying experiences 😂

My personal highlight was when I participated in a cooking class at Nicole’s Table. We were invited into Nicole’s beautiful home, which over looks St John’s harbour. The cooking class was all about how to incorporate rum in all three courses, followed by the reward of indulging in it all!

Cavalier Gold Rum was the only rum we used for cooking; we doused the meats to marinate whilst preparing a butter rum cake for dessert.

I love being introduced to new foods in other cultures

Before our three course meal, we were introduced to homemade coconut and cassava chips.

From chatting about Antiguan food and sipping on refreshing rum punches whilst cooking in the heat, we then sat down for some rum tastings.

The other half of Nicole’s Table, Adam, taught us a lot about the history of rum and how other cultures are integrated through alcohol. Our first course was a sweet potato soup with a dash of rum on top.

As the sun was going down, we gathered around on the verandah to tuck into the rest of our meal.

Homemade food is always so heartwarming.

It may not have been a traditional Antiguan meal, however you can definitely see the Carribean elements in the plantain chips and rice & beans.

The whole experience was enriched with warmth through the food, and Nicole and Adam were so welcoming, it literally felt like we were just at a friend’s house.

Chasing Colour in St. John's, Antigua

Check out our other post from the evening we spent in Antigua’s capital, St. John’s. With camera in hand, we went exploring the streets to capture images and get a feel for the local culture.

Experiencing Antigua for a week made us fall in love with the people and the culture. Joe’s tweet below sums it up on how welcoming and friendly everyone is there.

I hope you enjoyed our highlights of Antigua! We’d like to thank the tourism board and Traverse for organising this trip. Also special thanks to Pineapple Beach club for an unforgettable stay in Antigua. For more updates, make sure to follow us across social media!

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