Lockdown Entertainment in Antigua

Cruisers are a social bunch, so this “stay on your boat” business is wearing thin. I am sure everyone can relate no matter where you are social distancing. Fortunately, we cruisers are pretty ingenious too, and we’ve created our own fun. Learn what we’re doing for lockdown entertainment in Antigua.

Antigua Status Update

First, an update on what is going on in our part of the world. Antigua is ramping up efforts to test their citizens, and to protect them from the virus.

As of midnight on April 1st, the country locked down for everything except essential businesses which are open for limited hours. Supermarkets and pharmacies are considered essential, and are open daily from 7a-12n, which means very long lines to provision. Not that we would know: our last trip to the store was 2 weeks ago yesterday and we’ve been sequestered in a remote anchorage for over a week filling the time with useful projects.

On Tuesday, Antigua announced its first death from Covid-19, followed quickly by a second. The island wide lockdown is extended another week, and Easter weekend means full closures this Friday, Sunday and Monday.

Lockdown on Sava

Brian, Domino and I are anchored in a big beautiful protected bay alongside about 20 other boats. Our anchorage is outside of the public eye, away from towns, marinas and even the main island, but we have our boat buddies. We moved to this anchorage with 5 other boats we knew, and have since met the occupants of a few others, either via VHF, electronically, or from our dinghies. Social distancing rules apply on the water too.

Great Bird Island anchorage
Moonrise in the anchorage in Antigua
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Carnival in Grenada

Carnival is the biggest event of the year in Grenada. Over 4 days, locals and visitors drink, dance, parade and people-watch in the streets of St. George. 2019 Carnival in Grenada was exhilarating and it was exhausting!

Carnival, or Spicemas, is an annual festival following Emancipation Day in Grenada. A nationwide holiday, it is celebrated by everyone in the country, and is sometimes declared to be bigger than Christmas.

Grenada’s Carnival encompasses several different events during the long weekend, and we went to a few of them! Carnival events we attended and or participated in included Panorama, Jouvert (pronounced JuVAY), Monday Mas and Pretty Mas. Here’s a breakdown of the different events we attended at Carnival in Grenada.

Panorama

Steel drums are huge in Grenada, and the annual competition of the Steel Drum (or Pan) bands was a must-see for us this year! We were surprised how small the turnout and venue were for it on Saturday night at the stadium.

One of the steel drum, or Pan, bands at Panorama in Grenada’s Carnival

10 bands compete in Panorama, and some of the bands have more than 70 members and more drums than members! As a result, the Panorama competition goes on all night, and we stayed for a couple of hours. I loved the music, costumes and energy of the performers.

J’ouvert

Jouvert is the traditional early morning street party where you can get doused with motor oil and colorful paint. It sounds crazy, it is crazy, and it’s also the most fun time I had at Carnival!

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Take a Trip to The Everglades

Sava is out of the water or “on the hard” in boat jargon. We’re living on her while she is on land getting her hull painted. So while we are on dry land, we’ve rented cars and explored southern Florida. The latest was a trip to the Everglades.

About The Everglades

Wow. I can’t believe we waited to visit this amazing park. The Everglades is a national park, which is fortunately still open despite the government shutdown. It is a huge park, covering 1.5 million acres of the tip of southern mainland Florida. The Everglades’ marshes, mangroves, and flatlands are home to many different species, common and endangered. If you want to see crocs and gators, turtles and birds in Florida, this is a good place to go! It’s possible to see manatees but better to go to the best places to see wild manatees in Florida.

lily pad water, Florida Everglades
What’s lurking beneath the lily pads?
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