Anguilla

Saturday, 25.11

Welcome to the paradise on earth

• We take the public ferry to the island of Anguilla – after landing on the nearby island of St. Martin.
• This is a real experience: we are about the only people on the ferry who have a light skin color, and it looks like many people use the ferry to commute to work.

• However, some people also have a lot of luggage with them, which is carefully checked by the plant authorities on arrival in Anguilla – as it is strictly forbidden to bring foreign animal and plant cultures with you, as is the case on most islands.
• The cab driver who takes us to the hotel asks us if we have been here before and when we say no, he says enthusiastically: “Welcome to the paradise on earth!”
• Not only is the island truly paradise on earth, but our hotel is also heavenly: with Matthäus’s points, we have booked a super fancy resort hotel right on the beach, although it has to be said that the elongated and flat island consists almost exclusively of beach.
• The hotel consists of several buildings and we were very lucky to get a room in the building right by the sea, so that we can hear the sound of the sea and the waves crashing onto the beach as we fall asleep and wake up – mega!

• We save the hotel exploration for tomorrow, for now we spend the evening on the balcony enjoying sea view and are simply in a state of contented happiness.

Sunday, 26.11.

“Wo ist schon wieder der Freund vom Socken?”

• First of all, we treat ourselves to a loooong breakfast from the breakfast buffet, which is available to us for the next few days – very nice.

• We manage to get a spot very close to the sea, with the tables set in the sand so that we can dangle our feet in the sand while having breakfast.
• Afterwards, we do our laundry and after checking the price list of the hotel laundry (25$ per T-shirt, 50$ for a pair of trousers), we decide to use the large bathtub to wash our clothes by hand.
• Half an hour later, when we have flooded the bathroom and can hardly feel our arms from wringing out and kneading wet clothes, we both decide that the washing machine is one of mankind’s best achievements. Also we ask ourselves: Why do we have so much (dirty) clothing anyway?
• After all the clothes have been hung up on the balcony, TV, all the armchairs and the edge of the bed, we treat ourselves to a break – postpone exploring the hotel until later and chill out on the beach.

• The beach is another picture-book Caribbean beach- it really does look like something out of an advertising brochure: white sand, lined with palm trees and in front of it stretches the turquoise blue sea.
• Relaxed and refreshed, we explore the hotel grounds, starting at the beach: there are lots of comfy loungers with umbrellas to protect us from the blazing sun.
• The area leads directly into an open courtyard, which is open to the sea, where the pool is located – with more loungers, of course.

• Adjacent to this are the restaurants and bars: There is the breakfast restaurant, a rum bar where you can sample a huge assortment of rums and a fancy restaurant where you can have a fancy meal and have to book in advance.
• A little further away from the beach is another pool – the adult pool, which is a little quieter (although the other pool isn’t exactly full of children running around).

• Right next to it is a swimming lane, it really is as if a lane has been cut out of a swimming pool and put there – and when I stick my toe in, I realize that the temperature is also like in a sports pool.
• On the way to reception, we discover a fitness center and a spa where you can get a massage, among other things, for horrendous prices of course.
• We decide that we don’t need the spa as we have a bathtub in our huge bathroom, which I use for evenings of relaxation.

• There even is a rubber duck, which we kept for the rubber-duck-race at the Woodquarterrock Festival.
• We spend the rest of the day alternating between the beach, the sea and our balcony -nice!

Monday, 27.11.

Chill-out-day

• Breakfast, swimming in the sea, swimming in the pool, reading, lying comfortably on the beach and writing blog, that’s all we’re doing today – a very nice day!

Tuesday, 28.11.

Aaah, we’re leaving the resort!

• Today we dare leaving the resort hotel for the first time in days to “explore the area” – actually we just want to stretch our legs and take a walk along the beach.

• Although, we have read that there is a nature reserve nearby, so we think: nice, let’s explore that.
• The nature reserve turns out to be an impenetrable jungle of all kinds of plants that we can’t get through, especially as it’s surrounded by a huge fence and we don’t see an entrance for miles – when we ask a hotel employee, he just smiles and says: “No, you can’t go there.” I see.
• So we simply walk along the very, very long white sandy beach, passing several other resorts and seeing several sailing catamarans on the coast.

• What we also observe are a lot of birds hunting: afterwards we realize that it was a flock of brown boobies.
• They are fascinating to watch: When they hunt, they literally plunge headfirst into the water like spears and then emerge with a fish in their mouths at lightning speed, swallowing their prey as they swim, before taking to the air again to look for more prey.

• We see the flock over a reef, which fortunately stretches almost as far as the beach, allowing us to observe the birds from very close up.
• We watch the birds for quite a while before walking back to the hotel and falling into our chill-out routine – another mega day!

Wednesday, 29.11.

Snorkeling around the reef

• Today we want to take a closer look at some of the beautiful reefs just off the coast, so we borrow snorkeling equipment from the beach boys for Matthäus.
• Matthäus finds an “optimal snorkeling route”, which is suggested due to the current and which the beach boys confirm to us once again. (Picture here: https://www.snorkeling-report.com/spot/snorkeling-shoal-bay-beach-anguilla/)

• So we follow it, or at least try to, because reefs that lie underwater are difficult to recognize and find from land.
• In any case, we come across reefs where we see lots of fish and coral, which is of course very beautiful.

• Some of them are so close to the surface of the water that you almost have to be careful where you swim so that you don’t touch anything.
• We are out and about for quite a while and then swim back to the hotel beach, discovering a few smaller reefs along the way – great!
• Then we treat ourselves to a cocktail, which we enjoy chilling on sun loungers on the beach.

• Otherwise we chill out more, chat, read and in the evening we enjoy the beautiful sunset from the balcony.

Thursday, 30.11.

Travelling through four countries in four hours

• When we get up, it is with a heavy heart that we have to say goodbye to the beautiful resort hotel and our fantastic room and head back to the ferry terminal for the ferry that will take us to St. Martin.
• From the ferry terminal, you can already see Saba in the distance – our destination for today – and St. Martin rises out of the water in front of it.
• Matthäus says: “We’re moving within sight today and passing through four countries in the process.” That’s not something you do every day.
• Our journey continues on the island of Saba, the blog entry will follow soon!