At the very end of November I found myself unexpectedly going to Antigua instead of on a trip to photograph Tigers in India, which had already been postponed 3 times due to Covid. It transpired that the Indian government was not issuing E-Visas to UK citizens for reasons unknown (and only discovered a month before planned departure), so with flights already booked on a changeable basis Antigua was chosen. I have to confess that I’ve always fancied the idea of going to the Caribbean in Winter and I certainly wasn’t disappointed. The weather was perfect, the island was scenic, tropically lush with colourful flowers and houses, millions of butterflies, and the sea was warm enough to swim in. Here’s a selection of my favourite photos.
First wander down to the beach at Jolly Harbour, which was less than a 5 minute walk from the AirBnb and just shot on my phone.
On the same beach for sunset.
A wander around the local area with my camera resulted in photos of two houses in very different price brackets.
Early evening reflections.
My favourite colour for the sea is turquoise, but this comes a close second.
The same location in Jolly Harbour photographed at dusk and daylight.
The advantage of hiring a car means that you can stop anywhere you spot a nice scene, and there were many days when we just went out and explored or pulled off the road on the way somewhere. The bay below was a quick photo stop.
All the tourism information about Antigua states that it has 365 beaches, one for every day of the year, and despite it being December and its busy season, there were plenty of deserted beaches to be found.
The view from our AirBnb at dusk.
Another deserted beach and my dress got a soaking!
I really liked the curve of the waves and wanted to photograph them as they rolled over. I shot a lot to achieve what I wanted, but particularly like the colour of this one.
This pelican landed on a roof nearby when I was eating lunch. Luckily I had the right lens on my camera. The brown pelicans are not nearly as pretty as the white ones in Namibia, but there’s still something about them that I like.
We had a fun morning with pigs! A local farmer rescued a couple of pigs a few years ago, and one of them was pregnant which resulted in a lot more! They now bring them down to the beach for interactions, feeding, and swimming. I did a lot of research before booking this activity as I wanted to ensure it was an ethical organisation with no cruelty involved. I have to say that piglets are extremely cute!
What a gorgeous set to play noughts & crosses with!
The local beach bar and restaurant
These local boys were having a great time playing in the waves and were absolutely fearless even when the waves crashed over them.
Another day, another beach!
More waves, but bigger and stronger than before.
Same cove as above, but further along and much shallower, giving a green tinge to the water.
That’s it. I loved Antigua and an added bonus was missing the very cold snap that gripped the UK whilst I was there. The Indian Government have now reinstated the E-Visa system, so the tiger trip is now planned (for the 4th time) for the end of March, fingers crossed.
Great photos, Julie! I wish I had travelled more and not been so frightened of flying. Antigua looks beautiful!
Thank you Candy x
You are quite an accomplished photographer. Lovely blog.
Did you feel as if you were there with me? 🙂
Stunning as always, love that reflection shot near the top. But also the ambiance of the region – well captured …
Thank you Linda 🙂