+ If there was one thing that wasn't ideal about this vacation it would have to be actually getting there. In case you were like me when I first found out we were going here and thought "where the heck is this place" well it's in the Caribbean, south-east of Puerto Rico.... that's approximately 4700 miles of traveling from my home in SD. 2 hours from SD to Denver where I met with my family. 4 hours from Denver to Newark where we stayed the night. And 4 hours from Newark to Antigua. Can you say jet lag? But as soon as we touched down I knew I was going to like this place. The airport was small enough that we used the ladders to get off the plane and the oddest thing happened... We landed in perfect sunny skies and by the time we made it to the front of the plane, it was pouring. And when I say pouring, it's not like the normal amount of rain I'm used to. Each drop was like a cup of water and the water was hot, literally. So there we were, getting off the plane, running in the rain and 90 degree weather. Welcome to Antigua I guess? 
+ Monday morning we headed into English Harbor to go on our first dives of the trip. Our dive masters name was John and we were lucky enough to be the only 5 people on the dive boat with him. That made the whole experience 100 times better because it's so much more personal that way. John is a skinny, little, extremely animated British man who owns a dive shop called Aquanaut Divers. Overall, the diving in Antigua was the best we've ever, ever had. The water averaged 80 degrees the whole time, much better than the cold Pacific. We saw a couple dozen lobsters that were all over a foot long, green and spotted eels, a shark, jellyfish, rays, and more fish than y
ou see in an aquarium. John was awesome at pointing things out for us and getting us involved. He even caught a jellyfish and let us touch it, without getting stung I might add. I wish my little waterproof camera had better depth ability and I could have documented all the gorgeous things we were able to see. We enjoyed freshly picked mangos during our air-time between dives each day and went to a total of 6 different dive sites.
+ Tuesday was picture day. My little sister came up with the brilliant idea to get her senior pictures taken while we were on our trip and contacted a local photographer, Jason Pickering, to do the photos. (I have to admit that I'm super jealous here pictures were taken here, how cool is that, seriously?) Luckily it's been years since my mom has had any pictures taken of the two of us so I was able to step in for a few too. They turned out absolutely gorgeous and it was such a cool experience. We had another freak rain shower, that lasted only about 10 minutes again, but we were lucky that we had just finished the shoot before it came. We had lunch at a local restaurant and stopped by the market to pick up some more groceries. Little did we know before the trip, but when Antigua says it's their "slow season" for tourists, it really is the sloooow season. So slow in fact that most restaurants weren't open for business anymore. I guess the threat of a possible hurricane from June through September really does shut the whole 108 square mile island down.
+ We spent the next few days doing more diving and more of this. The beaches were perfect; big tall palm trees, white sand, breeze off the ocean, 80% humidity and 90 degree weather. We learned after the first day though not to be on the beach after 4 pm. They have sand fleas that can jump up to 18 inches and they only come out in the late afternoon and evening. The locals call them "no-see-ums" because they're too tiny to see and you don't feel them biting your legs until you're covered with itchy red spots the next day. Needless to say, 30 bites will make you get off the beach real quick. But we also learned that since the island was settled by the British, they served tea and biscuits from 4-5 pm every day so that's where we spent the afternoons. We took full advantage of having a full sized kitchen in our condo and made dinner in all the nights we stayed there. The resort had a few evening entertainments like crab races and steel band music for us to enjoy before we passed out from our days in the sun.
+ Since the island is so small, it doesn't take more than a 45 minute drive to go from the farthest point south, where we were staying, to the farthest point north. So, feeling adventurous, we rented a car. With the steering wheel on the other side of the car and having to drive on the left side of the road, it made for quite the excursion. All that plus the herds of sheep and goats and pot holes that could swallow your car... I'm glad I wasn't the one driving. We drove through the Antigua Rain forrest which wasn't much of a typical "rain forrest" but it was still much more lush than any thing we'd seen. The road was lined with banana trees (known to the locals as fig trees) and there were people zip lining all over. Eventually we made it to the extremely crowded, not too nice, capital city of St. John, walked around for a bit and decided we were better off isolated than in that mess. We were able to see a lot of the coast line, lots of beaches, and different spots around the island. We munched on some Walkers potato chips that were the oddest flavors we've heard of; Prawn Cocktail and Pickled Onions to be exact, but they were pretty tasty. We drove to the medical school on the island but were very disappointed in their "hush-hush" ways that meant we couldn't even go through the gate.
+ We spent our last day packing all our dive gear and super sandy clothes and hanging out at our favorite place on the resort.... too bad we didn't find our favorite little pool until our last day. Because of how warm the weather is there, most of the pools were way to warm to be relaxing out in the hot sun. But this one, with it's flowing waterfalls, had plenty of circulation to keep it cool. My trusty Olympus digital camera came in quite handy for taking some great water pictures on our last day. Definitely shots you wouldn't dare try with a non-waterproof point and shoot. We all enjoyed floating and swimming and being the coolest we'd been the entire trip. Antigua is by far the warmest most humid place I've ever been. Not that I'm complaining, it's just nice to be able to cool off too. Mixed through all our sun bathing, adventures, diving, swimming, relaxing, and sweating I was able to spend some time with my trusty note cards and study material (I know, it never ends right?) but I have to admit that I didn't do as much as I had planned. Once we were there and I felt the stress start to come off, I realized it might be better for me and my sanity to not spend the whole trip inside with books. And I have to say, it was totally worth it. (my practice test today showed an improved score even with the less studying and extreme jet-lag from getting up at odd hours in the morning)
+ So what's the general consensus then? Antigua is paradise and I would definitely go back. Now as soon as I get myself caught up on some sleep tonight, I'm feeling pretty good about my test on Thursday... t-minus 3 days.
Oh my gosh - Antigua looks beautiful! Count down to our trip begins right NOW! :)
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