06.01. - Antigua 🇦🇬

Our last full day has arrived! Unfortunately! But the sun was shining and contrary to my expectations, we were greeted by a very green island. Together with Danny and Franka, we had a hearty breakfast and immediately set off. Today we wanted to stroll through the shops and then go to the beach. As soon as we left the port area, we found ourselves in a very well-kept shopping mall. There were many well-known labels like Hilfiger, Levi, Sunglas Hut, and many jewelers. But the prices didn't exactly tempt us to buy. As soon as we took a few steps, we were bombarded by many taxi drivers from the side. Some even persistently walked alongside us. We walked completely in the wrong direction just to shake them off. At least we were able to buy our postcards that way.

We wanted to take a look at the church, which is the largest in the Caribbean. From the outside, it didn't look as great anymore, and on the inside, it was being renovated. The pictures at the entrance gave us an impression of what it will look like again and showed an impressive church nave. On the way back to the city, we admired the colorful houses and passed by a kindergarten. The door was open, and I took a quick look inside. A little girl was drawing a picture and waved at me when I looked in. At the official taxi stand, we took a taxi to Valley Church Bay with an Austrian couple. The lady, with her annoying voice and gold member status, was very price-conscious and negotiated fiercely. The taxi driver took us there and waited for us to return to the port. As soon as we were seated, we were bombarded with questions about prices. Starting with the travel price, taxi and tour prices of the past days. I was very happy with my seat in the back row and enjoyed the scenery with the occasional colorful houses, green hills, and people on the streets. After about 25 minutes, we turned off onto an unpaved road at a lake. We were already wondering where he was taking us. But shortly afterwards, we saw the long sandy beach, which was in a bay, surrounded by two small hotel complexes. As soon as we got out, the first beach chairs and umbrellas wanted to rent to us. A few steps further, a well-built young man made us an offer for half an hour of jet skiing. We were not averse to it but showed little interest. This allowed us to get a better price (100 East Caribbean dollars for 2 people). Before we embarked on the adrenaline experience, we found a shady spot and ran into the water. A small disadvantage of our place in paradise was that the English people from the casino got exactly the sun loungers and umbrellas in the shade placed in front of us. It could be seen that it was uncomfortable for both sides. Then the time had come. Stephan and I were going on a jet ski for the first time. Danny got his own, and after a brief introduction, we were off. We had a little trouble starting, but we quickly zoomed around to the nearby small islands more safely. Apart from one tense situation where I almost fell off, the half hour flew by quickly, and we had a lot of fun. Still full of adrenaline, we had a cold Carib first :-)

We spent the rest of the afternoon resting, swimming, and playing a kind of tennis with wooden rackets. It was a really nice last day at the beach. Of course, we also saw Marcus and Gabi on the beach again. At exactly 4 pm, we met the Austrians at the taxi and drove back to the city. This time, the driver chose the route through the market, where there was a lively hustle and bustle. I don't think I need to mention in detail that the lady made some unique remarks again. My favorite saying was at the end of the ride, where she said we should still sit, maybe he'll drive a little further. Only that we were already at the harbor basin!

Back on board, we ate in the buffet restaurant and chatted with Nello. The two of them had an excursion today where they could swim with stingrays. They were very excited about it. Unfortunately, it was now time to pack our suitcases, as they had to be outside the door by 12:30. Of course, it had to be a gala evening today, and we had to dress up nicely. We also had to go to the photo point one last time and pick up our last ordered pictures. This time it worked without any problems. Afterwards, we redeemed our last cocktail vouchers in the casino and watched for the last time how the roulette ball decided on win and loss. In the restaurant, there was a delicious menu for the gala evening, and together with Nello and Gudrun, we enjoyed the last evening in the Caribbean. We said goodbye to our waiters and went to our room to pack the rest of our things. Tonight, too, we fell asleep quickly.