Days 13-15: Sea Turtle Patrolling!

by Mary Middlebrook | Jun 19, 2019 | Antigua, Caribbean, Destination Diaries

DAY 13

Annie woke up last night at 1. Normally, she goes back to bed pretty quickly. She was in play mode!! How, after the long day of running around she had yesterday, I don’t know. I gave her a little attention, but then went back to sleep and let her do her own thing. She woke up on her own at 5. Now she’s on my schedule! I got up and she had put my flip flops over in a pile with her baby. I told her I’m not pointing fingers, but my flip flops have mysterious little teeth marks in them…. We came upstairs where the cats greeted us for breakfast. After that, the cats went to lounge by the pool and Annie, who didn’t stray as far as the actual pool deck yesterday, ran out there barking at them, jumping, and running, as if to say, “There’s a new dog running this property, and you guys better shape up!” She’s such a toot. We took a morning walk in the garden and crossed our final milestone. She would walk in front of me (she was always scared to before, afraid I would catch her if her back was to me), and….drum roll….she let me bend down and pet her without jumping away and…..fireworks…..she let me pick her up from a standing position in the middle of the yard!! TWICE! This is HUGE! And honestly, it was the final behavior I wanted her to learn before she goes off to a new family. This little girl has progressed so much and so quickly. I’m super proud of her. Speaking of in the garden, every time she comes back, she looks like this:

Annie: SDU (Seed Dispersal Unit!)

Jennifer and I went down to the mangrove beach by the house and walked around. This was Annie’s first major outing! And she was a little trooper! She investigated a goat skull (I promise this wasn’t from a goat sacrifice I made to get her iron for her anemia!!) and went into the water for the first time! She is such a great little dog- so curious and courageous. She will just follow me anywhere.

I found this GREAT sea urchin specimen, showing how the test (what you might call the “shell”, but it’s actually the skeleton) sits just underneath the spines.

Came back and got ready for another adventure. This one was going to be waaaaay past my bedtime. Because way past my bedtime is SEA TURTLE NESTING TIME (and anything else that happens after 9pm)!! Yup…Be vewy vewy quiet, I’m hunting sea tuwtles!! Jennifer knows a guy, Phikwe (because Jennifer knows EVERYONE) who does turtle patrols on Rendezvous Beach, and he said that I could come with him! I thought the Airbnb guests in the cottage might like to do it as well, so invited them along, too. We all 4 arrived around 7:30 and started patrol! So here’s the 411: Right now it’s Leatherback season. These are the largest of all sea turtles- 6 feet long and 2,000 pounds! I knew I would literally D.I.E. die if I got to see one! And chances were pretty good. The leatherbacks nest about every 10 days, and lay about 6 nests total. She had already nested 4 times, with the last nest being 9 days ago, so things were looking pretty good for day 10! The moon was full and GORGEOUS, lighting up the entire empty, secluded beach…just enough so you could kinda see, and enough to create shadows everywhere that would convince you a 1 ton sea turtle was dragging herself up on to the beach!

Let me tell you what turtle patrol consists of: Sit on the beach for 40 minutes, walk the entire length of the beach, rinse, repeat. We did this for 5 hours, and for naught. No mama leatherback. But at least the company was good! Phickwe said he’d come and look for turtle tracks tomorrow, and if there weren’t any we’d come back the next night. I told him I’d come look for tracks the next morning and let him know (he has a regular job in addition to staying up half the night tracking turtles!!) I was happy to get back to my little Annie at 1am, and she was THRILLED to see me. Desperate for love and attention (that’s the first time she’s been desperate for it!). I begged her to please sleep late….

DAY 14
So begging Annie to sleep late didn’t fly. We were up at 5. Me on less than 4 hours sleep is not a good me…. First item of business, to head out to Rendezvous and see if mama leatherback was late for her midnight curfew last night. Jennifer and I bounced down the road, all 3 dogs in tow- Lily, Mini, and of course Annie. The tide was really low and there were some AWESOME yellow corals exposed in the tide pools! Along with about a zillion sea urchins!
We hiked down to the beach. This was Annie’s first time at a big beach, and she loved it! Anytime she can be a part of the pack with the other dogs, she’s in heaven. We walked the entire beach and no sign of mama leatherback having hauled out of the water in the wee hours of the morning. That meant more turtle patrol tonight! We filmed some educational videos at a few existing turtle nests, then just hung out for a bit. Jennifer took Annie out into the water and let her go. She swam right back to me!! My brave little girl!!

Came home and worked. I video chatted with Brian and had a complete ugly-cry breakdown over Annie. I can’t keep her- I travel too much. But I have to make sure she gets a good home before I leave. I’m so torn up about the whole thing….

That night, Phikwe and I were back on turtle patrol. One of two things were going to happen tonight:
1. This was night 11. She would DEFINITELY come up to nest!
2. This is the end of the season and she was done.

The moon was GORGEOUS. #ilovemycamera  Did the whole, sit, patrol, rinse repeat thing until after midnight again. No mama leatherback. Sigh. Oh well, at least I can say I have been on turtle patrol! And maybe next time I do it I’ll actually see a turtle!

Came home and lil bit was SO happy to see me!! I was too tired to play, so I just brought her into bed with me. She immediately snuggled up and went right to sleep.

DAY 15

We woke up at 5am. Kill. Me. Now. Two days on 8 hours sleep with as much website technical work as I have to do….lord help me. Annie crawled up, laid on her back with her head in my armpit and just laid there. Like a little person. Full of love. 😍 We still struggle with the bending over and picking her up part of our relationship- she has a serious fear of being caught. But if I’m sitting or laying down, she’s a total snuggle head. And of course, she still follows me around like a baby duck with its mama everywhere I go! She discovered her reflection in the cabinet glass this morning, and was none to pleased about this other dog being in HER house!! She barked and barked at it! Then, the housekeeper came. Annie was having NONE of it! Now, the housekeeper was here the day after Annie was rescued. That Annie just laid on her towel. The new Annie barked and got right under my feet to protect me (or herself, I’m not sure!!). She’s going to make the best little guard dog… We took a walk in the garden and collected some new toys- sticks and other things. She had a grand old time chewing on something new.

I look up from my work somewhere in the vicinity of 300 times a day checking to see where Annie is and making sure she’s ok. I looked up, and she had piled every one of her toys and the cracker I gave her (that she didn’t really like, but took it to be polite) all together. Her baby, her 2 garden sticks, her garden seed pod thing, her bull’s foot….she’s an organizer! I’ve never seen anything like it! This stuff had been scattered everywhere not too much earlier, but when she was done playing, she put away all of her toys. 😍 It literally looked like someone did it for her!

Today we were headed back to Seatons to check on the house and do some filming on sponges and the mangroves. I had a mini meltdown with Jennifer on the phone before we left. Everything with Annie, plus I feel like I’m down to the wire on getting everything done for Jennifer and am getting no where (no fault of my own, just stuff out of my control, which to me is the worst kind of stuff). I’ve spent so much time spinning my wheels it feels like. I just don’t work well like this. I really need the structure, organization, and control to be able to do work to the best of my abilities. I hate leaving things unfinished and I’m so worried about Annie… So yeah, breakdown. I guess it worked out though. Jennifer bought me a cheeseburger, fries, and a chocolate shake. 😋 By the way, the chocolate shakes at  Sweet T’s are divine!!

We stopped at a little organic roadside stand. They are on a farm and grow most of their fruits and veggies right there!! It was really cool! I got bananas, a pineapple, and a couple of cucumbers. It was 34ecd, so I handed her a 50. She looked at me and said, “Well……..”. I was thinking, “Does she seriously not have 15ecd for change? What kind of business is this??”. Come to find out, I handed her a 50 euro note. Multiple currency possession….the struggle is real. I went to my backpack and started digging for ecds. Found a note from Malaysia in there. Jesus. Anyway, got the correct money and we were on our way.

Got to Seatons, watered the plants, then started filming. First, did a really good video all about sponges in the little “marine biology” office Jennifer had set up for a movie that had been filmed there. Then, we went out to the mangroves. A local boy, Lukie, came with us. He’s one of Jennifer’s stewards and gets paid to pick up trash from the beaches. He’s 13 and was REALLY interested in everything I was saying about the mangroves! All of these things are in his own backyard, and he knows nothing about them. Breaks my heart (not to say that kids in the US are any better educated about the nature around them, because they aren’t- well, unless they take my classes. 😉). We made it into a whole mangrove series. First, what species are found in Antigua and where. Then, the reds. Then, the blacks. Then the life cycles. Then the conservation. I was really happy with how all of it turned out! And Lukie got to participate! I had him lick a black mangrove leaf WITHOUT telling him what I was going to have him do beforehand (good sport!) and he paddled in on the paddleboard to remove some trash off the mangrove roots. Not sure if he was more excited about being on film or getting to drive Jennifer’s van down the hill back to the house!

While we were in the water filming, Jennifer pointed down and said, “Is that a sea cucumber?”. I looked. NO!! EVEN BETTER!!! A SEA HARE!! AND HE WAS MASSIVE!! I squealed with delight as I always do when finding amazing wild critters. He was so, so beautiful. Lukie was pretty disgusted and not convinced! So what is it exactly? Basically, a massive sea slug- a snail without a shell. You can see his head antennae on the left of the pic.
Of course, little Annie was along each step of the way for all of these adventures! She got to meet one of the dogs from the dog gauntlet at the corner- Little Man. He gets around on 3 legs because one was mangled when he was hit by a car. He followed us down to the mangroves and was really nice to Annie! After Lukie finished with the paddleboard, it was just sitting on the shoreline. Jennifer said, “Look!!”. And there little Annie was. Sitting on the paddleboard, just like her idol Lily… Seriously, could this dog get any cooler??

EXPENDITURES
Roadside Stand: 1 small Pineapple, 4 bananas, 2 cucumbers- $13 (WAY too expensive!!!!!!!!!!)
Lodging:: FREE!! About 11 hours of total work for these 3 days (not counting 10 hours of turtle patrol)- doing some website stuff and educational filming and helping out with Airbnb guests and grounds.
3 day total: $13
15 day total: $625

Days 16-19: My Vacation Has Gone to the Dogs

by Mary Middlebrook | Jun 23, 2019 | Antigua, Caribbean, Destination Diaries

Day 16

Little Miss Annie slept on the bed with me last night from about 8:30 to 3am, when she got down. She wanted back up at 5am, and then we slept another hour. Still trying to catch up from turtle patrol… And then I made a huge mistake. Jennifer cooked some chicken legs for her dog and brought 2 over for Annie. I was going to pull the meat off, but thought that with those little puppy teeth she couldn’t get though the bones. Gave it to her, literally turned around no more than 10 minutes later and it was GONE. Like GONE! There were 2 splinters, each about 2″ long left. I freaking panicked! Contacted Jennifer on Whatsapp. When to Dr. Google to figure out what to do. So cooked chicken bones are WAY WORSE than raw ones! Kill me now for being such a horrible puppy mom!!!!!!!!!! Google mentioned “cushioning foods” such as bread or rice to help surround the sharp edges as they went through the digestive tract. Rice was on the stove before I could finish reading the sentence. This dog is going to be the death of me. OH! And today is the first day you can’t see her ribs or hips sticking out anymore!!

Website. Website, website, website. Trying my damnedest to get 2 weeks of work done in 3 days. I have to face the fact that a) it’s not going to happen  b) it’s not my fault. Getting this website done was part of my duties here, but getting access to the site ended up being a complete nightmare that took forever (no one’s fault, the domain and hosting was just under someone else’s email). So that’s what Day 16 consisted of- in addition to trying to get my own work done, and trying to find Annie a home. Possible lead on that…. Dogs and Cats of Antigua is the organization here that tries to save strays and get them good homes. Most of the time, those good homes are abroad. They work with a network of rescue and adoption organizations on the east coast of the US and Canada to get these babies a forever home. Well, one of the ladies from an organization in Canada saw my post on the Dogs and Cats of Antigua facebook group about Annie, and thinks she can get her a home there! I am willing to leave right after my housesit in Guadeloupe ends on July 27 (I did get another housesit in St. Lucia for August, but I haven’t confirmed yet and won’t until I know Annie’s situation). I would then come back to Antigua and fly to Canada with Annie to make sure she feels safe and secure and gets settled in! That said, I’m still working the angle to find her a home in Los Angeles and save myself the unexpected trip to Canada. If you know of anyone wonderful that wants the most adorable, sweetest, gentlest, SMARTEST pup who loves nothing more than bacon, other dogs, and following around the person she trusts- please let me know!!!

Playing with her baby is a LOT of work!

We went for one of our multiple daily garden walks, and she immediately pooped when we got off the path! Had to be a coincidence. I mean, she’s pooped outside a couple of times, but I’m fairly certain they were accidents! We went back out later in the afternoon, and once again, and immediate poop! No poops in the house today!! We have an entire happy poopy song about it. I’ve been overly praising her for going outside the past few days (on the rare occasion it happens), but not reprimanding her in the house. I just don’t feel like that’s my role in her life right now. I don’t yell at her for chewing shoes, I keep them away from her reach. I don’t yell at her for chewing cords, I keep them up high. She’s had enough trauma, the person she trusts most in the world right now doesn’t have the heart to give her anymore. She’ll be housebroken easily, she’s too smart not to be. Just not with me. Funny thing is that the house keeper got on my case yesterday because Annie pooped in a part of the house I never go into, so I didn’t see it. Annie saw me getting reprimanded. That is the last time she pooped in the house. Is she so smart that she wanted to save her mother that humility by never doing it again? Doubtful, but it’s a nice thought. 🙂

Oh, and the videos we took the past few days of the turtle nests and the red mangroves…RUINED BY THE DAMNED WIND! Can’t hear anything I’m saying. I’m so upset about this, because it means going out and refilming everything and sucking up even more time that I don’t have. Sigh. I swear, I feel like I’m constantly 1 step forward 3 steps back around here…. I ordered a wind microphone from Amazon- Brian’s going to bring it when it comes. Too late for Antigua videos, but I’ll have it for any others I do.

We went to bed early. She wanted up on the bed and I obliged. We played a game where my hand would grab her face and gently shake it, while I growled. A game we never could have played a few days ago because she was so scared of hands. After a few minutes, she laid down next to me, still as could be, and just stared right into my eyes for the longest time. Just looked at me with this pure love and trust. I broke down bawling again….Little does she know that I’ll have to abandon her soon. I hate me for it.

DAY 17
I woke up at 4:30. That means my body has recovered from turtle patrol!! Annie slept in bed with me ALL. NIGHT. LONG!!! That means no getting down to pee. So she can hold it all night now! We went out into the garden as soon as we got up. It was really dark, so I’m not sure if she went to the bathroom. Time (tile) will tell….

Today is my last Dr. Pepper. I had to double up a couple of days because I was so tired and stressed. And speaking of stress…. So I had this TV interview on Antiguan TV this morning. I didn’t arrange it, I didn’t choose the topic, and I didn’t even talk to a single person at the station before hand. Originally, I was supposed to go to the studio live. Then, because of my transportation situation (I have none), we decided on Skype. They sent me an email yesterday at 1pm. I responded within 20 minutes giving them all of the information they wanted, gave them some talking points, sent the videos and pictures, and asked some questions. Zero reply. Ok, I’ll be ready for my live interview at 7:00am. At 6:30, like the little efficient, professional, businesswoman I am, I got in front of the computer with Skype on. Had my slideshow all prepared. I expected they would call me a little before 7am to make sure everything was good and we could connect. 7am passes, 7:05…I’m getting kindy bitchy. First of all, I don’t like feeling unprepared, and for this, I really had no clue what they wanted exactly and what was expected. 7:10….7:12ish the phone in the house rings (there’s a land line here- like a phone connected to a wall with a cord!!). It was the studio, they couldn’t connect to me on Skype. I ran back and forth between the computer and the phone trying to troubleshoot, to no avail. They said ok, we’ll do a phone interview. I do not operate well like this… But fine, we’ll go with that. Waited for the call back, and was super nervous that I wouldn’t be able to understand their accents over the phone- it’s much easier when I can watch their mouths. I needed 3 more Dr. Peppers- STAT! Phone rings, they ask their questions. Of course I couldn’t see their faces so I can’t judge reactions (I never would have agreed to a phone only interview for TV). So I just blah, blah, blahed and I guess it went as well as could be expected. They really were lovely interviewers. If I lived here, I’d weasel my way into a regular segment!! You can watch the video of my audio here. 😄

After my brush with international fame, it was back to my main priority…Annie. In my never ending quest to find her a home, I have sent out messages to everyone I know. I even told my son and daughter-in-love who live in Colorado that if they would take her, I’d pay her food and vet bills for life! Lara wanted her!! Dylan, who is unfortunately as pragmatic as his mother, said 2 pets max, so if I shipped Annie there, I’d have to send a ticket to ship Lara’s cat OUT! Are children too old to be grounded at 27?? I asked Brian’s sister Angela, Karen (the lady who runs the program where I teach), and Tina (a friend who I met at that program about 7 years ago). Between the 3 of them, they know everyone in Los Angeles. Hell, I even asked my ex-husband on the east coast!! #nostoneunturned  Well, Tina messaged me to just bring her to LA with me and she’d definitely help me find her a home- and that turned into TINA IS GOING TO TAKE HER!!! Oh my god, Tina and her family will be the bestest!! Why? Here’s a partial list:
1. They already have dogs. Annie ADORES being with other dogs.
2. They have two kids. Annie needs playmates!
3. Those kids are homeschooled, so they’ll be with little Annie all of the time!! (Plus, that means her kids are smart. I know. I used to teach one of them. 😉)
4. They have a big yard with a pool!
5. They have huge, kind hearts and I know this will be a forever home.
6. And this is the biggie….they live like 15 minutes from me so I can be Aunt Mary and take Annie on adventures and watch her grow and thrive!!!!!

When I realized what Tina was offering, I burst into a blubbering mess (my go-to state of emotion these past few days….). But this time it was out of pure relief and joy- not sadness and fear and uncertainty. I could literally feel the burden rise off of me. Leaving her with her future up in the air has been weighing on my heart and mind constantly. Now, I can relax!!

Relax meant WEBSITE! I got a ton done today, and am finally at the stage where the framework is done and it’s time to start putting on the paint (images/content). Got the homepage 80% done today. We’ll start filling in content tomorrow and Saturday- then I’ll be back at Seatons with questionable wifi, so I really want to crank as much as possible before I go.

Jennifer picked me up to go to the store. Annie was thrilled to see Lily as usual. I got a pack of bacon (yeeeeesssssss!), a big bag of chicken breasts, a pack of coconut cookies (a different brand, they’ve been out of mine the past 2 trips), a slice of that fresh banana bread, and a Snickers bar- imported, yes, but much needed at this point, especially with the Dr. Pepper stash being gone. Jennifer bought a pack of smoked turkey deli meat- the thin sliced kind in like the 1 lb plastic bag. She gave some to Lily and some to Annie. Annie was like, “WHERE HAS THIS BEEN MY WHOLE LIFE???!!!” (all 10ish weeks of it), and scarfed it down even faster that Lily, who is approximately 20 times her size! We take off down the road, Jennifer looks in the rear view mirror, and that little toot bug had opened the box, got into the box, pulled out the pack of lunch meat, opened it, and was head deep in it!! We pulled over and got it away from her- but not before she ate a ton of it! Her belly looked like a butterball turkey!! I swear to god, she had literally eaten 4 times already today. She acts like I starve her….

We went to Turtle Bay and walked the dogs a bit. Came back, did a little website work, and called it a night. Tomorrow is a big day for Annie…a trip to the vet for her first shots!

Annie with her hero, Lily, at Turtle Bay.

My little beach pup!

DAY 18
When I left the house this morning for Annie’s vet appointment, I had no idea what I was in store for… Joy, the SAINT who runs Dogs and Cats of Antigua and has rescued thousands of animals here (with over 800 getting rehomed in the states and Canada last year alone!!) picked me up. She brought along her 2 dogs, Marina and Domino, who Annie immediately fell in love with, and sadly…as is the case most of the time…they did not return the 🐶❤. Luckily, Annie is content to calmly just sit on my lap wherever we go, so we headed off. Joy said that we needed to stop off and rescue some puppies who had been abadoned in a field nearby. Someone reported them. There were 6, but 2 had already died of exposure and starvation. JESUS. On the way, Joy’s car overheated, so we had to stop at the gas station and put in some coolant. John, the guy who knew where the puppies were, met us there, and we followed him to the field. And what we saw, I wasn’t prepared for. 4 tiny little puppies, about half the size of Annie so probably 5-6 weeks, hiding in tall grass, starving, and covered, I mean COVERED in mosquito bites, ant bites, fleas, and ringworm. It was awful. They were so young and weak that is wasn’t that difficult to catch them. I caught 2 and John caught 2. You have to understand- I picked them up by the scruff of their tiny necks. That little bit of flesh to flesh contact I had with them- their skin felt like it was covered in hard pimples- ant and mosquito bites. I can not even imagine the horrors these little dogs have been through. We put them all in one crate and loaded them into the back of Joy’s car to take to the vet with us. It was something I never want to see again. How these people do this EVERY. SINGLE. DAY. (and believe me, they’re out there rescuing dogs every day), I don’t know.

With the puppies loaded up, all 9 of us (2 humans, 7 dogs) headed to St. John’s to see the vet, Fiona. There were several people in the waiting room. Annie just sat on my lap, calm as calm could be. She knows I wouldn’t put her in a bad situation. We were called in and Fiona dealt with the puppies first. They only weighed between 2-3 lbs each. Oh my god, they were so much worse off than I imagined. Huge ringworms. Fiona tried to feed them- all but one ate. He was just lethargic and disinterested. And he had a fever. I hope he makes it…

Those markings on its head? Bites.

It’s this little brown one that isn’t doing too good…

Next it was Annie’s turn. She tipped the scales at a whopping 7 lbs!! Little roly poly puppy belly! Fiona gave her her first set of shots (she didn’t even flinch, because mommy was holding her!) and another dewormer. I paid for it, because I don’t want Dogs and Cats of Antigua to spend money on Annie- she’s my responsibility and god knows they have enough animals to take care of. Anyway, it was only $15.

Back out to the hot car. We had to stop and get puppy food and then drop the 4 pups off by another saint’s house who would foster them- in addition to about 12 other fosters he has at the moment. I can barely keep up with this one…. Dropped them off, then a long car ride back home. Is this how normal people spend their Caribbean island vacations????

I talked to Joy about how we get Annie home. She’ll come back in 3 weeks for her 2nd set of shots, rabies, and to be chipped. Her information will then be taken to the government to receive a health certificate so she can travel. So she’ll be ready to go when I get back from Guadeloupe at the end of July. Now, it’s about arranging flights. Normally, I book based on price. Now, it will be based on what can get Annie to LA fastest.

Worked on the website more and it’s really starting to come together! Hopefully I can have it live by Monday. Brian gets here Tuesday, and the whirlwind begins!! Went to bed early, per usual. Seriously, we were both exhausted after that long morning….

DAY 19
Last day at the villa!! Got up early, because today is a busy day! Started working on the website and setting up the Adopt A Coastline YouTube channel. I made bacon for breakfast. Annie was THRILLED. Got laundry going and worked on a final cleaning of my room and bathroom so I’m not a burden on Sharon, the housekeeper. More website, then because I’m such a celebrity in Antigua that a TV interview isn’t enough, I had to prep for my radio interview! This was a 15 minute interview all about home education around the world. Really nice chat, and hopefully it will be online in a few days and I can post it.

Annie helping me sweep! She literally dragged this broom in from the living room to put in “her” pile. It’s a hard knock life for us!

After that, more working on the website, then Jennifer came over. Then real estate agents came over because Farside House that I’m staying in is for sale- they took pictures. Before they were done, the next guests who are coming to stay at the villa arrived from Germany. SUPER NICE mom, dad, and 10 year old son! There is a slight possibility that they will foster Annie after I leave, and I would love for her to spend time with that nice little boy that is about the same age as the boy who will be “her” boy back in LA. But Annie is a lot of work right now- it’s like having a toddler who doesn’t wear a diaper!! I don’t know that people on vacation are ready for that kind of commitment. We’ll see. Bottom line, they seem like lovely people and I would be happy for Annie to be with them (that says a lot coming from this mama bear!!).

While all of that was going on, Jason arrived. He’s a taxi driver and was there to take me to back Seatons. Piled everything in and headed off. Jason is so nice. He told me about the land his grandfather leased from the government, and how a piece of it was passed down to him. We talked about places where houses were for sale, who lived where, and drove through some beautiful scenery.  Got to Seatons and got Annie settled in (as long as I’m here, that doesn’t take long). I decided to sleep inside rather than outside this time. Easier for Annie to get into/out of bed with me without a mosquito net barrier! 3 more sleeps, and Brian will be here!!

EXPENDITURES
Groceries: Bacon, Chicken, Coconut Cookies, Banana Bread, Snickers Bar: $17
Vet: $15
Lodging: FREE!…with about 30 hours of work.
4 day total: $32
19 day total: $657
19 day total if I didn’t fall in love with a puppy:  $640

Days 20-23: The Last Explorations of Antigua

by Mary Middlebrook | Jul 5, 2019 | Antigua, Caribbean, Destination Diaries

DAY 20
Annie was extremely lethargic and felt extra warm yesterday afternoon. She was eating, but she came into the room and laid down at about 6:30 and slept all the way until 9 when I woke her up to check on her before I went to sleep. She wanted in bed with me and immediately sprawled completely out (we have a full bed here instead of the twin at the other house) and fell back asleep. She felt really warm. Granted, it’s hotter than Mordor in here, but still. All was well until sometime in the night I felt something crawling on me. The first thing I thought of was the MASSIVE spider I had seen at the other house. I swatted it off, looked at Annie who was still in the same position and fast asleep, and went back to sleep. I was awakened again by something on me. I sat up and looked and it was HUGE and on my leg!! I couldn’t make out exactly what it was in the dim light, but I screamed loud enough that it’s rather concerning the neighbors DIDN’T show up, and swatted it off. That woke Annie up, but she literally didn’t move. Just opened her eyes. She felt really hot and she was breathing really fast. This was a little after midnight, so I texted Brian. We thought maybe it was the shot she had making her feel crappy. And I was still concerned about that damn chicken bone she had eaten whole the other day. I was really worried. This is my little bay-bay!! I sent him this pic.

So it’s after midnight, I’ve been assaulted by some heinous insect the size of a small car that I can not find anywhere, and my Beauty Girl (nickname) is feeling awful and there’s nothing I can do. I’m guessing there’s not a 24 hour vet in Antigua, and even if there was I had no way to get there. After about an hour and a half I finally got back to sleep.

Woke up the next morning and Lil Bit (other nickname) was off the bed laying amongst her catches- THREE HUGE FUCKING ROACHES!!!!!! She was protecting her mommy!!! And boy, but was she full of piss and vinegar this morning! Back to her old self. Thank god, because I had an adventure to attend to, and if she had still been sick I would have had to cancel…

So like I’ve mentioned, Jennifer knows everyone. And one of the everys she knows is a man named Nick Williams. Nick owns the only fly fishing charter in Antigua. And he is catch and release ONLY!! He offered to take me out on his skiff and show me around the reefs and mangroves in the Seatons area. Annie had to sit this one out at the house by herself- the skiff is small and homemade and not dog friendly! But it is just the perfect size for two people to easily get into the reef shallows and edges of the mangrove forest!

Our first stop was a perfectly pristine section of mangrove called Laurys Bay. Nick began pointing out the vast amounts of wildlife on the seafloor and attached to the thick tangle of mangrove roots. Sponges, tunicates, mussels, corals, sea grass, cucumbers, sea stars, urchins, crabs, and more!! It’s amazing the amount of life you can find just on one mangrove root… All filter feeders, meaning their strain their food (bacteria or plankton) from the water. I did a video on the tunicates and an amazingly MASSIVE starfish we encountered!

Orange sea sponges, green algae, and black tunicates- all living on a mangrove root!

Pulled this shot from the video I did. I couldn’t believe how huge it was!

Nick is, as we determined rather quickly, a “weirdo” like me. He prefers fish to people. The things he likes to talk about are not the typical small talk chit-chat most people infuse their lives with. He reflects on the deeper issues. And there are a lot of issues in this very small part of this very small island. Primarily, development. I could hear the concern in his voice as he showed me where parts of Laurys Bay are currently under development. As the hills have their vegetation removed and dirt graded to prepare for building roads and homes, all of that sediment runs down into the bay. That, in turn, literally suffocates the entire ecosystem- the seagrass, the filter feeding animals, the mangroves- everything. On top of that, once the development reaches a certain point, people want their waterfront properties. That property is currently populated by mangrove forests. They will be destroyed so people can get their views. An entire ecosystem, gone forever. If I come back here in 5 years, maybe less, I will not see what I saw today.

Beautiful Laurys Bay, with the tell-tale signs of development just over the hill- a crane and electrical lines.

We followed the land around, until we could see the entrance to open ocean, and glided over some shallow reef areas. They were basically lifeless. Patches of corals here and there and no fish. Nick asked me if I had any idea why this was happening. I didn’t. It looked like the perfect location for a healthy and vibrant reef system. We pulled around to an island with cliffs that literally looked like someone had personally stacked layers of rock on top of each other- the sedimentary layers were that uniform! We pulled up to the shore to take a quick hike to the top. As we approached, you could see that nets were choking the mangroves and shoreline in multiple places. The view from the top was amazing!!

View from the top!

Wild orchids

We headed back out over the reef, and Nick (who has the keenest eye on the water I’ve ever witnessed in my life!) spotted something. A ghost net, tangled up on the reef. Ghost nets are nets that have been abandoned or torn off of fishermen’s boats. They float through the oceans, continuing to fish and kill animals that are unlucky enough to get trapped in them. Because the nets are made of such strong material, they can continue to “fish” the oceans for decades. It’s estimated that almost 650,000 tons of fishing gear like this is lost in the ocean EVERY YEAR. Nick got out and removed the net from the reef- saving fish, turtles, and other wildlife. I’ve known about this nets for a long time, I even teach about them. But to see them up close and personal- it’s a sobering experience.
“Eagle Ray Eye Nick” then spotted something else, and yelled “Permit!!” in a voice I know all too well- the voice of someone so passionate and excited about seeing wildlife that they can barely contain themselves!! Permit are one of the game fish that Nick brings his clients out to catch (and release!). I looked in the general direction he was pointing, and saw this massive fin come out of the water over the super shallow reef! WOW! Nick explained that they come up on the reef to hunt for their favorite food- crabs. It was awesome to finally see some large ocean life in what to this point had looked more like a patchy wasteland.

We came around toward another island, and the mangroves were magnificent!! Huge, thick clusters of roots- providing the basis of an ENTIRE ECOSYSTEM. Think rainforest. Now think what happens when you take the trees out of the rainforest. Every other plant and animal in that ecosystem dies along with them. And that is what is happening to the mangrove forests in Antigua. Not just the animals that live out their lives in, on, or near the mangroves, but reef fish as well that use the mangrove forest as a shelter when they’re juveniles. Those juveniles then head out to the reef as adults, and many of those species are important food fish species. It’s all connected.

As we turned to head back, Nick shouted once again- TARPON!! What? Where? I mean, seeing the permit was fairly easy, with that fin sticking out. But this tarpon was beneath a surface of shadowy water. How in the world did he see that thing!! No matter, I was just excited that I got to see two of the major game fish here. Ahead of us was a huge hill that had its entire top cut off for development- a massive scar, surrounded by soon to be destroyed pristine mangrove forests. Nick explained that this was the Yida Project (read this). The Antiguan government had allocated 2,000 acres of pristine MARINE RESERVE (let me repeat that, MARINE RESERVE) to Chinese developers. Their plan is to turn it into a massive residential, tourist, and industrial site- practically it’s own independent full-service city. And if that isn’t enough of a blow to an already fragile ecosystem, get a load of this….they are also allowed to set up a seafood harvesting facility that the investors will keep 90% of the profits on!! So let’s see, they get to develop a pristine marine reserve, destroying the ecosystem and the life it supports there forever, and whatever life is left out in the water, they can go after that as well. And they won’t be paying taxes on ANY OF THIS. I felt for Nick, and all of the people who love and appreciate this natural treasure. And my heart ached for the beauty and wildness that would soon be paved over and decimated- gone forever. You feel helpless. How do you fight against corrupt governments and investors who only care about money they can make today?

This is how “progress” looks.

We returned to Seatons and Nick dropped me off at the house. I had learned so much with him and seen so many things. He is truly one of the good guys and I’m so glad I had the opportunity to spend time with him in the environment he is so passionate about.

Annie was waiting for me on the porch, and I spent the rest of the day working on the website. But getting the images of barren reefs, mangroves tangled with nets, ghost nets being pulled off the reef, and the massive destruction the Yida Project was going to bring to this area, literally putting the death nail in the coffin of this ecosystem was impossible. It’s haunting. You can read about these things all day, but seeing them with your own eyes and heart is a different matter entirely

DAY 21
Most. Boring. Day. EVER. Stayed here all day and worked on the website for over 9 solid hours, then worked on my own stuff for another few, then back to the website for a couple more. Comfortable furniture for working on the laptop for hours on end is non-existent here, so by the end of the day I was achy and bitchy. But Brian was catching his flight tonight and would be here tomorrow!! We went to sleep about 9pm, and Annie woke up at 10:45 and wanted out (she has only had 1 pee and 1 poop accident in the house since we arrived, and that was the first day before she knew what the lay of the land was!!). I opened the slider, put her out, and went back to bed to check my phone for about 5 minutes. Back out to get her and the damn slider wouldn’t open!! I literally couldn’t even budge it. It’s a struggle to deal with on the best of days, but this was just stuck solid. At almost 11pm. And it was pitch black out. I had to go out the front door, walk all the way around in the dark to get her. After the long day I’d had, that adventure was most unwelcome and didn’t help my bitchyness. Plus, I had a hard time getting back to sleep after that. Sigh.

DAY 22
Day 22 is hereby known as BRIAN’S ARRIVAL DAY!!!! YAY!!! Annie and I got up early (as usual), I worked for a little over an hour on some things Jennifer had emailed me, and then made the last of our bacon for breakfast. Took a walk in the garden. Then, it was bath time for Annie. She’s so good!! Then, back to website stuff, and Tuesday is grading day for the school, so I had to do that. The wifi here is being challenging- sometimes it works absolutely perfectly, and other times, well….not so much. Today, it fell into the latter category. Which really sucked because Tuesday is my crunch day for school!! After talking myself out of tying a rock around my neck and jumping into the ocean (which probably wouldn’t have done much, seeing how it’s like a foot deep!), Jennifer said the problem was she was out of data!! She topped it off, and all is well in the world again…. Except now it’s time to go get Brian!

Jason, the taxi driver from the other picked me up. Rode the 20 minutes or so to the airport. $40. I almost passed out- Jennifer had told me $30 and I thought that was insane! I can go from my house to LAX which is about an hour away for $40 in an Uber!! Picked up Brian, got the rental car, and headed to Seatons to get Annie. I just knew he’d fall in love with her- and he did! She took a few minutes to warm up to him, then she realized he will pet and play with her NON-STOP. Now it’s like I’m the mom and he’s the brother! First item of business was FOOD! It was 3pm, Brian had been traveling for about 14 hours, and I hadn’t had lunch. We put Annie’s brand new harness and leash on her and headed out to the car. She was as good with it as could be expected! Put restaurants into google maps and found Ounces Ice Cream and Grill. Perfecto! I was super excited for the possibility of another delicious milkshake. Ordered a classic burger with fries. Brian ordered the same. And happily asked for a chocolate milkshake. Response from lady? “No.” Um, is she the Milkshake Nazi “No milkshake for YOU!!” or what? I didn’t ask. Just got a water. ☹ Annie sat calmly under the table with her harness and leash on and we fed her bits of meat and fries. We looked at the map the rental car company gave us and decided to check out Half Moon Bay.

It wasn’t very far of a drive, maybe 20 minutes. And WOW!!! It was STUNNING!! We let Annie off the leash, and of course she followed us like the little duckling she is. She realized that Brian= PUPPY PLAY and started chasing him down the beach, barking her little head off, wagging her tail, and having a grand old time jumping and playing in the sand and water. There weren’t a lot of people on the beach, but the ones we passed just oooo-ed and ahhh-ed over her! They said it was so cute how she would just follow us down the beach, and how well behaved she was to be so young. #proudpuppymomma

DAY 23

This was our last day in Antigua, and we had to make the most of it!! It was the first time in over 3 weeks that I had the freedom to explore! Brian did a little paddleboarding and then we reshot some mangrove educational videos that crappy audio from the wind. While I was standing in the water filming, Annie actually climbed over the mangrove roots to come out to me. Sweet little girl…
We loaded up for our day long road trip. Annie, who has adopted Brian as her own, helped him drive. I’d be jealous, but I’m still her “mom” and the one she follows everywhere! We didn’t really have a plan per se. Just looked at what sights maps.me pulled up and went to those.

First stop was a place called Devil’s Bridge. It’s a natural arch eroded out of the side of the ocean cliffs. Quite beautiful! Research says it got the name because slaves used to go here to commit suicide. Ugh. In true Jimmy Buffet style, I blew out my flip flop on the way back to the car. I swear….

Back on the road and found something called Betty’s Hope Plantation. Thought we’d see what it was all about. SO GLAD WE DID!! It was a great learning experience about a sugar cane plantation that was built here in the 1650s. There was a really cool little museum where I learned all about sugar cane! Fascinating!! Here’s the basic facts. Cane was cut. It was then put into the crusher to crush out all of the juice. That windwill looking tower is what powered the crusher. The juice would drop through the floor into the boiling room. (Most plantations used pipes that lead away from the crusher to a nearby boiling room. Betty’s Hope was more efficient with this set up). The juice was boiled. A skim would form on top- that would be removed and fermented to make rum! The remaining juice would be boiled down. Some of it was evaporated to form sugar crystals, and the rest was molasses! Three products from one plant! And, sadly, slaves were used for all of this labor. It was so fascinating, that I actually created an educational video on the fly about it for my students!

Model of how the plantation looked.

The wind driven crushing tower. It had a turret so the blades could be moved to be in line with the wind. Clever!

The crushing mechanism

We kinda just picked a place on the map to head toward next, with no real destination in mind. Went toward an area called Five Islands. Drove through all kinds of neighborhoods, came around a corner, and WOW!! Massive cruise ship!! It just towered above the harbor and city.
More aimless driving and we found ourselves on some local beach that no one was on. Figured it was a good place to walk around a bit and let Annie get some exercise and take a potty break.

It was food time!! Two different locals had suggested a place called OJs in Crab Hill, so we headed that way. The water on this side of the island is STUNNING!! The seaside table was STUNNING, the view was STUNNING. We ordered lionfish because we’d never had it. Expensive and not so stunning. 😕

The road from here climbed into a part of Antigua I’d never seen- lush forest! It really was a lovely drive through this area. Then, I saw a man on a donkey. And I thought it would be a good idea to take his picture as we whizzed by. Do you see that look on his face? Do you see the quality of this photo? It’s not blurry from the speed. He cursed my camera! I’m certain of it! Because for the next few days, no matter what setting I used or resetting the entire camera, every picture I took turned out blurry and I had to use Brian’s phone!! #lessonlearned

Next was the crappiest part of the whole day. Dropping off my little Annie to Jennifer, who would take care of her until I came back after my housesit in Guadeloupe. On the way to Jennifer’s, I made Brian stop so I could take a picture of the trash bin where we had found her. She’s come so far from being a stinky, skinny, scared little pup to a twice bathed, follow me everywhere, sleep in my bed (on my pillow, none the less!), fat, confident little darling!! It’s amazing what food and love will do. We left her, her carrier, harness, and leash and I promised I’d be back for her soon. Brian said he was shocked I didn’t cry (he’s seen me ugly cry more than once over this pup!). But I knew that Jennifer would take good care of her, I’d see her again, and she was going to have an awesome forever home!! From there, we headed toward Galleon Beach just to check it out and walk around a bit. There are some resident sea turtles here, but we didn’t have time to snorkel. It was getting late. Last tourist stop, we drove up to Shirley Heights for a gorgeous view of English Harbor.

I’ve been cursed! Rightfully so for rudely snapping a picture of a person from a car.

Blurry blue church!

Blurry trash bin where we found Annie.

Blurry Galleon Beach

Blurry English Harbor as seen from Shirley Heights

After that, we drove to Hodges Bay near the airport. This is where wonderful Kerry and Charmaine (friends of Jennifer) were letting us stay in their home for the night, since we had a 6am flight and didn’t want to drive the Antiguan back roads from Seatons in the dark. What a lovely couple and what a gorgeous, ocean front home with a beautiful garden! If you’re in the area, I highly recommend you check out their Airbnb.

I give up on expenditures. Once Brian gets here, everything gets all mixed up!! Let’s just say we travel cheap and leave it at that. 🤑