Anguilla's National Sport is racing traditional, open wooden sailboats. . . .
May, 1997 - Site Map - Click to enlarge pictures

The next major race is on Anguilla Day, May 30th, completely around the island. It starts at Sandy Ground at 9:30am, heading north to Scrub Island, and ends at Sandy Ground at about 3pm. Ask around to join a chase boat. Among the 14 boats entered are Bluebird, DTree, DeChan, Light n'Peace. Carnival Races in August will be held on the 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th and 10th.

Read about the 1998 Easter Race.

Julian is a legendary brain in Anguilla. People's favorite story about him is how, when the teacher got sick, Julian took over and taught math at the high school. Now Julian is defending his doctoral thesis in physics at Georgia Tech: "The structural, electronic and vibrational properties of the C78 fullerene system".

"Fullerenes are a new class of all carbon compounds, much like diamond and graphite, with c60 and c70 being the two forms that occur in abundance. In the case of c60 and c70, there is only one isomer associated with them.

The fullerene that I am studying has five possible isomers associated with it. This fullerene system has been the center of eperimental and theoretical discrepency for a while. Of the five possible isomers, only three are observed experimentally. The various theoretical calculations predict results that do not agree with each other nor with experiment.

My research, which is theoretical, had me looking at things systematically and simulating the actual growth process of these isomers in attempt to understand the origin of the discrepency. These calculations are BIG and had to be done on Cray Supercomputers, just to give you a sense of the computing platform I use. The visualization and analysis of the results are done on Macs."

Julian grew up in South Hill. His mother, Vivian Niles, once operated a bakery and his father, Collins Niles, was in the boat building business. On the side, Julian also has a fun web business where you can buy and sell Toys, Pogs and Comics. Just the place to get that impossible to find Buzz Lightyear your children desperately want.

Whenever possible, Julian's preferred computer plaform is the Apple Macintosh. He noticed that the Anguilla computer club only teaches Microsoft Windows technology--why not Mac? There is a simple reason: only one Mac has been donated (by Marje Morani) and it is broken. But another Mac enthusiast from Phoenix, Bruce Toback, has provided the cable for an external SCSI disk drive and found a used external SCSI drive for it also.

Our Ting is produced in St. Kitts in recycled green Heinekin beer bottles, but the product was developed in Jamaica. Canadian Superstores had it for sale in Vancouver, British Columbia, last month, so ask your supermarket to stock it. The only difference was that it came in a brown bottle, probably a different kind of beer that they recycle in Jamaica. Here is a link to a Ting bottle cap.

Next door to the Malliouhana is the Carimar Beach Resort. This complex consists of condominium apartments with one to four bedrooms, right on the sand. The gardens are quite nice, as you can see from the picture to the right, also taken in March. Here is another view of Carimar. If you want more information, they have a web site: www.carimar.com and email.

Continuing west comes Blanchards Restaurant, a favorite with visitors. The Anguilla Local News has a copy of their menu from October 1997 in the archives.

Next door to Blanchards is Nathan's Cove, a small beach apartment building with two 2-bedroom units on the ground floor and and an enormous 4-bedroom apartment upstairs. We stayed there on one of our first visits to Anguilla and enjoyed it. Suitable for a family reunion. Telephone: 264-497-6595.

Continuing west you pass a long stretch of empty beach with no structures, followed by the small and plush Frangipani Resort. See picture right. We held a small conference there and were very impressed with the luxury apartments on the beach (which can be taken as 1, 2 or 3 bedrooms). Here is another recent picture showing Frangipani with the beach and Malliouhana in the distance. And here is an enthusiastic visitor report from last week, noting that their new restaurant is open and recommending it.

Next to the west are the Seagrapes Villas, consisting of apartments with kitchens, living room, and bedrooms all on different levels and with a roof top deck for an incredible view. Closed at press time. Telephone: 264-497-6433. Just behind and up the hill a bit (a short walk from the beach), is La Sirena, a hotel with two pools, very nice gardens and restaurant, and with villas. 264-497-6827.

Here is a view from the middle of Meads Bay to the west. Near the La Sirena beach path is Sur La Plage, a privately owned beachfront estate with two villas that can be rented. Telephone: 401-423-1378. 264-497-6598. And on the bluff between Meads Bay and Barnes Bay you can see the large main buildings of Coccoloba/Meta Resort. 264-497-6871.

My husband and I recently returned from a vacation in Anguilla...needless to say, we're in love! We are planning our next vacation and even entertaining thoughts of moving to the island. We found the fabulous site on building your own home but don't think we could swing that one yet. We've been searching the Internet for information on renting homes (year-round) in Anguilla and haven't found anything. Any suggestions?

What kind of employment opportunities exist for visitors?

There is no relationship between weekly vacation rental prices and monthly long-term rentals. One friend lives in a furnished house that costs US$500 per month, with two bedrooms, two baths and a beautiful view of St. Martin. One lady from Canada lived in a brand new one bedroom apartment above the old hospital on Crocus Hill with a spectacular view, for US$250 furnished. Since that apartment was near The Valley, she didn't own a car for the first year. Another couple rented a brand new apartment behind Cap Juluca for US$600 per month.

Anguilla is a small, homogenous society on a very desireable island, but there are some foreigners working here as teachers, waiters, chefs, technicians, accountants, and business operators. If you are seeking employement on the island, first you must have a job offer, then your employer applies for a work permit for you for a specific position. If you want to start your own business, you need both a business license and a work permit. Just because this is a small quaint place, we have similar procedures to larger countries. Granting and renewal of work permits is not automatic and waits of six months are possible. One tip: before you come to Anguilla, obtain your original birth certificate, marriage certificate, and college transcript, plus a police report from your last place of residence.

You can of course order the book from Anguilla, but I had heard that people were finding the book in UK bookstores. Not being one to give up, I searched the Internet for a web site that sells the book and would ship anywhere. I found it at www.bookshop.co.uk and they seem to offer the entire Macmillan Caribbean catalog.

Macmillan Caribbean publishes an incredible line of books on every island, flowers, trees, fish, birds, even history and a full line of Caribbean textbooks. The manager Michael Bourne is looking for new US distributors. He writes "If you happen to know of an operation, possibly Florida-based, that might be interested in handling our Caribbean books in the US, then I will be very interested to follow up on any such suggestions.?" Here is how you to contact him:

     Michael Bourne          Direct tel.line: 44-1256-302804
     Manager                 Direct fax: 44-1256-818858
     Macmillan Caribbean     E-mail: [email protected]
     Houndmills                      
     Basingstoke
     Hampshire
     RG21 6XS
     England

Date: Tue, 1 Apr 97
From: Gary & Jill Caputi 

My wife, Jill, and I just got back from our fourth trip to Anguilla last week (March 20 - 26), and I wanted to let you know how much we appreciate your Internet newsletter, and how useful it was to us while we were visiting.

Also, I thought I'd pass on some of our experiences in case you'd like to add them to your newsletter; and if you do, please feel free to add an e-mail link ([email protected]) to my name in case anyone would like to write.

As we have for each of the past three years, we stayed at Cinnamon Reef again this year. As always, the owners Rich and Carol Hauser, along with their truly wonderful staff (special recognition to Malt with the water sports on the beach and Charmagne in the Palm Court during breakfast), continue to foster a friendly, low-key, and relaxed environment, and we truly enjoyed our stay on Little Harbour. We'd recommend Cinnamon Reef to anyone!

Among the places we stopped for lunches during the week was the Trailer/barbeque next door to the Aquarium Restaurant: wonderful barbeque chicken (two orders and two Caribs cost only $6 US)!
[Editor: the trailer is pictured here and is located in South Hill to the west of the Sandy Ground roundabout.]

Dinner stops (is it possible to have a bad dinner anywhere on Anguilla?): The Palm Court at Cinnamon Reef: Vernon, now the head chef since Zef has left, is doing a terrific job. The meals and their presentation are both creative and excellent! Among our favorites were the baked snapper over key-lime fettucine, and the Anguillian rock grouper. LeDuc's: we had a wonderful evening there, chatting with the owners, and enjoying a fabulous meal (the tuna was wonderful!). KoalKeel: dinner was excellent, as it always is, and it was fun to have Charmagne (from Palm Court) as our waitress, and to have the Captain, Ambrose, recognize us from our mutual St. Martin days, back in 1990. Zara's: we chose this based on your review in a past newsletter as well as based on a recommendation from some friends (Grove and Jean Ely who have a lovely house near Betty Hill villas), and we were not disappointed -- Shamash is doing great things there, the lobster pasta is especially noteworthy). Arlo's: very good Italian food with a Caribbean flair, and a big improvement over its pre-Luis days.

Harbour Villas is run by Bevin and Phyllis Richardson and gets high marks from visitors. They have apartments that overlook Island Harbour and Scilly Cay. Staying here allows you to sample village life, while still being within walking distance of gourmet restaurants and a 10 minute ride from Shoal Bay. Off season rates vary from $80 to $150 (for a 3 bedroom apartment).

Damien is also the volunteer tournament director of Anguilla's free summer tennis camp.

The hours are 9 AM to 4PM, Monday thru Friday. Drop in and pick up some unique souvenirs while you are in The Valley. 264-497-2200.

Soon after we had a visit from Teacher Joanne Clark's second grade class at Linda Banks' Omolulu School here in Anguilla. The students practiced arithmetic skills in a version of Space Invaders, identified words in Word Rescue, made Mother's Day cards with our new printer, wrote short letters to the teacher in a word processor, and learned to type. Klaus, the photographer from Wired magazine, dropped in and took numerous pictures of the children. He was here to shoot photos for an upcoming article on the Financial Cryptography 97 conference.

Read the history of the club.

It so happens that many Anguilla visitors are AOL members and they take advantage of the AOL Message Boards to post their comments and complaints, sometimes leading to very lively exchanges of opinion.

If you are an AOL member, you reach the Anguilla Message Board by clicking on Travel, then International, then Caribbean, then Anguilla. You will find a friendly group of experienced travellers who can answer any question about your trip to Anguilla.

If you want to access your AOL account while in Anguilla, follow the instructions on this page.

New Phone Number. Coccoloba/Meta Resort has a new telephone number, 264-497-8178. They have discontinued three of their old numbers (6871, 6877, 6195) and don't answer 6771 anymore. And those are the four numbers listed in the telephone directory.

"I started visiting Anguilla back in the 60's with my Dad and it is the only place in the world as far as I'm concerned. I'm still in a state of 'denial' as far as phones, traffic lights and hotels are concerned but give me another 20 years and I'll get over it. And Anguillians are truly God's people.

Several years ago my father and I went up and flew around Anguilla taking some pictures and I took this air shot of Sandy Island half drapped out the side of a little Cessna. It is one of my all time favorite pictures that I have ever taken of anything. If you like it too... then I'm happy to share it with you for inclusion in your web site. My dad is Dave Berglund at Little Harbour and Seafeathers Bay."

Update: We sailed out to the lagoon at Sandy Island on the catamaran Chocolat in April 1997. There was no one else there. We swam, snorkelled and our Captain bought us a round of drinks at the small beach bar on the islet. Sandy Island used to be the most photographed spot in Anguilla, since it was a beautiful narrow island about 25 by 150 yards with a calm shallow, reef protected lagoon on the leeward side, covered in swaying palm trees. Since Hurricane Luis it has come back, except that it doesn't look the same without the tall coconut palms. New ones have been planted but they are only about 7 feet tall. Next season they should be fine. The beach bar has been rebuilt and is very nice--we all played with the waitress' young daughter. The snorkelling on the reef was good -- many species of tropical fish to see. For comparison with the past, here is a 1997 picture of Sandy Island.

Read this book to find out the history that makes sailing such a part of the Anguillian psyche. Do you wonder what keeps these open boats from capsizing? The secret is in the Captain's foot, but you will have to read the book to discover why. The book is $10US and is only available in Anguilla. You can buy a copy with you VISA card by phoning Olive Hodge at the Anguilla Drug Store at 264-497-2738 and she will mail it to you.

More books about Anguilla.

Allamanda Beach Club, Shoal Bay: "We would go back in a minute and would recommend the Allamanda without hesitation." Full visitor report. Hotel web page. A new web page with seven pictures of Allamanda.

Cinnamon Reef, Little Harbour: "We checked out other resorts and can honestly say that for our money, we had the best." Full visitor report. Hotel web page.

Anguilla Great House, Rendezvous Bay: "Small enough to give you the pampering you deserve, yet large enough to get lost if you want." Full visitor report. Hotel web page. A new web page with 13 revealing pictures of Anguilla Great House, including Will and Elvis.

Here is a visitor who loved the restaurant at Cove Castles, and here is a picture of the resort.

Vince Cate has put a photo essay of Sombrero Lighthouse on his web site. Rodco Car Rentals has a web page now.

The Objective Observer columns from the Light newspaper are archived at web.ai/oo. The Travelfacts web site has a web page on Anguilla. And three of our restaurants made it into the Microsoft web page on Anguilla: Hibernia Restaurant, Scilly Cay, and Johnnos.

The Evan Gumbs Choir appeared several times, starting with the Tennessee Waltz changing partners song and dance, reappearing later with When I Grow Too Old to Love, Pal of Mine, and Juanita, and closing the show with the traditional Anguillian Smugglers Song. Daisy Richardson gave a musical rendition on her organ, played with one finger, the Youth Choir of the Catholic Church sang several songs, there were songs by Sylvia Brooks, by Shirley and Rose, by Kaye of Island Harbour, by Joan and Jane, and by Shirley Gumbs.

Ophelia Carty gave the opening remarks and recited a wonderful (and short) poem. The young men of the Sr. Anglican AYPA East End (including Fritz Smith) presented a hilarious silent comedy skit. The men's chorale from St. Augustines sang beautifully. Margaret Ouwehand, dressed in man's suit with my panama hat, performed a humourous song and dance version of Heart of My Heart and returned later for the closing remarks.

The Tre Plus One girls dance group from Blowing Point performed several dances to music, including a merengue demo with Christobel of George Hill trying to keep up with them. Kingsley on keyboard and Leo on sax provided musical numbers. In his duets, Albert added humourous musical asides whenever the songs got too serious. There was a humourous Skit by Christobel (the lady) and Eileen (dressed in rags as her old suiter). After so long apart, she only wants him if he has money in his pocket, so he goes back across the street to find another woman. Following this was a hilarious recitation by Eileen Carty, "My Get and Go Got Up and Went".

On Grand Opening Day, May 10th, Sydney posed for a closeup photo with the sugar cane he had cut for the occasion. Sydney's sister once lived in the house for 15 years, so he remembers how it used to be. Every item in the house has a story behind it and Sydney knows them all. For example, the white cloth bag on the floor in the corner. Sydney explained to me that people used to keep all their clothes folded in a bag in the old days, instead of in a dress. If a couple had a spat, the wife could always pick up her bag and be gone in a minute. 264-497-2135. And he has genuine Anguillian Hot Sauce for sale. Located George Hill, main road (used to be the drive-up Hagen Daz ice cream). Open 10 to 8.

First we had no museums on Anguilla, now we have three. The Heritage Collection, and the National Trust exhibit on the Revolution, and now Sydney's Historical House.

Ron Hall declares our beaches in a league of their own and that the powdery white sands of Anguilla "leave other islands way behind."

According to the report, Anguilla ranks as the only Caribbean island in the top ten because of its size and ease. "Anguilla is small and gregarious and has an enjoyable village life" writes Hall. It is a place where one "could sit down in a strategic spot and be sure that in the course of the day, everyone you wanted to see on the island would pass by - not too often, but at least once."

The Public Works Department is painting all the speed bumps yellow, to warn the driving public. The Optimists Club recently presented Phonics-Reading packages to each of the primary schools and the Gloria Omolulu School. The Trendsetters staff social club at Carribean Commerical Bank donated a PC to the high school. The Soroptomists have been extending their Day Care Centre behind the library. They also sponsor story telling for children every Saturday morning. This is held in the library and has drawn as many as 100 children. Cable and Wireless donated two PCs to the primary schools and plan to eventually provide one PC for each school.

Go to sleep to the sound of the surf, plus prices are very reasonable: $50-$70/night in the summer ($70-$100 in the winter). One visitor described Harbor Lights to me as "his home base away from home" and said how much he enjoyed being part of the village scene (visiting Smitty's for a beer, the Country Bar for barbequed chicken, etc.) For more information and another picture, visit this web site. They don't have a computer (perhaps that is one of the reasons they can keep the rates so low), but you can email queries to the sister Karen at [email protected] (this is a family project, each of the brothers and sisters looks after a part of the work).

Don't confuse Harbor Lights with Harbour View villa or Harbour Villas. All are in Island Harbour and all good places to stay, but Harbor Lights is toward the east end of town on the shore, Harbour View is a private villa on the west edge of town, and Harbour Villas is a small apartment resort on the hill above Cyril's Fish House near the dock in town. I had a nice email from Wendy Boston saying "We have just spent 3 1/2 weeks on Anguilla at Harbour Villas which overlooks Island Harbour and Scilly Cay. Everyone there is so friendly and helpful and our host at Harbour Villas, Phyllis Richardson, is the most delightful of people."

Six young men aged 19 to 35 were arrested, although two were later released. On Wednesday four of the men were charged with "conspiracy to rob while being armed with an offensive weapon". Bail was later set at $1 million EC for the four. Reportedly, one was from Guyana, two from St. Marteen, and one from St. Kitts, although some of them may have been residing in Anguilla. There's an old Anguillian saying, "Every tree is a man" (or "walls have eyes"). It proves it's not easy to keep secrets or rob banks in Anguilla.

Continue virtual vacation with previous issue.

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