A Day in St. John's, Antigua

St. John is the capital city and cultural hub of Antigua and Barbuda. It has a population of 100,000 people. It also boasts 365 white sand beaches and beautiful blue water. We passed through many small villages as we traveled along the one and only main road on the island. Each village has its own free and compulsory education facilities (ages 5-16) and a medical clinic that handles basic illnesses. For more serious illnesses, our guide told us that one must travel to Miami. School supplies, uniforms, immunizations and other basic medical services are covered by payroll taxes. Most of the houses in the villages, at least those along the main road, were made of concrete and looked in need of repair.

Our van climbed a steep hill for our first stop - a 16th century homestead packed with artifacts from the original settlers down to its current day owners. The couple, now in their 80’s, are direct descendants of the original family. I’m not sure how many generations down they are from their settler ancestors, but they were gracious hosts and answered all of our questions. One thing was clear - none of them ever threw anything away! The entire house was packed to the brim with multi-generational collections of all kinds, including several real (preserved) turtles that hang on the wall. As we wandered through the rooms, all I could think of was the poor person who has to dust all that stuff!

our local tour guide

collection of shells

giant antique turtles vie for wall space

 

We were also introduced to soursop tea, a medicinal tea made from the soursop leaves that many believe prevents or even cures cancer by keeping the body in an alkaline state. When we were living in Indonesia back in 2012, many there believed this as well, but I would definitely do my research before drinking it on a regular basis.

Our next stop was a local “black” pineapple farm. Unfortunately the farm failed during Covid but it’s beginning to make somewhat of a comeback. They claim theirs is the sweetest pineapple in the world; however, a taste of it revealed it is no sweeter than what we get in the states. Some of the popular crops grown on St. John’s are mango, papaya, cassava, sweet potatoes and pineapple. 

 

"black" pineapples take 18 months to mature

papaya tree laden with fruit

We saw a gigantic mango tree laden with (not yet ripe) fruit, papayas on trees and ackee fruit in various stages of ripening. Ackee fruit contains properties which are poison (our guide called it "cyanide"). https://www.fda.gov/food/natural-toxins-food/hypoglycin-and-ackee-fruit  It cannot be eaten until it ripens enough to open and allow its seed to fall out. An AI overview says “The tropical ackee fruit contains a toxin called hypoglycin A, which can cause a range of symptoms from mild vomiting to severe illness and death. Its symptoms can include vomiting, hypoglycemia, drowsiness, muscular exhaustion, prostration, coma, and death.”

 

ripening ackee fruit

poisonous seed coming out

 

She also offered us a seed from some kind of pod whose texture and flavor initially reminded me of a raw peanut but went from bad to worse after swallowing (it took water, hard candy, gum and time for my mouth to recover). Our tour was supposed to include a visit to the islands oldest sugar mill, but that had to be skipped because we got off to such a late start.

Our last stop was at a beach for a bit of lunch and sand, water or sun for those who took swimsuits. Flies made enjoying our food impossible. Our ship's Sail Away was an hour earlier than those in our group from a different ship, so we headed back as soon as we finished eating. Being Christmas eve and a reduced-tax shopping day on the island, the traffic was heavy and somewhat crazy. 

white sand, blue water

a piece of driftwood washed ashore

playing while Mom works

After returning to the ship, we showered and had dinner in the Grand Dining Room, then attended the ship crew’s Christmas show at 9:30 pm, followed by a Christmas eve service at 11 pm. The crowd was much smaller for that but it was special knowing that even though far from family and friends, we were celebrating our Savior’s coming, together with other brothers and sisters in Christ.