In Praise of the Governor of Anguilla

In Praise of the Governor of Anguilla 

Sunday 3rd Dec 2023

Julia Crouch was appointed Governor of Anguilla by King Charles III. She was sworn in just three months ago, so it’s a little early to say how well it’s going, and frankly, we are hardly in a position to judge. What we can can say with certainty is that Julia is an extremely kind and thoughtful woman.

If I said that our day-trip to Anguilla didn’t go as planned it would imply that there was some planning … there wasn’t. Anguilla is a British Overseas Territory and is just a few short miles from St Martin, with frequent ferry connections. The ferry terminal itself is only 30 yards away from the dinghy dock we have been using in Marigot Bay. On Sunday morning we decided it would be a good day to make a visit. We didn’t read any guide books, we didn’t even check out the ferry prices, we just took a photo of the ferry schedule pinned up on the terminal wall. We assumed that we could pay by credit card, and we envisaged the ferry landing in the main town and being able to wander round and plan our day once we got there. None of this turned out to be correct! The process of leaving St Martin (France) and boarding the ferry was simple enough and the ferry ride only took 20 minutes. However, you have to pay departure tax (US$5 out, US$8 back) and the fare in cash (US$30 each way, per person). The arrival process in Anguilla (Britain) was more formal, but again, pretty straightforward. Once, we left the arrivals hall we realized that the ferry terminal isn’t in a town at all. In fact there aren’t any major towns on the island, it’s really a dispersed set of smaller communities. We couldn’t afford to take a taxi (shortage of cash) and weren’t willing to pay for a hire car (we are too cheap) and so we set off walking across the island, with a specific destination of an ATM machine that we hoped would relieve our financial concerns. We walked for about 2 miles along fairly flat, quiet roads, but it was hot. Anguilla is a coral island and as such more similar to the Bahamas than the other volcanic islands of the Caribbean, like St Martin. Unfortunately, when we got to the ATM machine it was out of order and another 2 miles to either Road Bay, which we thought looked like it would be beautiful (but no ATMs), or the center of the island and the closest bank. At this point we weren’t sure what to do and were feeling really stupid about not planning our trip more carefully. We asked a local guy about getting a taxi to the bank, but that didn’t seem too promising, so I stuck my thumb out in the hope of flagging down a taxi or catching a ride. Within two minutes a car pulled up, which we noticed had “Governor” on the license plate. The lady inside, who was indeed Julia Crouch the Governor of Antigua, kindly offered to give us a ride. In fact, she drove us over to the bank in the center of the island and then back to beach at Road Bay.

We were simply amazed that the Governor took the time and trouble to help us out and it was a pleasure to meet her and hear a little about her new role. Prior to her recent appointment, Julia had worked in the embassy in Moscow, during some challenging times. Firstly, the Covid pandemic and then the start of the Ukraine war. In her current role as the Governor of Antigua she is responsible, amongst other things, for international relations, security and prisons. The local government is run by of the premier (who we believe is appointed by the Governor) and the elected officials.

After being dropped of in Road Bay we had lunch at Elvis’s bar, sitting in the shade on a pristine white coral sand beach. In the afternoon we wandered back around the salt pond behind the beach and saw a few interesting birds (yellowlegs, black necked stilt, snowy egret). Another local driver, a long time resident from the Netherlands, offered us a lift up the hill to the main road, and we wandered the remaining 2 miles back to the ferry terminal. Our day-trip to Anguilla turned out to be quite the adventure!

Julia, if you get to read this, many thanks for all your help!

Mike

The beautiful beach at Road Bay, Anguilla

A Lesser Yellowlegs in Road Bay Salt Pond

A passing squall on our ferry ride back across the Anguilla Passage to St Martin

A wildflower that I photographed using focus stacking techniques back on board Cotinga (It took a bit of editing to fix some overlay errors on the stamen)