View from the Two Foot Bay caves.

Most of you probably never heard of Barbuda before this week. Thanks to Hurricane Irma, many of you probably have now. I have known of Barbuda for a few years now and had the privilege of visiting Barbuda and sister Island Antigua in 2015. My husband and I love the Caribbean; white sand beaches, palm trees and a laid back atmosphere. We’d been to Jamaica for our honeymoon, Cuba, and Mexico a handful of times (though it’s not actually the Caribbean). For this trip we were looking for something more special; a place not a lot of people we knew had already been to. In the end we chose Antigua and Barbuda (pronounced An-TEE-ga and bar-BEW-da). Some of you have heard of Antigua, the larger and more populated of the two sister islands. They’re located in the Leeward islands, part of the lesser Antilles and nearly as far east as you can go before you hit Africa. Antigua has a population of about 80,000 but it’s sister, about 40 miles north-ish only has about 1650 residents.

Antigua- Jolly beach

Antigua is stunning. White sand beaches (365: one for each day of the year), calm, turquoise water that’s nearly fluorescent, rolling hills, thick forests, and an abundance of flora and fauna that knocked my socks off. Anyone who knows me personally is sick to death of the stories of the amazing hummingbirds, scuba diving and steel drums bands playing during dinner that made me cry because everything was “just so perfect”.

We had so many amazing adventures in Antigua that I’ll definitely get into in future blogs (the lookout at Shirley Heights, Stingray City, A circumnavigation of the entire island – all of which I HIGHLY recommend) and one that I’ll never forget is the trip to the sister isle of Barbuda. We found it in the list of available tours and myself, my husband and another couple wanted to go. The resort tour rep gave us a few options on how to get to the tiny island, and we all unanimously agreed to take the ferry that the locals take. He implored us to take the luxurious catamaran or sailboat instead, warning us that it may not be the best option, but we all wanted to take the journey authentically, and see things from a local perspective.

The ferry to Barbuda.

Real traveling. No catamaran for us.

Packages being sent from the mainland to friends and family in Barbuda.

The ferry ride was 1.5 hours each way, and admittedly not the smoothest ride. I was glad to have anti-nausea medication (of which I always bring a lot to share) because even some of the locals were seasick. I loved every minute of it. The ferry was loaded up with boxes and care packages for friends and family members on Barbuda that were simply labeled with first names, because everyone on Barbuda knows everyone. Passengers included a group of Antiguan school children and their teachers going for a field trip, some Barbudans going back after a visit to the main island and some Antiguans going to see relatives who live on Barbuda. There was even the most small town scene of someone trying to get a package of something “illegal” to Barbuda that was nearly comical in its casualness.

Some sick tummys on the choppy ride over

Land Ho! Barbuda far in the distance.

Once on Barbuda, six of us (we were nearly the only tourists on the island with it being off season) were whisked around to see the sand mine (yes, they send sand to places that don’t have any), the village of Codrington, and then to the Codrington Lagoon to see the largest frigate bird sanctuary in the Western Hemisphere.

The Government House dating to 1694 has been abandoned and seen hurricane damage over the past decades.

Horses that casually roam the island.

And a few donkeys

Colonial House

Sand mining which remains a controversial industry in Barbuda

Young frigate birds

The largest frigate bird santuary in the northern hemisphere

Frigate birds at the Codrington Lagoon

Upside down jellyfish in the lagoon

Frigate birds

We spent part of the morning boating around the quiet lagoon with a tour guide, taking photos of the birds and marveling at the upside down jellyfish. We were then driven up to Barbuda’s “highlands”, the caves at Two Foot Bay, a very short drive from Codrington. We had time to explore these magnificent limestone caves, and climb to Barbuda’s highest point (which is only 38 meters, as Barbuda is very flat) and see the stunning lookout views. This is also where you can find the remains of Codrington House, the ruins of a family estate dating to the 1700’s. The Codgrinton brothers who leased land from the UK ran sugar plantations, had ties to piracy and the slave trade.

Climbing to the highest point on the island

View from the caves

Limestone Caves at Two Foot Bay

Overlooking the island at the caves

Ruins of the Codrington House

From there we were taken to the pink sand beach (again only a short drive away) for an amazing lunch at a beach side restaurant and then time on a basically deserted beach. We sunbathed, swam and explored. We didn’t see the pink sand that you may have heard Barbuda is famous for (it’s seasonal) but that didn’t matter at all. It was stunning.

We explored the nearby River Martello Tower, an old military fort built in 1745, one of many of these types of fort around the islands. We met a local there who was walking around the area while waiting to catch the ferry back to Antigua. He gave us his take on the history of the area and showed us “sea grapes”, a small, edible fruit that grows on vines right on the beach.

The River Fort Martello tower dating to 1745

Fort River Martello Tower

The local that showed us around the fort

This view though…

We finally had to drag ourselves from the beach to catch the ferry for the choppy ride back to Antigua. More seasickness, some people slept, others chatted and gossiped, I stuck my head out the window to catch the breeze and splashes of the sea in my face while 80’s pop hits played on the speakers (including Don’t Rock The Boat,  which I found cute and ironic).

Heading back to Antigua

I really didn’t know quite what to expect on our day trip to Barbuda, but I was hoping for an adventure and boy did it deliver, especially based on it’s size and population. Barbuda isn’t shiny and sparkly like the larger island of Antigua and some of the other more well known Caribbean islands. It’s largely undeveloped and has a very small town feel.  It’s definitely not modern. Everyone knows everyone and life seems relatively quiet. Barbuda has very little tourism development and hardly any large resorts. That’s what’s so unique and charming about it. It’s unspoiled and pure. Innocent. That’s also what makes me so sad when I think about the devastation Irma has caused her.

The stunning beach and clear waters

The island was without any contact from the outside world for nearly 24 hours after being hit directly by category 5 Irma dozens of times larger than the island. How frightening it must have been for those poor souls to be hunkered down in the dead of night with their homes coming apart around them? To be stranded for so long, not knowing how long until help arrived? Who will come to her aid with 90% or more of her infrastructure obliterated? Barbuda is not comprised of wealthy people. Most houses are simple. Most of the ways of life are simple. It won’t be simple for them any longer. I can only hope that Barbuda (and St. Maarten and many other Caribbean nations affected by this hurricane) will get the help that they desperately need to rebuild and maintain their way of life in the wake of this devastation. If you have even $10 to spare, I hope you will donate to a relief organization who can help them. No amount is too small. And I hope that you will be lucky enough to visit the unassuming little jem that is Barbuda, at least once in your life.