The northeast wind brings a breeze to the snow like white sand beaches of these two islands, located at the heart of the Caribbean, an ideal refuge for beach and navigation lovers

From the plane’s window, Antigua (map) looks like a heart shining under the sun rays of the Caribbean. To land in this plain island of 270 square km., is, for many, the first opportunity to taste the atmosphere of the West Indies, before following to the Little Antilles. Located at the heart of the Caribbean Archipelago, Antigua, along with the neighboring Barbuda (map) and Redonda, the latter with no inhabitants, is bordered by a beautiful coast full of harbors, beaches, coves and natural ports.

Vegetation reduces to low shrubs and dry meadows, because the ancient woods were cut down to make room for plantations of the European pioneers; though some still survive at the hills southwest of the island. But, lovers of nautical sports adore Antigua: submarinists go in crowds to the surrounding coral reefs, while wind surfers and sailors enjoy the constant strength of the trade winds. Every April, is celebrated the Antigua Sailing Week, the most important regatta in the Antilles. At the Leeward coasts, the Caribbean waters are ideal for swimming. On one occasion, during an official visit, Queen Elizabeth couldn’t resist the temptation to swim in these warm waters.

An experienced nation
At only 40 km of the Antigua northeast coast, is Barbuda, a little island of 160 square km., remote white sandy beaches, and a perfect place to cut off your links with the rest of the world, for some days, and relax, as Diana, princess of Wales did in February of the year of her tragic death. Most of the 1300 inhabitants (Antigua has almost 70,000 people) live of tourism. In fact, Antigua inhabitants can presume of being the pioneers of tourism, in the Little Antilles. During the World War II, the US used this island as an aerial base; they built a modern airport that after the war contributed, greatly, to develop tourism. In 1965, 50, 000 tourist visited Antigua. Now, the number has increased to around 270,000 a year. Tourism produces 75% of the total income of the island. To balance the economy, various plans have being designed to foster agriculture. Also, banks and other industries have benefited from the Government’s subsidy.

Wadadli and the “governors”
On his second trip, to the new world, Christopher Columbus discovered this island, which he called Santa Maria of Antigua, the name of a church in Seville. The Arawak called it Yarumaqui, that means “the island were canoes are made”. Later the Caribbeans called it Wadadli, a name you can still read on the bottle’ s foil of a local beer.

During the colonial wars between Great Britain and France in the XVII and XVIII, the British Navy used the island as a base. In 1666 was conquered by France, but it lasted little, because the British recovered it at once, filling Antigua with sugar cane plantations. At the end of the 1960’s, the sugar price fell; then mansions of the landlords started to deteriorate, and now you can only see the ruins of the old windmills.

The Bird clan
Until 1956, Antigua was part of the British colony of the Leeward Islands.
In 1967, the island was declared independent colony within the British Commonwealth. Independence was declared only in 1981, and in that year, Vere Cornwall “Papa” Bird, assumed as Prime Minister of Antigua. From 1945, Bird and his politic party, the Antigua Labor Party (ALP), controlled the island’s fortune. In 1994, at 84 years old, Bird named his son Lester as his “successor”.

The private fortune of the clan is estimated in more than U$D 100 million. Their detractors accuse them of taking their “family business” in Antigua and Barbuda, to intolerant limits of corruption, even by Caribbean standards. Fraud, arm smuggling, drug trafficking, money laundering, and the fierce rivalry between Lester and Vere, the two sons of Bird, have always surrounded this controversial family. In his book, A Small Place (1988), writer Jamaica Kincaid, draws a crude portrait of corruption within the region. But the truth is, that while the sun shines, and the sea maintains the calm of his blue waters, the islanders show no sign of being worried by these stories.