One thing is for sure, Antigua has no shortage of mangoes. You can't drive 100 yards without passing someone selling them on the side of the road or at an intersection, and you can see the trees everywhere, just laden with them. Tonight, driving back along Fig Tree drive we saw dozens of people walking down the road or out of the fields and forests carrying bags or buckets full of them from some source they found out there, not doubt to sell tomorrow. One particular tree along the route right next to the road had a dude selling mangoes that he found there. This guy walked up to the tree, collected some mangoes, set them on a blanket and started selling them, and we see this dozens of times a day. So he might make a few bucks selling them, but that's a few bucks he earned by plucking a few mangoes out of a tree or off the ground. I bought 2 bundles of ginips from a few adolescents walking down the road selling them, no doubt they found a tree of them, plucked a handful of bunches and decided to make a few bucks on their way to wherever they were going.
Just at the end of our drive way a Rastafarian family sets up a table every day and sells a big pile of mangoes and other local fare (black pineapples, cukes and breadfruit). That's what they do, every single day. However, there must be a market for it because you see a lot of people walking around eating mangoes. The goats seem to enjoy the peels that people leave about.
Another unique type of business here in Antigua (and in a lot of other Caribbean and Latin American countries we've seen) is the random array of impromptu barbecue spots that appear in the evening. Some are semi-permanent (that is, they use the same spot on a corner, or yard every day) and some just seem to appear. A barbecue, some sides (rice or salad) and some other specialty like roasted corn. And let me tell you the food is good and cheap. My personal favorite is stewed chicken and rice. But again, an ingenious and enterprising way to make some extra money. (Oh, and you can usually get some mangoes at these, too).
Anyways, enough rambling about Antiguan culture. Today we started out by doing some shopping in St. John's. I picked up a sweet West Indies official cricket jersey. I'm not a sportswear guy, but I will wear this, mainly because it is so unique. We also made a point to visit Super Power Electronics and Beauty Supply, a business that Jenn has heard advertise on the Red Hot 98.5 radio stream. Their commercial and their diverse product line was so interesting, we just had to check them out. Their product line was amazingly diverse. Snack foods, electronics, DJ gear and, yes, beauty supplies. Very friendly staff. We also made a point to see Food Fantasies Plus, another business with wacky ads on the radio. I want to see "Mr. Cool's Concrete". That's just a kick-ass name.
After St. John's, we returned to the house and I got some work done. Then, to round out the evening, we headed out to Darkwood Beach for some sun and soak. The skies, when we arrived, we ominous and it did sprinkle, but like every rain here, it passed quickly and soon it was hot again. I snorkeled a bit and the water, while clear, was a bit sparse on fish. However I did get to see a few unique fish.
We returned home for dinner and finishing up with work.
