Fame at last – Making headlines in the Andamans

The opening ceremony for the inaugural Sail the Andamans Yacht Carnival was a grand affair and the welcome very warm.

In addition to the 27 crew members from 13 yachts, the evening was attended by local officials, representatives from various government departments and importantly, the very charming and erudite Lieutenant Governor D K Joshi (retired) a former naval Admiral and judging by his speech, a keen supporter of the yacht carnival.

A keen yachtsman himself, Admiral Joshi said that this was “the first but by no means the last Andaman’s yacht carnival”.

Quite an event! There were many cameras filming and taking photos.

Describing the islands as “the last unexplored frontier” the Lieutenant Governor said that plans were afoot “to ease the visa regime” with the aim of providing online visa applications for nationals of countries who have the appropriate arrangements with India. So all those people thinking of taking part in the rally next year take note!

After a wonderful display of many traditional and other dancing, including an amazing Kathkali dancer from Kerala in Southern India, some Nicobarese dancers and a group of Bollywood dancers, guests were treated to the wonderful tastes of Indian street food prepared by professional caterers. It was a great evening.

In the days before the opening ceremony we revisited some of the places we had enjoyed during our last trip to the Andaman Islands in 2017.

One day we hired a mini bus to take a few of us to Chidiyatapu where we went for a marvellous hike in the forest behind Mundapahar Beach.

Afterwards we revisited the tiny little Cafe Infinity right over from the beach beloved of Indian tourists who flock there to see the sun set over the water. We had a snack of delicious fish fillets coated in a red coloured and flavoursome curry sauce.

Later we returned to another favourite haunt from our last trip – a resort restaurant previously called Bamboo but now renamed Wild Grass. Unfortunately with the change of name came a change of menu and gone were the beers, sparkling and still wine. It had become the pub with no beer!

Later on that day we made up for our disappointment at our favourite roof top restaurant “Seashells” where we ate delicious food and enjoyed live music.

Other great places to eat in Port Blair include the New Lighthouse Restaurant (only serves beer after 4 pm), the Megapode Nest (beautiful views, good food and a full bar but often with slow motion service), the restaurant at TSG Hotel, Annapurna (delicious vegetarian food) and Ananda (wonderful food including fabulous chicken tandoori).

While we were in Port Blair our small flotilla of boats made front page news in the Andaman Chronicle “First Ever Yacht Carnival Begins With Arrival of Five Yachts on Day One”. Fame at last!

If you would like to read more about the inaugural Andamans Yacht Rally and our trip up north follow the link below: