Crossing the Devil’s Bridge
On the northeast coast of Antigua, years of erosion brought on by the crashing waves of the Atlantic have created what is today known as the Devil’s Bridge. It’s a narrow, slippery rock bridge about 4 metres in length which on some days is completely inundated by the oncoming waves. it’s become quite popular with tourists, but you cross at your own risk. In one particularly unfortunate incident, someone on it fell off the bridge into the churning water below. His mate threw a rope to him to save him but was pulled into the rough waters too. Both of them didn’t make it.
See that white water? It’s taken its share of lives.
On first glance, I was torn over whether to cross or not. I had flip flops on which wasn’t the best choice for walking over a slippery jagged rock bridge. And falling into the rough waters chancing death would surely ruin in my holiday. So I decided to not attempt the crossing. But after we walked around the tiny peninsula and came back around to the car we saw the bridge again. Screw it, I’m going for it.
Sea spraying over the Devil’s Bridge from a crashing wave.
Flipflops off, I took my first few tentative barefoot steps. Thankfully the rock was worn down so while it wasn’t smooth, there weren’t many sharp jagged edges either. But on my 3rd or 4th step approaching the bridge I slipped a little bit and had a reality check: don’t step into any wet spots and risk slipping, losing balance, and falling over. I took my time, took each step carefully, and thankfully didn’t die!