This is a week we haven’t been looking forward to - the week of the dreaded ITV!
An ITV is the equivalent to an MOT in England and is required by Law, ITV stands for “Inspeccion Tecnica de Vehicles”. The problem is that, since we have been here, the car has appeared to disintegrate before our eyes & everything seems to have been dropping off. Somebody promised to get us a windscreen wiper to replace the one that flew off but, being the usual manyana culture, it didn’t materialise until the very last minute. We were so relieved to finally get it - but then discovered a puddle under the car - the radiator had sprung a leak & water was pouring out! Some miracle stuff was put in, which blocked the holes, and we set off to Antigua where the one & only testing centre is situated.

As you can see, every type of vehicle has to be tested. We had a taxi, bus & cement lorry in the queue behind us! Basically, we were now on a kind of conveyor belt, and had to drive the car slowly to each station, where they checked everything was working; Oil and water, lights, wipers, washers and horn, alignment of headlights, function of seat belts, emissions, brakes and hand brake, tyres, shock absorbers, wheel cylinders & steering joints. The last bit was the most scary. We had to drive over a huge pit where it felt as though someone below was pulling the car to bits - we didn’t think there would be anything left by the time they had finished!

Yippee - we passed! I still can’t believe it. They put a sticker on the windscreen to prove it. And yes - that is rust on the roof (and everywhere else for that matter.) Gives it a bit of character don’t you think?

To celebrate we drove down the road to a Pozo Negro, a pretty little fishing village, where we enjoyed a lunch of freshly caught fish in a charming restaurant on the beach.We then went on to explore the remains of a very interesting stone age village inhabited by the Mohos, the original settlers on the island from North Africa, dating from before the time of Christ.

The village of La Atalayita (The little Watchtower) is situated in a remote part of the lava fields of the Pozo Negro valley and consists of 115 stone structures occupying an area of over 45,000 sq. metres.

You take Fred Flintstone’s, I’ll do Barney Rubble’s!