Monique Devereux, former chief reporter at the Herald and now Christchurch correspondent for Radio New Zealand, is at the Cricket World Cup. She brings nzherald.co.nz regular news and views from the West Indies
KEY POINTS:
My fellow Kiwi journalists here at the World Cup all depart for Guyana today and I am glad not to be going with them.
While not geographically part of the Caribbean, the South American country of Guyana is linked to the West Indies through its British history and,of course, its cricket.
The British journalists and photographers have been at the games played in Guyana so far, and have just arrived in Antigua with their team.
They have few nice things to say about the place. It's not very beautiful, the technology needed to work is sadly lacking, and it's not very safe.
Two days ago a cameraman from Sky Sport was threatened with a gun after stopping in a suburb to film.
A New Zealand camera team pulled out of going after being warned they could be targets of thieves, and would need to be accompanied by security every time they left their hotel.
An English journalist who arrived in Antigua two days ago told me the highlights of his trip to Guyana were seeing a road sign that read "Brazil – 500km", and boarding the plane to leave.
As frustrating as it is to try and work here, Antigua is beautiful and it seems very safe.
Unlike the parts of Barbados and St Lucia I visited, there are hawkers on the beach, but they are not persistent or aggressive.
The streets of St Johns are busy and full of people, but it does not feel unsafe to walk around, as so many of the cruise ship tourists do every day.
And the people involved in the World Cup are probably the friendliest yet. On arrival here we were met by volunteers who fast tracked us through customs and immigration, and offered us all samples of the delicious local black pineapple.
The journalists who left for Guyana today are not expecting such a welcome. They are just hoping for a good game of cricket.
