Stingray at Crocus Bay

Before the Stingray 🙂

It was the end of a normal work day for Nash and I. While most other persons were heading home, Nash and I drove to Crocus Bay still in our work attire. This is not something we do often but I really wanted to get a picture of the beach for one of our Facebook followers. She wrote me earlier in the day about her love for collecting photos of Anguilla’s beaches and that it got her through the hustle and bustle of life in a major city. I decided that I wanted to stop by one of our beaches and take a photo just for this lovely lady.

We arrived at Crocus Bay around 5pm and snapped some pictures.The beach was mostly deserted and the water was perfectly calm. I took a seat under the well-known Crocus Bay tree and just observed the beauty around me. If I looked towards the hill CeBlue was visible and if I looked towards the beach, the sun shone beautifully on the water. No one was kayaking at that time of day.

Crocus Bay

Crocus Bay Anguilla

AXA Rocks at Crocus Bay

We soon noticed a bit of activity nearby so we went to see what was happening. We saw huge pieces of fish and soon discovered it was a stingray. Some visitors stopped by at the same time and started to ask one of the men (Junior) who captured the stingray some questions. They were fascinated by the creature as was I. One of the men showed us some pictures of the creature before it was cut up and I said aloud that it was beautiful. I did feel a tinge of sadness that this poor animal was captured and killed. We know some of you reading are probably thinking the same thing!

Junior discusses Stingray at Crocus Bay

Junior at Crocus Bay

I got over my sadness fairly quickly as Junior spoke to the visitors (not pictured above) about how stingray is cooked. They asked to try it and he willingly gave them some meat to take to their apartment to cook. We continued to speak to him and he also gave us some fish to cook. I love the serendipity of life in Anguilla. An unplanned stop at the beach resulted in us getting Stingray to cook for dinner.

Stingray at Crocus Bay

Stingray at Crocus Bay

Another stop after the beach resulted in us picking Guineps for dessert :-).

I had never cooked sting ray before although I had eaten it once or twice.

Tips for cooking stingray

• Boil the stingray until you can remove the skin from both sides
• The remaining meat is all edible
• Stew the meat using seasonings like onion, garlic, pepper, celery, carrots
• Serve with white rice (Tip from Junior)
• Include some greens on your plate (Tip from Shelly)

OK I admit I did not cook the stingray :-). Nash did and it was delicious. We had it for dinner that night with rice. I had some for lunch the next day and Nash had the remainder for dinner the following night.

We would like to say thanks to Junior for his generosity as he did not hesitate to share his catch with all of us. It is another great example of the hospitality and friendliness of Anguillians.

Junior at Crocus Bay

Do you have any stories of unexpected kindness and generosity from strangers in Anguilla? Do share them with us.

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Thanks for reading!