ENDLESS BEAUTY: THAT'S BVIText and Photography by PamelaAnn Campbell
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Tortola, British Virgin Islands: See Naples and die is an old cliché, but I discovered a new one recently - See BVI and live!
Live and love, that is, and because these islands are so enticing, they will keep your heart forever! Live for the endless beaches, sparkling seas, the charming locals, the sumptuous food, the island beauty - every reason to fall in love with the British Virgin Islands, or BVI as everyone fondly calls them. The way they were Every one of the 60 islands, rocks and cays that form the BVI are sunkissed and splashed by the waters of the Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea, and are as alluring as the emeralds and sapphires that often mirror their beauty. This unique archipelago, still a British colony, remains virtually pristine although it is more than 500 years ago since Columbus dedicated the islands to Saint Ursula and her 11,000 virgin martyrs. Fanned by the winds of change, the archipelago has seen its share of buccaneers and pirates - Dutch, English and Spanish before Britain's claim became official in the 18th century. |
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And perhaps still are The most popular islands of Tortola, Virgin Gorda, Anegada and Jost Van Dyke hold a special appeal for visitors who yearn for the tropics without pizazz. Less than 20,000 people live on four islands, as carefree and happy as ever with no traffic lights and no skyscraper hotel blocks. Ferries operate daily to transport visitors from one island to another.
TORTOLA in Spanish means "turtle dove" and this 21-square-mile island spreads its wings to encircle seven beaches and four parks and rises to lofty heights at Sage Mountain (1,716 feet). Sage Mountain, a 92-acre national park, is a great pretender as a rainforest with its lush vegetation. Popular with hikers, seven trails wind through acres of tropical fruit trees including coconut, papaya, breadfruit, and the exotic mammee apple. At higher altitudes the visitor is confronted with soldier crabs and the intriguing sounds of the Bo-Peep frog (native only to Tortola and Virgin Gorda). On dryer ground lizards scamper merrily around. Take a walk in the other parks to find a tropical assortment - 62 species of palm, birds, insects and reptiles (J.R. O'Neal Botanic Gardens), be dwarfed by white cedars, BVI's national tree (Queen Elizabeth Park) and view an 18th century windmill (Mount Healthy National Park). For the beach lover in you, wander from one island to the other - they are great for snorkeling, swimming, surfing, water-skiing, wind-surfing and diving. And once the day's fun is over, how about a sunset stroll? Take your pick - secluded Smugglers Cove with balmy crystalline waters or serene Long Bay? Surfer's beach Apple Bay and it's world famous Bomba's Shack or the curvaceous and bustling Cane Garden Bay? Brewer's Bay with great snorkeling reefs, Josiah's Bay adored by sunworshippers and winter surfers or Elizabeth Beach, the local picnic hotspot? Besides the funspots for seasiders, history buffs can explore Tortola to rediscover preservation among centuries-old ruins. Fort Recovery (located in West End) still stands as witness to the island's first Dutch settlers. The stone turreted tower was built in 1660, a solid structure with walls three feet thick. Today a hotel is on Fort Burt foundations, but it was originally the Dutch structure of defense at the mouth of Road Harbour. Canons and a stone magazine in remarkably good condition remain on the grounds. The British left their mark on The Dungeon (between Road Town and West End) in 1794 when the Royal Engineers constructed a fort to protect island shipping. The name stuck because an underground room discovered in these ruins is believed to be a cell occupied by prisoners who scratched images of a woman, buccaneer and sailing ship into the wall. Virgin Gorda
But no one leaves this island without visiting The Baths, an incredibly fascinating display of gigantic granite boulders that seem to have tumbled down near the sea, allowing visitors to frolic between sea pools and grottoes. At the beach nearby is a snorkeler's delight yielding pretty, colorful fish and coral. So too is Spring Bay (north of the Baths) with its sandy white beach and crystal clear waters dotted with rocks. Anegada Unlike its volcanic counterparts, Anegada is a coral atoll famous for miles and miles of beaches and dive sites around shipwrecks that did not escape the treacherous reef. Lobster dinners are a specialty when the catch is fresh from the waters around the island. Jost Van Dyke
Once settled by Arawak Indians, Caribs, Dutch, Africans and English, this little island was the birthplace of William Thornton, architect of the US Capitol Building. John Coakley Lettsome, founder of the London Medical Society, was a native son of nearby Little Jost Van Dyke. The others The names are intriguing, their beauty overwhelming, but every island has a distinctive charm, populated or uninhabited. For the explorer in you, here are some of the others you might like to visit - Beef, Cooper, Ginger, Norman, Salt and Guana Islands. Island hopping can be fun, and believe it or not, you'll be hopping on these islands!
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Enjoying "Nature's little secrets"
There is no need to hurry here. Perhaps there is a bit of 'manana' still left over from the Spanish occupation Linger awhile at Little Fort National Park among the stone walls of a Spanish fort and enjoy the wildlife sanctuary there too. The Coppermine was probably abandoned by the Spaniards before the Cornish worked the mines between 1838 and 1867.
The name sounds Dutch and it belongs to a pirate who would probably not be the least bit surprised that the world loves the beach bars here and Foxy's rules the New Year's Eve scene. And he wouldn't want you to bypass the lovely stretch of beach located at White Bay.