There are some things in Tortola that make me smile every time I drive by. For starters, you have to understand that there are very few sidewalks here. In fact, I can only think of two places where they exist: Road Town and in a small portion of the East End. Understandable, as Road Town […]
Eleven year ago when we were in Tortola, I took part in the annual Audubon Christmas Bird Count. Mind you, at the time, I didn’t know much about birds. Still don’t. But before I relate my tale, here’s a bit of information about this annual event. Between December 14 and January 5, over 65,000 birders […]
OK. I confess. I’ve been delinquent. Funny how work gets in the way. But I shouldn’t complain as freelancers are always looking for assignments. I just didn’t plan on writing six stories in 11 days! OIE! Now that I’m over the hump, it’s time I got back to my tales from Tortola! My plan is […]
Have you ever goofed yet everything turned out perfect in spite of your faux-pas? This happened to the gang when they were here over the holidays. Off they went with two vehicles (Kate’s 4WD Montero and a Jeep Wrangler rental) heading for Lava Rock. This is a small little-known beach in Trunk Bay where they […]
Another thing has changed; there is a flag system at most beaches. Red means DANGER! Do not swim. Of course, this is totally ignored by local surfers. The bigger the waves, the better. But for most folk, paying attention to the flag system makes sense as red flags mean huge waves that can knock you […]
Ernest Hemmingway’s Old Man and the Sea, first filmed in 1958 staring Spencer Tracey, was filmed again in 1969 staring Anthony Quinn as Santonio. The second time around, most of the film was shot here in Tortola—in Smugglers Cove—right below where we are staying. I remember visiting here in the mid 90’s and meeting Nell […]
Well, calling myself a “chef” is a bit affected, if not down-right pretentious. I’ll rephrase that to “short order cook.” On a beach. It happened like this. On Boxing Day I was at Smugglers Cove with the family. After a stint at boogie boarding, I started to roam around the beach and succumbed to a […]
Christmas in Tortola is a bit surrealistic in that I keep hearing traditional songs like I’m Dreaming of a White Christmas and Jingle Bells in spite of the weather being 25 C. Mind you most of the songs are sung with a Caribbean flair, which makes me want to dance. But I keep looking around for […]
Barrie had a cold when we left NS which Carmen picked up right away and I followed suit after we arrived in Tortola. We hacked our way through the first few days (Barrie referred to us all as the Phlem Family). Our breathing was made worse by a severe case of mould and mildew that […]
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