Tortola
30 November 2007 | The Roadtown Bakery
We returned to Tortola on Monday of this week and have been at the Village Cay Marina. For those of you who are interested in global positioning, the BVIs are located between latitude 18 degrees 25 minutes and longitude 64 degrees and 37 minutes. They are just 60 miles east of Puerto Rico. Of the 12 inhabited British Virgin Islands, Tortola is the largest, its capital and the center of commerce. The official population figure here is 20,000 - very hard to believe when we see a lot of people (many from huge cruise ships), and so many cars that walking on the main roads during rush hour is rather painful. But the island still looks sparse for the most part, amid large condominium complexes.
The government here seems to have protected the BVIs from the US commerce so you don't see chains - hotels, restaurants, etc. Most of the stores have been established for many years and the owners tend to be old themselves. It is interested to hear them talk about this island. We walked into the Tortola Department store a couple of days ago and the owner - a Lebanese man who happens to be the cousin of one of Colombia's ex-presidents Julio Cesar Turbay Ayala - talked to us for an hour about immigrating here in the early 1970s from Brazil, making a life here and now being a "millionaire" from having invested in property. He spoke 6 languages and said that life here has been very good for his family. He does regret seeing all the development and some social issues such as maids being brought from the Dominican Republic and other islands and being paid very little or none in some cases. Still this place remains beautiful.
One of the things that stands out is how dignified and proud most islanders seem to be. The history of these islands is also one of slavery which was abolished much earlier than it was in the US - independence proclamation took place in 1845. But unlike in the US we are told that blacks are at the center of government and make decisions about these islands. We find ourselves feeling like a minority as most inhabitants are black. However, we are not treated as "minority" - if we use this term as once might use it in the US. On the contrary, people are very friendly, attentive and treat us with respect.
Life is slow here - the heat most likely has an influence on this. We are becoming "slow" ourselves - a natural adaption process in order to survive. Restaurants take a long time to serve and, often, when you order something the waiter/waitress does not rush at all. It is all part of the life here and frustration can build quickly if one continues to act as if still in the US. Even the goats, the chickens and the lizards which we see everywhere are slow - -- they are very used to having people around and seem quite content to just hang around you until they absolutely have to scurry somewhere else. The food for the most part is excellent though very expensive. One of our favorite spots in Tortola is The Roadtown Bakery where the most delicious pastries are freshly baked daily. They sell an assortment of healthy goodies (made with vegetable and whole grains) as well as sweet fruity pastries. We go there most mornings to get a pastry and coffee.
We will be leaving Tortola in 2-3 days - we are not sure when. We need to do some work on our boat prior to leaving the Village Cay Marina, where we currently are. Most likely we will go back to Virgin Gorda to visit its large park and the island of Anegada the most remote island -- it is a flat, limestone island very different from the other BVIs. We are told that Anegada has great beaches and snorkeling. We plan to update this log every 2-4 weeks, depending on Internet availabilty, so be sure to check it about that often. We hope everyone is doing well and getting ready to celebrate the upcoming holidays.
For selected pictures from November 15-29 (Tortola, Virgin Gorda, Jost Van Dyke, Norman Island) copy and paste on a browser the following link.
http://picasaweb.google.com/sailingourway/BVIsNovember1526?authkey=2tKWiwv2ZvI