The British Virgin Islands are in the Carribbean Sea. They are south and east of Florida. Among the island group are Tortola, Virgin Gorda, Anegonda, and Jost Van Dyke. There are a bunch of other smaller islands, but we didn't get to any of them. We stayed on Tortola and took day trips to Virgin Gorda and Jost Van Dyke. We also took a day trip to St. Thomas in the US Virgin Islands, but that wasn't a pleasant story. Kind of a waste.


This is Ft. Recovery, where we stayed on Tortola. It's a neat place. What they have are little villa units with a private beach, and NO PHONES. It was meant to be a getaway, and it was.

Our unit is the one directly ahead, with a patio looking out over Francis Drake Channel. There was a tree swing there as well. The old fort itself is the stonework on the right of the picture, but we didn't get to go up it.

The first night they gave us a complimentary dinner served in our unit. We moved our table out onto the patio and ate by candlelight with the sound of the sea. Wonderful place.

This is the private beach out front of our place. As nice as that was, we didn't spend any time on it. There were other places to explore.

The hill in the background is Frenchman's Cay, over which we witnessed many beautiful sunsets. I have to go back to get a picture of one, now that we own a tripod. One neat thing about this area is that, when the Sun goes down, it actually gets dark and you can see thousands of stars. None of that urban glow we have in the Northeast US.

We even saw a shooting star arc across the night sky.

This picture is approaching the island of Jost Van Dyke. There is a ferry boat, called "When", that runs from Tortola to this island. The boat is so named because that's when it arrives. Island Time is considerably more relaxed than what we were accustomed to, but I got used to it.

The water was crystal clear, and this island has a permanent population of less than 100, and at least five bars and nightclubs.

This is the view from the Soggy Dollar Bar on Jost Van Dyke. A comfortable hammock underneath the palm trees, clear blue sky and sea, gorgeous view, soft breeze. What more do you want?

The best ribs I've ever eaten were from this place. Excellent lemonade as well. It's the restaurant at Pusser's Landing Marina, on the western end of Tortola. It was a nice atmosphere, under the stars with the Tiki torches burning along the docks, and waves lapping at the sides of the moored boats.

And finally, the William Thornton, a neat bar and restaurant. It is an old wooden sailing vessel, that has been converted. There is a launch that runs from Roadtown, the main settlement on Tortola, out to the Thornton. We had lunch here. Never made it back for the nightlife. I wonder how many people they lose over the side during a night of partying.