On the way up, we kept out sharp eyes for lobster traps which we managed to avoid and Henry spotted this whale which we managed to avoid too. (Yes, I know, he is very far away!) I grabbed the camera and shot in its general direction as soon as it surfaced and was quite amazed that I managed to capture anything at all. Notice how calm the waters are too!
Arrival in Anegada is a complicated affair as you have to thread your way into the anchorage between the reefs. Some of the anchorage is perhaps 10’ deep but for the most part it seems to run about 4’-6’ which is just about deep enough so long as the tide doesn’t drop you too much. The first thing we noticed was the colour. While the other BVI islands are hilly and scrub-green, Anegada is a flat reef island and the colour is amazing turquoise and white. It is picture postcard Caribbean.
We spent the day scoping it all out and decided that we will rent bicycles tomorrow morning before it gets too hot to make our way across the island to where the ‘good beaches’ are. Seeing nothing wrong with the beaches on our own doorstep, we wandered around the west end of the island and enjoyed stopping in at some of the local haunts and open-air bar/restaurants.
In the evening we settled on “The Whispering Pines” to continue our survey of island conch fritters. This has become our happy hour treat and we are getting to be quite the connoisseurs. Dough to conch ratio, degree of deep-frying and tanginess of dipping sauce are all important criteria. On a scale of 1-5, Whispering Pines rates 3-4-5, not bad! The pines here are quite beautiful and very airy – no structure compared to pines at home and you certainly wouldn’t get much of a straight board out of them, but they are very different from much of the vegetation we have seen so far. Surprisingly, the only palm trees we’ve seen on Anegada seem to have been purposely planted around specific buildings and restaurants.
