Virgin Island Trip Part 2 - Virgin Gorda (British Virgin Islands)

Our Virgin Island  trip continues. Thursday (April 25) we get off without a hitch for a beautiful ferry ride from St. John to Virgin Gorda.

Virgin Gorda is part of the British Virgin Islands.  Our hosts there had made arrangements for a taxi to pick us up.  The island dude was there waiting for us.  Check in is not until 3pm so we dropped off our bags, walked the area some, had lunch and returned to check in.  St. John is bustling compared to Virgin Gorda.  There are only about 3500 permanent residents here, very few roads and an even more laid back vibe.  The focal point of Virgin Gorda is the Baths.  This area is on the Southwest tip of the island.  Imagine beautiful sandy beach with boulders the size of a house randomly dropped on the beach  Hopefully the pictures will do a better job then me.

Our accommodations were within walking distance of the Baths.  Our house was an octagon shaped building, with 1 bedroom, a bath and a living room/kitchen space.

Plus a tremendous deck,
. 

and another great view.

All of this is on the second floor of the building.  The underside is dedicated to a cistern.  We had no AC or TV, bur again, it's probably one of the most reasonably priced places on the island, and we missed neither.

That evening we walked to a restaurant appropriately named the Top of The Baths.  The food was fair but the colorful sunset views were worth a million.

Friday we walked about a mile to town.  Checked out the unique murals,

a small bakery with great cheese biscuits,  the yacht harbor,

 and 3 grocery stores along the way. Bought a few groceries and returned.

That afternoon we walked to the baths to snorkel.  The snorkeling there is unique.  There's some fish and coral, but mostly it's about viewing the rock formations under the water.  Very cool!

Still many unique coral formations and fish to observe.

Adjacent to the Baths are two more areas to explore called The Caves and Devils Bay.  The walk through the Caves to get to Devils Bay is quite an adventure! When (or if) you finally make it through, great rock formations  and  spectacular beach greet you.

Saturday we rented a car and toured the island.  A highlight was a boat ride to Saba Rock.  (The resort provides a free ferry shuttle service.)

It's no more then a small island/large rock with a restaurant and 8 rooms for rent.  Mighty picturesque and full of "wildlife".

 

Later, we stopped at various overlooks along the road to enjoy some fabulous views.

At the end of our island tour we stopped at the Copper Mine National Park.  Just an old mining site on a spectacular coast.

Spent all day Sunday enjoying the house, the views, the weather and the critters who visited our deck. 

I should say we enjoyed all the critters with the exception of those now pesky Pearly Eyed Thrashers, one of whom actually  attempted to steal my grilled cheese sandwich right off my plate.  No kidding!

They have their innocent look down pat

And will sneak up the minute you turn your head

Overall, a very peaceful day.

That evening after enjoying the sunset from our deck, we went in search of the night blooming cactus' that we heard were blooming.

  Our great good fortune was seeing both varieties.

Monday we snorkeled and hung out at Spring Bay National Park Beach which is immediately adjacent to where we were staying.  A wonderful beach day and a great way to spend the last day of our trip.

Tuesday morning began very early with another exciting 2 hour ferry ride back to St. Thomas and a very long travel day home.

What a trip!  What a life!  We speak of how fortunate and thankful we are most every day.

Next you should hear from us "on the road."


Duane