Rum & Roti

Fine Dining

Cuisine here is a fascinating mix of hamburgers and fries, steaks or curried up rotis – flat breads filled with chicken & potato curry and drenched in mango chutney. All designed of course to sop up any alcoholic over-indulgences. Bars abound and some are more infamous than others – partying any night is de rigueur here. Needless to say, Hollywood’s right into it.

Dinner for who?

True local dishes offer soups and stews – not really appealing to us in this climate. GS went through the checkout last week with a lady buying “hogs feet front, toes on” (even less appealing!) but with lime and hot pepper sauce added, it is the main ingredient in souse.

Fish has hardly featured in our diets so far due to a cunning organism called ciguatera. This toxic critter is eaten happily by reef fish but less so by humans, who tend to die. So fishing is out. A fishing licence is also necessary. Just ask the chap who is now languishing in jail thinking about his US$ 46,000 fine. Ouch!

Cane Gardens Bay from high: a great surfing spot

Rum is the drink de jour, with enough varieties to please even the most ardent connoisseur. Captain S has even been persuaded to give up the G&T's. Yes, we're all in shock! Anyway, I'm sure we'll have more to report as we travel south, sampling local varieties. I have a little stock of oz wine and hope to expand the cache to include some Chilean whites...no casks though, so we feel very indulgent.

For those like us who knew only a little about the Caribbean and even less about the BVI, the following map of the islands and this interesting web site for visitors may help...