Caribbean Cruise April 2013 - Road Town, Tortula Page

Tuesday 16th April 2013

A half-day in Tortola, so it was an early start. This is the British Virgin Islands, an off-shore banking centre (i.e. bunch of crooks). We left in rather strange coaches with 20 seats & open sides, with nothing to keep you (meaning me) in on one side. The island is small & vertiginous with steep roads.

Road Town is full of banks

20-person bus. Easy to fall out.

There are lots of British Virgin Islands

The driver/guide took frequent stops for photos & we stopped at Sage Mountain for the inevitable rum punches but these were tastier & weaker than the Nelson's Dockyard ones (thank goodness). We saw Nanny's Cay from above. Like much of Road Town, this is on land reclaimed by engineer Ken Bates, who owns Leeds United. There is a ramshackle pub at Cooper's Beach, where people gather for the Full Moon booze-up.

Road Town from above	Roadside murals on the way up Sage Mountain
Sage Mountain & rich bastards houses.	View East from Sage Mountain	Nanny's Cay artificial isle by Ken Bates
Cane Beach	Cooper's Bay	Full Moon Pub

We went down to Frenchman's Cay, an island inches off-shore & a rich man's yacht hangout but had the Pusser's Rum bar, where I bought a bottle of it: extra strong Navy rum.

...on Frenchman's Cay

Rich bastards' boats

The tiny bridge from the Cay to Tortola

Back at the ship, we grabbed a bit of lunch & then, we sailed away past the copious number of Virgin Islands, both British (BVI) & US ones. This is the biggest archipelago we have been to. We turned to sea through a narrow channel between apparently uninhabited islands & set off for Blighty via the Azores.