Anageda
We arrived in Anegada on Feb 4th after a brisk and
pounding sail – yes, I said sail.
Took some serious deck pounding, but curiously, this doesn’t bother me
much anymore, except from the aspect of what could be broken and costly as a
result.
We were going there to partake of the famous Anageda Lobster in
a belated celebration of Bill’s 69th birthday. Beyond the lobster, and the hope of
seeing the re-introduced flock of West Indian flamingos, now up to 300 from
extinction (which is 50 more than it’s human population), we had little
expectation of this most easterly and last of the BVI chain. We were very pleasantly surprised.
We were personally invited to the Whispering Pines Restaurant by
a local man named Barry. He boated
out to us when we moored and sang a little ditty of welcome and issued a glowing
recommend –yes, he works for the place - for the restaurant. He was so charming that we signed up
immediately – reservations were required, along with your meal choice as they
only prepare what is ordered in advance.
We dinghied to the brand new, courtesy of Hurricane Earl in
2010, dinghy dock. Whispering
Pines is on the beach where the tables and chairs are set in the sand and the
water laps gently about 10 feet away.
There was a candle on our table and lovely, soft Caribbean music
playing. A crisp salad and
tropical drink appeared almost immediately and then the lobsters were
presented. Sliced in half down the
middle and curled up on the platter, Bill and I tucked in to enjoy lobster like
no other. It had been bbq’d and
basted with garlic butter and had a slight smoky caramel flavor – this little
slice of heaven melted in your mouth.
Each lobster, we estimated, was over 2 pounds. Whether it was the location, the food, or the company, we
both agreed, all elements were perfect.
This is the only non-volcanic island in the Antilles chain made
up of limestone coral. Its highest
point of land is 26 feet above sea level.
It is surrounded by shallow water and coral reefs that make the approach
a must for paying attention to the charts. There is no approach by boat from the the Atlantic
side. But the beaches on the north
are world class spectacular and stretch as far as the eye can see, protected by
the coral reefs and providing excellent snorkeling and swimming. The sand is that pure, silvery, fine
stuff that slides through your toes like water and makes you wish you were a
child again.
Cow Wreck
Beach gets its name from the wreck of ship carrying cattle that
crashed onto the reef many unknown years ago, sending only cattle bones
ashore. This dubious tale was told
to us by our cab driver/tour guide who took us on an island tour, and who
couldn’t vouch for it’s veracity.
He also had no explanation for the many, many, skinny unclaimed cattle
that freely roam the island, so it is my suspicion that some of them survived
the wreck. But as no one feeds or
waters these poor beasts, nor do they pen or slaughter them, they have become a
tolerated nuisance when they raid gardens and wander into the traffic on the
only road that transverses the middle section of the island. Our cab driver was really chuffed as
they had broken into his thriving pumpkin patch and destroyed it, along with
his budding peanut plants.
Jerry carted us to the standard tourist attractions and managed
to combine our fare with another couple from Minnesota. We were delighted to meet Beth and
Hector from St. Paul and during
our short time together became fast friends.
At Loblolly Beach, I
was treated to another odd but wonderful occurrence. I swear I’m not making this up. Bill and I were having a drink at the beach bar when the
fellow on the next stool struck up a conversation, as is common in the
tropics. Turns out, Dick Sweeney
was one of the three and only remaining partners who invented, developed and
marketed the Keurig Coffee machine.
My Keurig is one of my favorite kitchen machines, and as I have either
recommended or purchased one of these for all my friends and family, this was a
special event for me. Dick had
actually sent me an email and a complimentary box of coffees a few years ago
after I had sent in an email request.
Imagine that! What does it
say about a person when she is a bit star struck by the guy who makes a coffee
machine? Don’t answer that.
The other major reason for us being there was so that Bill could
observe flamingoes in the wild, and we sure did! They were those tiny pink blobs we could just make out in
our binoculars. Apparently, they are
camera and people shy.
Our cab driver took us on a tour past one of the three restaurants on the island and was upset
to find it closed. He had sent his
7 year old daughter there for lunch, so was concerned that she didn’t have
anything to eat. Off we went to the school; he went in and
found out that one of her teachers had taken her home for lunch. That would never happen where I come
from.
We’ll be back.