PeterHogenkampWrites

On September 6, 2017, Hurricane Irma--the strongest Atlantic hurricane ever to make landfall--battered Tortola with 215 mile per winds. Six months later, my family and I flew down to see how Tortola and the other 'Nature's Little Secrets' of the British Virgin Islands had fared.  Look in one direction (above) and it's hard to believe a catergory 5 hurricane devatastated Tortola less than six months ago. Look in the other direction (below) and it isn't. 220 mile an hour sustained winds were hard on this palm grove. Neither motor boat nor monohull was spared from the tidal surge that stacked the boats at Soper's Hole up like plastic toys. Since the mangroves were decimated, a school of minnows is using this inboard boat for protection. Nature is clever. If you are trying to calculate the cost of this storm, this 28 foot inboard boat goes for about three hundred thousand dollars; it's a total loss, and there are hundr...

  The Saturday Evening Blog Post. This Caribbean Life : A Walk on Tortola The wind stops blowing about halfway up the ridge, and even the palm fronds have the good sense to stop moving. But not me; I am going to get to the top of that hill no matter what, because that's what I do--I walk. (How are you supposed to see anything if you just sit?) I clear the crest of the hill and Soper's Hole reveals itself, a dazzle of blue in the bright sun. My water is gone by now, so I just pant and sweat and start down the other side of the hill, making sure to avoid the loose gravel slicking the dirt track someone had the audacity to call a road. A dozen driveways break off from the road on the way down, a dozen dirt tracks cutting across the pitch to homes obscured by the lush vegetation. A dilapidated truck comes by, kicking up dust that hangs like a cloud in the air, and I wait in the shade of a massive bread fruit tree until the light breeze disperses it. The driver stops and a...

Let me the set the stage for you: it 's mid-July and my wife and I have just started a fabulous week at her aunt's villa on a hill high over Long Bay Beach, Tortola, British Virgin Islands, on e of th e nicest stretch es of white sand you are going to find in the world. So, what to do to get our vacation started off o n the right foot? Yu p, you guessed it: slip on the hiking sandals and trek up and over the ridge of volcanic rock that runs lengthwise over the entire island. T he obvious choice, right? Might I also mention that there is where the store is, and our condo wasn't stocked with coffee. (Please don't ask what happens when there is no coffee.) So, off I went, as my wife settled into the lounge chair by the pool. (She didn't want to come, can you believe it?)  Anyway, when I g ot home, drenched in sweat, hot as Cuba (my b uddy Bill says that) and reall y, really thirsty (who hikes in dew points as high as these? ) I decided to create this pict...