Adventures in the Caribbean - Part 7 : Tortola, British Virgin Islands

Up in the north east corner of the Caribbean , some 50 miles east of Puerto Rico and only a mile from the nearest US Virgin Island, lie the British Virgins - a group of about 50 islands (only 4 of which are of any size)

Tortola is the largest and most populated of these Islands. It is 13.5 miles long and 3 miles wide and was formed by volcanic activity. It lies near an earthquake fault; minor earthquakes are common

Christopher Columbus named the group of islands after the 11,000 virgins of the 4th-century martyr St. Ursula. Local tradition recounts that Columbus named this island Tortola, meaning "land of the Turtle Dove".

The Spanish made a few attempts to settle the area, but pirates such as Blackbeard and Captain Kidd were the first permanent inhabitants of the island. In the 17th century the English established a plantation colony on Tortola and the surrounding islands.

The sugar cane industry, dependent on the slave labour of Africans transported from the continent, dominated Tortola history over the next 150 years. It diminished in the mid-19th century after the abolition of slavery. A large proportion of the white landowning population left the British Virgin Islands during an economic downturn but the political relationship between the island and the British continued and has been maintained

We initially strolled around the capital, Road Town - we came across this post box

 And then we took and island tour and took in some spectacular views

These paintings are on the Ridge Road at Fahie Hill. The "Wall of Art" depicts island scenes both, past and present

 For more photos of our time on the island click Tortola