Guana — the ultimate escapist island

British Virgin Islands — Want to find a true escapist hideaway that doesn’t require a long and torturous journey to reach, provides you with 80-degree year-round temperature, puts you athwart two major bodies of water, surrounds you with unblemished wonders of nature and has a resident human population of only two?

Then try Guana , the only isle in the British Virgin Islands that we might whimsically say is still virginal going into the 2lst century. It is an 850-acre outpost of lovely, deserted beaches that ascends high on rocky terrain which affords breathtaking views at the summit , along with trails where you can view endangered species of fauna and flora and a wildlife sanctuary. Columbus missed it in l493 when he was sailing through this area where the Caribbean brushes the Atlantic but no doubt included it anyway when he named the whole archipelago for St. Ursula and all her martyred lovelorn maidens.

It was American Quakers, of all people, who found it and also found they could survive there by utilizing its sugar resources and building a small plantation. They favored natural stone architecture in constructing their main house near the summit, along with related cottages. Eventually, they decided to go elsewhere and the island fell into private hands who used it for private retreats. Later, a club took it over, again for private getaways, although it also invited naturalists who marked the trails for professional visitors. They also warned all and sundry to leave safely undisturbed such rare species as the Masked Booty, the Barefoot Screech Owl and the Crestfallen Traveler. Somewhere along the road, the isle was given the name of Guana, because of the iguana-shaped rock formation on its north coast.

It took a young and charming couple — British natives, of course — who opened the isle to tourists, particularly those interested in a break from the pressure-cooker of New York or London life. (The tourists can never constitute a crowd, however, since the hospitality limit is 30). The couple is Jon Morely and Catherine Dickens Morely, who met and married when they held managerial positions in two large resorts on Tortola. They wanted to operate their own venture and latched on to Guana when the club decided to sell out.

They have spruced up the buildings while carefully maintaining the original design. It is the Morelys who are the only permanent human residents here and when they go off on vacation (often to meetings of Dickens descendants since Catherine is a great-great-great granddaughter of the famous English author) they will be glad to rent out the entire island to any group of 30.

I should point out that this island is isolated only in a comparative sense. I had a comfortable, non-stop flight to Tortola and then a Guana launch whisked us over the waters to our destination. Fears of mounting steep heights to accommodations were dissipated with the instant arrival of golf carts to do the task once performed by mules. And although the legal population is two, there is indeed an efficient staff here who provided us with all the amenities and served up an excellent cuisine with the emphasis on seafood.

The staff people live on the major island but come and go from work by boat and are always available for contact by radio-telephone. The rooms are not Robinson Crusoe dugouts but well-appointed with modern plumbing. No TV or radio in the rooms and no room keys, but in this low-key atmosphere, I deemed such items as superfluous. The British touch, incidentally, is ever-present. There is tea-time and cocktail time — indeed, this must be the only place that has both a wildlife refuge and a daily cocktail hour.

Although I observed island protocol with a nature hike and interesting views of species’ habitats, I was also offered a range of modern-day recreations — swimming, kayaking, windsurfing, snorkeling, and even tennis. The net instructor, I found, was the attractive Dickens descendant — a gal of many skills.

I found a second off-the-beaten path jewel in the Virgins via flight by small plane to Anegada. It has l80 year-round residents, as compared to Guana’s two, but also has the appeal of long, uninterrupted white-sand beaches, protected sanctuaries for birds and wildlife, environmentally-pure parks, a hotel (the Anegada Reef) and the Big Bamboo Bar and Restaurant, presided over by a colorful personality named Aubrey Levins. His reputation for serving the freshest and tastiest lobster meals in the Caribbean drew Princess Di from another island who pronounced his offering as “best lobster I ever tasted.”

Copyright by Marcia Abramson

E-mail: mascribe @aol.com