Caribbean

Caribbean

marley revealedInside the new film

a pirate’s life for meInvading the BVI

the truth about conch Top secrets and recipes

new cruises Voyages to take now

best vacation ever? St. Croix Farm Escape

Find your perfect retreat on a hilltop, a beach, a private island and more–from $60 a night

top 30 villas

travel+life

the lead A beach for two is one sweet fantasy. These quaint coves make it true.

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cruise watch Want to explore new islands? These newports are making it possible.

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food watch

Conch sparks love, lovemak-

ing and even marriage. A chef

uncovers why.

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12music watch What more could be said about Bob

Marley? A famed new film says lots.

18hotel watch

Forget hotel reviews. The ultimate test of

a resort lis in its beach chaise.

ContentsJune/July 2012

our top villas

22 Editors and experts select 30 homes away from

home so you don’t have to. Your best vacation beckons.

labor of love

32 On a St. Croix farm, a working vacation means

real work and paying guests love every second of it.

the modern guide to marauding & hooliganism

48 Pirates: Why do we love them? A BVI regatta of-

fers answers, and more questions.

features

essentials

last look

from the editor

07 Is group travel too much of a hassle? Not when

you stay in the right villa.

our carribean

08 Mudslides, mojitos, Chi Chis-top island elixirs

served straight up.

the back

the front

7682

“It’s undeniably thrilling to be standing in the exact

spot where James Bond was brought to life.”

spirits of jamaica

Ian Fleming, Noel Coward, and Errol Flynnc alled this island hme, an their legacy lives on.

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the current

Our FavoriteVillasHilltop views, secluded beaches, private islands, your very own chef... your ultimate vacation starts with a villa. Editors and experts share their top 30 reasons why – starting at $60 a night.

Hilltop views, secluded beaches, private islands, your very own chef... your ultimate vacation starts with a villa. Editors and experts share their top 30 reasons why – starting at $60 a night.

Hilltop: La Belle Helene, St. LuciaThe majesty of the Pitons can’t be appreciated from a photo. Sure, they look otherwordly, but the full understanding comes not from two dime-nsions. You’ve got to be on the ground, straining up to see these these sharp, pointed rocks thrust through the earth’s crust like a nail through a two-by-four. That same grandeur could steal some thunder from 11-bed-room, 10,000-square-foot villa La Belle Helene, but it only enhances the property. The Pitons feel like huge garden gnomes bookending Helene’s lush, rolling estate. And it will be several days(and cocktails) before I can decide whether the best view is from one of the villa’s sprawling verrandas overlooking the flower-dotted lawn, with Petit Piton stretching below, or if it’s from the pool staring back at the French colonial estate set against the larger Piton. Luckily, this is the toughest decision I have to make. From $23,800 per week. villasofdistinction.com Zach Stovall

more

Bordeaux Breeze, St. John, USVI Secluded atop Bordeaux Mounta-ain, the villa boast spectacular vie-ws and refreshing evening breezes. From$2,520 per week. mclaughlinanderson.com

Destiny, Jamaica A sky-high jewel located aboe Montego Bay, this 10,000-square-foot villa with a full staff and two private pools delivers. From $7,497 per week. jamaica-villas.com

June/July 2012

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Villa Nahma, St. Barts Wood paneling throughout this 3-bed-room hillsidevilla gives a nod to Thailand; a lava-stone pool offers unforgettable panoramic vistas. From $8,701 per week. stbarth.com

Baraka Point, Virgin Gorda, BVI Lush gardens, cliffside hammocks and a private beach flank this 12,000-foot villa. Teak furnishings add exotic charm. From $12,000 per week. villasofdistinction.com

Exotic: Nandana, Grand BahamaI enter Nandana through 18-foot-high, 12-foot-wide 250-year-old hand-carved teak doors. They were salvaged from a Javanese temple. Inside, the teak floors are from Myanmar and feel soft underfoot, and strangely soothing. I’m told a lion statue in the main garden hails from India. I’m beginning to lose sight of where I hail from. Am I really standing just 65 miles from South Florida? My eyes are telling my brain it should feel jet-lagged. There are six Thai-inspired beach pavillions. Asian temple reliefs dot the landscape of 300 varieties of imported palms. Everywhere I step, Nandana’s architecture, art and decor from Vietnam, Indonesia, Cambo-dia and beyond transcend my notions of Carribean escape. Four stand-alone master-suite bungalows are their own otherwordly retreat. The fi-fth, a luxury safari tent, is a replica of a resort in India. That figures. What doesn’t? Finding an immerse, faraway experience like this, minus the jet lag. From $38, 500 per week. nandanavilla.com Debbie Snow

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Parrot Cay, Turks and Caicos This isle ringed by beaches is a short boat ride from Provo. Do yoga in a beach villa and unwind at the Balinese spa. From $33,880 per week. parrotcay.como.bz

Peter Island, BVI “Bird’s nest” villas offer unrivaled perches for panoramic views over this private island. Choose from the three-, four-, or six-bedroom variety. From $16,600 per week. peterisland.com

Private Island: Scrub Island, BVIAs each day passes, I find it tougher to leave my refuge – a terrace chaise where the view that scrolls past is a medley of blues, the soundtrack a faint wash over the shallow reef below my two-bedroom tri-level villa. Our mixologist blends sundowners in our slick kitchen outfitted for a chef. By 4 p.m. the scene from the plunge pool includes a sailboat motoring along the narrow channel between Scrub and Great Camanoe islands. Only the chirps of a few birds break the silence. Being marooned on a private island in a private villa is the ultimate in freedom, with endless possibilities: so-me romantic, others contemplative. Morning walks lead to nature trails and eventually to North Beach, where sand paths lead to more seclusion and more pretty views. Privacy is everything on Scrub Island, but when it’s time to mingle, Marina Village offers music, dancing and dinning op-tions. All of it enhanced by the knowledge that my terrace refuge is never far away. From $10,325 per week. scrubisland.com Debbie Snow

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Labor of love

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Labor of A working vacation? Resorts in the Caribbean typically se-duce with luxurious spas, private butlers, plush suites and promises of never having to lift a finger. For most of us, such niceties are the very definition of a tropical getaway. So why are some people going to the other extreme and choosing to pay for the privilege of doing manual labor (yes, real work!) on grass-roots community projects? At St. Croix’s Ridge to Reef Farm in the USVI, paying guests plant and tend crops, gather eggs, cook communal din-ners, even herd sheep–and claim that after a few days of working the land, they feel as renewed and energized as they would after a more leisurely break. Could tilling soil and turning sod be the makings of the Carribean vacation of a lifetime?

June/July 2012

“Just listen,” says Nate Olive, the red-bearded visionary behind Ridge to Reef Farm. I’m about to start carving a calabash gourd, but first, Nate tells me, I need to identify which one is “calling” me. I listen but hear nothing.

I arrived just this afternoon, but this isn’t the first time I’ve questi-oned whether I’ll be able to embrace life in this stretch of rainforest that seven freethinkers call home. They’re convi-nced that these 50 acres, and their ability to support an off the grid, sustainable lifes-tyle, hold the keys to happiness. Yet I wonder if they secretly struggle at times, yearning for what lies beond their self-made utopia. But just in case they’re right, I study the gourds more closely.

Finally, a calabash “chooses” me, and Nate hands me a Japanese pull saw. Calabashes can be reborn as bowls, instruments, even bongs, but I’ve decided that this one will become a hanging lamp. But first I must free a section from the bottom.

“The calabash becomes an extension of you,” Nate says. “It ab-sorbs your intent and your emotion. So be really aware. Try to set an intention while you carve. “

An intention? He suggests love. Sure, every hippie believes that “all you need is love”, but can it really be that easy? Love doesn’t pay the bills, so I focus instead on concepts that do. But then I wonder if I’m missing the point and think a bit about love for good measure. The blade gnaws through the woodlike shell, exposing rosy pink flesh and releasing wafts of sweet perfume.

I arrived just this afternoon, but this isn’t the first time I’ve questioned whether I’ll be vable to embrace life in this stretch of rainforest that seven freethinkers call home. They’re convinced that these 50 acres, and their ability to support an off-the-grid, sustainable lifestyle, hold the keys to happiness. Yet I wonder if they secretly struggle at times, yearning for what lies beyond their self-made utopia. But just in case they’re right, I study the gourds more closely.

Finally, a calabash “chooses” me, and Nate hands me a Japanese pull saw. Calabashes can be reborn as bowls, instruments, even bongs, but I’ve decided that this one will become a hanging lamp. But first I must free a section from the bottom.

another day in paradise

1 Suit Up Wear a large hat and boots, and bring a handkerchief to wipe sweat. (Yes, you’ll sweat).

2 Kick Off Find out what needs harvest-ing beets? Beans? Grab a knife and a bin and get going.

3 Tally Up Bundle and weigh the day’s yield in preparation for its sale in local farmers markets.

4 Cool Off After lunch, your work day can be done. Beach it for a swim, or join Kite St. Croix (340-643-5824) for a paddle-boarding session.

5 Eat Up When the conch calls, it’s time to break bread. If inspired, show up early and cook a dish.

6 Chill out Join an after-dinner drum circle, or ask for a lesson in gourd carving or basket making. Otherwise, just sit back and enjoy the stars.

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“The blade gnaws through the woodlike shell, exposing rosy pink flesh and releasing wafts of sweet perfume.

“It’s really nice air freshner. And then it’s a really bad one”, Nate jokes of the gourd’s short shelf life.

Eagerly I stick my fingers into the pulp and get ready to sample it. But before fingers reach lips, Nate stops me.

“You’re pregnant, are you?”

When I assure him I’m not, he tells me that the bottle gourd is believed to be a “bush” cure for unwanted pregnancies. Crisis averted, I savor the yielding flesh, which is as soft as pudding and tastes just as irresistibly sweet.

When darkness settles in, Nate leaps to his feet. Like many farm-ers, he doesn’t wear a watch, and the disappearing light reminds him of errands that need to be run. Time– and Home Depot – wait for no man.

The smell of garlic lures me toward the open-air kitchen. There, Patrick Boulger, the farm’s production manager, tens a cast-iron skillet with breadfruit, kale and onions. A few of the other farmhands wander in just before dinner, announced each evening with the sounding of a conch shell. Along with the breadfruit hash, we tuck into more of nature’s colorful bounty: a hearty fish stew, crisp arugula salad with a passion-fruit dressing, and a pasta dish topped with just-picked basil leaves.

After dinner we reconvene on the porch to sip cold Heinekens under the glow of the moon. Here, stories are shared. Disillu-sionment from serving time at war, in school and in the corpo-rate world have driven these men to seek sanctuary here. And now they can’t fathom why people would want to commit to a fluorescent-lit life when there’s so much living to be done with the sun on your face.

Still they’re surprised that visitors pay to work beside them in the fields. Granted, duties are optional, and you can choose to do nothing more than swing in a hammock. But most guests relish this opportunity to slow down, tune into their surroundings and chill out. Working the land yields a balance with nature – a har-mony that’s absent from my life. I resolve to get my hands dirty.

everything i learned

1 Less is more The simpler you can manage to make your life, the more contented you’ll probably be.

2 Know Thyvself One of the best ways to understand yourself is to understand your environment.

3 Feel the love When you eat food made with care and love, you can’t help but feel loved and cared for.

lessons from the farm

1 Don’t expect activities to be sched-uled; the day’s plan is merely a sugges-tion. If the sheep are loose, you may help herd them before moving on to other duties.

2 Do play with your food. Find out which fruit and veggies are for com-munal consumption, then feel free to experiment. A curry-and-kale egg scramble? Delicious.

3 Do carry a journal for jotting down notes and recipes; conversation on the farm constantly turns to food. To try:poached eggs over a bed of arugula with a side of sour cream

4 Don’t eat anything you haven’t seen someone from the farm eat first. Some local flowers carry health risks.

5 Do wash your own dishes and tidy up after yourself, or fear the wrath of karma.

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Caribbean

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