British Virgin Islands

like many current and former British island colonies, BVI is a rather checkered place, or as Somerset Maugham put it, a sunny place for shady people. its GDP is dependant on two forces: tourism and offshore industries, chiefly offshore banking. every tax haven is going to attract certain dodgy types, and BVI has plenty. it has a statistically high GDP per capita, but the cost of living is high and the pockets of poverty noticeable. it also has a fairly intense drug trade, catering not only to wealthy local consumers, but to north american export audiences as well. "Our little slice of paradise" one woman describes it as to me. looking at the views i can see her point. nearly 60 islands, of which only 15 are really inhabited, and all of which have spectacular views and weather. Two are owned exclusively by Richard Branson, one of which he has converted into an exclusive resort where rooms start at $54,000 per night (the website is tellingly available in two languages, English and Russian). From Virgin Gorda I get a good view of this famous island and hear some stories of the supposed antics that go on there. but a few miles away, some people live in fairly basic dwellings, with unpaved dirt driveways and chickens running about in the yard. the houses are the same as you see in poor neighbourhoods across the ex-British Caribbean and the US south, small, normally one story with the exact same shaped windows shielded by white lace curtains, a dilapidated rocking chair on the small front porch, a round water sistine somewhere out the back, and maybe an outhouse too if it is really basic. a front room with carpeting, and behind it a kitchen where things are fried. in the shadow of Branson's Necker Island it seems an odd contrast.

but nonetheless, even for the relative poor, BVI is seen as a land of opportunity. I speak to one woman about my age, LaShonia, who moved 7 years ago to the island from Guyana. She estimates she will need to put in another 15 years or so of work before she will be able to settle there and get one of those small houses, but compared to life in Guyana it is all worth it. she assures me that even the relative have nots in BVI have enough. wandering down to the Rocks one afternoon, i found it hard to doubt her. after a short 15 minute climb down a trail, i find myself surrounded by breath taking beauty- perfect sea, perfect sand, all shaped by spectacular rock formations. indeed a slice of paradise.