Barbuda

Introducing Barbuda

Desert island. The mere phrase conjures up images of isolation, beaches, palm trees and the ephemeral concept of ‘getting away from it all.’ Barbuda may well be the model for the iconic desert isle.

A mere 25 miles north of Antigua, Barbuda remains one of the Eastern Caribbean’s least-visited places. Other than its teeming frigate-bird colony and its beautiful beaches, most of which are best accessed by private boat, there’s just not much here. And that’s perhaps its greatest appeal.

The only village, Codrington, is home to most residents and is the site of the island’s strip of an airport. Other than a small resort or two and a couple of guesthouses, there’s not much here for tourists; locals and visitors in the know like it this way. In fact this very isolation has been the death of a couple of high-end resorts that had opened to much acclaim.

It’s a tight-knit place, most of the 1250 islanders share half a dozen surnames and can trace their lineage to a small group of slaves brought to Barbuda by the Codrington brothers Christopher and John. They leased the island in 1685 from the British Crown and used it to grow food for Antigua’s sugar-cane workers. The family also quietly salvaged untold riches from ships that had run afoul of the surrounding reef.

During the 18th century, the Codrington family managed to keep their lease, which was negotiated at an annual rental payment of ‘one fattened sheep, ’ for nearly two centuries. Their legacy remains well beyond the town’s name – from the communal land-use policies that still govern Barbuda to the introduced goats, sheep and feral donkeys that range freely (to the detriment of the island flora).

Besides having the Caribbean’s largest colony of frigate birds, Barbuda hosts tropical mockingbirds, warblers, pelicans, ibis, oystercatchers, herons and numerous kinds of ducks. The island also has wild boar and white-tailed deer, both of which are legally hunted.

Last updated: Oct 20, 2009