The best way to get an overview of the island (if you don't have local friends) is on a taxi tour. In about 2 hours, a local driver (all of them are guides) will show you everything for around $60 (tip expected). The driver will also arrange to let you off at your favorite beach after a look around, and then pick you up and return you to your hotel or the airport. I highly recommend Accelyn Connor (tel. 264/497-0515 or 264/235-8931; premiertaxiandtour@hotmail.com), whose personable and informative tours make him a sought-after guide. His Premier Property Tour accounts for drinks (including beer), snacks, and admission to the museum ($70 single or double; $10 each additional person). Be sure to ask Accelyn about his new Medicinal Tours. Before the arrival of modern grocery stores, Anguillans used native plants and shrubs for all sorts of medicinal and dietary purposes (the balsam bush was used for scouring pots, for example, and pepper cilament and candlebark were natural insecticides). Accelyn has planted a native garden filled with medicinal and dietary plants, shrubs, and trees where he discusses Anguillan folk medicine and provides refreshing beverages made with indigenous fruit.
It's easy to combine a great lunch at the Palm Grove Bar & Grill at Junk's Hole with a visit to the Heritage Museum Collection, East End at Pond Ground (tel. 264/497-4092), open Monday to Saturday 10am to 5pm, charging $5 admission ($3 children 11 and under). The modest look of the museum belies the range of fascinating artifacts inside, which include Arawak Indian tools, slave shackles, and household items belonging to 19th-century settlers. If Mr. Colville Petty, who founded the museum, is here when you visit, you will have an especially memorable visit -- he collected many of these artifacts himself and has even been awarded an OBE from Queen Elizabeth II.
The Anguilla National Trust offers daily wildlife and eco tours to places like Big Spring, with 1,000-year-old rock carvings and an underwater spring; and East End Pond, a richly inhabited wildlife conservation site. Call tel. 264/497-5297 to book a spot ($25 adults, $10 children 2-12). Also ask locally whether former chief minister Sir Emile Gumbs, an Anguilla National Trust volunteer, has resumed his delightful eco-tours (tel. 264/497-2711) spiked with wonderful, often wry historical and political anecdotes.
Note: This information was accurate when it was published, but can change without notice. Please be sure to confirm all rates and details directly with the companies in question before planning your trip.
