By Sarah Greaves-Gabbadon
CJ Travel Editor
It’s called the Sunset Loop experience.
And there’s only one place you can have it.
And that’s at Peter Island, the private-island resort in the British Virgin Islands.
There, on the 18,000-acre oasis, guests gather to witness and celebrate the daily spectacle with the reverence and festivity it deserves. They sit in a semi-circle of 18 colorful Adirondack chairs, placed just to the side of the five-mile round-the-island trail. Some swig frosty Caribs; others sip chilled pinot grigio. Some show up solo, some are here with loved ones by their side. But common to all is an overwhelming feeling of gratitude.
Because what else would you feel at this blessedly breezy mountainside lookout, where the archipelago shimmers below, beckoning in the evening haze?
Look, there’s Norman Island to your left. The twin green dollops of Pelican and Flanigan islands are straight ahead; and to your far right, the west end of Tortola unfurls, its hills and valleys making the shape of Elvis’ profile (or so locals say). Clouds glide silently across the pinking sky, the temperature has finally dipped from sweltering to balmy, and soon tiny pinpoints of light will appear on the horizon.
But now, even before the sun has dipped, you already feel at one with nature, completely at peace with the world. And while some might say that feeling alone is worth the price of a vacation, we’d argue that that feeling is what makes a vacation priceless.