Anguilla Stonehenge
March '03 Update!
During our trip to Anguilla in March '03, my family and I were fortunate enough to visit "Stonehenge Minor", as Steve Cohen calls it. (We first heard about this "most mystical place in Anguilla" from Steve.)
Our trip to the "epicenter of Anguillian tranquility" began at the Dune Preserve restaurant, on Rendezvous Bay Beach. The Dune Preserve is basically a driftwood sculpture, thrown together in a wild, haphazard way by its owner Bankie Banx, Anguilla's famous reggae singer.
We stopped for drinks before stepping out onto the sand, then headed towards the Western end, in search of Steve's "Stonehenge Minor."
After a few hundred yards, we could see sculptures in the distance, becoming more and more distinct. We reached the "driftwood entrace."
The coral-and-driftwood "sculptures" were breathtaking. To feel the presence and creativity that others had left behind was quite mystical. So much thought, creativity, and time had gone into them.
The fact that they were made of washed up ocean pieces, lent them an even more beautiful and unique mystique!
Here are some statues that were at "Stonehenge Minor" during our March '03 visit to Anguilla. By the time you visit, I'm sure they'll all be different, as the wind and ocean takes its toll and other visitors leave their own presence (presents) behind...
Surrounded by Miniatures...
Larger Stone-Coral-Driftwood Beauties...
Mom, Yuki, and Me Framed by Stonehenge...
An Elaborate Anguillian Inukshuk...
My Favorite - The Whale Tail
I agree with Steve Cohen... They are beautiful, mystical, magical, works of art. But "sorry Steve"... we were never able to follow your advice and drag ourselves out of bed before the crack of dawn and have the true-and-total spiritual, peaceful, experience!
On the way back from Anguilla's "Stonehenge Minor", we bumped into Bankie Banx. We chatted for a bit. He's a most interesting and unusual fellow...
And he told us the story about "Stonehenge Minor."
He said that his girlfriend, his friend and he started building the sculptures on the beach, back in the days when the Dune Preserve was "all by itself on Rendezvous Bay Beach."
They built a few, and then would tell others to make their own, to leave a little bit of themselves behind on Anguilla.
Yes, Bankie Banx has started a magical, mystical tradition! The next time you visit, do leave a little bit of yourself behind... until the next big wave or wind "wipes the slate clean."
