Guana

So you may have thought Guana island was so named because either a) it was populated by enormous iguanas or b) it was covered in bird poo. In either case you'd be wrong (in the latter case very wrong). It was actually named for this rock (apparently)....

Supposedly it looks like an iguana head and the name stuck. Nowadays the whole island is privately owned and run as an ecological park and luxury resort. There is only space for 32 guests on the whole island so if you go for a hike you're likely to be on your own with the various flora and fauna. The views you get having hiked to its north point are rather spectacular too....

check this out full size for a better view.

One of the really cool things about Guana is, in keeping with its focus on nature, the fact that the very exclusive resort shuts for a period late in the year to allow teams of scientists to stay and work on the island. As a result the flora and fauna there is among the most carefully studied in the world. If you type Guana into any biological journal search engine you'll get a load of hits - it even has its own sciencebook but the most obvious way in which you notice this whilst there is the amazing number of the islands birds wearing bling of some kind. Check out this colourbanded bananaquit. I'm going to see if I can't track down a little history on it.

Its not just wilderness though (there's also all the watersports you'd expect plus croquet, beaches, basketball, tennis and a rather interesting orchard). I really can't say enough good things about this place so I'll stop there - if you are the type of person who enjoys this blog and you are looking for a nice holiday in the caribbean I would commend it to you. Apparently everyone who's been goes back (most of the guest while we were there were in the teens of times returning).