From gliding through mangrove forests to feasting on grilled lobster, the island of Barbuda offers the ultimate Caribbean escape

By Michele Peterson for The Globe and Mail

The best way to appreciate Barbuda’s unique beauty just might be from the air. I’m in the cockpit of an Airbus EC130 CalvinAir helicopter and, as pilot Mark Fleming tilts the controls, the island rushes toward us. It appears like a rainbow tourmaline, a crystalline speck of green forest fringed by white and pink sand, in a vast sea of blue.