Turks and Caicos Islands

Greetings to Family and Friends.

It's been quite a while since we filed a travel report.  Last posting was August 1.  It's been a busy fall. As this report was started we were at Matt and Suzy's near Philadelphia for Thanksgiving after a week in the Caribbean (place-dropping shamelessly).  Finished the report back home the second week of January.

Our 15th wedding anniversary was Nov. 20 and the preceding Christmas we decided to mark the occasion with a trip to the Turks and Caicos Islands (to be abbreviated TCI).  One of Susie's favorite TV personalities is Kelly Ripa and she and her family vacation in TCI, so that's the motivation.  There are several islands to choose from - we chose Providenciales, site of the Beaches Resort, where Mike and Karen had anniversaried, so we decided to follow their example - to some extent.  Beaches is a large, all-inclusive, family-friendly resort.  Lots of beachfront, pools, and restaurants to enjoy.  Here are a few scenes:

Beach View 1

One of many pools

Our room was on the ground floor of this building - center of picture.

Lovely Island Lady

Beach view 2 (looks a lot like Beach view 1)

Beach view 3

For big chess players

Because this is a travel blog, I should report how we got to TCI.  On Sunday, 11/16, we flew SW Airlines to Fort Lauderdale and spent the night at a motel there.  Next morning we took an airport shuttle to Miami International airport (heavy traffic, fortunately we had allotted ample margin), from where we took about a two-hour, 600 mile flight, to "Provo," as the locals abbreviate it.  A Beaches shuttle picked us and our luggage up and drove us to the resort.  As soon as possible, we donned swimming suits and asked the friendly staff, Where's the beach?  (They must have thought we were real rubes.  But, not every room has a beach view or is within earshot of the ocean.)

There are a variety of excursions you can take while at Beaches.  We did a sunset cruise and I took a snorkeling trip.

Selfie from Sunset Cruise

Sunset - as promised, actually horizontal

Mike and Karen were enthusiastic about the snorkeling, and I've enjoyed it in the past, so I went out on a trip our first day there.  Didn't do very well, sorry to say.  Couldn't keep water out of my breathing tube, couldn't control my fins, and didn't see clouds of colorful fish, as I'd hoped for, so I spent most of my time on the boat.  I did better a couple of days later at a location down the beach that Mike had told me about.  I wasn't very adventurous, though, so that didn't last long either.  Planned one more snorkeling try the last day we were there, but wind and waves had roiled the water, so snorkeling boats were not going out.

One special option we opted for from Beaches was a private, beachfront, candlelight anniversary dinner for two.

 You know it's a special meal when there are three knives as well as three forks.

Dinner site by daylight

We also spent time every day at the beach, just looking and listening and reading, and occasionally getting wet, and usually spent time at one of the pools.  One area included a water park, which I enjoyed - a long, twisting slide through the dark, followed by a crash landing in the pool. Then, of course, there were different restaurants to sample three times a day.  (At least three.  Mike told me that he and Karen had a turf and surf progressive dinner one night: steak at one restaurant, seafood at another.)  One of our memorable meals was in a Japanese restaurant with a singing, joking cook, cooking in front of us.  One vocal highlight: he sang My Grill, to the tune of My Girl.  Since the resort was all-inclusive, in terms of cost, you kind of feel obligated to eat much and often, just to get a fair return on your investment.  Converting dollars to pounds.

A few more Beach Views:

Even with all that Beaches offers, I still got a little antsy, cabin-feverish, wanting to find out more about the island and its people.  In one of the Welcome to TCI magazines I came across the Concha Woncha Bus Tour.  That turned out to be quite interesting and fun.  The guide was very knowledgeable and personable and kept his dozen or so passengers entertained.

First stop was the only conch farm in the world.  Conch, pronounced konk, is an island staple and much in demand in fine U.S. restaurants.  Conch shells are also popular - pretty to display and some people can blow into them and get sound. Hmm, wish I'd got one for playing in our church jug band.

It takes about four years for a fertilized egg to grow into a mature conch.  Conchs are marine snails - slimy creatures that grow and drag around a protective, and attractive in this case, shell.  We got a very detailed lecture from a marine biologist at the farm.  Here she exhibits a mature conch.  It's that slimy, light-colored body hanging from the shell.

Next stop was a Turks and Caicos Island Culture and Art Center and a talk from the Center's Director about island culture - along with a musical demonstration.  The rip saw is a characteristic instrument in island music.  Here's a sample.

I don't have much of a grasp on TCI history, but it includes some interesting events. Back in the slave trade days a slave ship bound for America sank near TCI.  The survivors stayed and  helped populate the islands.  Earlier, natives from Haiti and the Bahamas migrated to TCI (which is roughly 350 miles east of the Bahamas.  After the US War for Independence, British nationalists/sympathizers, from the American South, were given large island land grants by the British government and moved there with their slaves.  Thus, we learned, grits is the national food of TCI, as well as conch.  The island was never amenable for crop-growing, like grits, cotton and tobacco, so the loyalists didn't stay long and left, abandoning their slaves.

Presently, TCI is an autonomous British Overseas Territory, with its own governor and parliament.  There is an interesting mix of conventions.  For example, they operate on US currency and most of the cars and trucks are American, with the steering wheel on the left, but, following British practice, they drive on the left side of the road.   That can lead to double-takes from US tourists.  Look both ways before stepping off a curb.  We didn't drive.  Tourism got its start here with a Club Med establishment in the 1970s.  The secret was out.  One more note, to be geographically correct, TCI is in the Atlantic Ocean, not the Caribbean.

We finished our bus tour at the Conch Cafe, featuring conch fritters and other seafood.  Also saw a demonstration of how the conch is separated from his shell - a hammer and chisel to make a hole in the shell, then a sharp knife for the extraction.  Here's a seaside picture from the Cafe taken by our guide.

So, the tour was time well spent.  If you are ever in Provo, check out the Concha Woncha Bus Tour.   I gave them a very positive review in TripAdvisor.

One disappointment.  We wanted to attend a Provo Methodist church on Sunday (we found a web listing).  We asked a Beaches receptionist, who happened to be a member of that church, about it on Saturday afternoon, and she said she would arrange for us to be picked up Sunday morning.  Would call and leave a message. Well, it didn't happen and Sunday's lobby receptionist didn't have any information.  Calls to the church were not answered.  We debated getting a taxi, but were unsure how that would work, so we'll leave that to next trip.  Really wanted to see how island and Methodist music would have come together.

On Monday we got up early, were driven to the airport, flew to Miami, then to Philadelphia.  Today, as this is written, the day before Thanksgiving, it's snowing in Yardley, PA, where Matt and Suzi now live.  Happy Thanksgiving to all, very belatedly.  Next installment from PA and NY.

Rob and Susie