Turks & Caicos

HISPANIOLA TO GRAND TURK
Seb and I flew from Port-au-Prince (PAP) to Providenciales, the most popular part of the Turks & Caicos islands, and then immediately to Grand Turk for the first of three different island experiences.

A LITTLE HISTORY
The Turks and Caicos Islands (TCI) are a British Overseas Territory consisting of the larger Caicos Islands and smaller Turks Islands, part of the larger Antilles island grouping. About 75% of the estimated 32,000 population live on Providenciales in the Caicos Islands.

Cockburn Town, the capital since 1766, is situated on Grand Turk Island and even though the islands are geographically contiguous with the Bahamas, they are politically separate. For many years the islands were governed indirectly through Bermuda, the Bahamas, and Jamaica. When the Bahamas gained independence in 1973, TCI received their own governor and have remained a separate autonomous British Overseas Territory since.

Locals insist that Grand Turk is the landfall island of Christopher Columbus during his discovery of the New World in 1492. San Salvador Island or Samana Cay in the Bahamas is traditionally considered the site of Columbus' first landfall, but some believe that studies of Columbus' journals show that his descriptions of what he called "Guanahani" much more closely fit Grand Turk than they do other candidates. At first I read the sign on Grand Turk as the Columbus Landfill - thinking it the local rubbish dump.

GRAND TURK
At the tiny airport in Grand Turk we stumbled out of the terminal and into Frank's taxi van (apparently everybody on the island knows Frank) for the short ride to the Salt Raker Inn run by German Erika Faller. With only six rooms its a lovely boutique place across the street from the Sand Bar and a small but beautiful beach. Since there was only one other guest at the time, Erika gave us the best room available - an ocean view suite for USD$105 a night plus tax.

The entrance to the Salt Raker Inn

I took Seb out for his first taste of snorkeling with one of the local guides - Tim. I was a bit worried that he wouldn't get the hang of it but I had to drag him out of the water after an hour so we could return to shore. We saw a lot of fish and a huge hawksbill turtle but the best part for me was seeing Seb come to grips with the open ocean and gain confidence with breathing and clearing his snorkel.

Seb's first snorkel.

There are a number of lovely colonial buildings along Duke street and the salinas are great to walk around. Grand Turk was first colonized in 1681 by Bermudians, who set up the salt industry in the islands and in 1766 it became the capital of the country. The name comes from a species of cactus on the island, the Turk's Cap Cactus, which has a distinctive cap, that looks like an Ottoman fez. Before flying out to South Caicos I had the taxi driver, and tour guide, drive us around the island including to the very northern tip where the Grand Turk lighthouse sits.

The Grand Turk Lighthouse

SOUTH CAICOS
South Caicos is a sleepy little place barely 20 miles to the west of Grand Turk but it doesn't share nearly the same level of popularity. There are no cruise ships, no great tourist attractions apart from the beaches and surrounding water and not many options to eat or sleep - in fact I counted only one - the South Caicos Ocean & Beach resort. We didn't see any other foreign tourists during our two day stay but it was nice to get well off the beaten path and experience the Caribbean the way it used to be.

The Ocean & Beach resort was decent without being too flashy. At USD$140 a night we got a large room with an ocean view but that was about it. The proprietor, Cleo, just happened to be at the airport picking up the DJ who was going to perform at the resort that night so we tagged along for the short 2km trip from the tiny airport terminal. There was to be a big party that night and the flyer he gave me boasted of a ladies night with a booty shake competition, the best DJ from Grand and all you can eat conch fritters. By the time Seb and I had a swim and dinner it was 9pm and we were the only guests aside from the DJ's girlfriend - there was no way we were sticking around for the boot shake-off. I felt bad for Cleo and the three scantly dressed Dominican female bartenders but it was time for chocolate milk and a story.

The South Caicos Ocean & Beach Resort

I have no idea what happened that night, or who won the booty contest, but no-one from the resort turned up for work until noon the next day and even then no one was interested in serving anything other than conch fritters for breakfast. The fritters were actually pretty good but I wanted bacon and eggs and all I managed to get was one of the worst omelets I've ever had. Cleo assured me that the party really got lively at around midnight but I didn't hear a thing. There was no TV at the resort either so I had to settle for following the FA Cup final on the internet, but Arsenal won so all was forgiven.

PROVIDENCIALES
The next day we flew 20 minutes from South Caicos to Providenciales and headed straight to the Sibonne Beach Resort (again about $140 a night for a ground floor beach front room). Sibonne markets itself as the oldest hotel on Grace Bay with few frills but a perfect location with a world class bistro on site. There are only 28 rooms but lots of people come for the food - the conch dumplings and red pepper soup was first rate and Seb really enjoyed the fish and chips.

Mercifully called Provo for short, Providenciales is the most commercial spot in the Turks & Caicos - it really should be the capital city but that honor goes to the sleepy Cockburn Town on Grand Turk. After being away from crowds over the past week I found Provo overrun with American tourists and the airport terminal too small to handle the tourist traffic.

The Sibonne Beach Resort on Providenciales

After six days in Turks it was time to head further north to my last Caribbean country - the Bahamas. The flight from Provo to Nassau is just under and hour and a half and the small 30 seater Air Bahamas flight had only six passengers. Bliss.

TURKS & CAICOS QUICK GUIDE
Capital: Providenciales
Currency: US Dollar
Language: English
Drives on the Left
Beer of choice: Turks Head Lager