Turks & Caicos: Final Hours

"It's so hard, to say goodbye..." - Boys II Men

This entry will be fairly short because I really don't remember too many of the details.  The details of this day are much more boring than the other days, so I'm sure it's okay to keep this short.


We intended to wake early to watch the sunrise at the beach, but that didn't happen.  We started packing up and headed out for a breakfast at Fresh Bakery & Bistro.  I enjoyed a delicious cinnamon roll, J had a cheese danish, and we shared a frothy cup of OJ.  On our walk back to the hotel room, I took a few more snapshots of the resort.  I really didn't want to leave!

We got a cab, headed to the airport, and got in line.  We decided to use the self check in station, but that really didn't speed things up too much.  Saturday's a busy day at the airport!  Once we were checked in, we just sat and waited.  We then flew into Miami where the real craziness began.  We weren't sure if we had to claim our conch shell, and we couldn't figure out who to ask.  We stopped at one of the counters to find out, and the person there didn't really know the answer.  He said he didn't think we needed to claim it, so we hoped he was right.  We waited in a long customs line and were all set to go next when one family just decided to go when it was our turn.  They came out of nowhere and just cut in front of everyone!  We were flabbergasted.  To make matters worse, there were issues with the non-English speaking family, which made our wait even longer.  Other lines were moving, and ours was at a stand still.  J was getting pissed!

We made it up to the counter, and the customs guy confirmed that as long as we didn't have a live conch, we didn't need to claim the shell.  We finished quickly and headed to eat dinner somewhere.  I don't even remember where we ate.  Mayhaps it was a Mexican food place, which wasn't really so great, if I recall.

Somewhere along the way, the arm of J's glasses broke off.  He was wearing his prescription sunglasses in the security line at the Miami airport, and one of the security personnel told him to take them off thinking he was just trying to be a cool dude when in fact he was just trying to see.  He complied, and we moved through the security checkpoint easily.  We made the longish flight home where our dear friend Suzanne picked us up.  She was the first to be regaled by our stories and the first to see our pictures.


Pawncho was a little indifferent towards us when we arrived home, but he slept with us nearly the entire night, something he never does.  He must have missed us.  The next day is when we officially found out that he is diabetic.  We were happy to have found this out after our trip rather than beforehand because we would have been hard pressed to find someone to administer his insulin shots.  More on that in future posts possibly. 


Okay, I'm ending this as I sense myself rambling.  Maybe this blog will evolve into something else, but for now, the adventures of our trip will sit out in cyberspace for all to read. 

Turks & Caicos: Day 7

July 30, 2010

The trouble with waiting so long to type up this report is that the details are a bit fuzzy.  It's a good thing I have some pictures to help guide me.   Oh, and I started to type this up in February, and it is now April. 

This was our final full day on the amazingly beautiful island of Providenciales.  We were excited for the adventure that lay ahead but a little melancholy (you know head like a melon - face like a collie, right Dad?) about our vacation coming to a close.  After breakfast we suited up and prepared for a day on a boat with Silver Deep.  We were told to be in the lobby by 8:45, but when we arrived a few minutes before that time, we saw that the Silver Deep van was fully loaded.  We had to ask the driver where we were supposed to sit, and no one on board the van seemed interested in making any room for us.  It turns out there were these little seats that folded out into the aisle.  Oh yay.  We squeezed in and headed to the Silver Deep shop to get our tickets for Little Water Cay (Iguana Island), the first stop on our boat tour.

Once we arrived at the shop, we waited in a long a$$ line to get our tickets.  They were $5 each and had to be purchased in cash, which is why we had to buy them at the shop rather than paying for them in advance with the boat tour.  The whole process still seemed ridiculous.  We then re-boarded the crowded van in which people thought we were going to steal their seats.  Really people?  Now we're off to the Silver Deep location at Turtle Cove Marina to try on snorkel gear and board the boat.

I'll spare you the details of getting our snorkel gear and boarding.  Let's move on to more interesting tales.  Well, at least more interesting than getting snorkel gear and boarding a boat.  Okay, this is a waste of space.  Moving on.

It was so fun to speed along in the boat.  There was a lot of excitement and a little nervousness about the day.  I wasn't so sure how I'd feel about snorkeling.  I hate trying new things in the presence of others for fear of looking silly, stupid, inept, etc.; it's all very anxiety inducing and something on which I'm working.  We quickly arrived at Little Water Cay to see the home of 3,000 Rock Iguanas (and many more mosquitoes, I'm sure).  We were told to stay on the boardwalk around the island as to not disturb the reptiles, but I started to wonder who was going to protect me from the mosquitoes.  I think it was my hand I noticed itching first.  Bite one of the day, and bite 5 of the trip.  I decided it was time to get a move on, and pictures just weren't worth the itchiness I would experience later.  I walked as if I were being hunted, and it turned out, I was!  J, following closely behind, informed me that the mosquitoes were practically covering my back and arms.  He swatted them away as I walked more quickly and squealed in fright.  Finally removed to the safety of the foliage-free beach, my heart slowed down, and I could relax a little.  Later I would discover that I sustained 5 additional bites on Iquana Island for a total of 10 for the trip.  Unfortunately for me, the maximum strength Cortaid I brought on the trip did little to soothe the fiery itching.

After this quick island visit, the boat headed off to our snorkeling destination near a reef.  J was first to sport his gear and hop in to give snorkeling a try.  I was content to watch him and others first, debating whether or not I would chicken out as I do of many things.  I finally decided this was too amazing of an opportunity to pass, so I geared up and climbed down the boat steps into the 80° water.  At first, I had a difficult time with claustrophobia.  I kept wanting to breathe through my nose, which only resulted in fogging up my mask.  It wasn't long though before I started to get the hang of it and enjoy myself.  It really was a neat feeling, and the water was so clear that many fish could be seen.  I wasn't brave enough to go down into the water; I was happy to stay at the surface, with my face peering into the water.  We probably swam around for 20-30 minutes before boarding the boat to head to our next stopping spot for conch diving.

Captain Shawn informed us that the ocean floor at this point was around 30 feet down, which is quite a ways to go, especially for an inexperienced snorkeler (or even an experienced snorkeler).  He said he'd be happy to make some dives and bring up conch shells for people.  One lady said she got close to the bottom, but in all of her attempts, could never make it all of the way.  J and I were plenty satisfied with watching the captain dive and bring up conchs.  J was the first to follow him out for the diving; I stayed on the boat to finish up my super sweet pineapple soda.  Upon surfacing, Captain Shawn handed J a conch and a sea biscuit and said "give that to your wife".  J brought them on board and hung out with me while I put my snorkel gear back on.  That's when we heard people shouting that Jojo the dolphin was nearby!  I'd read about so many people's sightings of and experiences with Jojo, but our boat captain said he hadn't been seen for a couple of weeks.  I didn't think we'd get to see him.

Jojo is a wild dolphin that loves to follow boats and other motorized water vehicles to jump their wake.  He gets pretty close to people but doesn't like it when people start moving towards him.  The story is that he used to have a mate, but no one is quite sure what happened to her.  Jojo is pretty scarred from getting too close to boat motors.

I jumped into the water quickly and started to head around to the other side of the boat where Jojo had been spotted.  As I began to move around the bow of the boat, there was Jojo, arms length away from me.  I couldn't believe I was swimming with a wild, bottle-nosed dolphin!!!  I snorkeled around for a bit with Jojo somewhat nearby while J stayed on board taking pictures and making little videos of the dolphin.  This was probably the highlight of the trip for me.  After about 15 minutes, it was time for us to head off to our lunch destination-Water Cay.  As we sped away, the passengers in the back of the boat were treated to a show by Jojo.  He was jumping the wake of the boat for quite some time, but I could never get a good view.   

When we arrived at Water Cay, Captain Shawn gave a tutorial on how to remove a conch from its shell.  I felt kind of sorry for the creature as the process did not seem terribly pleasant.  I made a little movie of this event, which you can see here.  As everyone enjoyed the amazing beach and searched for sand dollars, the boat crew made conch ceviche.  J and I did not care to eat it, opting for something upon our return from the trip.  After a short time had passed, we boarded the boat to head back to our resort.  Along the way, we saw several very expensive houses.  We were thinking about saving up for one of them, but we'd probably have to save for the rest of our lives and maybe wouldn't enjoy the house as much in our eighties as we would in our thirties and forties.  I love that the boat dropped us off right at the beach of our resort. 

Beach bums asked us what we thought of the trip and if it was worth the cost.  We told them it was worth every penny but next time we'd like to do a full day boat trip.  On the way back to our room, we came across one of the groundskeepers working on the amazing landscape at the resort.  She's the one who gave us more information about Jojo and his missing mate, and she gave us some tips on how to clean/treat our conch shell and sea biscuit.  She was such a friendly, sweet British woman, and J and I enjoyed the time we spent chatting with her.

By this time, we were practically starving, so after putting our things away, we headed straight for the Mango Reef Restaurant for a little lunch.  I wanted something light because I really wanted to have room for dinner, so I could try grouper or snapper.  I opted for a BLT (not island fare, but it seemed small compared to other options), and J chose the chicken quesadilla.  My BLT had so much bacon on it that I had to remove a good portion.  The food was tasty as usual though.  When we finished eating, we headed back to our room for a little nap.

Upon waking, we decided to head down to the beach for our last evening in Providenciales.  It wasn't long before the clouds brought some rain. It felt amazing swimming in the rain and was actually warmer in the water than out in the rain.  There were only 3 other people in the water with me; J was on the beach in his lounge chair listening to music.  The rain pretty much cleared the beach for us, so we took advantage of the nearly empty beach to have some fun with Dave the Blue Bunny.

After a long day of sun and sand, we showered and watched some TV.  I know, real exciting.  We thought about going to dinner but just didn't feel hungry.  That was disappointing because I really wanted to try a local kind of fish.  We decided we'd just pay a visit to the Mango Reef bar for a tropical drink and access to their wi-fi to check in to our airline flight.  Dave came with us and partied too hard.

At this point, we couldn't believe that we were leaving this tropical paradise the following day.  We almost didn't want to go to sleep, making our departure that much closer.  Alas, we could keep our eyes open no longer and drifted off to sleep with dreams of our shared new adventures dancing in our heads.  Just typing this up makes me want to be there again.  Maybe in another 12 years we can go back.