Providenciales, Turks And Caicos Islands

January 22 - 28, 2014

I thought I would never see the day!  When our rental
car was delivered, Brian didn't know what it was!
It's a WiLL Cypha right hand drive by Toyota.

We are going to be in Provo much longer than we had hoped.  Why should this be different than our other stops?  The weather has flared up.  On land it is beautiful: sunny blue skies with tropical temperatures.  But, head off shore and it is a different story.  Every report tells us to stay put indefinitely.  Really, indefinitely?  Give me a sign -- a week, ten days, 2 weeks?  Don't tell me indefinitely!    We are staying at Turtle Cove Marina.  It is quiet and we like the location.  Today we  extended our car rental from 2 days to a week.  The next decision will be to extend the marina to a monthly rate. 

Paved four lane with a median strip.

We have been busy exploring the area, but we prefer the islands that are not so developed.  George Town and Clarence Town were perfect!  Provo could be a resort town in Mexico or Florida.  It has a four lane road that is paved with a divider in the middle!   They experience traffic jams at 5:00!  Wow, that says it all….  On the other hand, we have found  an IGA grocery, a store that is similar to Home Depot, lots of restaurant options and a real French bakery.  OK, I'll stop whining.

The 'Do It Center' -- Very similar to a Home Depot 

As excited as we were to find the IGA, we almost
wet our pants when we found the Greenway 
Gourmet!  Beautiful store and cold 20 oz bottles 
of Diet Coke for $1.20.  

These shells show the growth in the first 5 months.

Since we have been eating conch almost every day, we decided to visit the Conch Farm.   This is a research facility that raises conch for commercial purposes.  Conch has become a commercially endangered specie due to over fishing, pollution and environmental change.  

And, here the shells range from 6 months to 2 years.

The conch shell is similar to our skeleton.  It grows with them -- and very quickly.   By the time the conch is four years old it is mature and ready to harvest.  
Since the conch farm's beginning in 1984, it has consistently lost investor's money and never earned a dime of profit.  In spite of those statistics, they have found a new investor and are going forward with their plans to expand.  Soon the farm will include high tech hatcheries where fish can be trained to spawn on command by manipulating the water temperatures and light conditions.  Cobia, pompano, grouper, and snapper are now being raised as brood fish. 
        

A series of trays, tanks and eventually pens are
used through the process.

Sally and Jerry are two conch that have
been trained to slide out of their shells
to show visitors their anatomy.  This is
Jerry.  You can tell by the penis that is
half way up his body on the left side.  
If he should loose it, he can grow a 
new one!  How handy is that? Next time
you are at a party and there s a lull in 
the conversation, this might be a good
fact to throw out to the group. 
  And, people say this blog is just fluff!  

Bugaloos restaurant offers seating inside, on the
deck, in the sand or in the water.  Another great
meal of cracked conch!

Driving through a residential area with spectacular
views.  We think these are vacation homes….
Lifestyles of The Rich and Famous!

Resort after resort fills this beachfront.  

And then we found this secluded beach.  No resorts,
no crowds…..Just beautiful!

After a week of traveling every road (paved and unpaved), it is time to turn wee WiLL back to the rental agency.  To finalize the end of our relationship we did one more swing through the Do It Center and the IGA and then we were off to Da Conch Shack.  Where we had -- you guessed it -- conch as we looked out at the magnificent scenery.    

Tomorrow we will drop the dingy in the water, get the bikes off of the roof and start walking to see the local sites.  I'm sure the island will look much different as we explore from another vantage point.  



Gotta smile -- we're lovin the ride!