Turks and Caicos

040218  Turks and Caicos

We just sailed after having spent the day in paradise. Turks and Caicos will always be one of my favorite ports. Jerked Chicken from Jack’s Shack in Cockburn Town and that water. The blues remind me of Tahiti.

The  beach on the way to Jack's. Looks like a postcard, doesn't it?

 We chose a Snuba excursion on the far side of the island. When I say far side I mean it was about a mile from where the ship docked. Unfortunately, the water was very choppy and the current fairly strong on that side and it made for some challenging swimming to get to the reef. But when we finally got there, the view was amazing. I did not have an underwater camera this time, but we saw some fish and a huge barracuda! The coral shows some damage from the two hurricanes last year but much of it was in pretty good shape. There were gorgeous sea fans all over the place.

Back on shore, we found these gorgeous conch shells that had washed up. I was lucky to find one that was not very weathered. It was over a foot long and weighed about 5 pounds. I was SO EXCITED! That shell was going in the front flower bed at my place in Florida!

My companions and the many washed up conchs.

We were dropped back at the port and we walked all the way down the beach to Jack’s Shack. I had been looking forward to eating some chicken at this place since last year. It is the best chicken I’ve ever eaten. They cook it over an open fire in the big drum-like grills. The seasoning is amazing. I’m talking so good, you want to suck the bones when you are finished good!  And if you know me, you know about my issues with chicken so ‘bone sucking’ is way beyond my normal comfort level!

I made a rookie mistake getting back on the ship and I’m a bit sad. We should have wrapped that conch shell in our beach towel and put it in a backpack. When we got to security, they confiscated it. L I asked why and was told you are not allowed to remove shells from the island. What? The tour operator said I could take it because there was no live animal inside. The conch fisherman catch the conch, remove the meat and toss the shells back overboard where they eventually wash up on shore. UGH!

We boarded the ship about an hour and a half before ‘all aboard’ and headed to the Sea View pool. Lounge chairs were in abundance and the pool was ours! We were so hot that after we set our stuff down, we jumped right into that cold water. The pool itself is a decent size and is 7’ 2” deep with a water-filled walkway all around it.  There are also some nice benches built around that so you can sit with just your feet in the water. All in all, a very nice ship pool.

Yesterday, we discovered these chocolate mint buzz (not sure of the real name but it does have the word buzz in it) drinks on the menu. We are hooked. They are a chocolatey, minty, creamy slice of heaven in a glass. If you have 2, consider it a meal. They are very filling. Two days in a row, that was pretty much lunch.

I am back in the cabin now after cleaning up in a tepid shower as I am a bit burned despite applying and reapplying 50 SPF sunscreen. My face seem to be the most red despite that sunscreen and a hat. Hopefully, a bit of aloe with cool that off.

Right now, I’m thinking a nap sounds perfect! I’ll be back later to fill you in on the evening’s activities.

Sailing away from paradise.

I’m back and I think the sun, SNUBA and the ½ mile long walk to Jack’s and back did us all in. We ended up skipping dinner in the dining room, ordering room service and calling it a night. Some of us are not nearly as young in body as we are in mind. But, it was an excellent day and we are looking forward to sleeping in, late breakfast and our lunchtime arrival in Old San Juan!