It’s always fun to reflect back on a wonderful vacation, even after you come home and have to go back to the daily routine. Our vacation this summer was fantastic, and so it is a joy to be able to share it all here.
(PS, I uploaded a lot of photos to the slideshow, and you don’t want to miss any)
Now all along while planning our trip people would say, “Why the Caribbean, don’t you live in a tropical paradise?” It’s true we live in one of the most beautiful places on earth, but every place is different and every island is different for that matter. So we ignored all the raised eyebrows and went ahead and planned anyway. This year we traveled with our dear friends Jana and Stephen Wood, so the four of us narrowed down all the places in the Caribbean we could go or wanted to go and after a few weeks of the process of elimination phase, we decided on Turks and Caicos. It was less frequented than the Bahamas, and less expensive than Cayman Islands and I think looking back we were all very pleased with our choice. What most people don’t know about Turks and Caicos is that they are separate for example there are the Turks Islands and then the Caicos Islands with lots and lots of tiny cays or keys situated all along side them, some of which you can kayak or boat to. We were in a place called Providenciales on one of the Caicos Islands.
There is so much to report about our vacation but to save time I will explain some of the highlights and let the pictures do the rest. We rented a house for the week from a guy named Island Man Wayne, if you ever go to TCI you need to rent from him too. The house was awesome, clean and cozy and Wayne was just a wealth of information having lived there for many years already and we were so happy with our accommodations. We rented the bottom living area complete with two bedrooms and full kitchen. We had so much fun cooking together, eating tons of candy, and playing Monopoly after our long days spent in the water or on the beach. Everyone had a wicked tan by the end of the week, even Bryce believe it or not.
Of course on of the main reasons we all went to TCI was to dive! Since Jana, Stephen and I all certified together, it was only natural that my first dive in the Caribbean be with them. We booked a two-tank dive with Flamingo Divers. We highly recommend them for the friendliness and professionalism but also because Jayne and Mickey were most accommodating and knew so much about TCI. I can’t say enough good things about them, you can read my review on Trip Advisor. The water in Turks and Caicos, although very salty, is like floating in a giant bath tub. It’s warm, it’s clear, and it was incredible. Of course the sea life didn’t hurt either when we did our dives, so many fish, so much coral, and sharks! Did I mention there were sharks in the water when we dove, that is my favorite part to tell people about. Needless to say it was a very good time!
I have to mention Sunny, our car for the week we were there. In the Caicos, because it is a British Colony and part of the British West Indies, everyone, well most people, drive on the left side of the road. And so, the steering wheel is on the right side of the car, talk about awkward. Bryce and Stephen did most of the driving.
Next I should probably mention the shells, yes I think I will. So many lovely shells everywhere. Now I’m sure everyone has seen shells before but not like the ones in TCI. They had conch shells (pronounced conk) as big as my head. Conch is said to be the delicacy of TCI, and it is even said to be an aphrodisiac. The government or the customs will allow three conch shells per traveler, so we brought some home as souvenirs for family, because it isn’t every day that you get to see a giant queen conch shell just hanging out on any of the beaches on the West Coast, or even Hawaii for that matter. Jana was relentless in her quest to find beautiful and rare shells, that was pretty much her mission on the trip and wouldn’t you know, she made out very well by the time we all left for home. By the way, we ate the conch, it was tasty, we went to this place that is pretty well known and talked about a lot in all the travel books called Da Conch Shack and it did not disappoint.
We had such a lovely vacation, admittedly I got tired of the sun and sand after a few days, but overall it was a lot of fun and it was a wonderful place to go. Thank you Bryce for working so hard so that we can go and see the world and thank you friends for making it such a memorable experience. Until our next adventure!
The Aubrey Tribune 