On the Path of Columbus

   The Turks and Caicos Islands, a British Overseas Territory comprises of 40 islands and cays, and lies at the southeastern end of the Bahamas chain, 575 miles southeast of Miami, and 90 miles north of the island of Hispaniola. The islands are generally flat, with rolling hills. The highest elevation is approximately 250 ft. above sea level at Blue Mountain, on Providenciales, locally known as Provo.

  Legend purports that the islands were named from the scarlet dome of the barrel- shaped Turks Head cactus, which reminds one of a Turkish fez, and the Spanish word,   “cayos” for small islands. The two groups of islands are divided by a 22 mile wide 7000 ft. deep passage known today as the “Columbus Passage”.

The Islands aptly proclaimed, “Beautiful by Nature”, are the landfall islands of Christopher Columbus’ first voyage in search of the Far East.

    Before the Spanish conquistadores and other colonizing nations arrived, the islands were populated by the Taino and Lucayan Indians, probably from 500s to the 800s. The Indian people left their legacy in the island names. The Lucayan term for “string of islands”, caya hico, was the basis for Caicos.

  In 1841, 192 African slaves survived the sinking of the illegal slave ship Trouvedore, and came ashore to freedom, since slavery in all British colonies was abolished in 1834. The descendants of these slaves comprise 90% of the “belonger” population today.

 

   On Wednesday May 8 we arrived in Sapodilla Bay. Next morning we had to make our way to customs, which meant either climbing a hill or taking a long road around. We chose the hill which had a trail with graffiti carved into the rocks left by shipwreck survivors from late 1800’s.

We had been told by other cruisers that they did not want you here in the Turk and Caicos. They will overcharge you and not let you visit all the Islands. We found this totally untrue. At the customs office they were friendly and helpful. A very friendly customs officer named Denise, said  "come with me, I will show you the town" she was just taking her son home that was not feeling well. When we were dropping her son at her home, we pulled in the driveway. There were at least 6 dogs in front of her house. I made the comment "you have a lot of dogs" her reply was they were wild dogs called potpies, that wander around the island, they are harmless and do not worry about them.  We noticed lots of them, they all look healthy, someone is feeding them. She also told us about the Island and their past political problems. Health care is much like home. Average house $150.000, average wage is $5.00 an hour. Food is more expensive and electric bill is approx. $300 dollars a month. There is no public transit system, which they need.  It went through my mind; I could drive a bus here. There is one main highway that travels the length of the Island. Taxis are very expensive but you can wave down a little Toyota, an illegal taxi, for a cheaper price. There are lots of modern cars and SUVs.  You can rent a car for $62 a day including insurance. Taxi cost 45 dollars one way. We got a guided tour of the town, and then dropped off at the local IGA for a deli lunch with internet. We asked her to join us, but she had to return to work.  Next day we rented a car, they drive on the opposite side of the road. Claude and I decided to let Tutty drive. He did a good job, not even one close call.  We drove the whole island. Lots of great restaurants, hotels and Jewelry stores, I even got a beautiful Mother’s Day gift, a turtle made out of larimar. It is a rare coral found amongst these islands.

On Sunday we spent the afternoon at the Los Breezes having resort having lunch with our daughter Angela’s, friend from high school Kelly who immigrated here 12 years ago. She now is married to a resident and has a beautiful son.

After our wonderful visit we went back to customs and checked out of the country, which would give us 48hours to travel the rest of the way through the islands.