Blogs from Grand Turk, Turks & Caicos, Central America Caribbean

15/5/13 Grand Turk We were up early as we were excited to get off the ship and explore. Grand Turk is a tiny island, a British Colony and former pirate hangout. From the balcony we could just see the tip of the island and it is very flat, with white beaches, green palm trees and sea every shade of blue and green imaginable. After disembarking we walked along the pier to the ‘welcome’ building which is basically a duty free shop, then out into a plaza surrounded by jewellery and souvenir shops. We visited the memorial to the astronaut John Glenn whose Friendship 7 space capsule landed in the sea just off the island. There was a replica of the capsule, a pretend astronaut and a small rocket with some information boards. We had a quick ... read more

Once upon a time, a girl with chronic wanderlust and a boy who hates the snow decided to go on a little adventure (er, another adventure). With a dirty look or two for the snow that started to fall as they headed to the airport, the adventure begins... Cheapest flights out of our province were out of Moncton this time (this was a proper holiday for relaxing, so we didn't want to drive to and from the US before/after flying), so off we went on a 2 hour drive to the airport. It started to snow about the last 30 minutes of the drive, but I think somehow that just makes leaving the snow more rewarding. Checked in in Moncton and waited for a bit at the gate before getting called up to see the agent ... read more

Turks & Caicos Islands - Friday – March 9th Hello from Grand Turk. Actually there is a whole morning of events to report first, because we did not arrive until about 1:00. That is 1:00 Eastern Time, so we gained an extra hour last night and got to sleep in. That was good because we did go to the late night movie and saw The Artist - it was kind of strange, but Janet really wanted to see it. We did get up early enough to go to the sit-down breakfast in the Da Vinci Dining Room. The special for today was Eggs Benedict (which Janet really wanted), but this is a Friday in Lent, so we settle for cheese omelets (Janet’s had mushrooms too). We sat at a table for 8 and met ... read more

Well, we have reached our final port before Fort Lauderdale! We arrived at our Grand Turk dock about 1:00 this afternoon and are scheduled to sail toward Fort Lauderdale at 6:45. Grand Turk is only 7 miles long and just over 1 mile wide and is the capital and seat of the Turks and Caicos government. It has been a longtime favorite destination for divers to explore the 7,000 foot-deep pristine coral walls that drop down only 300 yards out to sea. On shore, the tiny, quiet island is home to white-sand beaches, the National Museum, and a small population of wild horses and donkeys, which leisurely meander past the white-walled courtyards, cute churches, and bougainvillea-covered colonial inns. Although it has the 2nd largest population of all the Turks and Caicos, Grand Tusk’s permanent population is ... read more

Well today unfortunately didn’t go as planned as we had some bad news this afternoon. We arrived in Grand Turk early in the morning. Lin didn’t have any tours booked but I had a 4x4 Safari tour that didn’t leave until 12:30. So we had a leisurely breakfast in the Lido then headed off to do some shopping (Lin’s idea not mine). She was trying to find some shoes (she forgot her walking shoes) but the shops right at the dock don’t have that type of thing. It was very hot (someone said over 100 and it seemed that way to me) so we decided to stop by Margaritaville to cool off (ok I had a coke and Lin had an Ice Tea). We were the only ship in port so it wasn’t very crowded. Lin ... read more