Tuesday, January 6, 2015

Turks & Caicos Islands

December 20, 2014 to January 3, 2015

What a fabulous trip!  We spent a week on Providenciales "Provo" first, and then a week on Middle Caicos.

Provo is more densely populated, with high-end resorts, luxury villas, high-end shopping and fine dining. We had a rental car the entire week.  We managed to get stuck in the sand on the very first day.  Ha ha!  What an adventure. 

We made the rounds to most all of the beaches on the island.  We visited Chalk Sound, and spent an afternoon at Taylor Bay.  We drove to Leeward and checked out Long Bay Beach.  Very beautiful and very remote. 

We ate at several great restaurants - Mango Reef, Seven, Via Veneto, and Le Bouchon.  Every meal was delicious and worth every calorie. 

We tried the local beer "Turks Head" and it was horrid.  We managed to gag it down with limes and then moved on to Corona after that.  Prices are ridiculously high on beer and wine.  Everything is imported, so I totally get it, but still got sticker shock every time. 

Middle Caicos is more remote, more down to earth and un-developed.  You have to want to get there.  It is the place to get to know the locals and live like they do for a while. 

Middle Caicos was my favorite part of the trip, although I did thoroughly enjoy the fine dining on Provo. We had a rental here for three days.  Now this isn't your typical rental car.  It was "borrowed" from a friend of one of the resort managers.  It was an old beat up SUV, dirty inside and it took two people to roll up the windows.  But it was awesome, none the less!  We had no contract, we didn't have to keep it clean, and we took it down every dirt road we wanted to go down.  Fun!

We did some snorkeling, some kayaking, and a lot of sitting on the beach, staring at the beautiful water. 

I'd highly recommend a trip here, but bring a fat wallet!!

Slide show of some of the highlights of our two weeks: