Cruise Chronicles Day Four: A Grand Adventure

March 14, 2011

It was an early wake-up call once again, as I arose at seven o’clock for a shower and breakfast.  While I was showering and breakfasting, the ship was pulling into our first port of call for the week, Grand Turk in the Turks and Caicos Islands (TCI).  At approximately 8:15, I got off the ship for the first time in some forty hours, as Dad and I left for the cruise center.  A taxi, driving on the left side of the road, took us to the Grand Turk National Museum, where we saw some artifacts from the oldest known Atlantic shipwreck.  The wreck occurred sometime in the early sixteenth century, most likely between 1511 and 1513, off the third largest reef in the world, located in the TCI.  The small and quaint museum kept our interest for about a half an hour, when we headed back to the cruise center.

Next was the real fun of the day:  Christopher and I took an excursion that involved a kayak ride up and down one of the creeks on the north side of Grand Turk.  Our bus driver to the kayak center, Conroy, gave us a great view of the island and some history tidbits about TCI.  Our crew of two-person kayaks was led by the great Captain Max and nature guide Juanito.  The kayak trip took us downstream to see some mangrove trees and a wrecked barge.  The barge had been part of a two-boat team assigned to widen the creek when it ran up on the shallow water of the reef.  The TCI officials left the barge where it was, and now the only pair of osprey on the island make their home in that boat.  We then headed back upstream, ending at a nice beach, where we walked up a hill for a short time and were introduced to such plants as the buttonwood and prickly pear.  Back on the beach, we learned about sea cucumbers, two different kinds of sea urchins, starfish, and conch.  We were treated to fresh conch meat; there was no preparation other than removing the creature from its shell and cutting the meat in order to portion it out.  We rowed back downstream to the kayak center, where Conroy picked us up and returned us to the cruise center.

After running back up to drop some stuff in the stateroom, it was to the beach for a quick lay-out to end the afternoon in Grand Turk.  Some facts about the island, and Turks and Caicos:

• Grand Turk is seven miles long, and up to two miles in width, with a population of 4,000.
• There are two former US military bases on the island: a Navy base on the north end, and a Marines base on the south.
• The TCI are a part of the British West Indies, a part of the United Kingdom’s colonial holds.
• The primary industry of the islands was the salt trade for a long time, but their production has either diminished or been outshined by other industries, such as tourism.
• In 1962, John Glenn became the first American to orbit the earth from outer space.  He landed in the waters near Grand Turk, and his landing capsule is displayed outside of the international airport.
• Outside of the Islands, there is the third largest barrier reef in the world, behind the one in Australia, and one in South America.  The water landside of the reef can get anywhere from thirty-five to fifty feet deep, but the reef has a 7,000-foot dropoff.
• In 2006, Hurricane Ike passed over TCI as a class five storm.  The Hurricane, as it is simply referred to by the locals, devastated the islands.  Many establishments are still recovering from the storm five years later.

Back on the ship, I enjoyed a relaxed Lido lunch as I once again listened to Charlie and the Hal-cats (the bass player, incidentally, was on our kayaking shore excursion) send the ship off on its way to San Juan, Puerto Rico.  After some rest in room 7028, it was time for dinner.  Tonight’s fare consisted of a delicious Caribbean soup, a Caesar salad, and a couple slices of pork with Caribbean seasonings and dressing.  The meal was fantastic, and I walked it off with a mile around the Promenade.  The night’s activities included another memorable stay at the piano bar.  Trivia tonight consisted of 1960’s Name That Tune.  Alone, I was a point away from the winning score.  Unfortunately, I was a one-man team, so I didn’t win.  Some sing-along with Eric and the rest of the piano bar visitors ended the night, and the rocking of the ship and the Jack Black classic movie “School of Rock” put me, eventually, into a very restful sleep.