Grand Turk, Turks & Caicos...

I got up early to catch some photos as we sailed into Grand Turk…  It was very windy with rough seas…  We did manage to dock safely, and we were ready to go…  Ann, Cathy and I left the ship early and hired a taxi for an island tour. Grand Turk is two miles wide and seven miles long with beautiful white sandy beaches.   Turks and Caicos is known for its excellent diving/snorkeling and a coral reef only yards from shore that drops 7000 feet.  The main settlement is Cockburn Town with its 19th century Bermudian style homes and inns where we stopped to visit the shops… Sadly many remain closed. Our next stop was at the Lighthouse, which was prefabricated in England, transported to the island and erected in 1852. The lighthouse proper and the museum remain closed…the island donkey population have taken up residence mostly due to the overgrown grounds. Next, we drove to the highest point on the island, Breezy Bray to get a view of the entire island. We also made a stop at the Selanais or salt ponds to see the flamingos.  On our last visit the flamingos were an unusual grey color but today all but a couple were grey, and the rest were pink. Sites normally visited by tourists such as the Lighthouse, Her Majesty’s Prison, Salt Museum and the Turks and Caicos National Museum have been closed due to the hurricanes and the pandemic. This island has not recovered from the Hurricanes, Irma and Maria in 2017, as well, the pandemic has further complicated matters. So many homes and businesses have fallen in disrepair and have never reopened…Cleanup is well underway, but the residents still have a long road ahead until things are back to normal. On our return to the ship, we stopped at the cruise terminal for some shopping before we headed to the retreat for the afternoon. Today, is my 3000th day of sailing with Holland America Line and nine of us (Leslie and Handler Smith, Diane and John St. John and Ginny and Rich Lyle) are going to the Tamarind tonight to celebrate this milestone. It was a lovely day and even better evening! I will post more later about our wonderful evening…