Turquoise Turks and Caicos

Kyr in his beach reading position

The historic natural flora on Iguana island

Handsome iguana on the island

Dear Jojo

Kyr on Fort George beach

Club med Turquoise

Happily going on a Big Blue excursion.

I live to snorkel. At least part of me does. I have entertained the idea of diving, but faced with the hardships that I have encountered simply trying to snorkel, I’m not sure that diving is for me. 

We booked this club med partially because it offered exceptional snorkeling. It does, but not with the easy access I was used to. On our first day we dutifully lined up to hopefully be one of the chosen 40 taken on a large pontoon boat out to one of the snorkeling areas close to the edges of the reef. I was particularly anxious to be picked because I was finding access to the water particularly difficult at the wave pounded beach. Getting on the huge pontoon boat was very difficult for me as it was low tide and involved a large step at least 2 feet down with no railings and the boat moving violently against the dock with each wave. I almost didn’t do it because my anxiety was so profound as I can’t even step down 6 inches without handrails. Eventually I sat down on the dock, grabbed a far off pole that suspended the boat roof and jumped. The people on the boat cheered as I think they were starting to think I might never be able to do it. The snorkeling was worth it – very clear and lots of fish and coral so I was able to shelve my anxiety until the arrival back at the dock. Getting in and out of the boat on the water was easy because of the ladder. Back at the dock things were dicey again – now a huge step up with a wildly bucking boat  against the dock. I begged them to let me jump into the water and finally they did and I swam to shore. The whole production was quite deflating to me because I hadn’t considered access to the water to be a huge problem before this trip.

After this I spent a few days of feeling defeated and forlorn about the physical difficulties accessing things I love. The conditions for the next few days were not conducive to snorkeling anyway, so I tried to mentally figure out how I would face the next time. Then low and behold I noticed a few days later that the pontoon boat stayed quite a ways from shore and the snorkelers were forced to swim both out to the boat and back again. I felt somewhat vindicated that I wasn’t the only one thwarted by what I perceived to be a dangerous situation even for the able bodied. I had noticed a few patrons hobbling around on crutches and wondered if it took someone getting hurt to change the policy. I’d like to take credit for alerting them to the simple solution of people jumping off and swimming to shore because when I suggested it they acted  like I was suggesting going to the moon and were very reluctant to indulge me.

After this, and our successful excursion with Big Blue to the islands, I decided we would splurge and go on a snorkel excursion with Big Blue. I am so glad we did. The boat Octopussy was familiar to me and reminded me of the Barbie boat. The guides were very interesting and warm. The snorkeling was dream like. I saw 2 large sharks and normally I would have been terrified but I had finally internalized the message that the sharks around here are harmless. 

After an hour of exceptional snorkeling at the reef edge we were taken to protected island for a local rare species of iguana. The island sanctuary boasts the original fauna of Turks and Caicos. The dear little iguanas were facing extinction prior to their island sanctuary from the introduction of dogs and cats to the islands. Now their great foe is rats. Apparently they have recently made it to the protected sanctuary and are eating the eggs. I hope conservation efforts to eradicate the rats are successful.

On our way to another protected island to frolic on a beach – Fort George - the most lovely beach on all the islands according to the guides – we were approached by the dearest dolphin Jojo.  He stayed with the boat and obliged us with rolls and dips up. You could just feel the emanation of his warm personality. I said to Kyr – his interest and playfulness with people seemed very dog-like to me. Jojo has quite an interesting history. He was part of an initial project over 17 years ago to  try and release dolphins in captivity into the wild. Jojo was somewhere in the states and several of them were released here at the same time. Only Jojo hung around. Apparently dolphins don’t like shallow water so you never find wild dolphins within the reef. Not Jojo – he only likes inside the reef. According to Kyr the shallow waters must remind him of the tanks of his youth. Kyr thinks he probably has anxiety about deep water. Jojo is about 35 years old and even from within the reef he has managed to attract wild females and is the proud father of several young dolphins from different mothers. I was besotted with his attempts to engage us.

Now we are faced with our last night in this idyllic place. I have really liked the club med turquoise. The food as usual is wonderful. The staff friendly. The rooms clean and comfortable. Some of the entertainment has been spectacular. Last night we were treated to an aerial extravaganza above the pool with many trapeze artists. They had collected everyone in the resort in round tables surrounding the pool and we all had wonderful supper and watched the entertainment.

I have managed to wear all of my outfits and Kyr and I have almost satisfied our insatiable people watching habit.