Salt Cay in the Turks and Caicos (Feb 12 to Feb 19, 2005 Part III)
Midweek during our stay, we moved to the Compass Rose Cottage on the south end of the island. It was a privately owned home that was rented to visitors when the owners were absent. It was in a very secluded setting and we all enjoyed its amenities. The kids particularly liked the satellite TV. We liked the change from being in the middle of everything happening in town and of course the extra space. With this cottage, we were given a golf cart because it was a long walk from town. I don’t think that golf carts have a long life on Salt Cay for the same reasons that bicycles don’t. Our cart never had any functioning brakes or headlamps for nighttime driving. I flashed our scuba lamp on the ground so Brian could see where he was going. As well the choke was temperamental as it was attached to a plastic hair bauble dangling from the seat. We also had an explosive tire blowout. Thankfully we weren’t far from town when that happened. Getting it fixed was of course on island time but we were used to that by this stage of the week. Impatient people would not have done well on this island.
However that was what I liked about Salt Cay. It was so laid back and relaxing. I read four novels, snoozed in the hammocks, snorkelled, beach combed and took pictures to my heart’s content. What a great way to rejuvenate. We were as active as we wanted to be with our diving and cycling or as lazy as we wanted to be. Sierra kept asking when we could come back again. It wouldn’t have been a place for every family but it was unquestionably a perfect destination for us.
Brennan had another thrilling adventure in the aircraft on the way back to Provo. James the pilot let him fly the plane for about 20 minutes. Brennan was so excited. Sierra was so tired from the Gravol that she slept the entire time.
We spent a few hours in Provo to do some shopping for t-shirts etc. Not surprisingly there weren’t any souvenir shops in Salt Cay. However Brian and Brennan did manage to get some Salt Cay Divers ball caps. In Provo, both kids got some shirts and Sierra bought a necklace. I tried to talk Brian into buying an oil painting but I didn’t succeed. So we didn’t have much to claim at Canadian customs. Provo was not actually very large but after being on Salt Cay it seemed very crowded and urban.
Well that was our Caribbean adventure for 2005. Thanks to everybody on Salt Cay for such a wonderful time. It is certainly a place we would recommend to everybody. We had a blast. Now you’ll have to wait until our world trip to read about more adventures by the McKinney clan.