Resort Report

Story and Photos By Margaret Jones Discovering Monk Orchids (Oeceoclades maculata) growing wild on Providenciales was a joyful experience. I found them secluded in leaf litter under shady native trees, close to the edge of a side road. From time to time I revisited the habitat to check on them. Undisturbed, they blossomed and increased in ...

By Gregory Greatrex, Temple Securities Ltd. Mel Gibson, Ben Affleck, Madonna, Donatella Versace, Bruce Willis, Paul McCartney, Keith Richards, Greg Norman, Bill Gates — with a line of celebrities this long you might think you were standing near the red carpet on Oscar Night. But nowadays, these same people have been seen at the Providenciales International ...

The African Connection By Dr. Bill Keegan and Dr. Betsy Carlson Whenever we visit the Turks & Caicos we try to get together with our old friend, Chuck Hesse (Caicos Conch Farm). And every time we see Chuck he promotes his belief that Africans were living in the Islands prior to the arrival of the Spanish. The case ...

By Michelle Belanger-McNair ~ Photos by Chris Sanders Cell phones are forbidden; shoes are optional. The bar is always open. Check your worries at the door. This is the Windmills Plantation on Salt Cay. Salt Cay is a laid back, out-of-the-loop-of-life, island in the sun. The Windmills Plantation takes you even further from the frenetic pace of ...

By Kathy Borsuk When Phillip Misick was brainstorming for a name for North Caicos’ first condominium resort development, it was his father Charles that came to mind. “My dad was a founding member of the Turks & Caicos Islands Progressive National Party (PNP), served for over 15 years in the Legislative Council and was committed to ...

Traveling to TCI with your pet Story & Photos By Michele Belanger-McNair My husband has packing nightmares before we leave on our annual two month trip to Salt Cay. I thought, “Why not add to those nightmares by taking the dog?” Fortunately, taking Marley to Salt Cay, a small, somewhat isolated part of the Turks Islands, was ...

By Brian Riggs, Curator, National Environmental Centre When Lisa Wandres, who lives in Grand Turk, took her dog Scooter down to South Creek for a walk on Saturday morning, April 23, she expected to see the usual things you can see there: birds, bonefish, crabs and mosquitoes. It’s a quiet spot, the South Creek, and quite ...

Story and Photos By Kathleen McNary Wood There are no places left on earth that are not altered by man and his activities. As time ebbs and flows, a tide of change has swept across the planet. Gone are the days when man battled against nature only to maintain a fragile foothold on existence. We are ...

Photos By Michele Belanger-McNair If only windows could tell what they have seen and heard. I was looking up at a bedroom window at the White House on Salt Cay one day, shooting pictures of this venerable old home and the now fallen Treasury office next door. As I stood there, I thought: How many women have ...

The Royal Reef Resort By Kathy Borsuk~ Renderings by QR Imaging North Caicos beach fronting Royal Reef Resort North Caicos beach fronting Royal Reef ResortEvery so often, an opportunity appears that is too good to pass up. That’s the way Fred Paatz and Mark Hall felt when they first saw the beach just north of Sandy Point, North ...

By Brian Riggs, Curator, National Environmental Centre In late 2001, the Turks & Caicos Islands Government signed an important and far reaching document. It was called the Environmental Charter. That document outlined our country’s commitment to the environment and conservation efforts on behalf of the people of the Islands. The very first guiding principle recognized that ...

By Dr. Betsy Carlson and Dr. Bill Keegan Pineapple and coconut are an interesting combination. While the former comes from the Americas, the latter was introduced from Southeast Asia (via the Canary Islands) by the Spanish. The Spanish believed that coconuts had “the most palatable taste of all things one can find on earth.” They also ...

Marine Turtle Project Story and Photos by Peter Richardson, Marine Conservation Society Turks & Caicos Islanders have eaten turtles for centuries. Archaeological digs around the Islands have revealed that Taino settlers were heavily dependent on turtle meat and eggs long before these Islands were “discovered” by Europeans. These later colonists continued to exploit the rich marine turtle ...

By Steve Rennie It’s been more than one year since Conservative Member of Parliament Peter Goldring introduced a motion in the Canadian House of Commons calling for discussions to explore the possibility of a union between the Turks & Caicos Islands and Canada. While there has been some progress made, the two nations are still half ...

Story and Photos by Richard Ground Over 40 species of butterfly have been recorded in the Turks & Caicos Islands. They range from the large and showy Bahaman Swallowtail (Heraclides andraemon) down to the tiny Pygmy Blue (Brephidium exilis). While most of the species range throughout the Islands, some are quite local in their distribution. The Swallowtail, ...