Grand Turk is one of 40 islands that make up the Turks and Caicos Islands. Grand Turk is the second to the smallest of the 40 islands, but is one of only 8 of the islands that are inhabited by people. The island is about 7 miles long and 3 miles wide at the widest point. We heard multiple estimates of the number of people living on Grand Turk, all between 3200 and 5000. This was the view as we walked down the pier from the ship to the island:
This one shows how clear the water was. The water was probably about 6 feet deep and you can easily see the sand below.
Rob and I walked along the beach after touring the Turks and Caicos National Museum. It started to rain just as we left the museum and poured on us before it was done. It was perfectly warm, though, so it didn't bother us at all and we chose to walk rather than take a taxi because we wanted to see more of the island up close. We would have completely missed seeing these tiny beaches from the back seat of a taxi.
I like the phrase on their license plates because it was so fitting: Beautiful By Nature
This is the Turks and Caicos National Museum. It is in a house that is over 200 years old (and felt even older!).
The main reason I wanted to see this museum was because it holds the contents of a shipwreck that was discovered in the 1980s. The shipwreck was dated to before 1513! That is just after Columbus arrived! It fascinated me to see the things that were found and explanations about how they were used. The anchor pictured below was the last of 7 or 8 anchors that would have been carried on a ship this size way back then. I don't remember exactly what it's called, but basically it was the "if all else fails try this" anchor. None of the other anchors were found, which led archeologists and scientists to believe that the sailors tried using all the other anchors along their journey. This last anchor was either the final one used prior to the shipwreck or the ship wrecked while it was still on board, resulting in it being found near the other debris.
The top level of the museum consists of artifacts and important historical objects from throughout the history of the Turks and Caicos Islands. This is what most interested me: a chair which is estimated to have been made over 1000 years ago! They said the gargoil-looking thing represented a God and that it is likely that this chair would have been reserved for a tribe's chief. I think the chief should get padding, at least!
The museum also had the light from a lighthouse, stamp- and coin collections for the islands, a tiny hymnal from colonial times, and many more interesting items.
Below is a picture of the public library - a small, one-room library. Most of the public buildings had shutters over the windows, attached on hinges. Unfortunately, a couple of hurricanes in 1998 destroyed much of Grand Turk's architecture and a lot of it still hasn't been rebuilt.
Some school girls selecting some books to take home.
This is the view from the front steps of the library. Kind of makes you want to pick out a book and read, doesn't it?
These kids were leaving the library as we approached it. The girl bounded out of the library excitedly and when I asked her if I could take her picture she delightedly agreed. The boy looked at us hesitantly, but didn't resist.
After walking along Front Street, which has the beach on one side and the things I've pictured above on the other, Rob and I got lost. We ended up walking and walking and walking. When we found a taxi to take us back to the ship, he said we had probably walked 2 miles from start to finish (but it seemed further because I was developing blisters from the shoes I had on). Generally speaking I would say I hate being lost, but it wasn't bad because we knew we had plenty of time to make it back to the ship, the islanders seemed friendly, and we got to see a good stretch of the island, including neighborhoods, up close.
Below are some pictures of a few of the colorful houses we found on our walk. There were far more homes in disrepair than homes that were well cared for, but it turns out I only photographed the ones that were most striking. Most were made of cement, were small, and had very few windows.
While we were lost, this three-legged dog followed us for a while. There seemed to be a lot of dogs on this island. Oh yes, we also saw stray cattle, goats, and horses.
Just one more ocean shot because the water was so darn beautiful!
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