What a way to spend Christmas! Well, I actually got quite sick on Christmas and was man-down for the following few days, but the scenery, weather, and company were fantastic. A few noteworthy things about Turks and Caicos:
- Yes, the water is really that colour. (I often found myself lifting my sunglasses to double check.)
- They drive on the left side of the road, but have both American and British cars, so which side of the vehicle the driver sits in depends on the make.
- They use the US dollar.
- The most touristy island is Providenciales. It's got major luxury resorts and seemingly endless white sand beaches.
- The other islands aren't very populated, and also much less frequented by tourists. They also have vast expanses of white sand beaches, but development seemed to have hit a standstill after the financial crisis of 2008.
- The people are really friendly. Really friendly. And not in a "you're a tourist so I have to be nice to you" kind of way. It seems genuine.
- On the island called North Caicos, it seemed to be custom to lightly honk when driving by the house of someone you know. With a population of 700, there was a lot of light honking going on. It was kind of neat.
- A thin layer of baby oil prevents no-see-ums from biting you, but not from landing on you and, because of the baby oil, sticking.
