Author Archives: marta

Haiti and the Citadel

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Marta on horse back???? Yep, the last time was also on a trip up to the Citadel in 2003!

Two of us were on horse back, some walked all the way up and we even had someone who ran the route of about seven miles (11 km) from the little town of Milot uphill all the way to the Citadel.  The Citadel is a large mountaintop fortress to the south of the city of Cap-Haitien. I can’t tell you how impressive this named ” World Heritage Site” is and it is a must to see and experience.  The first portion of the hand cut stone work trail up can be done by car but I chose to go the horse route.  From the mid-level parking lot, the second portion must be completed either on horseback or on foot.

Saturday was wash day and all the dwellings had clothes strung out and over bushes drying in the sunshine.

On the way up were small dwellings surrounded by banana and other fruit trees, even coffee beans had been picked off the hillside bushes and lay drying at the side of the trail/road. Since this was a Saturday (our trip was on Sept 24 ) everyone it seemed had done their washing and many had wares to sell to the tourists on their way up to the Citadel.

The first sighting of the fortress perched on a high mountain surrounded by what I thought was fairly lush vegetation.

 

The massive fortress walls as we made out way to the entrance

This fortress was built by King Henri Christophe on top of a  3,000-foot mountain called Bonnet-a-l’Eveque, or the Bishop’s Miter, using between 10,000 some 20,000 workers in the years between 1805 and 1820. Around ten percent of them did not survive and there’s a popular Haitian belief that there is human blood in the Citadel’s mortar. It is Haiti’s most revered national symbol and was built to protect the interior of the country in case the French tried to retake the former colony.  It is a symbol of the will of the Haitien people to fight for their freedom and understanding the Citadel is crucial to understanding Haiti’s turbulent history as the only nation whose birth was the result of a successful slave rebellion.

A bright green lizard caught our attention......and note the orange lichens on the stone walls

View over looking hundreds of cannon balls and the mountaintops beyond.

The Citadel fortress is said to have some 365 cannons and 10,000 rounds and it took up to three months for a single cannon to be moved from the coast and up the mountain to the fortress. On a tour of this awesome stone structure we saw a room filled with more cannon balls in addition to the piled up mounds of cannon balls shown in the photo above.

An impressively decorated cannon faces the stone openings where cannons were positioned to defend the fortress from invaders.

 

Opening in the solid fortification walls showing the mountain greenery below with the mouth of the cannon.

 

View from the top of the Citadel with the inner courtyard to the right.

Water collection for the cisterns

As there was no inner spring or water source, large amounts of rain water were gathered in 8 huge cisterns, to supply the garrison and inhabitants of the fortress for a whole years’ time.

 

The sloping roof of the Poudrière (powder store) on the left

The Poudrière exploded in 1818, killing Prince Noël, the kings son-in-law and Citadel’s commander.

Around the inner court were the crew's quarters, the kitchens and the storerooms, each of these 50 feet deep.

 

It's a long way down..........no barriers or anything so we had to be careful and not go close to any edges.

 

Wow! what a stunning view...we were almost in the clouds on top of the world.

And time to head down the mountain and leave this wonderful place. I took over 850 photos and everywhere I turned there was a picture to take. The people were friendly and yes, the vendors will try to sell you a painting, a necklace, a hat or some other ware. I rode my horse down the winding road making one last stop at the Sans-Souci Palace and a group photo.

The Palace of Sans-Souci was the royal residence of King Henri I (better known as Henri Christophe) of Haiti

What a fabulous day we had here at the Citadel and hopefully there will be another occasion to return. I’m hoping to post a little more of this really all too brief visit that will include some photos of Cap Haitien and the Cormier Plage Hotel.

 

 

Marta

 

 

http://www.harbourclubvillas.com

 

Rock Iguanas

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How lucky can a person be? Up close and personal with a Turks and Caicos Rock Iguana!

The Turks and Caicos Islands has approximately 50,000 rock iguanas. Their official name is Cyclura carinata and these iguanas are critically endangered and endemic (found nowhere else) to these islands. I was lucky enough to spend a fair amount of time and at least 300 photos later with the rock iguanas on one of the little cays.

I think he was posing for this photo.

The West Indian rock iguana is one of the smallest of the Cyclura species and measures less than 770 mm or 30 inches when fully grown. Its basic colour ranges from green to brownish grey and usually patterned with some darker markings.

Don't come any closer!! They are so very dinosaur-like and can be very intimidating when coming towards you.

The rock iguana has a ridge that runs from the top of the head to the tip of the tail. The males, have a very prominent ridge on the crown, and a large dewlap. This is a large flap of skin that hangs from the throat area and assists in temperature regulation. This beautiful creature is adorned with a crest of some 80 to 110 scales down the centre of the back, and rings of enlarged spiny scales around its tail.

Showing off its magnificent tail ......it really does look prehistoric!

The Turks and Caicos rock iguana lives in rocky areas and sandy habitats as sand is required for nesting. It lives and sleeps in shallow burrows dug in loose sand or under rocks. In the morning they will emerge from their burrows and
bask in the sun before going off to feed. At midday, when the sun is the hottest, they hide in the shade to avoid overheating.

A handsome ridge runs from the top of the head down to the tail

We have some 2,000 iguanas that are the only land creatures living on Little Water Cay. A boardwalk has been built throughout the island and our visitors can take a tour of the island by walking along the boardwalk. But please, do not step off the walkway.

The Atabeyra drops a group off to see the iguanas at Little Water Cay.

See you next time when you visit the rock iguanas at Little Water Cay.

 

 

Marta

 

 

http://www.harbourclubvillas.com

 

Honeymoon Conch Salad

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Yummy.......... fresh conch salad for lunch at Harbour Club Villas.

Honeymooners Chantel and Rick enjoyed their conch salad today for lunch in the gazebo by the pool at Harbour Club Villas.

I was invited for a bowl of conch salad and it was delicious with a little zip to it.

Chantel prepared a delicious, fresh conch salad from green and red peppers, juicy tomatoes, conch of course, cilantro, onions, freshly squeezed limes and some of their own, favorite special spices.

 

A nice glass of chilled white wine goes great with a "fresh from the sea" conch salad

And to top it off, a glass of chilled white wine goes great with conch salad. I know our honeymoon couple, Chantel and Rick will more than likely enjoy some more conch salad appetizers this evening but they’ll be drinking some Dom Perrignon as sadly, this is their last evening at Harbour Club Villas and on our tropical island paradise.

If you are thinking of a honeymoon vacation, the Turks and Caicos Islands can’t be beat…..sunshine, stunning beaches and crystal clear turquoise waters. Our honeymoon couple can attest to that as they enjoyed three days of great scuba diving. Call us or email and we’ll arrange everything for you to make things easy.

 

 

Marta

 

 

http://www.harbourclubvillas.com

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

West Caicos Beach All to Ourselves

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Shadow dancing on a deserted West Caicos beach

About two weeks ago and a smooth, calm sea found us heading for West Caicos. The boys dropped us off and left us to do a spot of fishing. It was an incredible sight to see this long stretch of deserted beach that had become much wider as Hurricane Irene swept in tons of sand. It was low tide and the water was shallow for a ways out. The waves had created ripples and sand bars and pools of water with shells and interesting bits of debris. We had the beach to ourselves with only a few pelicans that swooped in occasionally to land and shared it only with the pelicans as they dive bombed for fish. What glorious entertainment for the afternoon!

The husbands head off for some fishing and look at those ripples and as a small sand bar forms

Sand ripples formed by the wave action made for interesting patterns in the sand

There were so many bird tracks along the ripples of sand and I was fascinated with all the patterns.

A beautiful shell lies in one of the ripplesand there were lots of bird tracks in the sand

 

The brown pelicans were amusing to watch and photograph but were a little leery of my presence

Probably one of my favorite shells, the sunrise tellin shell lying at the edge of the water, made for a beautiful photo.

Me and my shadow, strolling down a beach avenue!! Just me and my shadow, all alone and feelin' good!!

 

What a glorious day and a wonderful afternoon. We’re going to return to West Caicos as soon as the weather clears………GO AWAY MARIA!!!!

 

 

Marta

 

 

http://www.harbourclubvillas.com

 

Flamingo Sunsets

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Glorious sunset just after Hurricane Irene paid us a visit

Quite the two weeks since Hurricane Irene came calling! All’s well and we’ve been treated to fair, calm weather and some beautiful sunsets over the lake by Harbour Club Villas. The Flamingos are also back again in Flamingo Lake….they did the same thing after Hurricanes Ike and Hanna.

Beautiful flamingo stretching gracefully like a ballerina as it wades through the water.

 

Soft sunset fusion of pink shades over Harbour Club Villas as a flamingo wades the lake waters searching for crustaceons in the silty bottom.

The flooding has all but disappeared, clean up after the hurricane is all done, the bush has been cleared of debris and trimmed and new foliage is sprouting once again.

The wonder of nature.

 

 

Marta

 

 

http://www.harbourclubvillas.com

Tanka

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The Turks and Caicos Islands has said a final goodbye to Wesley ‘Tanka’ Williams R.I.P.  I only knew him from the enjoyment he gave all of us on the many occasions we were lucky enough to join in the Junkanoo. I searched through my photos and sure enough, there he was………..a giant of a man, a gentle man with a vision, a mentor, a teacher, a no-nonsense man, a coach who encouraged his kids to to be successful in whatever they did. He worked towards giving less fortunate kids a second chance through athletic scholarships and training. He played an important role in helping to develope the Turks and Caicos Culture and bringing Junkanoo to our islands.

Wesley 'Tanka' Williams entertaining the crowds at Junkanoo

 

Tanka Williams R.I.P.

 

Marta

 

 

http://www.harbourclubvillas.com

Hummingbird Re-Cycles Nest

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A new hummingbird appeared and began adding a second storey to the old existing nest

Can you believe it?  A week ago, we were surprised to see that our old hummingbird nest in the cactus beside the walkway to our house, had grown taller. It wasn’t a few minutes later, that I heard her! A new hummingbird mama had seen the nest and decided to re-use and re-cycle the old nest. She was busily adding a second storey to the old nest to build it up a little more.

Here's the nest showing the new portion between the two stars.

The nest is totally about 1 3/4 inches and the addition is almost a half inch. Still pretty tiny all things considered. Mama has laid her second egg (yesterday) and is now sitting on the nest leaving periodically to feed.

Here's the nest from the back side showing all the fine strands of cobwebs used as "glue" to secure the nest.

 

I wanted to show you the new materials and fluff that has gone into recycling the top of the old nest.

 

A backside view of the Bahama Woodstar hummingbird sitting on a nest with two little eggs

 

Nesting hummingbird ... how sweet she is!

So here I go again!  I’ll keep taking more photos………….I can’t tell you how many I already have but there’s tons!!

 

Marta

 

 

http://www.harbourclubvillas.com

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hummingbirds Getting Bigger Part 2

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The two baby Bahama Woodstar hummingbirds are squished into the tiny nest as they continue to grow.

The above photo was taken a month ago and as you can see, the little birds are growing very fast. The nest is glued and held together with cobwebs and this enables the babies to compact and stretch the nest to hold the both of them. Clever little birds they are and when they just get too big, they are ready to fly.

Please check the previous blogs.

 

From building the nest..http://myturksandcaicosblog.com/?p=2601

 

To laying the eggs…http://myturksandcaicosblog.com/?p=2616

 

To the chicks hatching…http://myturksandcaicosblog.com/?p=2699

 

The chicks getting bigger…http://myturksandcaicosblog.com/?p=2745

One little baby sits almost on top of the other.

At a different angle, the baby birds are definitely getting too big for the nest and sure enough the day after the photo, we missed one flying out of the nest

What excitement as we managed to catch the one baby leaving the nest and making his first flight. The other little one must have been hidden in the bushes and trees.

Here it is.....ready to fly off into the big world!

 

It's first flight was from the nest to a nearby Opuntia cactus where he perched for a few minutes

Here the baby hummingbird lifts off and flies up into our large bouganvillea

It has been such a joy to take all these photos from start to finish…………right from when we discovered the nest just being built to seeing the eggs hatch and the birds grow and fly away. Nature is so wonderful !!

 

Now just when I was getting used to leaving my camera behind…………..we have another event unfolding!!!!

 

Marta

 

http://www.harbourclubvillas.com

 

Sapodilla Beach

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A red Flamboyant tree (Royal Poinciana) was ablaze with firey red orange blossoms and made a showy foreground for this photo taken with Sapodilla beach in the background.

The Royal Poinciana tree is flowering right now. It has bright red showy flowers that make this tree stand out. Take a look in the Bight as there's quite a few of them there.

My gorgeous daughter posed patiently while I took many photos......thanks babes!

Marta

 

 

http://www.harbourclubvillas.com