Mushroom

Posted on May 28, 2009 by marta

: I found this wonderful mushroom growing in our wild area at Harbour Club Villas.

After all that wonderful rain that we’ve had, this wild mushroom suddenly appeared just up behind one of our villas. I asked my favourite biologist and good friend Nicky whether he thought it was edible or not. He seemed to think it was but I wasn’t prepared to give it a try. Nicky’s the only one that seems to know so many things about the flora and fauna of the islands as well as being able to give me names and tell me what different things might be!!! Apparently out at Tucker’s Hill on Providenciales there used to be edible mushrooms growing there that he would harvest.

Mushroom on Providenciales Turks and Caicos Islands

It really looked good enough to eat!!!!!!!!

Cheers

Marta

http://www.harbourclubvillas.com

Land Crab at the Villas

Posted on May 25, 2009 by marta

Barry was the bravest of us all as he picked up this Blue Crab by our villas.

Barry was the bravest of us all as he picked up this large land crab by our villas.

Guests at Harbour Club Villas were surprised by this rather large land crab they found by their villa. Barry picked it up as it was not moving very fast and was not at all aggressive. We think it might have been injured or sick because it couldn’t even lift up its major claw in order to defend itself.

It sure had a lethal looking claw

It was raining most of today but during one of the breaks between rains, our guests came across the land crab in one of our planters. We don’t think it’s going to make it. It was a great opportunity to take a real close look at a land crab.

Marta

http://www.harbourclubvillas.com

Passion flowers

Posted on May 18, 2009 by marta

This pale wine coloured passion flower vine was found on Venetian Road not far from Harbour Club Villas.

I mentioned in a previous post “Passionflowers on the Beach” that I had old photos of a bright red passion flower and the one above which was growing along side Venetian Road and had a paler wine coloured flower. Both were very striking and in colours that I’ve never seen before.

Several varieties and colours of passion flower vines are found on Providenciales, Turks and Caicos Islands

These flowers are showy and frequently appear after spring and summer rains. The filaments that are around the central column can vary in colour from yellow to orange to red.

Red passionflower vine that I used to have growing along the pool fence in the early days at Harbour Club Villas

This passion vine had flowers that were a bright red and very striking.

Pretty, bright red passionflower vine that used to grow here at Harbour Club.

Hope you enjoyed taking a look at these extraordinarily beautiful flowers. I love them!

Marta

http://www.harbourclubvillas.com

King Helmet Shell

Posted on May 17, 2009 by marta

In Blue Hills, a local cleans a King Helmet shell so that it's ready for sale.

Piles of conch shells lie in the waters by Da Conch Shack in Blue Hills. In amongst them there were a few King Helmet Shells which seem to be much rarer than the Queen Conchs. I’m noticing more and more of these shells and Triton shells being harvested and sold in various places on Providenciales.

Low tide had exposed the piles of conch shells lying in the waters

It was low tide at the beach in Blue Hills where piles of conch shells lay in the water. I guess they get cleaned and sold by beach vendors. Behind the shells, you can see the pen containing live conch that supplies Da Conch Shack.

Taste some conch while in Blue Hills………right on the water!

Marta

http://www.diving.tc

Wild Flowers

Posted on May 14, 2009 by marta

Flowering Broom Bush with it's delicate white flowers

On a recent tour of Cheshire Hall on Providenciales, I snapped a photo of this lovely plant. The Broom Bush looks a little like dried twigs but once it gets some rain, it takes on a green tinge and then flowers. It is endemic to the Turks and Caicos Islands. Endemic means that this species is limited to a geographic area and not found anywhere else.

The Broom Bush thrives in open and rocky areas such as Sapodilla Hill where I found the above growing

The Turks and Caicos Islands contain a number of endemic species. Look out for our many wild flowers and plants as you wander and visit our beautiful islands.

Marta

http://www.harbourclubvillas.com

Yellow fin Tuna

Posted on May 8, 2009 by marta

What a catch.......a great fight and Barry landed a 30 lb yellow fin tuna

Today Barry headed out for a day of deep sea fishing with some friends. He hooked something off Malcolm Roads beach and it put up a great fight for a good 15 minutes. What a beauty! It was a 30 lb yellow fin tuna. We’re going to invite our villa guests to join us for a tuna steak barbecue tomorrow night and what a feast it will be.

Bon appetit!

Marta

http://www.bonefishing.tc

Conch World (Part 2)

Posted on May 6, 2009 by marta

The onshore nursery ponds can hold up to 2,000,000 conchs!!!

Some 80 onshore ponds, where aeration systems keep the water oxygenated, are the nursery home of the baby conchs which are fed a special conch feed by some 20 staff at the farm.

Each pen out in the shallow waters contains 5,000 conch

Conch World has 200 offshore pens which hold initially the 1 year olds (6 cm size). After 2 1/2 years in the pens or at 3 to 4 years old, the conch can be harvested.

Danver introduces us to Sally the resident female conch

Sally needs little coaxing to come out of her shell. Note the “foot” which is strong and powerful.

And here's Jerry........the male conch with his male parts that Danver is pointing to.

Make sure to visit Conch World when you visit our island of Providenciales. Entry fee is only $10.00 per person and I think it is well worth it. You won’t have another opportunity anywhere in the world as this commercial farm is the only one.

See you there!

Marta

http://www.harbourclubvillas.com

Conch World

Posted on May 5, 2009 by marta

View of the Subsea Pasture where the conch grow from about 6 cm to adult conch

Today we headed out to see the Conch Farm…….the only one of its kind in the world. I’d heard that they had suffered quite some damage from Hurricanes Hanna and Ike. I have been through the farm several times over the years and today was an opportunity to go again. The old dock was gone and lots of damage sustained by Ike’s 140 mph winds as well as an 8 foot storm surge during Hanna.

Here's our friendly and informative guide Danver who told us everything you ever wanted to know about conch and more!

Provo Conch World has been in existence since 1984 with 12 million dollars invested to develop conch farming to the commercial scale it operates at today. Currently they have about 500,000 conch!

On shore nursery ponds containing small conch from 2 to 6 cm

Baby conchs grow in these nursery ponds for about a year until ready to be put out in the sub-sea pasture

I have lots more photos and will continue tomorrow

Marta

http://www.harbourclubvillas.com

Turtles

Posted on May 2, 2009 by marta

My tucked away little beach found by a few lucky visitors

Late yesterday afternoon, we went down to a lovely beach not far from Harbour Club Villas. We were there with only one other couple…………..they must have been honeymooners as they had carved a heart in the sand.

Honeymooners leave a heart with their names and footprints in the sand

There was great excitement as Marilyn saw something in the water…………I knew immediately that the turtles were out! Previous guests at our villas had sighted dozens….yes dozens of turtles here. I had even taken a trip out to see for myself but hadn’t sighted any. There was at least three turtles this time and their heads popped up over and over again as we sat enthralled watching them. I waded out into the water and managed to get these photos of them.

I managed to catch this photo of one of the turtles as I waited patiently in the water for them to come up for air.

Another turtle pops his head up, saw me and went back under.

There has been numerous sightings of turtles here at this beach during the last month. I’m not sure why there would be so many of them and in the shallow waters of the south side of Provo close by our villas. I’ve mentioned it to a few people but no one seems to know.

I love seeing turtles and hope you do too on your next trip to our “beautiful by nature” Turks and Caicos Islands

Marta

http://www.diving.tc

Sapodilla

Posted on April 27, 2009 by marta

Sapodilla fruit and flowers locally known as the "dilly" tree

I just thought you might like to know what a Sapodilla is…………this tropical tree is called a “dilly” locally and grows here in the Turks and Caicos Islands. The fruits are favoured by our island iguanas and the taste is sweet and pleasant, ranging from a pear flavor to crunchy brown sugar.

The flowers of the Sapodilla are quite beautiful and I hadn't noticed this until I went out to take photos.

The bark of the Sapodilla tree produces Chicle which is a latex that has been used for many years as a chewing gum base .

Marta

http://www.harbourclubvillas.com

MyTurksAndCaicosBlog.com

Turks and Caicos Vacation, Travel, Fishing, and Diving

Category Archives: Flora and Fauna

Mushroom

Land Crab at the Villas

Passion flowers

King Helmet Shell

Wild Flowers

Yellow fin Tuna

Conch World (Part 2)

Conch World

Turtles

Sapodilla