Category Archives: Turks and Caicos Islands

Lignum Vitae Tree of Life

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A profusion of purple-blue flowers..........the Lignum Vitae trees are in bloom.

All of a sudden after the heavy rains recently, my Lignum Vitae tree has burst into bloom. I then started seeing these beautiful trees in the bush on a recent trip to the grocery store.

Flowers have five purple-blue petals and are a favourite of insects and nectar drinking birds.

The Lignum Vitae is also known as the “tree of life” and ironwood because the wood is incredibly hard and is so dense that it does not float. It is found throughout the Bahamas and in the Turks and Caicos Islands.

Lignum vitae wood is exceptionally heavy and was used around the Caribbean for ballast in ships.

The Lignum Vitae had medicinal value and was considered the penicillin of the time. The bark was used as a cathartic, the fruit as a vegetable and the flowers as a laxative. In the Turks and Caicos Islands, the resin (locally called rosin) was collected for boiling in water to make a tea to treat muscle and back strains, particularly for men with lower back problems. Another use was to collect branches several inches in diameter which were honed down into heavy, smooth batons called “conch bruisers”. These were used to tenderise conch before cooking.

Teas prepared from all parts of the lignum tree were used for everything...to treat boils and swollen glands, fevers, aches and pains.

The ‘wood of life’ apparently derives from the tree’s medicinal qualities rather than any physical prowess.

A canopy of blue-purple flowers....beautiful.

Beautiful by nature, the lignum vitae has an honoured place in these islands. Take a look as you travel our roads and you will see a blue-purple haze on certain trees. The tree of life, Guaiacum sanctum or Lignum Vitae is spectacular when it is in bloom.

 

 

Marta

 

 

http://www.harbourclubvillas.com

 

 

 

More Birds at Harbour Club Villas

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Sweet little fledgling just learning to fly.

All kinds of twittering going on today and I left my computer to go and investigate. There were two baby Blue-grey Gnatcatchers learning to fly while the mama flew around from one to the other. They are fairly common breeding residents on all islands of the Turks and Caicos.

 

He was pretty tiny as he peeped and called for mama to feed him.

 

Cuban crows are not often seen on Providenciales.

 

 

He flew from Coconut tree to coconut tree as the mocking birds attacked him.

This was a first for me and these Cuban Crows are more often seen on North and Middle Caicos. Now I have to catch photos of that pesky Yellow-bellied Sapsucker that is leaving holes throughout our coconut palms!! He’s really fast though and hard to capture in a photo.

Happy birdwatching.

Marta

 

http://www.harbourclubvillas.com

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Island Fish Fry and Miss TCI Universe

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Miss Salt Cay ready to compete in the Miss TCI Universe competition this weekend.

Great excitement this evening at the Island Fish Fry as everyone prepares to cheer on all six beauties vying for the Miss TCI Universe 2013-2014 crown. This has to be the largest crowd yet ….. a mix of visitors and locals enjoying the sights, sounds and smells of delicious fry fish, peas and rice, conch fritters, fish fingers, jerk chicken served up by many of the island’s great local restaurants. It was a chance for the six beautiful young ladies to strut their stuff infront of an enthusiastic crowd. Lively entertainment, a rake and scrape band and a Junkanoo rush by We Funk. Here’s some photos of this great event and don’t forget if you are visiting, come on down to the Children’s Park in the Bight on Thursdays.

These gorgeous contestants pose for all the cameras before taking centre stage.

 

Man, could this fellow play that saw and he had all the moves to go with it!

 

Six beautiful ladies on stage and ready to walk the catwalk.

 

Miss Salt Cay takes centre stage

 

Emcee David Bowen watching contestants trying to win Turks and Caicos Tourism sponsored bags and T shirts.

David shows how to "step on the roach".

 

Doing "around the world"

 

Henry the Conch leads the Junkanoo rush with We Funk.

 

One of the younger members of We Funk Junkanoo band.

Whistles and drumming, dancing to the Junkanoo band.

 

The booming beat of the drum and scraping of the grater makes the crowd join in and dance.

We Funk entertaining the crowds at the Fish Fry this evening.

Another sensational evening at the Island Fish Fry. Don’t forget to come on down.

See you there!

 

Marta

 

 

http://www.harbourclubvillas.com

Ripsaw

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Bending the saw to make music

One particular type of music in the Turks and Caicos Islands is called “Ripsaw” and it is also known as “Rake n’ Scrape.” The main instrument is a plain and ordinary carpenter’s saw and some musicians have turned these instruments into a work of art.

Diamond performs on his painted saw

The saw can be played with the serrated edge or teeth facing the body, though some players face them away. Also the saw can be held by the handle or the reverse end to produce a gentle bend in the center of the blade.

"Ripping the Saw" by using a knife in this case to produce a unique scraping sound.

 

An "S" curve in the saw will make it sing.

Our local musicians use a metal scraper of some sort, either a knife, a screwdriver or a fork  is raked and scraped over the teeth of the saw to make rhythmic percussion-type scratching sounds.

Ripsaw music is included in local folklore skits

 

The centre of the S curve is "the sweet spot" that creates sound when scraped.

 

Ripsaw musician with the Island Boys local band

Diamond in action

We are fortunate to be able to see and enjoy the abundance of local talent found here in the Turks and Caicos.  Head on out to some of the hot spots on island to enjoy the sounds of our Ripsaw bands.

 

Marta

 

 

http://www.harbourclubvillas.com

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Sapodilla beach with boats at anchor on a calm day

Sapodilla Bay is on the south side of Providenciales where visiting boats can clear customs at South Dock and then moor out and enjoy some perfect beach time. The water is shallow for quite a ways out before it deepens.

Lazing around and floating in such clear calm water.

Shooting through the rocks makes for some interesting effects

 

A sunset beach wedding at Sapodilla..........a beautiful spot to exchange vows.

A footprint left in the sand as the tide starts to come in.

One of my favourite photos with a flowering poinsiana or flamboyant tree framing my daughter and grandbaby.

Providenciales and the Turks and Caicos Islands have some of the worlds best beaches. There are so many of them and we hope on your next visit, you’ll take in some of them to include Sapodilla Bay on the southern shores of Providenciales.

 

Happy beach days!

 

 

Marta

 

 

http://www.harbourclubvillas.com

 

 

Birds at Harbour Club Villas

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Bananaquits are usually just too fast to photograph but this one posed prettily in our tamarind tree.

All of a sudden there seems to be lots of singing, chirping, cooing and squawking going on around Harbour Club Villas. I’ve managed to photograph quite a few birds in the last week that seem to like this area……….Bananaquits, Doves, a Green Heron that tries to catch fish and drinks from the pool, the Northern Mockingbird locally called “Preacher Bird” and many Bahama Woodstar Hummingbirds.

This little Mourning Dove doesn't seem to be afraid of me as it pecks away at something in the gravel under the neem trees.

There are several doves here in the Turks and Caicos Islands. Every morning quite early, we hear the Zenaida Dove cooing. The Mourning Dove has more of a melancholy voice and has a long tail that fans out on take off and landing. We also have the Common Ground Dove and the White-winged Dove.

The Northern Mockingbird is a songbird, sometimes called the Nightingale or more locally 'Preacher Bird' because of their talkativeness and singing.

Every day the Green Heron visits the pool for a cooling drink. He'll squawk at guests to let them know this is his private drinking pool.

The Green Heron likes to fish and stays low to the water craning his neck out as he searches for food. Often, we can hear him in the trees grumbling to himself and making ‘skuk skuk’ noises. Heaven forbid if you disturb him as he will fly up complaining loudly and this has given it the local name of the ‘Kow Kow’.

Stalking a lizard on a Coconut frond.

A Mockingbird perched high on a branch and singing away.

A little Bahama Woodstar Hummingbird let me get really close one night as it perched on a branch.

Bananaquit with beautiful yellow breast preens on a branch of the Tamarind tree.

I managed to get a photo of this dove as it sat on a barrel.

 

I caught this Great Egret walking down the road from Rickie's or Flamingo Bar.

 

He was not about to let go of his lunch...a curly tailed lizard.

I’m glad that I have my camera with me most days. It was pure luck to sight this Great Egret just walking down the road. He must not have liked what was on the menu at Flamingo’s. Enjoy these photos and we hope all you bird lovers , birders and birdwatchers will visit our islands soon.

 

Marta

 

 

http://www.harbourclubvillas.com

 

 

 

Bananaquit Rescue

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Tiny little bananaquit nestling found safe in its nest on the ground.

This afternoon, we found a nest lying on the ground and it had a little nestling inside. I saw a bananaquit perched in the Neem tree and we figure the nest had dislodged from the tree and fallen to the ground. Barry went to get a ladder while I snapped off a bunch of photos. He brought some twine which he threaded through the nest and secured it to the tree right above where he found the nest.

Bananaquits build their own globe-shaped nests with a side entrance.

Bananaquits build their nests using leaves, grasses, and plant fibers. The distinctive nests have a side entrance hole and are lined with bits of smaller matter such as thread, paper, feathers,
spider webbing, etc.

Hungry little one..........no idea how long the nest had been lying on the ground.

Pretty scrawny looking!

 

Barry ties the nest up in a branch hoping the Mama bird will return.

All secure with baby bird safe inside.

 

Bananaquits have a black back, down-curved bill, white eyebrow stripe, white wing spot, and yellow breast, belly and rump.

We’re definitely hoping this little bird will survive …… we’ve done the best we can.

 

Marta

 

 

http://www.harbourclubvillas.com

 

 

Atabeyra Sail

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Such unbelievably turquoise waters on the south side of Providenciales

There’s nothing quite like it………..sailing on the good ship Atabeyra, clear turquoise waters, blue skies with white puffy clouds and with wonderful friends. This time we sailed on the south side of Provo and out to the old freighter wreck.

"La Famille Express" is the name of the freighter as the Atabeyra anchors in calm waters just off it.

My favourite photo of this beautiful old boat....great for all kinds of group charters.

Such a nice day for a sail

We’re hoping you’ll get a chance to see our islands from the water.

 

Marta

 

 

http://www.harbourclubvillas.com