- A beautiful sunset overlooking Flamingo Lake.
An amazing sunset view of Flamingo Lake in the foreground looking towards Turtle Lake.
Marta
Sunset overlooking Flamingo Lake
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Category Archives: Providenciales
Sword Bush
I found many beautiful flowering Sword Bush shrubs all over the property at Harbour Club Villas
This is an amazing looking shrub when you get up close to it. The leaf like branches are elongated and flattened but what’s interesting is that there are ridges or toothed areas along the leafs edge. From these toothed areas, minute little clusters of flowers appear.
Toothed ridges burst out in clusters of red miniature flowers
The Sword Bush is fairly common in our area and I found both pink and red clustered flowers as I wandered around the bush here at the villas.
This Sword Bush was loaded with clusters of pink flowers.
The bright red flowers make for quite a showy sight on this Sword Bush.
In bush medicine, the Sword Bush can be used for coughs and colds………….I’m not quite brave enough to try this but I am fighting through a sore throat, cough and cold as I write this! The leaf like branches can be chewed and then spat out. The bitter tasting leaves can be boiled into a pretty bad tasting tea which supposedly stops vomiting.
The flowers develop into seeds and it really does look quite spectacular
I’ll let you know if I do decide to chew on some leaves.
Oct 3………..I did chew on some leaves for a couple of days. They were very bitter but I can’t tell you honestly if my cold got better because of this or because it had run its cycle. Next time though, I’ll try chewing on the leaves right away!
Marta
Kayaking
Faith, a Weimaraner, was not going to be left behind!
Kayaking is a fun way to see the south side of Providenciales where Harbour Club Villas are located. Kayaks can be put into the water off our Marina docks and you can have great fun exploring the little beaches and coves. On this flat calm day, we were out in a Boston Whaler and just had to snap this photo of friends down the road who were out for a paddle with their dog Faith.
Keep on kayaking!
Marta
Island Sunrise
Early morning is really the best time of day!
We watched a beautiful sunrise from our deck at Harbour Club Villas. The view is from over the top of the villa roofs out over Flamingo Lake and Juba Salina.
Marta
Anoles or Lizards
Lots of lizards or Anoles at Harbour Club Villas
I’m constantly tripping over these lizards and they are so interesting to watch. Anoles found in the Turks and Caicos Islands are from a group called Anolis Scriptus and there is quite a variety of them. The Turks and Caicos Islands are home to four species of lizards in addition to iguanas: one species each of anole, gecko, skink and curly-tail lizard.
These two anoles were having a heated discussion as to which one of them should leave the tree branch
Male anoles are very territorial and will often engage a rival with threatening displays. They open their mouths to show off their bright colours. Anoles are tree dwellers and are highly agressive.
This one looked like he was posing as he cocked his head to the side and looked at the camera with one eye.
Handsome anole lizard in our gardens at Harbour Club Villas
In future posts, I will add photos of our curly-tail lizard. Some of these guys found on the grounds of Harbour Club are getting quite large.
Marta
Turks Head Cactus
My small Turks Head Cactus is blooming and throwing off seed pods like crazy!
I can’t believe all the seed pods on my Turks Head Cactus……all shaped like peppers but in a rosy pink colour. This little Anole lizard was looking to eat a few. I believe they do eat them along with the birds. Actually, I ate one and they are quite tasty.
Marta
Another Taylor Bay Sunday
Low tide, the exposed sandbar and our boat is anchored out in only two feet of water.
I guess it’s becoming our favourite place to go on Sundays………….tranquil Taylor Bay with its powdery soft white sand and all that shallow water ideal for babies and little kids. Today we seemed to be miles from shore but it was low tide and we were anchored in two feet of water.
This little Miss and her family was at the beach for some fun in the water
This little one just shrieked with delight as she splashed in the water
It was absolutely wonderful at Taylor Bay today. The anticipated tropical storm didn’t make it as far as the Turks and Caicos Islands although we did get some two inches of rain. Oh how we love the rain!!! We had madly spent two days trying to get everything fertilized in time for the rains. So a day out boating and lazing in the water was a welcomed event.
Late afternoon and the tide started to come in creating ripples and waves over the sand bars.
Take time out to spend a few hours in Taylor Bay on your next Provo trip. We’ll likely be there!
Marta
Pygmy Boa Snake
Olique is fascinated by a baby Boa but Barry couldn't quite convince him to hold it.
The Turks and Caicos Islands have no venomous snakes……..thank goodness!! What we do have so far is three species of snakes, the largest is the Bahama Rainbow Boa or Bahama Cat Boa, the Caicos Islands Pygmy Boa known locally as the Chicken Snake and the rarely seen Richard’s Worm Snake that burrows in the earth and looks very much like a pink earthworm.
Note the orange tip of the Pygmy Boa's tail.
The Caicos Islands Pygmy Boa is endemic to the Turks and Caicos Islands. In other words, it’s not found any where else in the world. This snake has a range of colourations from gray and black speckled to a deeper reddish brown. The tip of the tail is a bright orange which they use as a form of defense. The boa will curl up in a ball when threatened and wave the orange tipped tail to protect their heads which are quite vulnerable.
Barry shows Olique that Pygmy Boas are harmless and very unique to these islands
I found this little Boa curled up under a bunch of dead leaves in one of our planters and since Barry loves snakes, he kept it to show Olique. We’ve had several Pygmy Boas here at Harbour Club Villas and one time years ago when we were building, Barry rescued one that was about to be killed by the workers. He patiently showed the workmen that it was harmless and actually got them to handle and hold this unique little creature. All our snakes were released and we would hope are around here somewhere.
Olique is fascinated by the way this snake curled around Barry's finger
Check out the orange tail tip in the above photo. This Pygmy Boa will eat ants, termites, mice, rats and small lizards and geckos so they are great to have around. They grow to less than a foot long and are the smallest Boa Constrictor in the world and as such, this fact has made them famous. Make sure you don’t harm these beautiful and rare snakes should you happen to find one.
Marta
Passing storm
A passing storm with heavy dark clouds intensifies the turquoise colour of the ocean at one of the cays on the southside of Providenciales
Unbelieveable ocean colours are frequent here in the Turks and Caicos Islands. You just have to have a camera ready because these passing storms out over the ocean are fleeting………..one minute it is cloudy and dark with amazing colours and the next minute it clears off.
Marta
End of the day
Coming home this evening we were treated to a spectacular sunset
The end of a relaxing day on the water and another island sunset. This one had some amazing cloud formations over the southern shoreline from Osprey Rock, Taylor Bay and Sapodilla Bay.
The sun dancing on the water of the canal that runs past the Marine Biology School.
We had a lovely afternoon on the water and as we turned into Harbour Club’s marina , the sun was just disappearing over Cooper Jack hills. The photo is taken just by the Marine Biology School where the canal leads off towards Turtle Lake. A great place to watch the sun go down into the ocean and perhaps see “the green flash” is at Sapodilla Bay.
Marta