Northern Beaches of Providenciales

Erica had a meeting this morning, so we took our time getting ready and lounged around. I did spot a bird down by the pool and was able to use the Picture Bird App I accidentally acquired in Panama to identify the Yellow Crowned Night Heron.

We got out the door at 11:00 and headed into Grace Bay for Erica and Amanda to grab some coffee and bakery treats. They both got a blueberry muffin (maybe the car inspired them). We wondered through a few of the shops in the area before we headed to the Northwest Point.

The Turks & Caicos tourism website said that the road to the Northwest Point was an unsurfaced road and a 4×4 vehicle may be needed. After driving our very bumpy road to the AirBnB and the roads in Panama, I felt confident I could try it in our little blueberry muffin. As we got closer we did leave a paved surfaced for a gravel road. The gravel road was super wide and was no problem at all. It eventually turned into a one lane sandy road, but it really wasn’t an issue driving on it. There was only one instance of a car coming from the other direction and there was a small clearing that I was able to pull over to let the other car pass. When we got near the end it did become very sandy, but there was plenty of room to park the car.

Back at home I had solved a mystery geocache and the coordinates took me to within 50 feet of where we parked. I searched and didn’t see anything. Amanda and Erica were waiting for me on the beach so I abandoned the attempt and told them that I would need their help on the way out to get it.

We walked the beach and found so many beautiful conch shells buried in the sand. We dug up a few, but since this is part of a National Park we didn’t take any with us. We had left our flip flops back at where we entered the beach. When we got to the Point it became quite rocky and we had wished we carried our shoes with us. We went up to the beach to the grass land to see if we could cross over and keep going, but it was just too rocky. There were even little burrs that Erica and Amanda had stepped on that didn’t make it for an enjoyable attempt. We gave up and went back the way we came. We walked past our flip flops and continued on for a bit before we decided to turn around and head back.

On the second attempt at the geocache I had Amanda and Erica looking with me. I was quite sure I was in the right spot. I read some previous logs and we spread out to look in the area. We couldn’t come up with the container, but Amanda did spy a string that I think used to hold the cache. I looked in the surrounding area and saw a lot of garbage, but no cache. I was disappointed not to be able to find this one.

We next drove to Malcolm’s Road Beach. This was another road that was stated to be unpaved and that you might need a 4×4 for. We found the road quite doable in our economy rental car. Bumpy yes, but taking it slow was no problem. This beach felt different then the other beaches we have been on in Providenciales. Here the waves were really crashing to the shore. Everywhere else we have been the water was super calm. The beach had a steep embankment which made if feel like we were really getting a workout on this walk. We walked as far as we could before we ran into another rocky point. This time we brought our shoes and walked a little ways on the rock before we determined that there wouldn’t me much more to see and turned around and went back. We continued down the beach in the other direction. I was surprised that I was finding bits of sea glass along the way. When we got back to where we had entered the beach, Amanda said she had enough sun for the day and was going to hang out in the shade. Erica and I continued the walk in the other direction when Erica shouted in glee that she had found a sand dollar. This was a different type of sand dollar than the ones I found in Panama. It is much thicker and solid, and a super awesome sea treasure! I was so excited for her. Once again we continued the walk until we came upon another rocky road block. Here we turned around and went back. We found Amanda quite content laying in the shade reading a book on her phone.

By now it was after 5:30 and we were all ready for dinner. We headed to the Conch Shack for dinner. There was another geocache at this location, but it ended in another failed attempt. We had looked before and after dinner, but I just don’t think it was there. It is a super popular place and I can tell from previous log entries that it goes missing quite frequently. So frustrating! The restaurant has a very nice outdoor seating area right on the beach facing the ocean. We didn’t make reservations, but we were able to be seated at the bar. We tried the conch fritters for an appetizer and I got the grilled chicken breast, Amanda had the chicken tacos, and Erica a chicken sandwich. I thought my chicken was excellent and plowed through it. I even got a piece of key lime pie for dessert which was also very good.

After dinner we headed back to the BnB. We played two games of SkipBo in which Amanda won both. I once again got crushed with having 17 of 30 cards remaining in the first game and 24 of 30 cards remaining in the second game. SkipBo just seems is not my game this trip. We played one game of Garbage in which I won.

Tomorrow we are doing a kayaking tour that we’re all looking forward to. The week is going by fast. It’s hard to believe we only have a couple of days left.

Stats of the Day

Steps: 10,039
Geocaches: 0 for 2
High Temperature: 82 degrees