The New Year saw a new service arrive on Providenciales - a ferry to North Caicos. Previously the only way to visit the island was to fly, which was expensive and inconvenient. The ferry service (only $40 return), combined with the completion of the causeway between North and Middle Caicos in October last year, makes these islands ever more accessible for development and tourism.
Myself, Jo, Kes & Sarah caught the new passanger ferry (large speedboat)and 30 minutes later we arrived on North Caicos. We had booked a car for the day, which was waiting for us, and off we set on a day of exploration.
North Caicos is more developed than Middle Caicos (which I visited in 2007), its the third largest island and is also known as the 'Garden Island', it's probably the lushest island in the archipelago. It comprises of 4 villages, Bottle Creek (the district capital, with a population of 907), Whitby, Kew (the unofficial capital of the Caicos Islands)and Sandy Point. North Caicos has a total population of about 1500 people.
There has been evident recent progress here, the marina is new and the roads are in better shape than many on Provo. Our first stop was the Wades Green Plantation and we soon left the 'newer' roads, finding ourselves on dusty bedrock roads and then barely travelled tracks. The plantation was established in 1789 and one of the most successful plantations of the loyalist era, the remains are also far better preserved than those I had seen on either Provo or Middle Caicos. We wandered around the remaining building whilst dodging spells of rain, then headed back to the shelter of the car. We continued through North Caicos, stopping at Flamingo pond, where in the distance we could just make out large flocks of pink flamingoes - North Caicos is the only island where you are guaranteed to see them and they were the first I had seen in the 15 months of being here. We left North Caicos and headed over the new causeway to Middle Caicos, where we travelled as far as Mudjin Harbour, as Jo, Kerry & Sarah had not seen it before. We wandered along the beach for a while then retraced our steps to North. We visited 3 Mary Cays National Park and after a stop for refreshments (Corona !), we made a final stop at Cottage Pond, which is a fresh water sinkhole, surrounded by lush vegetation. We headed back to Provo on the ferry and ended the evening at a new and very good chinese restaurant.
A great day overall, the first for the 4 of us, but most definately not the last !
