Another day, in Paradise

The Turtles are on the Turks and Caicos islands – south of the Bahamas and north of Cuba.  They are on an island called Providenciales, or Provo, for short.

Myrtle hasn’t been blogging as the Turtles’ days are rather unexciting:

6:30am – Tiny (who is usually in the big bed by then) manually opens Myrtle’s eyes . “Hello Mamma!” she usually says.  “Mmmm-hmmmm” Myrtle usually responds.  “Hello Mamma!”  “Mmmmmmm-hmmmm”.  This can continue indefinitely but Myrtle usually caves first and opens her eyes.  She sees two huge black eyes laughing at her making it almost impossible  to start the day without a smile.  Happy that one of the older Turtles is now awake, Tiny then turns her attention to Tony: “Hello Pappa!”  Tony knows that he can’t win this game: “Hello Tiny”, he croaks.  “Make coffee, Pappa!” Tiny orders, without any prompting from Myrtle.  Tony and Tiny move to the kitchen and Myrtle uses another 5 minutes to wake up, after which she drags herself to the kitchen, sniffing like a bloodhound in search of the much needed caffeine boost.

7:30am – Breakfast is served.  If it is an egg-morning, Tony serves (nobody can make an egg-breakfast like Tony) and if it is an oats or toast morning, Myrtle serves.  On chirpy mornings the Turtles pack their breakfast and walk the 5 minutes to the beach.  There they sip coffee, gnaw on their breakfast and watch Tiny dig holes and explore.

10am – The Turtles head back home. If breakfast was not had on the beach, they usually head off to the beach as soon as possible after breakfast.  At 10am the sun really starts pounding down and they spend some playtime indoors. 

11:30am – Tiny naps. The older Turtles relax and take the only chance they have to read or catch up on emails.

1:00pm – Tiny wakes up and the Turtles have lunch.

2:30pm – The Turtles go for a drive around the island, sometimes stopping at the playground on the beach, then they go for a swim in the sea.  The waters are crystal clear and even if you stand so deep in the water that you have to keep your mouth shut to keep yourself from drowning, you can still see your own feet.  Yesterday two little fish kept darting between the Turtles’ feet – the first time Myrtle spotted the fish she propelled herself out of the water with much force and just as much screaming. She thought something was about to attack the Turtles but it turned out to be a blue and yellow fish about the size of Myrtle’s foot...

5:30pm – The Turtles head back to their home and they cook.  Tiny eats dinner, baths, brushes her teeth (with a little help from her parents) and is put to bed.  The older Turtles sigh a sigh of relief and get out the beer and cigars… (just a joke, but sometimes they feel like doing it).  They do eat their dinner and take the time to talk and catch up.

Apart from the seemingly leisurely days, the Turtles have met some interesting people who live in Provo and even had lunch with some of them.  Island life, it seems, can be heaven or it can be hell.  Up to you...