Times of the Islands Summer 2015

I started the tour at Concha Woncha’s office, meeting
company owner Teresa Brunner. Like me, Teresa’s
been here “forever.” She came to Providenciales from her
home in Calgary in 1999 to manage the fledgling Sands
Resort, then help open sister property The Palms some
years later. For the last ten years, she’s been running
Tropical Destination Management, planning weddings,
corporate gatherings, and other special events at many
of Providenciales’ most upscale properties. Why Concha
Woncha?
Teresa explains, “I could see that our clients were
looking for a land-based tour of the island, something
to do besides watersports. So I thought of some of the
things I like to do when family and friends visit, and
created a tour that no one else was doing. I saw a San
Francisco-style trolley during a visit to Florida and knew
that it would be perfect for this one-of-a-kind excursion.”
After importing the rolling trolley and outfitting it with
with air conditioning and a bar, Desmond Missick was
recruited as partner and tour guide. Formerly working as
the head of the pool and beach team at The Sands, and
as a bartender at Ocean Club East and the Gansevoort
resorts, Desmond has the personality and island knowhow
to be the perfect leader.
Since its inception three years ago, Concha Woncha
Tours have been wildly popular, THE thing to do when
visiting the island, receiving consistent four and five star
ratings on TripAdvisor, never less. It is also the perfect
pastime for a rare cloudy or rainy day, or for when you’ve
simply had too much sun.
It was sunny and warm this late-April day, and our
tour started by collecting the dozen guests from various
resorts on Grace Bay. We ranged from late middle-aged
to just-married to a three-generation family with young
children. As driver Nardo maneuvered the bus with exquisite
skill through the narrow resort driveways, Desmond
brought us up to speed with information and lore about
the various properties we passed. We learned that Seven
Stars Resort (at seven stories) is the highest building in
TCI; Club Med, Provo’s first tourism property opened in
the 1980s, boasts the widest beach; and that the power
lines in Grace Bay were put underground to protect them
from hurricane damage. We also learned that the island’s
limestone base and scanty soil fosters trees that grow
wide but not tall, and that the surrounding reef is in the
Atlantic Ocean, not the Caribbean Sea. Desmond was
born and raised in North Caicos (or as he says, “born
on a beach and raised in a bar”), which was quite primitive
during his youth, when tourism was barely a passing
Is it Sally or Jerry? One of the conch farm’s “trained” conch lets it all
hang out for our tour.
thought. He encouraged all to take the time to visit the
out-islands of North and Middle Caicos, noting that
Mudjin Harbour is one of the country’s most spectacular
sights.
Our group had lots of questions, too, all aptly
answered. Why drive on the left but use American money?
(TCI is a British Territory with a US-based economy.)
Where does water come from if there are no freshwater
lakes? (There are limited freshwater wells, many folks
catch rainwater in cisterns, and a reverse osmosis plant
provides “city water” in Provo.) What’s the best season
for watersports? (The ocean water is typically like glass in
June and July.) Where is the cruise ship port? (They dock
in Grand Turk, as Provo lacks a deep water harbor.)
We soon reached the northeastern tip of the island,
home to the Caicos Conch Farm. In business since the
mid-1980s, the conch farm revolutionized the rearing of
Queen conch. Natural stocks are depleted in most areas
of the world, with quotas set on TCI harvesting as well,
making the farm an increasingly important source of
the high-protein conch meat, with future plans for fish
farming. Joneice was our tour guide, starting with an
information-packed overview of the process.
As we picked our way along the shorefront outbuildings,
we learned that the conch farm includes 65 acres of
KATHY BORSUK
Desmond Missick and David Bowen give us a brief taste of the sound of a local “rake ‘n’ scrape” band.
sub-sea “pasture,” 80 inland ponds, and an on-site hatchery.
Joneice explained that sexually mature conch are and learned that the rock musician Prince owns a house
We passed the lush and challenging Provo Golf Course
allowed to mate in the egg farm area, where the subsequent
egg masses are harvested by divers, then incubated Jet skiing is only allowed on Long Bay Beach, not Grace
with a purple driveway in the Turtle Tail neighborhood.
in the hatchery. The tiny veligers are fed a hops and Bay. No, there are no fast food chains in TCI. Kentucky
barley mixture from Turks Head Brewery leftovers, then Fried Chicken lasted only two months and the local 7-11
weaned onto conch chow at six months in the on-shore is actually called “Grab ‘n’ Go.” Desmond encouraged us
ponds until they are two years old and transferred to the not to miss the weekly island fish fry held in The Bight
pastures. The conch are harvested at four years old; twice every Thursday night. It’s the perfect chance to sample
as big as they would be in the wild. Nearly all of the meat native dishes, including lobster when in-season from
is exported to the United States.
August to April, and hear live music island-style, including
the popular Junkanoo band.
We also peeked into large tanks of swarming cobia,
pompano, grouper, and snapper that would eventually Turtle Cove is another of Provo’s original tourist
move into deep water aquapods anchored 1 1/4 miles areas, and is home to a marina, several condominium
offshore, to be eventually harvested and sold.
resorts, popular restaurants, and a small casino. Tucked
I think everyone’s favorite part of the tour was meeting
Sally and Jerry, the conch farm’s trained ambassadors. Cultural Center. Our next stop was a presentation by
into a corner of the venerable Turtle Cove Inn is the TCI
When lifted from their shallow-water container, the pair David Bowen, Director of Culture (at the time of the tour).
left the comfortable confines of their shells, letting us David is a gem. Born and raised on Grand Turk, he left
see a conch in its living glory. Yes, this part of the tour is home for many years performing as a professional dancer
slightly X-rated (think “verge” stretching a foot long). We abroad. He returned in the early 1990s, determined to
learned how the valuable conch pearl is formed, and had document and preserve the country’s culture, making it
a chance to browse in the conch farm’s gift shop. his mission to educate the populace on how valuable and
Back on the bus, cold water and more lore keep us fleeting it may be. He has succeeded, and it is due to his
satisfied as we drove to the Cultural Center in Turtle Cove. influence that traditions are now embraced and put into
42 www.timespub.tc Times of the Islands Summer 2015 43