Jim and Laura are settled in and enjoying their vacation.  Around the docks there are lots of fish, with the larger predators especially active at night when the tide is running fast. You can frequently hear them splashing as they attack something smaller and unfortunate.  They have been driving Jim to distraction, because other than one smallish horse-eyed jack, he hasn’t been able to land any.

Yesterday the four of us took the dinghy over to Little Water Cay, a part of the Turks and Caicos extensive park system.  This particular island is devoted to the maintenance of the local population of the rock iguana:

A rock iguana on the beach.

The iguanas rule the island, there are thousands of them.  Unlike the ones we saw in the Bahamas (a different, but closely related species) these are not feed by visitors to the island.  They don’t come running up to you and beg (as much as a lizard can beg), but being fully protected, they have no fear of humans and make no effort to get out of your way.

The island, like most of the uninhabited islands in the chain, is small, low to the water, and almost all sand with beautiful beaches on all sides.

Of course, it is the tropics, and if there isn’t a breeze blowing it can be quite warm, so sometimes you just have to find the best shade you can…

Not all of the lizards on the island are large iguanas. We saw these little guys were sunning themselves as well.

Karen, Bill, Jim, Laura On the beach. Little Water Cay, Turks and Caicos Islands