When researching our trip to Turks and Caicos, I saw many people in the Facebook groups I joined say to just rent a car because there's no public transportation or rideshares and taxis are expensive.
Joe was hesitant because he'd once rented a car in Mexico, got in an accident, and spent 48 hours in the hospital with an armed guard at his door (true story). But, I convinced him by showing him photos of the beaches here until he relented.
Here in TCI they drive on the left. Before we got in our rental, I mentioned to Joe some of the roads might be kind of bad. He asked what I meant, and I said, "You know, like Michigan in the winter." Mmmhmm.
So here's how driving in TCI has gone so far. Our rental car dash/console has everything in Japanese. Locals drive well over the speed limit and most drivers do not yield or use turn signals and there are many, many roundabouts that keep us confused. Our phones aren't working with our international phone plan so we have no GPS (but I've read it will steer you wrong at every turn here, anyway). There's little to no signage, street lighting, or lines on the roads. Some of the roads are referred to as "improved" on the maps - trust me when I say that someone took extreme liberties with that marketing (my comparison to Michigan roads isn't even close).
Our first day here, Joe drove our aging Nissan Latio (which I think might be a Sentra in the States) down an "improved" road (a rocky, gravelly, rutted trail that will be in my memory for forevermore) that had power lines running along the ground and I was sure we'd blow a tire and end up on those lines and die a terrible vacation death because we had made poor choices.
I consider myself a steely passanger, but sometimes when Joe is driving here I have to just close my eyes and pray.
Tomorrow we catch a ferry to another island where a Jeep awaits us so we can explore. While I suspect we will travel more improved roads, it will be worth it. The ocean here...those travel photos don't lie. I'm in love. Also I will never speak poorly of Michigan roads again. I'm super grateful to my guy for braving driving in this crazy beautiful place.
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