Gunnar Dahlberg         on Caicos Islands
 

By the time you read this I will be high and dry some 30,000 feet over the Bahamas enroute to Atlanta with the fine white powdery beaches of the Providenciales fading quickly in the turquoise waters. It was early Sunday morning when I made my way to the remote and secluded North West Point passing locals dressed in their finest on the way to church services, the tourists still bedridden, recovering from a bout of rum poisoning the night before. I drove several miles along a desolate, rocky dirt road past shrubs and salt ponds over the highest hill until finally reaching Malcom beach. It was here in this bay that Christopher Columbus set anchor and explored the area many, many years ago. I thought I had the entire beach park to myself but spotted a flurry of activity further down near the exclusive Amanyara Resort. Upon closer inspection I found out it\'s a Victoria\'s Secret swimsuit photo shoot(they also shot here the year before). I made my into the water to find what other wonderful surprises the reefs might offer. The waters were teaming with fish, and I spotted a Barracuda, with a nice set of sharp teeth, just 10 feet away. As in Hawaii there are public access ways to all the beaches even among the big resorts, however being a British Overseas Territory, the beach up to the high water mark is not owned by the people but rather by, ahem, Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth. I found \"Suzie Turn\", she now has an entire shopping plaza named after her, and made my way down to the marina where the original hotel, the Turtle Cove Inn, is still accepting guests. Gentle turquoise waters, friendly English speaking locals, reefs full of a diverse aquatic life, and powdery white beaches as soft as cotton candy teaming with supermodels, the Turks and Caicos certainly is \\\"beautiful by nature\\\".