Author RBR
Comments to: info@ksprobus.co.uk
Teaching in the Turks and Caicos
Back in 1970 I was teaching in the Turks and Caicos, a group of islands at the Southern tip of the Bahamas. Things were a bit ‘rough and ready’. The secondary school where I was based (the only one in the islands, serving a total population of less than 10,000) did at least have a concrete floor. Many of the primary schools, especially on the ‘out islands’ did not.
Transport between the islands was either by boat or, if speed was needed, by a small 6-seater plane. A Piper Aztec if my memory serves. I remember one particular trip when I had to go to Middle Caicos. I was checking up on the progress of a couple of VSOs in their school at a settlement in Kew.
The plane had me as the only passenger, so I sat beside the pilot for the fairly short trip. We duly took off from the Town Strip on Grand Turk – a piece of reasonably straight road – and flew up to cruising height. Then the pilot (known as Splash Gordon since he had once landed in the sea) turned to me and said “take the wheel, I’ve got to fill in my log. Just try to keep it level”. So, for the next 5 or 10 minutes I was in charge. I suppose I can say I flew a plane!
When we got to the island we first flew over the runway (another stretch of straight-ish road) at a fairly low level. This was to frighten off any wild donkeys or cattle that used to roam over most of the islands. These were a legacy of the salt production industry. The need for salt to preserve food had diminished with the advent of refrigeration, so the donkeys had been let loose – and multiplied!!
We then circled back and landed safely.
Author: RBR
Date of Article:18/02/25
Submitted by: RBL