Central Exumas

Well, the last of our visitors have come and gone. Wil and Didi and Ash came for an eight day visit. Once again, we were able to get in some snorkelling at the Sea Aquarium, a small coral reef where numerous varieties of fish abound! While Wil and Didi swam and snorkelled amongst them, Nana and Grandpa and Ash fed the Sargeant Majors and Snappers cheerios! Grandpa had made Ash a 'fish finder' out of an old water container we had on board, so although Ash enjoyed swimming in the ocean, he wasn't too keen on putting his face in the water (even with his new mask and snorkel!), so he was able to see in to the water through the plastic bottom of his fish finder! This was a spot where we were able to take all our guests, so we were really pleased, as it is such a good spot to see fish!

driving to Cambridge Cay

waiting for the next wave!

While we were in the Cambridge Cay area, we also walked and swam off some of our favourite beaches, again, where we had taken our previous visitors! When in the Bahamas, one must stroll along white, soft sand with palm trees and turquoise water rimming the edge!

We also finally found the iguanas! These iguanas are actually an endangered species and unique to the Bahamas, so we were pleased to see them! They come running out of the bushes on to the beach when you land your dingy, which can be a little intimidating, however they stop and wait to see if you have any food for them without getting too close! While we were anchored off the beach we also saw a lemon shark, so swimming was put off until after lunch!!

beach at Bitter Guana Cay where the iguanas are

Rock Iguana

After seeing the iguanas, we carried on to the settlement of Black Point, another spot where we have stopped with all our visitors, as the people here are friendly and the pizza at DaShamon's is a nice treat!

getting a hair cut and doing laundry at Ida's laundry in Black Point....nice view!!!

good Bahamian fare!!...deep fried conch bits with a cold Sands beer!

Finally, we returned to Staniel Cay, where everyone flew in and out by Flamingo Air from Nassau. In Staniel Cay, we always take our guests to the Thunderball Grotto, where the James Bond movie, Thunderball, was recorded! It is actually a lovely grotto, where, at low tide you can swim right in to the cave and look up where the sun shines in through the opening at the top of the island and the roots from the plants above dangle down towards the water! There are also plenty of fish to see here as it is a coral reef as well as a cave, however, the day we went with Wil and Didi and Ash there were more people there then we have ever seen before, so most of the fish made themselves scarce! The cave was still lovely, though, and Wil and Didi swam right through the cave to the other side of the island, and then swam around to where we had moored the dingy. This was something that Pat and Fiona were also able to do, but the water was too high when Cindy and Carlie were here.

leopard spotted ray swimming by the boat

Since saying goodbye, we have been spending our days quietly, waiting out yet another front that fortunately passed once Wil and Didi had left, and starting to plan the next part of our journey!

fisherman bringing home a grouper as big as he is!

the mail boat...how all supplies are brought to the Central Exuma settlements

We have really enjoyed the turquoise waters and white sands of the central Exumas, and the people here have been very friendly and accommodating.  With only one exception....the perfectly miserable girl that works for Flamingo Air who has lots of time and jokes for the locals, but no time or humour for the tourists! Otherwise I cannot tell you how many times I have heard the phrase “No problem!” and walking through the streets, the people always have a friendly hello and how are you when they see you! We even got a ride with 'Officer Kelly' in her police vehicle when she saw George limping on his way to the Blue Store in Staniel Cay!

However, we feel we have explored this part of the Exumas pretty well, so we will now move on to the northern Exumas in search of more beaches, and hopefully some 'private' anchorages! This is a lovely part of the world, but a whole bunch of Canadians have already discovered it and there is always, on average, about twenty boats anchored and/or moored everywhere we have been so far!!

yet another beautiful sunset!

Bahamian Blues from the cockpit 

Finally, for all the Alberg fans out there, we have, for the first time since arriving in the Bahamas, seen another Alberg! An Alberg 37 dropped anchor beside us at Black Point Harbour! It is owned by a young man from Brisbane who has just bought her last summer in the Great Lakes and is taking her south for now. And for the trivia fans, another Wyvern anchored beside us last time we were off Bell Island!! A number of people at the anchorage remarked on the coincidence, as Wyvern is such an unusual name!

On that note, I shall sign off and try to get this posted! I have heard there is not much in the way of internet as we head north, so may not get another chance to post for a few weeks! Until then, we hope that spring is slowly starting to make it's presence known for all our winter-weary family and friends! We know this has been a hard winter at home, so warm weather will be a welcome arrival for everyone!