Day 196, Saturday Jan. 4th
2014
 |
| Casey cooks us pancakes (they were yummy) |
Today we are not sailing anywhere. Just staying to enjoy the park. We head over to catch the morning slack
tide. Julie stays with the dinghy and
Dawson, Kevin and Casey splash overboard to explore the underworld. Kevin has brought his gopro which is fun to
take some videos and lots of pictures underwater. They snorkel for about an hour and see lots
of healthy colourful coral, a lion fish, lots of reef fish, a ray etc. Everyone is a certified scuba diver so
experienced clearing masks and snorkels so make the best of exploring. The tide is now starting to rise, so we
dinghy back to the boat to desalt ourselves, and have a quick game of dominos
and a snack then head in for the hiking
portion of the afternoon. We decide to
start with the Blow holes as the tide has risen a couple feet and there may be
something to see. As it turns out it was
more noise, than water blowing, but very eery.
Sounded like dragons down the holes and caused us to step back a few
times.
 |
| The beginning of Boo Boo hill hike |
Onwards to the top of Boo Boo Hill then head south down the
Exuma Sound (eastern) side of the island.
Exuma sound is really the Atlantic ocean but there are a few Bahamian
Islands to the east that separate the sound from the Atlantic. The day is beautiful; windy and hot. There are a few beaches to walk/run along,
and lots of lizards to chase. Getting
back to the boat we cut across the island on Shady tree hike and it is a neat
assortment of small trees. We see a few
hermit crabs, lots of lizards, but not much else. The shade is a bit of a relief to the heat,
but there is no breeze now. The trail
ends at a causeway (walking) that overlooks the creek we earlier had to
traverse and a bay. There are 3 rays and
a bunch of small fish to watch. We are
surprised at the abundance of rays we have seen over the last couple of
days.
 |
| Kevin and Casey along the shore |
 |
| Top of Boo Boo hill. Our boat is in background |
Back at the boat, we decide to catch the afternoon slack
tide as Julie did not snorkel this morning.
This time Dawson will be “safety” in the dinghy. Since it is slack tide we probably don’t need
a “safety” but better safe than sorry.
Again the snorkel is great. This is about the 6th time we have
been and one of the best displays.
Almost as good as Sandy Cay we did with Ross. There is a lobster that has to be about 10
pounds. A bit bigger than the one we saw
at Mermaids Reef. The tail alone is a
couple of pounds of meat. All the marine
life is protected here so no chance of catching this guy. Just fun to look at. Kevin sees a nurse shark briefly, but no one
else catches a glimpse. Nurse sharks eat
via suction vs. teeth so do not worry us.
Dawson and Julie change out positions as the kids are snorkelling much
longer than Julie is interested in.
 |
| Casey and Kevin in a hole |
We don’t want to snorkel too long though as there is a
social on shore tonight at 5:00. Typical
sundowner gathering.
We bring drinks to shore but no appetizers. We were not aware that was the custom. Next time we will be more prepared. The snacks the other boaters have brought are
very yummy. While we are socializing
some rodents about 6-10 pounds that look like large guinea pigs called Huutia
started visiting. There were 3 or 4 in
all and they were harmless, but looking for food. This is the only island we have come across
these animals. It is almost like each
island has some sort of unique animal feature.
Iguanas at the last island, Huutia at this island and pigs at the next island.
Dinner is late tonight as it is 7:30 by the time we get back
to the boat to start cooking and tonight is our Christmas dinner. We have bought another boneless turkey to
cook in the pressure cooker. We are
eating by 9:00, and it is delicious. We don’t
have as many trimmings as the original Christmas turkey, and Julie forgets to
put out the Christmas tablecloth and napkins and somehow it just does not seem
like Christmas. Casey does make a lovely
toast to help celebrate us all getting together and appreciating how fortunate
we all are to be here in the Bahamas.
Cheers
Julie and Dawson
No comments:
Post a Comment