Wednesday 13th May,  2015

Hawksbilll Cay  24.27.95N 76 46.15W

Today's Blog by Lenie (Time zone: BST -5.0; UTC -4.0)

Glossary

Cave n.  Large natural underground hollow

Cay n. Insular bank or reef of coral, sand, etc

How can you tell the difference from a distance away from shore? Well I saw a sign. “Exuma Park - Caves” through the binoculars. We had read about them and so this morning we set off early in the dinghy to have a look at them before sailing  further up north. After securing the dingy safely ashore, we found the notice board actually read Cays and not the Caves I expected.  Ah,  well;  back to the optician! We anyway decided to explore but the Cay was not giving us a way into the Caves;  dense mangroves cut off our passage within yards of the beach.

The sign indicated the honesty box for boats using mooring buoys laid by the National Park management in the area. So, mine was at least an honest mistake. (Boom! Boom! Ed)

For me, the Bahamas we have seen so far  have left me with the impression of tough living. Most of the islands are uninhabited. Earlier deforestation by man for building and firewood  had done devastating damage because subsequent hurricanes have washed the topsoil of the land.  The remaining  vegetation is mangrove or shrubs growing in the toughest of surrounds:

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It’s a tough life for flora around here – these limestone deposits form the majority of the Cay – pretty tough to walk on too!

This was particularly evident when walking around Warderick Wells Cay, part of the Exuma Cays Land & Sea Park. The park also provided some interesting snorkelling and spectacular coloured vistas.

The Causeway – Warderwick Wells Cay

By the bye, we have not seen any turtles yet in the Bahamas, despite seeing large patches of  seagrass, but we have found curly-tail lizards.

Our overnight stop was an anchorage off Hawksbill Cay, another uninhabited cay protected by the Bahamas National Trust. The snorkelling opportunity was described as good, but we never quite discovered the beauty of the coral garden in a shallow cove. However, we did have some excitement when I got into a very strong tidal current in one of the cuts.

Before we returned to the boat, we visited a shallow lagoon with the palest blue water, the whitest and softest sand. Taking a photograph would never do the place justice so this image is one we take away in our hearts!

And this is so true of the whole experience. A blog keeps you all informed of where we are and or what we do. My admiration goes to David who does it so well. I find it difficult to verbalise the array of impressions and experiences of which there are many a day. And I am grateful for the experience.

David atop Boo Boo Hill alongside a pile of flotsam – it is traditional for sailors to carve their boat name on driftwood and leave it here.

Pity we didn’t know about the tradition before we got there!

Love to you all, Lenie xxx