Swimming with Dolphins

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=66c96yjZK_Y&sns=em

Paradise Island - Lost City of Atlantis

We could not visit the Bahamas and not 'find' the Lost City. Our countryman Sol has outdone himself. This place is quite amazing.

The attractions being the aquariums, there are apparently seven and the fun slides. 

We are not sure we found all the aquariums. Under the buildings, through tunnels and suddenly you are faced with a huge tank with HUGE fish. Pompano's, sting rays, eagle rays, are some of the larger ones. Then of course a multitude of smaller reef fish. 

Then there are dedicated tanks. One full of huge Sword fish, one of giant Grouper looking like they have been there since the dinosaur era. The beautiful spotted Eagle Ray glide effortlessly through the water. 

Then of course the predator tank, holding two to three meter Reef and Nurse Shark. Many of them have wounds and scars. Apparently this is a sign of a healthy tank as it means they are following natural instinct to vie for food. 

Giant Grouper

Between the buildings are pools of different fish, many of which have been bred in the park. There are pools of Cow nosed rays, turtle, reef shark nursery and sting rays, to name a few. 

 The buildings hold exclusive dining and stores. Handcrafted jewelry, flawless diamonds, Colombian emeralds, Rolex, Gucci, Versace and Salvatore Ferragamo bags and wallets. This gives you a small idea of the type of money that frequents the hotels. 

As you can imagine although we enjoyed window shopping after playing in the pools and drooling on some of the merchandise this was not one the main attractions for us.

Other than the aquariums we reverted to crazy teenagers and hit the slide park. The guys could not convince us to slide the first one with them! The Drop; a virtually vertical slide of about 50 meters into a small pool. Even some of the most rugged men we saw coming down screamed like girls as they went over  the drop through the predator tank. It is so fast one doesn't even notice you are in a transparent tube falling through the shark tank, if you could just keep your eyes open you would see the sharks watching as you fly by. Our guys reached the bottom with grins from ear to ear chuckling and ran to do a second slide. Was it perhaps an evil glint we saw in their eye when they convinced us to do he next slide with them?

With racing heart and breathless with nerves we followed them up, The Serpent Slide! This one drops, levels out and drops again into a pool. At the top you can't see what is coming, so with bated breath you sit yourself down on the flat surface and wait for the attendant to say 'GO'. It probably just as well or we would never have done it. The 'rules'; cross your legs , cross your arms, lie flat and GO GO GO!!!

Andre had warned me, that if I didn't want a full nasal washout to also hold my nose. I did so and I closed my eyes, I did not want to see what was coming. The first drop ripped and involuntary scream from me that would have won an Oscar in a low budget horror movie. The second drop a slightly shorter scream that was cut off by the planing across the top of the end pool. Quick adjustments to wrench free your bikini bottoms that were now well hidden in the cracks!! I made it!!!

Next on the agenda was 'The Abyss' need I say more? You first climb stairs to the top of a tall tall tower, standing in rows of giggling girls and boys trying to look macho! Trying to breath your racing heart to a more normal rate as butterflies become vultures swooping around in your belly! This ride you can't see from outside at all. The route begins and ends in the tower. The entrance at the top is a dark tube about a meter diameter. All you hear as people before you launch themselves into the darkness is petrified screams that seem to go on the whole ride. Did we really want to do this? Closing eyes tight, holding my nose and my breath telling myself I would NOT SCCCREAAMMMMMM. Oops no luck as I pitched into the darkness and fell seemingly endlessly down the first slide a scream was torn from me. Water rushing in your face, I was too scared to open my eyes and too scared to breath, I did not think I could hold on any longer when I burst into the end pool in a softly lit 'cave' the the laughing faces of Andre and the ones who went before me. This WAS fun, I think!

Our favorite ride was 'The Surge'. This is done in tubes. We took a double one. You sit in it and try keep your bum from hitting the floor below and you 'fall' down waterfalls, race over rapids and float across ponds. It was wonderful fun. we did two rounds of the route which take about an hour. Conveyor belts pull you on the tubes up to higher levels and you start again.

 

Swimming with Sharks

We had such a laugh at this. The story is told in the blog Shroud Cay. Watch as he realizes it is around his feet.

Lemon Shark

Diving the Rhone

Norman Cay - Drugs, death and detention!

Norman Cay has a very interesting recent history!

It was the base of a drug runner Carlos Lehder during Bahamas drug trading days. There was a large dock now in disrepair and houses that were protected by a wall surrounding Carlos's drug epicenter. It is rumored that 300 kg of Cocaine passed through there daily. 

Just off the island is a Dakota ditched in shallow water. Google search claims the pilot was high (pardon the pun) when he downed her in the sea. We snorkeled the wreck which is remarkably intact after all these years. Huge crayfish peep at us from under the flaps on the wing. Sergeant Major's obviously used to being fed by divers stare into your mask and bite at your hands trying to force you to drop non existent food. 

Google also mentions a cruising couple who anchored in the bay in the 70's and were shot to death and their boat sprayed with bullets for getting too close to them. 

Dilapidated wooden buildings built in a semi-circle around the beach hint at what was there before. Carlos is serving multiple life sentences in jail in USA, at the time of his arrest his wealth amounted to some 2.7 billion dollars!  Movie says he is due for release in 2015.

Watch the movie "Blow" which is a story about Carlos and his partner Jung who was played by Johnny Depp.

 

Shroud Cay - Turquoise seas and Lilac Skies!

Shroud Cay is an archipelago of cays and rocks surrounding a shallow tidal mangrove Salina which serves as a nursery for many different sea creatures and birds.

This was the perfect place to kayak and we anchored at the entrance to the southern mangroves. The next morning about an hour before low tide we set out. One tends to think of mangrove waters as brown brackish water, in the tidal mangroves here it is nothing like that. Right to the middle of here mangroves there are Turquoise crystal clear waters and with not a breath of wind blowing and not a ripple on the surface except that caused by the quiet wake of our kayak we could see every detail beneath us. Fish darting away from our shadow. Huge conch plodding their way tirelessly along the bottom and shark! We saw more shark in the mangroves than on the reefs. Black tip reef shark prowling for their breakfast of fresh fish!

We paddled all the way across the island, beached the kayak and walked the Atlantic shore. Just our footprints on virgin sand. Seagulls and Osprey swooping down to greet us. Along the high tide mark tiny Sandpipers searching for snacks. 

The Sandpipers were acting strangely and we soon spotted their tiny chicks. Funny looking little things like miniature chickens on long legs racing frantically at their parents call for the bushes endging the sands. Those tiny parents are so brave it always moves me. They cry out and run towards us trying to draw us away from their chicks. The one flies then lands in an ungainly manner then lies there fluttering as if she is hurt. The as we get nearer to her she makes as if she is trying to run but holding her wings at a funny angle as if she can't fly. If you turn a little towards her chicks she runs back towards you then she lies still fluttering hopelessly until you turn to her again and she hobbles on, drawing you further from her babies. Once she feels her babies are safe and your attention is off them she takes off back chirping at her babies seeming to count them and check they all ok!

The colour of the seas and the skies are incredible, no amount of words or even photos do it justice. The turquoise seas with areas of navy blue, sea green and blues reflect in the skies creating a lilac horizon which fades  up to the clear blue of sun drenched skies.  No matter how many times you see them it still stops you in your tracks with a whispered awed 'wow'!

The Northern most entrance to the mangroves is the only one you are allowed to enter with a motorized vessel. That was our next stop! We packed a lunch and loaded the water cooler and set off for the other side. To our disappointment we found a charter boat had dumped their guests at our intended day spot at the inlet on the Atlantic side. No problem, we pulled the dinghy over the shallows at the inlet and headed out to a reef at sea. There we spent a happy hour snorkeling and spotted the apparently rare to Caribbean waters 'Caribbean Torpedo', one of the Electric Ray family!

Then we dinghyed up the shore until we found a secluded area with a naturally formed small cave-like arch in the rock. Perfect the cave provided shade for our lunch and water and we lay one the beach reading and watching the long tailed tropic birds swoop overhead!

The next day Alley Cat and Shiloh caught up with us and we all boarded our dinghies and headed across to the inlet. The tide was now going out and we had great fun swimming into the current inside the inlet and being washed out through to cut to sea. The guys had been teasing Holli all day about 'things' in the water, so when Holli called out 'SHARK! SHARK!' Pointing at Andre we all laughed. The we noticed there really was one, the slightly murky waters of the churning cut disguised a good sized Reef Shark swimming in between our legs. He was less than a meter from Andre's feet and as soon as we all started moving he swam lazily among us out to deeper waters. He had examined the menu and found it wanting. 

I will try load the video when we have faster connections. 

Cistern Cay and Hawksbill Cay - Ruins, sand banks and sharks

Every time we see a new island here we think it can't get better, then it does. We left Alley Cat and Shiloh in Warderickwells as Alley Cat was returning to Staniel Cay to fetch a friend and Shiloh was waiting for them. Our time is getting short as we have to be in USA on the 26th of June, so we decided to move on!

We loved the companionship of the other boats but we love being alone too. 

Our first stop was at Little Cistern Cay we were the only boat on the anchorage, our own private island? The anchorage was tucked in behind Rocky heads of coral stone and edged by shallow sand banks and white beach. We could see the bottom through the water and watched Barracuda and rays swim by. 

As you know I can't stay out of the water and we were no sooner anchored when we swam out to the nearby rock head to see what we could find. Here in the park are some of the largest fish we have seen and we were not disappointed. Swimming down to look into one of the many caves formed in the sandstone rock we saw two huge crayfish challenging each other. Nearby huge Queen Angel fish with their torquise, royal blue and yellow glinting in the rays of the sun. Not only large fish but we swim among huge schools of tiny babies still not identifiable; and different species in all stages of growth. 

The rest of the day we spent reading on our secluded beach getting rid of tan lines! 

The next we headed over to Hawksbill Cay, only about a mile away. Once again alone in a stunning anchorage we headed ashore at Russel Rocks beach.

A trail lead to the ruins of the home of the Russell Family, it is noted as a 'Loyalist' plantation. They lived here between 1785 and 1830. There is not much left of their humble abode perched up on the hill overlooking the bays on each side of the island. Following the trail we crossed the island to the Atlantic side and walked the length of the island exploring the beach.

On the Northern Point of the island is the most magnificent sand bar which appear out of the seas at low tide. We anchored the dinghy in knee deep water and set out. An the tide drops areas one would have had to swim through of soft, baby powder like sand are high and dry. Rocky heads surrounded by torquise pools created as the receding water swirls around them and pulls out to sea. Once can walk all the way to the next island on the sand banks. We walked for over an hour across the banks to the Atlantic shore then turned back as the tide slowly started washing back in.

To our delight, as we walked across a shin deep section we saw shark fins. We stood and watched as he swam/ wriggled his way through shallow water right past us out to a deeper channel and swam away. He was not the only one! We were amazed to see a few Black Tip reef shark in these very shallow waters,  fins and part of his back out of the water as they made their way across the shallows. We presume catching unsuspecting fish caught by the outgoing tide.

Wallowing in the unbelievably blue pool near our dinghy we waited until the tide came in enough for us to get the dinghy out and back to the boat! 

If we had the time this is the kind of place we would stay a week. Our own deserted island! 

Waderickwells - Whoops in Wonderland

To put it in one word, Waderickwells is Exumas Wonderland. The headquarters of the Exumas Cay Land and Sea Park, the anchorage is carved out of low tide sand banks. At low tides the sand banks decked with the motor yachts (stink pots) deck chairs and umbrellas are interspersed with deep channels carved out by rushing currents.

We find the life of the mega rich mega motor yacht crowd intriguing, we watch them on their boats sipping cocktails. As the tide ebbs the crew dons life jackets, loads up their dinghy with umbrellas, chairs and side tables, as well as rakes and head over to the chosen sand bank. There they rake any shells or broken coral away so their bosses don't hurt their feet. Then they head back and load up the owners and guests and deposit them under the umbrellas. Always a quiet call away they wait...., or scrub and clean the hulls, polish, mop, polish, polish and prepare the next five course meal,  until said owners and guests are ready to return to the stink pot. Then they don life jackets again and head over. Once they have fetched and carried the guests they  return, pick up the books, towels, glasses, reading glasses, walking sticks, wheel-chairs, water wings and hand bags and return them to the boat. Then they fetch the chairs and tables. We would love to know how much the crew are paid. I don't think they could offer use enough  to do that job. Especially the hostess/ cook/ cleaner. I can imagine her picking their dirty underware off the floor and washing all with the ten towels per person that are used each day, each time they dry off after a dip.

We have to admit there are benefits to having mega bucks as often with the wrinkled bent old men are accompanied by "hou my vas" (Hold me back!!) young wenches, lounging on the decks! For some reason our guys suddenly find a need to stay an extra day. :) 

Oh to be rich and famous!!!! NOT! 

The snorkeling here is fun, at most sites the current pushes you on a roller coaster ride above beautiful corals and with no fishing or collecting allowed at all in the park, huge fish can be seen. We have seen some of the biggest spade fish, trigger fish, angel fish in their exotic colors and parrot fish with their 'false teeth'. The Parrot fish always look to me as if they have someone else's dentures in and they don't fit right! A constant pale lipstick smile with sticky out snow-white teeth. All the better to eat coral with!

This is when the 'whoops' happened. A true candid camera moment, unfortunately no one had a camera running, or not that we know of. Back at the boat we were unloading the dinghy of the snorkel gear and stuff. I usually sit astride the pontoon of the dinghy with one foot on the sugar scoop then step out. This day I was already getting out when I realized I had forgotten something. So I was now sitting on the pontoon with both feet on the sugarscoop. I was just getting ready to stand, with both hands full of 'things' when the tide had other ideas. The dinghy started to drift away, before I could do anything it moved out from under my butt and I disappeared very ungracefully into the drink! It must have been hilarious, check utbe, maybe a nearby boat had a camera running. Hahahaha 

Major Cay - Swimming Pigs and Torquise Seagulls

We had heard about 'flying pigs' but 'swimming pigs' were something else. We doubt we would ever see flying pigs but swimming pigs was a must.

From Staniel cay we motored around the corner and anchored just off of Major Spot. I started making lunch when we heard Alan, who had taken his dinghy toward to shore, calling out.

Running down the beach to meet him and undeterred by the water heading straight to his dinghy were three of the fattest pigs I have ever seen.

We quickly covered the makings of lunch with a tea towel, grabbed a few handfuls of the lettuce off cuts and headed for the beach.

Did you know pigs teeth look almost like humans? They swam out to the dinghys using thier seemingly extra long snouts like snorkels. As we dropped pieces of food into their open mouths they snorted and grunted; squealing when they felt another was getting more than they were. 

As Alan's dinghy drifted closer to shore and they could put their feet down they climbed up on the side with their forelegs, trying to get to the food. Hilarious and scary. Would not like to get bit by those teeth!

While we were watching, too nervous to enter the water or walk on the beach a tour boat arrived. No sooner had they anchored and begun chucking food into the pigs mouths when their guests all jumped into the water among the pigs! We were astounded and the game was on! It took us seconds to follow them as the pigs squealed, grunted and swan at us looking for more food. Holding your open hands toward them seemed to convince them you had none and they chose another target to beg from.

As they are fed a flock of Laughing Gulls swoop over their heads grabbing tit bits the pigs miss. Were our eyes deceiving us? The gulls underwings were blue! It was then we realized the ocean colour here is so bright and beautiful it reflects on the white feathers under their wings making the appear torquise   blue.