In the spirit of the laid-back out-islands of the Bahamas, we purposely did not set an alarm and tried to let everybody sleep in. I got up around 7:30am, got the coffee going and enjoyed a view quite moments on the deck.
Our plan today was to rent a boat and explore some interesting islands nearby. After everybody was awake, we headed down to the marina restaurant for breakfast, which was wonderful! We remembered to bring all of the scraps to use later for feeing the fish / pigs / iguanas.
As happens sometimes, we had a minor hitch in our well-laid plans. I walked over to the office to check on the boat rental. Even though I reserved and pre-paid the boat rental several weeks ago with the room reservation, they didn't get the information and nothing was available. I pleaded with the manager to find something, anything so that I could take the kids snorkeling today.
Luckily, he wa sable to find a boat had it brought over from Staniel Cay. It wasn't pretty: a 13' Boston Whaler with ripped seats, leaky drain plug, and a tiny 60 hp motor, but it was ours for the day and we made the best of it!
After dropping the guy back off at Staniel, our first stop was to visit the wild Iguana's on Guana Cay. It was a choppy 20 minute ride and everybody was relieved when I pulled up to the beach. However, we didn't see the famed iguanas and I started wondering if I made a wrong turn somewhere. Soon, my fears were laid to rest as we spied an iguana sauntering toward us. We grabbed the breakfast scraps and tossed him a bit of pancake. It seemed to love it so we fed it some more. Soon, a few friends joined him and we had 6-8 iguanas all around us on the beach. I think the kids really enjoyed it!
Our next stop was to visit the swimming pigs. Legend has it that the pigs were aboard a vessel many years go that was shipwrecked in a storm. The pigs swam to the nearby beach and flourised. Now, whenever a boat approaches, they run out onto the beach and beg for scraps. They will even swim out to the boat! We walked around on the beach and fed them, but they are big and agressive and I was worried they might bite the kids, so we got back in the boat and watched from a distance. There were lots of other people coming and going, so there was lots to see.
Next, we headed to Thunderball Grotto, which was featured in the James Bond movie. We tied up outside and swam into a small cave. Once inside, it opened up into a large cavern, which was full of fish! We fed them bits of PB&J and had a fun time swimming & taking pictures. It is really a unique experience!
Cameron & Justin were getting tired by now, so we dropped them off with grandma & pop-pop for a nap at the room. Michele, Brandon, & I headed for our finaly stop, Compass Cay, home of the tame nurse sharks. Michele & I visited this spot a couple years ago and swam with dozens of nurse sharks all around us. Today was a bit of a let-down --there were only two nearby. Still, we had a nice time and I think Brandon enjoyed it.
Back at the marina, they were having a BBQ beach party. After getting back and unloading the boat, we headed to the party. I really enjoyed relaxing on the beach with a rum punch and wathing the kids play in the sand. At 6:30, they had some Easter activities for the kids, including pin the tail on the bunny. We met another family at the party and the guy graduated from University of Tampa in 1995 --same year as us! What a small world!
We got back to the room in time to catch the sunset from our dock. Brandon, Justin & I jumped in and swam until it go too dark to see. Now the boysare watching Madagascar and I am almost too tired to keep my eyes open --fun day! Tomorrow, they have a Easter Egg Hunt for the kids in the morning and we are supposed to go fishing in the afternoon.
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