Bahamas Trip Part Two

Today is our fourth full day on the island of Eleuthra, and already it seems as if time is escaping much too quickly. I suppose that’s a good sign, though, in keeping with the sentiment “time flies when you’re having fun.” We are certainly glad to be away from New England right now, as we’ve heard stories of the late-winter snow storm that hit yesterday. Ah, winter in Maine – it never ends.

On Sunday afternoon, I ventured out with the snorkel gear for the first time. Mark had done some exploratory snorkeling on Saturday while I sat on the beach and watched/read. I have to admit that I also laughed as he tried to walk in flippers – he was really struggling to figure out how to get himself from the beach into the water. Fortunately for me, he’d figured out a system of wading out and then putting the flippers on by the time we went out on Sunday afternoon. Mark led our little expedition and we saw quite a bit of coral and a few fishes, but nothing too spectacular. I did enjoy just floating in the water, though it’s certainly not as warm as I expected it to be, so I was glad for the wet suit Davida lent me.

That evening, we went to a place called the Sunset Inn with the intention of having drinks while watching the sunset, but our plan was foiled by the cloudy sky. Some clouds make for a beautiful sunset, but too many clouds lead to nothing more than a gradual darkening of the sky. The restaurant was quiet, though, so we sat and had drinks anyway. We were also interested in ordering a conch appetizer, so I asked the waitress what conch pieces were like. She told me it was like cracked conch, which to me means conch right out of the shell, so I ordered it thinking we would get straight conch meant. However, to Bahamians apparently “cracked” translates as “fried.” It was not what we were expecting, but when in Rome…

The menu at the Sunset Inn wasn’t hugely appealing and it was still early for dinner, so we decided to go to another restaurant for dinner. We ended up at a place called the Beach House, though we almost couldn’t tell if it was open because there was only one other car in the parking lot. It turned out they were just having a slow night, so we got our pick of tables on a deck by the ocean. The atmosphere was great – low lighting, candles, rattan furniture with cushions – and the food was excellent as well. It was a Spanish tapas restaurant, so we ordered three dishes to share: brie with raspberry sauce and almond slivers, stuffed Portobello mushroom and jumbo shrimp with roasted tomatoes. Everything we tried was delicious, so our dinner certainly made up for our appetizer experience.

On Monday morning, we checked out a little “farmer’s market” that’s close to where we’re staying. The selection wasn’t fabulous, but we were able to get some fresh tomatoes for our lunch and homemade guava jam for our breakfast bagels. After lunch, we headed north armed with directions to a few different points of interest. I was amazed at how uninhabited the island is in some parts – in between towns, we would go several miles without seeing any houses. We saw some old silos, so we assume the land must have been used for farming at some point, but I’m not sure what grows well in the sandy soil of an island that is only two miles wide.

After more than an hour of driving, we pulled onto a road that seemed almost impassable because of the huge potholes and general deterioration. We bounced on down in our SUV, though, and made it to a place called Preacher’s Cave. Apparently the cave is so named because of the sermons given there for more than 100 years. I could imagine it as a good location for preaching – there was a large rock that could easily be used as a pulpit, and there was a circular clearing at the mouth of the cave that would have been perfect for audience seating.

We explored the cave for a bit, climbing over the rocks and inspecting the different holes in the ceiling. At the back of the cave was a hole with a rope hanging down, so of course Mark wanted to try climbing out of the cave. He made it out all right, but the getting back down part was a little more difficult than he had anticipated. I was glad we managed to make it out of there without any major injuries.

Across from Preacher’s Cave is a beach that is supposed to be good for snorkeling, so Mark pulled the gear out of the SUV and we headed for the water. I was much less enthusiastic about the idea of snorkeling as the air was actually quite cool yesterday, and I was fairly certain I’d be freezing if I got wet. I brought my book along so I could sit on the beach and read while Mark went into the sea, but as it turned out, the water was too choppy for snorkeling so we ended up just walking the beach for a bit before going back to the car.

On our way back south, we experienced the Glass Window Bridge, which everyone had told us was a “must see” on Eleuthera. The bridge is unique because it’s a narrow passage where the Atlantic is on one side and the Caribbean is on the other. As a result, you look at dark, gray-blue water on one side, and bright, green-blue water on the other. Unfortunately, the bridge isn’t a good spot to get out of the car, so we just tried to take in the view as we drove. It’s amazing to see how different the waters of the Caribbean and the ocean really are.

Mark was determined to find some good snorkeling water, so on our way back toward the place we’re staying, we stopped at a resort/restaurant called Coco di Mamma where there’s a nice beach on the Caribbean side (according to Davida, the people at the resorts don’t care if you use their beaches even if you aren’t staying there). Unfortunately, the water was choppy there, too, so we just ended up going into the restaurant for a drink. Coco di Mamma has a beautiful deck overlooking the Caribbean and is supposed to get gorgeous sunsets, so we braved the cool wind and sat outside. I was still a bit of a wimp, though, and bundled up with Mark’s jacket and one of the beach towels.

The sunset here is surprisingly later than it is in Maine – I still haven’t figured that one out, but neither have I looked at a map to see how everything is lined up. So, we were early for the sunset and after about thirty minutes of shivering on the deck we decided to throw in the towel (figuratively, of course – I wasn’t about to give up the towel wrapped around my legs). As we were driving, we decided to give the sunset thing on last go by driving down to a point right across from where we’re staying. We made it just in time – as we parked, we could see the sun beginning to sink behind a coral island in the sea. The colors were gorgeous, and I don’t think it would have been any better from the deck at Coco di Mamas.

For dinner, we went the casual route and headed to a pizza place about five minutes from the place we’re staying. The first thing Mark saw when we walked in the door was a Green Bay Packers flag, so he was instantly a fan of the restaurant, which is called Mate and Jenny’s. Once we sat down, we realized the Packer flag probably wasn’t an indicator of the owner’s loyalty – the walls and ceiling were covered with paraphernalia from various sports teams, as well as some random posters (including one of Michael Jackson circa 1985) and other knickknacks. The specialty at Mate and Jenny’s is a conch pizza, which sounded a little strange but was actually delicious.

Today is Tuesday, and Mark is beginning to feel like our time is disappearing and he wants to try to make the most of it. We spent a chunk of the morning searching for a good place to go snorkeling, but were ultimately unsuccessful. I thought it was too cold to go in the water anyway, so I stayed on the beach and read while Mark went in the water at a point all the way south on the island. He gave up after about twenty minutes, though, saying there just wasn’t much to see.

This afternoon, we loaded up the kayaks and went to the Caribbean side of the island to paddle. The water was a little choppy, but it was warmer than it has been in a few days and it was wonderful to feel the sun on my shoulders. We went out to a coral island and got out to explore a little bit, but we didn’t have the right shoes to get far, so we didn’t stay long.

So, I think I’m finally up to date, and I apologize for another lengthy post. I wasn’t exaggerating when I said I have a tendency to ramble. I’m also justifying it in this case because I think there are some family members who are truly interested in all the details, and I’m hoping anyone who finds the details tedious will skim through them. When this trip is over I’ll work on being more concise.