Another few days in the Abacos have passed, which has meant that another full run of activities have been tackled by Salvio.
We didn’t end up motivating for the Manjack full moon party, since another new beach find at sunset added to the bogging idea of gearing up to leave the harbor on a Friday night family movie night, but we did hop over there first thing Saturday morning.
After a mangrove exploration to see the dozens upon dozens of sea turtles in the shallow waters wending their way through the mangrove maze, we landed on a beach owned and lovingly offered by Sam and Kayda’s friends. Swings, hammocks, beach toys, and a beautiful flock of healthy chickens were showcased on the beach itself, and a tour of the property above (led by a Seal Cove native, no less! We MDIslanders are just about everywhere) blew our minds with the thoughtful detail in every turn. Goats for milk, chickens for fresh eggs, fruit trees everywhere, a beautiful garden that had us all drooling, an open air workshop, orchid collections on display and sweet pockets of landscaping everywhere that made it a true island paradise in all of the ways I consider paradise.
The fact that this couple welcomes cruisers to use their spaces as needed is just so kind and gracious. In return, they must be acquiring some amazing stories from their visitors in these years of ‘trespass, please’ offerings.
Sunday morning we dinghied back to the mangroves to say good morning to our turtle friends, and additionally saw sting rays, eagle rays, and a couple of small sharks darting on and off the sand bank that we landed on to explore the bolder east coast.
On our return we realized that the slide had been installed on the dock for the kids, so we jumped over to take advantage. By 11am we’d had more ‘Sunday-ing’ than we could have imagined!
We then hustled back to Green Turtle to prepare for the arrival of Mike and Frosty, MDI friends escaping the heaps of snow in Maine to enjoy the Bahamas for a few days of their vacation. Not a bad plan, really. One interesting bonus of our Green Turtle guests were the goodies that they brought- due to weather, their cache of frozen seafood and game meats requested by Mike’s daughter couldn’t be delivered to her in Boston, so voila! bear on board! As we happily ate our bear dinner, we surmised that it could be the first time a black bear has been in the Bahamas. (We’re glad it made the trip- deLISH.)
Yesterday we gave the girls their first ‘snow day’ pass from schooling and headed back to Manjack in the morning, this time to another bay known for its tame sting rays, thanks to the tour operations that feed them. It did not disappoint- we were greeted by a huge Southern stingray that preceded to bump itself into our shins, hoping that we had a snack. (We did not, but we were grateful for the sake of our picture-taking session that it didn’t seem to realize this.)
Another night here in Green Turtle, and with another front coming through tonight into tomorrow, we’re going to stay here until Friday, when crossing ‘the whale’ will be more pleasant, after which we’ll head to Guana Cay for a night before going to a big flea market on Man O War on Saturday.
Happy Valentine’s Day, all!