Last night we decided that we wanted to see more of Great Exuma, so Greg and I walked a couple of miles down the road to see if there were any car rentals available. As luck would have it, they had a Honda Odyssey available for today only.
This is how a car rental goes in the Bahamas:
We climb the stairs to the small second floor rental office; the guy hums and haws about whether he has a car available or not, tries to call someone, finally decides it's OK to rent us a minivan for the day. Meanwhile the phone rings, he answers, and simultaneously fills out our rental agreement and takes another reservation on the phone. Once our agreement is completed, he points to the keys on the wall, tells us to grab the red ones, excuses himself from his phone call while he tells us that whatever the gas tank has in it, to return it the same. He then returns to his phone call as Greg and I exchange the 'that's it?' shrug. As we're walking out, he covers the phone with his hand and says 'stay to the left, ya?'. Down the stairs we go, have a look over the van to make sure there's no glaring damage and hop in.
Did I mention most cars here are right-hand drive, and they drive on the left side of the road? From what we can see, the rules of the road are quite lax, traffic signs seem more like suggestions, and since there are no Tim Horton's here most drivers seem to start their day with a bottle of Kalik, the local brew! Oh, and Greg has conveniently forgotten his wallet, so I am deemed the driver.
A reminder is posted right on the windshield, to help out North American drivers.
Let the adventure begin...
So, after backing out a narrow, sloped driveway into fairly busy traffic, we're on our way. Greg's constant mantra of 'stay to the left, stay to the left,.. ' all the way back keeps me more or less on the right, er, correct side of the road. We go back to the cottage, pick up the girls and Jack and Annabelle, and take a quick spin around town before heading back to the boat for the night.
This morning we started early, all meeting at 8:00 ready for our day of exploring.
The excitement began not a mile from where we started, as I was slowing to turn into the cottage driveway. I slowed, the pickup truck behind me slowed, and unfortunately the car behind him did not. A short screeching, followed by the telltale crunch of bumpers, meant that while we were near, we were thankfully not involved in a car accident with our rental. We joked that my signal to turn must have distracted all the drivers, as the Bahamians are not known for their attentive driving skills.
Once on our way again, we headed north, through a few little villages, and found ourselves stopped at a little beach access near Rolleville.
A little wading, a little shell hunting, and we carried on.
Next stop, the very north end of Great Exuma Island. After wading in the mangroves, and an unsuccessful search for a perfect conch shell, we piled in the van again.
We backtracked south, and then took a west turn, headed for Barraterre. We stopped in Stuart Manor, looking for bakery there. We did find the bakery, but it was unfortunately, though not surprisingly, closed.
In Barraterre we were looking for the Fisherman's Inn, which is touted in our guide book as having the best conch in the Exumas ... a pretty tall order, based on our previous tastings the last few months. Again, we found the resturant, but it was closed. The local grocery advertises local produce, so we thought we'd stop in there before moving on and looking for lunch. You guessed it ... closed. Ah, such is the Bahamas.
By noon we had returned to George Town and were headed further south for a local hotspot called Cheater's. Norma, the proprietor, comes on the net every morning telling of the daily specials, and we had heard it recommended by many locals. We were treated to a lunch of chicken wings and steamed grouper, with various sides. Delicious!
The afternoon was spent south of George Town, first at the most beautiful beach I have ever been on. We had it all to ourselves, and walked the full length of it. The girls played in the water, collected sea fans and enjoyed the sand.
After an hour or so there, we continued further south to Williams Town, the furthest south we will see on this trip. There we saw the salt ponds built in the late 18th century, where inland marsh areas were blocked off from the tidal reaches of the ocean. Stone walls were built in them to further separate the water, as the sun evaporated the water out of it, and eventually the workers, mostly slaves, would rake the salt for collection. There is even a column built on the ocean side to show merchant ships the way to come and pick up their valuable cargo.
Our last stop was the place our GPS indicated was the Tropic of Cancer. The circle of latitude where the sun is directly overhead at the June solstice, currently 23* 26.28'. Because it was on the road, we only stopped for a quick picture.
We managed to get the car fueled and returned in one piece with minutes to spare!
Here's the great beach at the south end of Great Exuma!!
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