Lee Stocking Island

We left George Town, Great Exuma, and headed towards Lee Stocking Island. We were all sad, because George Town is the farthest south that we would ever go in the Bahamas, But now, we're headed home!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I'm so excited!

When we got to Lee Stocking, it was only midday, so we got out our snorkeling gear and headed out. The first thing we saw was a big Nurse Shark that was lazily swimming along the ocean floor. He didn't bother us, so my dad got out the sling and spear. By the end of the day, my dad had gotten us a meal of three flounder, a strawberry grouper and a large queen triggerfish. They were all really tasty. My mom made a fish chowder out of the grouper remains ( guts not included! ). Yum!

Yup, strawberry grouper

queen trigger fish

Tasty meal!

The next day, we decided to move the boat closer to the dinghy dock and then go for a hike. We packed up some water and headed out. The town was old biological research station that was abandoned and run-down. No one was home. A big biology lab lay on our left, and an airplane hangar, complete with a broken-up airstrip, to our right. 

Biology lab

Old fish pens

Abandoned hangar

nuts n' bolts

Airstrip

Pretty flowers

We walked along the airstrip until we came to a  path. It was really cool.The path turned and twisted until we ended up on Coconut Beach. There were a few other boaters there. 

Spider mover extraordinaire!

Armed with only a palmetto frond....

Wack!

Coconut beach

There was another steep, rocky path that led to a breath-taking overlook. There was a sign that read: Perry's Peak, highest point in the Exumas, 123 feet. It was a long way up! 

Hurry up and take the picture so we can have some water.

Ocean side view

Wren and I ran all the way down to Coconut Beach. We couldn't stop ourselves! We headed back to the dinghy with plans to go snorkeling again. Everyone was looking forward to it! It was really hot!

That night, we had grunts, peas and rice, and grouper! yummy!

Hope all is merry,

Ri to the Ley

The Levy Preserve

It was a beautiful Friday morning when we left Kiawah for the Levy Preserve in Governor's Harbour, on Eleuthera Island. We landed the dinghy and then followed the signs that led to the beautiful native plant preserve that was two miles away.  We planned to hitch-hike because a four mile round trip hike was a lot.  A nice Bahamian man picked us up and dropped us right at the Levy Preserve.

  

One major point of the Levy Preserve is to teach people about the native plants in the Bahamas, and to show them how the non-native (invasive) species are taking over.  The Casaurina pine and the Lionfish are just two examples of invasive species in the Bahamas.  The Casuarina pine drops needles that create a sort of blanket that suffocates the native plants.  They also add acid to the soil making it hard for other plants to grow.  The lion fish was brought here from South America in the ballast water of ships, and also as a  pretty aquarium fish. They are now eating all the native fish that are important to the  Bahama's coral reefs and underwater ecosystems.  Fishemen are encouraged to kill lion fish when they get the chance.  Most people are scared off by the venom in their fins, but they are actually very good eating if you clip off the fins with scissors.  We ate three of them and they were delicious.  There are many more invasive species that are affecting the Bahama's wildlife.

Another big point of the Levy Preserve in to educate people about the Bahama's bush medicine.  Many of the Bahamian islands do not have access to a doctor so they use plants for medicine. Most Bahamians rely on bush medicine.  Not only does it work, but it is also a big part fo Bahamian culture.

We walked into the main office of the Levy Preserve and it was lovely!  There was a big file cabinet filled with insect collections.  There were spiders too.  The lady told us about the insects as we looked.  

We thanked her and headed off to the wild trails.  We walked past a stinky mangrove swamp, poison wood trees, and papaya plants.  It was really cool.  

Blood-red water from the tannic acid in the mangrove roots 

We also saw blue tailed skinks  and curly tailed lizards and a big emu looking bird.  There were lots of plaques that told you not to touch some of the  plants because they were poisionous.  We took a trail up to a big tower and we could see forever in that thing!  There were lots of trails with different themes.  One was the orchid trail.

Mmmmmm..........

One of my favorite trails was the one that led you by a big swamp that had stepping stones so you could get closer to the turtles that lived in the swamp.  It was really cool.  The turtles would poke up their heads and look at you from the murkey water, thinking you had food.  The turtles have a really cool history in the Bahamas. They are special fresh water turtles and are very rare because people killed them for their priceless shells and tender meat.  They need blue holes to survive.  There is a special layer on the top of a blue hole called a lense.  Lenses are fresh water on top of salt water becasue the salt is more dense than the fresh.  The turtles live in these lenses.  The lenses are being mixed because of human activity and high winds making it harder for these turtles to survive.

There was a Lucayan Indian hut there too that was made out of sticks and palm fronds.  When Christopher Columbus came here he found people.  These native people were the Lucayan Indians.  Columbus enslaved and killed many of the Lucayans off, until there were only a few people left.  It is a sad story.  Most Bahamians today are descendants of African slaves, and not Lucayan Indians.

Lucayan indian hut

The nursery where they grow some of the plants

Gag me with a bromeliad

"I wonder if I can eat these..."

After we had looked at every plant and hiked every trail we caught a ride home to Kiawah with a woman who owned the local grocery store.  What a wonderful day!

Love to all,
Riley

Junkanoo

The music pounded in my ears as I experienced my first Junkanoo in Governor's Harbour, Eleuthera, Bahamas.

Junkanoo is a beautiful festival that happens yearly.  The meaning is in the name, junk anew.  People put junk to use to make pretty and colorful costumes, then they make a lot of music for the dancers.  It really is a wonderful sight!

Typical Junkanoo attire

My first taste of Junkanoo was while my family and I were at a fish fry.  We heard about it from the locals, who are the most friendly people I've ever met in foreign places (and I'm sure anywhere else I might go)!  So, that night we motored to the little beach in front of the tiki bar where the fish fry was.  There were lots of locals there, kids and adults, but mostly it was tourists and "boat people", as my dad calls them.  They are people from the boats anchored in the harbor.  There was a family whom we had met a couple of days ago there and many more "boat people".  Wren and I played tag with two local boys and some other young kids from one of the boats.  It was fun!  Except the DJ was terrible and had the music up WAY too loud.  It was hard to think.  There was food and drinks there; chicken, steak, fish and conch.  I had the chicken.  It was good!  After dinner, the Junkanoo started.  Turns out there was another Junkanoo the following night with just kids and this evening's event was the adults showing the kids all the tricks.

 The next night we went to the Jr, Junkanoo.  That was really fun!!  All of the schools in the area competed with each other.  Each school picked a theme and made intricate costumes that they paraded down the street in.  The drummers and musicians came last, setting the beat for the dancers.  It was really cool.  Some of the themes were:  Jungle Adventure, Disney World, and Our Culture.  Traditionally Junkanoo happens on Boxing Day, but some towns scatter it out in smaller events near Boxing Day so every one can enjoy the other island's Junkanoo celebrations.

Warming the drum skins by the fire to improve the sound

 

I'm loving the Bahamas so far, 

Riley-kins