Bobette

"Breaking news, everybody!" "You know Bob, Riley Fraser's outstanding pet cockroach, right? Well, recent news reports tell me that Bob, is a... a...a GIRL!"

Yup. Bob, is a girl. She proved it by laying an inch long, brown egg sac. It's a very odd, cylinder shaped egg case. At first, I was going to take the egg case to shore and let it go, but Bob made sure that didn't happen by pasting it to the side of her cage with goo. Even though I love bugs and creepie crawlies, I was too disgusted to take it off. Mother and unhatched offspring remain together. The egg case hasn't hatched yet, but I'll let you know as soon as it hatches. 

Auntie Wendy, you must be thrilled!

Love you all,

Ri

FOOD!

I will never , ever appreciate food more than I did on March, 10 2014.  We had just pulled into Nassau and we had just been in the Exuma Land and Sea Park for two weeks.  There are no towns, no fishing and NO FOOD!  It was crazy!  Mom eventually threw the last bit of cabbage out because we had been conserving it for too long.  Dad and mom finally decided that the weather was calm enough for us to make the crossing to Nassau.  Wren and I let out let a squeal of delight.  Not because we were going to Nassa, but because that's where the food was.

When we got to Nassau, we were greeted with dirty water, gigantic power yachts,  rock music blasting our ears off, and stinky city air.  The only good things about Nassau are FOOD, fireworks (on Sunday night from one of the resorts), and infinite water and power (If you were hooked up to a dock, which we were).

Laundry day

The first thing we did when we got a dock space, or "slip", was GET FOOD!  As we walked into the air conditioned grocery store, we all gasped.  Asparagus greeted us on the nearby shelf.  Apples and oranges said hello.  We were in heaven.  Lettuce, tomatoes, carrots, apples, oranges, bananas, mangos, avocados, pineapples, pears, plums peaches, meats, gourmet cheeses, crackers, bread, milk, juice, ANYTHING you could have asked for was there.  We stood there drooling.

We bought as much as we could possible carry.  When we were walking back with the groceries, I couldn't wait, so I got a pear and bit into it.  Nothing ever tasted that good. 

That night we had steak on the grill.  Yum x infinity! 

I'll never forget how lucky we are.

Love,

Riley

BOB...

"No! Don't kill it!" I shouted. "Well, what are you going to do with it?" my mom asked. "Keep it as a pet. Pleeeeeeease?" "Riley, no, we are not going to have a pet cockroach on our boat" "But Mom..." "NO!" "Fine, can I at least put it in a jar, and let it go next time we go to shore?" "Ok, Fine."  The family that owned the boat (we were visiting for dinner) was more than happy to send dinner guests home with a cockroach.

I was shocked. My mom was NOT the killing type. Especially when it came to bugs. I wasn't either (except for the occasional ant to magnifying glass trick). My sister, no. But my dad on the other hand, um... Yeah. He wasn't too happy when Wren ran up to him shouting "Daddy! Daddy! Guess what! We have a new pet! He's a cockroach!"

 It took a lot of persuading, 3 melt downs, 4 cheerios, and a lot of cabbage to get my new boat pet  in shape for being one of our family members.  I named him Bob.  Sorry grandpa, the name just fit.

My mom said that cockroaches are just about the worst boat pet you could have, But eventually, she admitted that he was "cute". My dad is still on the "throw him overboard to the sharks" side. Wren and I completely adore him.  I love how he cleans his antennae after every meal.  He feasts on a diet of cabbage and Cheerios. That is the one thing we have a lot of on this boat. We have been in the park for 9 days, so we can't get food until Nassau. We are conserving food.  He lives in a plastic container tipped on its side with food and a toilet paper tube. It's fun to experiment with the foods and to see which ones he loves to eat.

Take lots of pictures of the snow for me!

Love,
Riley

Iguanas and Swimming Pigs

As we pulled into port on Bitter Guana Cay, we could see dark splotches on the pure white sand beach. As the binoculars came into focus, I could see lizards. To be more specific, Iguanas.

The Exuma Rock Iguanas are really rare. They used to be on all 700 Bahamian islands. Now, they are limited to about 4 islands. I only know the names of two, Bitter Guana, and Allens Cay. They are now protected, but they used to be eaten. If you ask any of the locals if they've eaten iguana flesh, they would all say yes.

 Wren and I were practically jumping up and down for joy. "Iguanas, Iguanas, Iguanas!" we shouted. Even though we were the only ones in the anchorage, my dad told us to quiet down.

     We grabbed what we needed in the shortest amount of time possible, jumped in the dinghy, and headed to shore. I felt like we were intruders, and the iguanas were soldiers, waiting for he command to attack. They just kept coming out of the underbrush, which was not very tall. Due to heat conditions, all of the plants were desert plants. Like cacti! It was all very cool. 

     The iguanas were no more than 2 feet long, and very chubby. I think that the soldier-like behavior was an effect from cruisers feeding the iguanas. They  were funny, though, aside from their  snappish behavior. Especially when my dad ran through a whole bunch of them, flailing his arms and legs like a maniac and screaming at the top of his lungs. Sometimes, you just have to be a dufus...

Yup.  Scat.

Lil' guy

The next day, we hiked around all over the island. We went to the north side of the island, where we found a pretty beach. We also found a big limestone cliff that had a trail leading to the top. 

Kiawah, having some alone time

     That afternoon, we said good bye to the iguanas and went to Staniel Cay. As soon as we got there, we went shopping. There was a big old black lab sitting outside of the cute pink building that was the grocery store. We are missing Blue terribly....

A "Blue" moment

 After we got some food, we went to theThunderball Grotto. It was really cool.  It is a cave that is partially filled with water. You have to dive underneath a rock ledge to get in. There are a ton of fish around the grotto, because all fishing is prohibited. See Wren's blog for more on that.

 The next day, we went to Piggy Beach. The island is taken over by pigs!  Here are some pics of these crazy beasts!  They swim out to your boat to beg for food.  They are quite friendly though.

Oink, oink!
Love,
Ri

Plaiting

We sat in the cool shade of a nuni fruit tree, listening to the wondrous tales of the old widow that sat before us. Her name was Francis.She was as tattered as one of those old treasure maps out of the movies. Her hands and feet were as tough as leather, as were all of the Bahamian's. She was a survivor, a real person, and I felt really lucky to meet her. 

We had met her the day before while she was plaiting. Plaiting is almost like a Bahamian braid. More on that subject later. 

When we asked her what she did before plaiting, she answered, "I went fishin'. Now I don't have no fish hooks left, so I plait".  Right then, I knew what I had to do. As soon as I got back to the boat, I pulled out the tackle box and got together a baggie filled with fishing hooks, weights, and swivels. I gave it to her the next day. She was so grateful that she invited us to come and plait with her. and so, she taught us how to plait.  

Plaiting with Francis

Wren and Francis

Palmetto fronds Francis gave us

Bahamian house with palmetto fronds drying

Drying palmetto in our v-berth

Plaiting is an art. It is really beautiful. The Bahamians will plait long strips, roll them up, and send them off to Nassau, where they stitch the plaits into hats, dolls, bags, baskets, and a ton of other things. The plaits are made out of Palmetto leaves. They are long and skinny, so that they can be woven and braided easily. That's how a lot of the Bahamians make money.

The new growth on the palmetto (or thatch palm) used for plaiting

Plaited goods or Fritos anyone?

Francis told a lot of stories that made us stop plaiting and sit spellbound at her feet.My favorite was the one where, as a kid, she and her siblings would follow the chickens around the woods to collect eggs because they didn't have a coop. They just layed eggs wherever they wanted. I thought that was really funny.

All too soon, it was time to say goodbye. We headed back to Kiawah with heavy hearts, and beautiful memories of Francis still fresh in our minds. Through all the sadness, a smile played on my lips, for we would be pulling anchor and heading to Bitter Guana Cay.

The island is home to a colony of endangered iguanas...

Love,

Riley