I have found the Bahamian people to be very traditional, by this I mean Sunday is reserved for the Lord’s Day. Most businesses are closed and families are together at home or the beach fishing.
We rented a car so that we could get to some of the harder places to see by dinghy. John agreed to drive which in itself was an adventure. For those who have never visited an island most of them drive on the opposite of the road from us Americans and the steering wheel is on the opposite side of the car. The car had a nice sticker that reminded you to keep left.
We hopped in the car and began our pot hole dodging journey. I will say the roads in St. Thomas are a lot worse than the roads here. Considering most places were closed or did not open until after church services we just started out driving. The island is from North to South is only 100 miles long. I think we covered at least 75 miles of it.
Our first stop was in Governors Harbor. We found an interesting looking church and had to stop. It was after all Sunday and Palm Sunday at that.
There was a cool looking pink house nearby but I did not catch what it was.
From there we drove down to Hatchet Bay. Unfortunately, there was not much to see there other than the harbor. The entrance to this harbor looked a little sketchy however there were several boats anchored in it.
We ended up making our way to the very end of the island to the town of Current. Apparently, the diving in this area is judged amongst the top 10 dive sites in the world. It is also one of the fastest drift dives in the world because of the fast-racing flow that goes between the two islands. More on Current Cut later as we will have to pass through this area in order for us to get to Spanish Wells.
The drive along this area opens up to some beautiful views of the water. We stopped to visit one of the beaches we saw from the road.
One of our stops on our road trip was The Glass Window Bridge. It is one of the few places where you can compare the rich blue waters of the Atlantic Ocean to that of the Bight of Eleuthera (often incorrectly called the Carribean Sea). The bridge you go over is just 30 feet wide so only one car at a time. I must point out that structurally it is a bit iffy. There are several visible cracks to the foundation of it and when a dump truck rode across it when we were standing there it shook pretty good.
Our next stop was to visit the Hot Tub or Queens Bath. This area is a collection of natural pools that border the Atlantic Ocean and were formed over the years through the erosion of the rocks by the dramatic crashing of the waves from the Atlantic Ocean.
The water fills the holes as the tide moves out and is warmed by the sun creating a bath like temperature to enjoy.
We found our way back to the car to find our next adventure, drinks and lunch. We stopped at this super cool restaurant in Gregory Town called Daddy Joe’s. We sat at the bar and talked with the staff there. The background wall is hand painted signs with Bahamian sayings. We would ask what the sign meant and they would explain to us it’s meaning. For example, roach on your bread meant your partner was cheating on you.
We wrapped up the day with another beautiful sunset.
