Trip Report: back from Abaco and Cays
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Posted by Robert on May 03, 2000 at 07:49:36:
What a great time, meeting friendly people!
Friday, 4/21/00: My wife and I flew out of Columbus, Ohio airport at 7am on Flight 259. Our daughter lent us her underwater camera to take along, and as we were landing in Atlanta, I remembered that I forgot to take it along. Oh, well, it was a smooth flight. Flew into Miami and then American Eagled it into Marsh Harbor. Took cab for only $10 to the Lofty Fig. The lady driver looked familiar, and I asked her if she drove taxis a decade ago. She laughed and told me her name was Caroline Kemp, taxi No. 09, VHF Channel #06, and that she’d been driving taxis for many years(Kemp’s Taxi Service). Great lady!! Stayed at Lofty Fig across from Conch Inn, with Sid Dawes. Nice place and Sid was very accomodating. I told him I helped, in a small way, to save the Bahama Parrot in the late 1980’s, and he xeroxed an article from the American Birding Ass. Magazine(June 1998) entitled, “Birding Southern Abaco.” Sid also gave me the latest edition of Abaco Life. The next day, I almost got wiped out by a coconut falling from a palm on his property, then met a wild boar in the back of his property while I was photographing plants in the back part of the Lofty Fig. Later, the boar came up to the pool, and Sid ceremoniously chased it away with yelling and a few small rocks. Sid is really doing some serious planting at the Lofty Fig, and it will look great.
April 22nd., my wife and I hiked to the Crossing Beach dock, about a mile and a half hike from the Lofty Fig, and took the ferry to Hope Town. Enjoyed the place and had a Kahlik at Captain Jack’s. The TV was on and images of a SWAT team taking Elion(?) out of a closet at gunpoint in Miami came on the screen. I pivoted my bar stool so as to look out over the turquoise waters off on Hope Town, and soon forgot about the hype. A few Frigate birds were trying to persuade a gull to drop a fish over the harbor where the English Loyalists seeked refuge from their troubled lives centuries ago. I wonder if they saw Frigate birds doing what I just witnessed? I quickly forgot about the Cuban/American affair. Walked all over Hope Town to the cemetary, past the Hope Town School house, where two workers were reroofing it. Later, we ate at the dockside restaurant in Hope Town, and I put down great cracked conch with pidgeon peas and rice, along with cole slaw and another Kahlik. Incredible town, Hope Town, and the sandy paths to the beach, which meander in between the close-spaced relic homes was a dream. Suddenlly, you come across the sprawling, mostly deserted beach; white sand contrasted against turqoise and gin-colored waters. People in Massachusetts would kill for water clarity and a scene like that.
Sunday April 23, I found myself waking up early at 6:45am, and did some hiking. At 10am, my wife Sandy and I ferried over to Great Guana Cay from the Albury’s Ferry Dock at the Conch Inn. Donna Sands was waiting for us on the dock, and we took our big-wheeled golf cart and proceeded on the road to Guana Seaside Village. Past the Dolphin Beach Resort, the road gets rough and bumpy; but, that’s why I chose Abaco. It ain’t for sissies…right? Curly-tailed lizards scurried away as we ambled down the road. Took a side path to the Atlantic Ocean(about 200 feet) and it dead ended on the cliff. The Waves were crashing on the shore, and I counted the colors I saw, kid of like a paint store color display: beautiful turqoise, dark blue, dark green, lime green where the sand flats were, light blue and just plain dark by the near shore coral reefs. We stood in awe for several minutes. I forgot about the Cuyahoga River in Cleveland catching on fire in the 1960’s, when a fisherman tossed a lit cigarette into it.
We then proceeded on to Seaside Village Resort. Arrived in about 20 minutes and met the staff: Glen, Renee, Eula Mae, and Sandra. They made us feel right at home, and much kidding and joking around lasted our entire stay. That night, one of the guests held a party and supplied a buffet for every one, FOR FREE! We ate turkey, ham, dressing and gravy, conchy joe salad, mashed potatoes, sweetened yams, etc. A $30 meal for free. What a greeting! After letting the feast settle in my stomach, my wife and I snorkeled off the beach at Guana Seaside and gathered dozens of sand dollars, sea biscuits, and brought in a few live conch for Sandra, the cook, to prepare. Glen showed me, step-by-step how to “urge” the conch out of the shell: two monstrous morsels of conch. While snorkeling by the dock area, we Id’d over 250 Blue-Stripped grunts, a few curious barracuda, and dozens of Bar Jacks coming in to feed on the thousands of Silversides lining the shore. I forgot about the stuff waiting for me back at my office in Ohio.
The next day we explored Baker’s Bay via kyak, compliments of Seaside Village. We were going to hike to it along the shoreline, but Renee warned us that we would be stranded at high tide, and not be able to make it back. Hurray for kyaks! Later on, we went snorkeling with Froggies Dive Op. at the Dolphin Beach Resort. Great crew with the dive master and Maria. On the way out to Fowl Cay, we came upon a huge pod of 30+ dolphins, with one small newborn calf, less than 2 feet long. Wanted to dive in and frolic with them, but the dive master warned not to with the baby…the males are very protective. They used the VHF to notify the Hole-In-The-Wall researchers of the pod. We cruised on and reached a beautiful coral reef dive site where the tombstone of the son of Skeet rested. So unfortunate; I remember “Skeet” at the Conch Inn Dive Operation(Bahama Divers) in the late 1980’s the last time we visited Abaco. In fact, I have a video of Skeet and two other men playing guitars and a drum around the pool at the Conch Inn, back then. I heard his son’s ashes were spread over the reef, and the memorable stone was then placed in the reef we snorkeled in. What a legacy for all to remember! Upon entering the waters by the reef, we ran into an 8 foot Caribbean Reef Shark, which glided to and fro beneath us for about 15 minutes, totally unafraid and disinterested in us. I Id’d about 60 species of reef fish on that reef alone. $35 per person, and seeing the large dolphin pod with their baby and the shark alone was worth twice that amount. I forgot about the toxic chemicals being dumped into Lake Erie.
That night, we ate a grouper dinner at Guana Seaside. Then, off to the Settlement via golf cart and watched the sun set at Nipper’s. On the way back, we stopped atop a hill crest along the isolated road back to Gauna Seaside, where we could witness both the Sea Of Abaco and the Atlantic Ocean. The next night, we ate a Conch feast at Coco Beach, a Conch Buffet of Cracked Conch, Conch Fritters, Conch Chowder, with Bahamian Bread, pidgeon peas and rice and great cole slaw. I forgot about the fearful look on Elian’s face as he was being whisked out of the Miami house by a SWAT team.
Next morning I woke up and absolutely no idea what day it was…and didn’t give a damn either. Drove the golf cart to High Rocks, stopping at the Settlement’s grocery store for snacks and stuff to eat. Arrived at the High Rocks beach, and found no one on it…miles of white, talcum powder sand with not footprints, with the Atlantic waves lapping onto shore. Snorkeled out 50 feet and Id’s two very large Parrot Fish and several dozen Surgeon Fish and Blue Tang. Spent rest of the day in the shade of Caribbean Pine trees on High Rock Beach…I forgot about the income taxes I just paid on April 15th.
Until are departing on April, we snorkeled everyday on the sand flats and seagrass beds off of Guana Seaside Village, Id’ing reef fish and collecting shells, seabiscuits, and sand dollars. One of the guests, named Alan, caught a large Bonefish by the docks. He released it. The waters were warmer than the air, some days. Sandra, the chef at Guana Seaside, gave my wife her secret formula for making pidgeon peas and rice. Here it is: Cut up celery and onions, then fry them while boiling two cups of rice and a can of black-eyed peas(for those U.S. citizens who can’t find pidgeon peas). Then, put two huge spoonfuls of Browning Sauce(comes in a small, beer shaped jar) in the mixture. Sandra doesn’t use peppers because they soften too much if you don’t eat them right away. OK to use them if you eat the Peas and Rice right away. The Browning Sauce is the only flavor she uses, and the result is simple and delicious.
On our last day, we said good bye to Renee, Eula Mae, Sandra and Glen. As we walked away we took one last look at the beach and a large fin appeared in the waters where we snorkeled…shark comin’ through. We saw many Southern Stingrays gliding past us as we snorkeled. Stayed our last night at the Conch Inn Marina in Marsh Harbor. Put down a few at Sappodilly’s then went to bed. The next day, we flew out on American Eagle, landed on the tarmack at the Miami Int’l Airport, and waited in the heat for over 20 minutes for the shuttle to take us to U.S. Customs. Later on, my wife and I cleared U.S. Customs and found ourselves in the middle of a few hundred tourists toting luggage, all waiting to squeeze into two small elevators to get up to the main floors. I finally made it on one, turned around and found my wife waving good bye as the elevator door closed…she couldn’t fit in. I waited for her for 10 minutes on the main floor to reappear through the elevator door, which she did, caught in the cattle stampede. We passed 10,000 people that day at the Miami Airport, each person on their own personal quest for something, just like in the huge shopping malls. We knew no one, did not say “Hi!” to any one, nor did any one say “hi!” to us. I think I know…why I like Abaco. Robert
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