This morning Ron was up bright and early and off in the dingy to Ross's Golf Cart Rentals in Dunmore Town. When he got there "Cookie" had just left with his wife to go shopping sooooo ..... it was time to wait again. Eventually Cookie showed up with his office girl ... don't know if that was his wife or not!
Well, the golf cart was finally rented and it was time to discover this place called Harbour Island.
Yesterday, I said that this island was a playground for the rich and famous. That is partly true as in the north part of the island there are many very nice mansions. We tried to get a closer look today but had no access to the area. It appears that both coasts of Harbour Island are very pretty and there is a lot of wealth here.... however, the center streets on this island are inhabited by very many, very poor Haitians. You don't see this until walking the "back streets".
Also, two things jump right out at you as you drive the golf cart around. First, it is extremely dusty here as very few roads are paved. Secondly, very few of the black women will even acknowledge you when you speak or wave to them. I still haven't figured that one out yet but I can only guess that the rich Americans who live lavish lives here don't contribute to the local economy at all and the blacks do not appreciate it at all.
Like I said, the main street, Bay Street is very nicely done up with brightly coloured houses and two exclusive yachting marinas.
The narrow streets, so common in this area make the use of large cars or trucks impossible.
As a result, golf carts appear to be the norm and everyone owns at least one.
This afternoon we discovered a huge beach famous for its PINK sand. This beach rivals a few that we've seen in our travels over the years.
We spent time swimming and playing in the sea before going for a walk on the very powdery sand followed by lunch at the Coral Sands Hotel which overlooked the beach.
The view of the beach was fantastic from our vantage point.
As beautiful as this beach is, there were very few people on it. Overlooking the beach were many exclusive homes.
Back in Dunmore Town we passed the local straw market down by the government wharf....
... the local "Piggly Wiggly" food store ....
....and the local "All Ages School" .... the kids in the uniforms at right were shoveling dirt into the wheel barrow for some unknown reason to us.
The rooster was the local version of the school bell ... "cock a doodle doo"!!
This foundation for one of the houses was very unusual. The roots of the tree had grown along the wall and appeared to be supporting it now.
Back on the beach it was time for a walk and time to cool off. It's amazing how you don't realize just how pretty things can be and we take them for granted ... and I mean the beach!!
After a little cooling off, it was back to the dusty roads....
... and past the large estates ....
... to the waterfront .... Oops! Who took all the water?
And back down to our boat so that we could enjoy another one of these ....
Tomorrow, we depart the Eleuthera and the Exuma Cays for the last time and head north across the Northeast Providence Channel for a distance of some sixty nautical miles until we arrive in our new cruising grounds ... Great Abaco Island and "The Abacos" as the chain of islands is known.
We'll be spending April in such places as Marsh Harbour, Green Turle Cay, Man-o-War Cay, and Hope Town before rounding Grand Bahama Island to Freeport and Port Lucaya where we'll rest for a few days before heading back to the USA and beginning our long journey home to Nova Scotia.
We will never forget the good times we've had, the great beaches and scenery, the cruising friends we've made or the fantastic Bahamian people we've had the pleasure of meeting so far.
No comments:
Post a Comment