The Bahamas has been on our radar for some time and with the tickets being relatively cheap during the holiday period compared to our other choices we decided to take our chance and visit two of the many possible islands. We are flying overnight on Blue Air to Fort Lauderdale where we have a 3 hour layover before the short hop to the Bahamas. The flight to Fort Lauderdale is uneventful and on time so we have time to actually get some free breakfast on our brand new Priority Pass benefit. Unfortunately while the choices are good we get the wrong omelette which is a bit of a bummer.
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| Restaurant food - paid by Priority Pass | Gave us the wrong omelette though |
Arriving at midday on the day before Christmas on New Providence Island we are not sure what is open and what is closed but we decide to try our luck at one of the National Parks that we will have no other chance to visit - the Retreat - which is the gem of the Bahamas NP system at least on New Providence Island. We get there around 1PM after renting the car and wresting with the holiday traffic and are quite happy that the gate is open - so the park must be open, right? Actually no, just as we exit the car the caretaker approaches us to tell us that they just closed it and he intends to leave so we should also leave. We tell him our story (only chance to see the park - can we at least have half an hour?) and he relents and even gives us directions to the best trail to take in the limited amount of time.
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| The Retreat NP - main building | Trail through park |
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| Intersections are usually marked with arrows | Looking up - yes we are in the Caribbean |
The park is well known for its collection of palms but we are quite interested also in the birds that supposedly are in abundance here. However at the start we are a bit disappointed, no birds but at least the trail is nice and there are really some rare palms in the collection as far as we can tell.
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| The NP is famous for its palm collection | To avoid - poison wood |
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| An open area | Buddha lost in the forest |
And then we see a flash of color in the trees and follow the bird around for a good photo opportunity. It is a beautiful Western Spindalis male with the female nearby both eating busily red berries from their selected tree. Of course we have to be careful of sinkholes, there are quite a few of them here (and also across both islands that we intend to visit).
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| Western Spindalis - male | Female - much less colorful but eating the same berries |
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| Sinkhole in park | Small pond |
That initial view of the Western Spindalis seems to turn our luck around as now the sightings appear fast with some beautiful new birds for our life list like the red legged thrush, the white crowned pigeon (which we searched for unsuccessfully two months earlier in Florida) and even an introduced Caribbean dove. However soon our time is up so we go back to the caretaker express our thanks for his generosity and move on to a souvenir shop on the way that supposedly has cuban grassquits another introduced rarity. After parking with difficulty we find the birds easily and then visit the store (which is surprisingly open).
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| Red legged thrush | White-crowned pigeon |
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| Caribbean dove | Cuban Grassquit |
From here we continue to the hotel where we hope we can check in early (officialy it is 16PM!!), the traffic is quite slow and bumper to bumper through the downtown area but we do not mind as we are not really in a hurry. Also we have to get used on driving on the left side on a car built to be driven on the right side, it is the first time we are doing this but given the traffic there are no possible issues really as we do not intend to pass anyone (or could if we even wanted to).
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| Rush hour traffic in Nassau | Keep left in a car not built for that... |
The hotel makes a good impression of letting us check in (takes our info makes us fill forms) and then tells us that there are no rooms till 16...Given this we have no choice but to leave the car in the hotel parking lot and explore the Nassau downtown area close to the hotel. We decide to start towards another attraction that we think might be closed on other days, the Watling distillery. Walking through the area is quite a different experience compared to driving through it as we have time to enjoy the churches and buildings along the way.
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| Our hotel but we cannot check in yet | Impressive church nearby |
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| And a close by old looking cemetery | Snail on wall |
And the trash unfortunately, we are surprised at the amount of trash on the streets sometimes it just feels that people have given up on finding a trash receptacle or on using them. However that is all forgotten when we arrive at the distillery on what it feels is the top of a hill and we find the entrance based on the ATV traffic that is happening - it seems that it is a popular cruise ship activity to use an ATV to explore Nassau.
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| Trash is quite common | Finally found the way to the Watling Distillery |
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| We are in the right place... | ....for certain |
The Watling Distillery is surprisingly colorful with the houses painted in bright yellow and reds for some beautiful contrasts. We are also able to avoid the official tour and explore leisurely the complex while seeming on our sample pina coladas which is quite nice and enjoyable.
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| Main building | Colorful warehouses |
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| Main production area | There is all the produced rum...yummy |
From here we continue towards the Graycliff Hotel which our next major planned stop on our tour of downtown Nassau. On the way we have to stop however many times to enjoy the houses along the way which can be quite beautiful nu matter whether they are lived in or not (and there are many of those also).
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| Houses on the way are quite interesting | Not all are lived in |
As we get closer to the hotel we pass the National Art Gallery housed in a grand historic mansion. We toy with the idea to enter or not but given time limitations we decide to stick with our original plan which is to visit the National Heritage Museum inside Graycliff Hotel so on we go.
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| National Art Gallery from the side | Interesting artwork |
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| Building from the main entrance | Not actual shutters - still interesting |
The hotel has quite a few of properties spread on both sides of a narrow street. We start with the chocolatier where we buy our breakfast in the form of a few chocolates given that we are not sure what will be open on Christmas day. After visiting a few more shops/buildings we then finally enter the Heritage Museum.
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| Soooo....colorful | Narrow street near Graycliff Hotel |
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| Graycliff has many different areas to explore | All of them are colorful |
Even though it is owned by the hotel (or so we think) the museum has a decent collection of artifacts starting with pre-European times continuing through Spanish and English periods to current times.
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| Exhibit about traditional hunting | And more modern |
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| Scary Spanish armor | Treasure trunk |
A large section of the museum is dedicated to examining the implications of slavery and its effect on the black population, both free and slaves. It is sobering to see the tokens that slaves had to carry off plantations to not be considered fugitives and other artifacts from that area.
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| Not where you wanted to end up | Kitchen utensils |
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| Slave fishing license | Really bad advertising |
A smaller but less somber section is the one dedicated to pirates and treasures. Yes there were pirates and there were(are?) a lot of treasures scattered around The Bahamas. And then after a short section dedicated to modern times we are out again continuing towards downtown proper.
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| Pirate section of museum | Treasure trove - more or less |
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| Old shop section | Period dresses |
Soon we pass Government House, the official residence of the Governor General and then descend towards the imposing and stern Anglican Cathedral to arrive in downtown proper.
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| Interesting abandoned house | Mockingbird in bougainvillea |
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| Government house | Anglican Cathedral |
Along our walk we are quite impressed by the street art, it is quite colorful and vibrant and many houses actually are painted similarly. That includes the pinkish pirate museum and the Pompey Museum, a museum focused on slavery and emancipation.
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| Street art | Pirates museum front |
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| Downtown Nassau building | Pompey Museum |
Our goal and turnaround point for the walk is the Straw Market were the majority of souvenirs are sold as it is quite close to the cruise port. We walk around for some time however many stalls are closed and the ones open do not have anything interesting so back we go on a shorter route.
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| Main street in Nassau | Straw Market |
This time we decide to take the promenade for a while to count the cruise ships in port and to watch the gulls for a while before continuing past impressive buildings towards our hotel.
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| Cruise ships are still in port | Gulls in wait |
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| Another impressive building on the way | Nice advertising sign |
As the hotel is right on Junkanoo Beach we take the opportunity to visit it before returning to the hotel, most shacks are closed but the one open does quite a brisk business or so it seems.
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| Arriving at Junkanoo Beach | It is Christmas after all |
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| Everything is very colorful | Mushrooms in the middle of the city |
In fact it is more popular than we expected as we learn later after checking in. At that time we decide to descend for dinner at the hotel restaurant where we notice that most people are actually eating food from the beach shack and not bought at the restaurant. We however decide to buy a couple sandwiches from the bar + get our two free drinks before returning to the room for the night.
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| Finally our hotel room | With a bath |
In the morning we have some time to take a look from our mini balcony to the pool below while eating the chocolate breakfast (chocolate bunnies - yay!) we bought the day before. As we check out the hotel on all sides we notice than in a way the downtown area ends with it as the next lot is empty with feral dogs running around like crazy chasing their shadows.
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| Hotel interior yard with pool | Nearby lot is empty |
Today we have a plane later in the afternoon to Andros so we have to check out from the hotel in the morning. Luckily we can still use the parking lot so we leave all our luggage in the trunk and on we go to explore the other direction from the hotel passing first Junkanoo Beach which today is more full especially near the downtown area and then continuing on the promenade enjoying the cool sea air and the sound of the waves.
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| Junkanoo Beach | More quiet part of the beach |
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| Promenade | View over the water |
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| Dockyards in the distance | There is some trash near the beach |
Our goal in this direction is Fort Charlotte which as every self respecting fort sits on top of a hill so we have to leave the seashore and climb up towards it while keeping an eye out for the white crowned pigeons which seem to be more common here than we expected.
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| Girl scout building | White-crowned pigeon watching us |
At the top we are invited into the ticket office that we initially think is the fort proper as it is quite impressive but no - we are shown the actual fort is further up on the hill. To recuperate we buy a local lemonade drink and then refreshed we start on our way up towards the actual fort.
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| Fort Charlotte entrance | Impressive ticket office |
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| Still a way to go | First glimpse of the fort |
On the way we enjoy the beautiful views of the seaside and commercial port while also scanning the area for birds with some luck as we find a beautiful prairie warbler and a kestrel keeping a wary eye on us.
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| Port area | Commercial area |
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| Beautiful prairie warbler | And a kestrel nearby - quite dangerous |
At the entrance we are surprised that there is no ticket person or any caretaker, we can just enter into the fortress and soon we are confronted by a decision point - should we go left or right? We decide neither :) - down looks quite more interesting.
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| Christmas party? | Entrance to fort - left or right? |
And down it is on the narrow staircase into the labyrinth of tunnels that previously housed the gunpowder, safely from enemy fire but not so much from humidity as we learn from the very informative panels. As we wonder around we find another staircase up that takes us to the left side of the fortress and so our initial conondrum is solved - left side it is first.
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| We choose down! | Which way? |
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| Exhibit in the tunnels | Going up |
In fact both sides have similar sights, gun emplacements overlooking the surrounding area and especially the port area and some great views of the surrounding area. Surprisingly we are the only people in the whole fort for the majority of the time which makes for leisurely experience and we can take in the best views and take our time with exploring the area.
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| Cannon protecting the fort | Quite a few of them actually |
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| Great views over the cruise ship port | Overall view of the fort |
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| Closed off area of fort | West side view |
From Charlotte fort it is time to return towards the downtown area of Nassau to visit a few attractions that we couldn't the previous day. One of them is a hotel where James Bond movies were filmed that we pass through (no movies filmed today) and take a few photos off. Then we continue towards the Parliament Square and its pink governmental buildings including the pink Supreme Court (fun!).
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| Famous hotel on the way | Straw market |
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| Pink is very popular | Even for the Supreme Court |
We continue on towards our destination, Fort Fincastle and Queen's Staircase, passing multiple closed museums (it is Christmas Day after all) and some other interesting colorful buildings along the way. We try to avoid the main downtown street as it is getting closed off for the junkanoo festival making walking sometimes dangerous as you have to enter the traffic.
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| Governmental building | Colorful museum |
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| Downtown is preparing for the junkanoo festival | Historical Museum - closed |
And then we arrive at the Queen's Staircase likely to most famous sight in Nassau. It certainly feels that way given the number of tourists that seem to congregate in the area making it quite difficult to enjoy the area in peace or even take a single photo. We climb to the top relatively fast in the end and decide to take our chances with Fort Fincastle which is nearby - the staircase was built ultimately to serve the fort.
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| Getting close to Queen's staircase | Anole along the way |
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| Going up... | ...and looking down |
The fort is quite impressive looking and also a major tourist attraction as most tourists are funneled here through the Queen's staircase. There are stands selling trinkets and souvenirs and also the obligatory coconut drinks purveyor - it is very popular with the cruise ship visitors it seems.
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| Fort Fincastle | Impressive walls |
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| The Watertower | Preparing the coconuts |
And then we look at the time and notice it is time to return to the hotel to pick up our car to return to the airport. We find a gas station easily near the airport and then the car rental return area with a bit more difficulty. Then we have a moment of panic as we notice that the car rental counter is closed (they didn't tell us that the day before) but we ask around and luckily there is a key drop box that we can use - phew.
We are three hours early at the airport and for once it is worth it. First we eat at the only open eatery in the terminal, Wendy's - don't judge :), and then we notice that the check in counter for our flight is open so we go to check in. When we receive the tickets we notice that the flight is one hour earlier than we knew but we assume it is a mistake. After passing security we enter the lounge and relax a bit before suddenly we are told that our plane is leaving - it is really leaving more than one hour early - two people are missing in the end from it likely because they never made it in time.
It is quite a short flight to Andros only 15 min but now we have to somehow find our rental car which obviously is not here given that we are one hour early. We call the rental agency which is quite surprised that we are early and promise that they will be at the airport soon, which in the end means exactly that one hour we gained so we have quite some time to watch the parking lot in front of the small terminal.
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| Waiting in the lounge for our flight | First view of Andros |
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| Looking for our rental car | Gas station in the distance |
After picking up our car and convincing ourselves that the gas station is closed (so no water or food can be bought for today) it is time to drive south on the only major road on the island towards our accomodation. Obviously we do not plan to simply drive through but to stop a few times to walk and watch for birds. And quite soon we notice a bird that we really wanted to see - smooth-billed anis lounging on the wires near the highway. We can actually safely stop on the highway and take photos as during the one hour drive down we saw only one other car - the streets are empty (it is Christmas after all).
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| Pine forests everywhere | Empty road |
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| Happy turkey vulture | Smooth billed ani on the wires |
We find the accomodation easy enough as we have marked the location from home and have also asked the host regarding how to find it but otherwise it might have been quite difficult. Even so we don't know where the host is and which our cabin is so we text him and he exits the room right in front of us :). After showing us the nice two bedroom cabin we are free to enjoy the small beach and the beautiful sunset before returning to the room.
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| Which one is our lodging? | Probably this one |
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| Cabin from the beach side | What a view! |
Luckily we are prepared for dinner with some pasta brought in from Phoenix which was a great idea. We also have water from Nassau that made the journey as a check in luggage and so we can eat a "homemade" dinner while preparing our plans for the next day. After dinner we watch TV for a while but then tiredly we go to sleep as the next day will be a full day on the island where we plan to explore quite a bit.
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| One of two bedroom | Local handicraft |
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| Kitchen | Our Christmas dinner |
In the morning we wake up relatively early to watch the beautiful sunrise over the ocean while watching a shorebird investigating the shoreline. It is quite a windy morning also with the waves crashing sometimes hard against the shore with spray touching the beachfront houses.
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| Andros sunrise | Only shorebird we saw |
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| On "our" beach in the morning | Tide is really coming in |
Our car is barely safe also it seems that the tide is in and the water is almost at the tires so we promptly move it out of harm's way before walking to the nearby restaurant to understand if breakfast is possible - the answer is not it is the day post Christmas but they will open in the evening. Therefore we return to our cabin and eat from our resources before starting on a northward exploration of the island.
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| Not really safe in the parking lot:) | Road next to the cabin |
Our first stop is relatively close where we know that a hiking trail is supposed to exist. Even so we park a bit further away from the right road as we confuse which road is which but the area is a fortuitous find as it has a small pond with a limpkin who really doesn't care about us watching it while he goes around doing his business (which is to clean himself mostly).
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| Main (and only) paved road | Is this natural or man-mande? |
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| Every stop has a lot of trash it seems | Limpkins do not care about it |
We then start on the correct road looking for any signs of trail starting point. We are not sure how it's marked (even if it is), it is a case we hope of if we see it we will know it. However even the the logging road we are walkin on is quite interesting with chanterelles (we dare not eat them unfortunately) on the ground and birds flitting everywhere. It is however quite difficult to see any of the birds only a gnatcatcher is visible for some time (even though likely he thinks he is hidden :)).
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| Side road to Maidenhair Coppice trail | Sea Grape on the side of the road |
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| Blue-gray gnatcatcher watching us | Caribbean chanterelle |
The trail is actually marked with orange trail markers which is good as otherwise we would have gotten lost probably in the first five minutes. And then likely fallen into a sinkhole, we haven't seen these many sinkholes since...ever. They are everywhere with the trail snaking through them for what seems a long distance even though our GPS stubbornly informs us we are just 100-200 ft from the road.
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| This the actual trail | Sinkholes are quite common |
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| Some are scenic | Some are really close to the trail so you have to be careful |
Here we have time to stop and watch the plants and wildlife all along us. There are many many different airplants growing on seemingly every tree and we even see some birds including a spindalis and a woodpecker.
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| Delicate airplant | This one is huge |
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| Western Spindalis female | Hairy woodpecker |
Continuing along the trail we are impressed by the termite mounds along the way, they are almost human height which is a bit scary. But we forget about all the scariness when we notice our first Thick billed vireo followed closely by the first Cuban Pewee, both being quite unwary of us which as we learn is not unusual for them.
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| Termite mound | Hairy hexagonia fungi |
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| Thick billed vireo | Cuban Pewee |
And then almost suddenly we return back to the main road after passing a small lake and a "wild" papaya tree.
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| Small pond near the trail | Papaya tree |
Returning to the car is quite adventurous also with the birds seemingly deciding that we are not dangerous and appearing literally sometimes out of the woodworks. We see our first black faced grassquit (female), more than a few palm warblers and even one more red legged thrush, a bird that we think is quite beautiful.
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| Back on the larger trail to the parking lot | Palm warbler |
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| Black faced grassquit | Red-legged thrush |
Next stop is at the airport and the all important gas station. We have to buy gas in advance as we are almost certain we won't be able to buy it when we return the car at 6 in the morning. And because we are already here we enter also the small shop and get some water and soft drinks for the rest of our stay.
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| Back at the airport to buy gas | Parking lot is always full |
And then it is on - our drive to the end of the world or at least the road. We are quite surprised regarding how fast the road goes bad after we pass the airport with potholes, ruts and other interesting technical driving challenges making us doubt the decision to finish the drive a few times. But we persist and finally we see the light at the end of the road - the entrance sign for Red Bay a formerly secluded community of Black Seminole refugees from Florida.
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| Red Bay - end of road | Road is really really bad |
Actually the road ends right at the western seashore of Andros, the only point where you can reach the western seashore by car. The views and atmosphere here are idyllic as you can watch the blue ocean for miles, almost postcard perfect.
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| Beautiful views at the end of civilization | Lots of conch shells |
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| Very peaceful looking | Ocean view |
Outside of two fishermen in the distance the area seems to be quite deserted even though at one point it was developed including a restroom, which has long since functioning by its look and the parking place and pier where we are parked. Right now the area besides fishing seems to be used mostly for conch and sponge finding that likely are sold then to tourists.
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| Small lake | Sponges are collected here |
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| Toilet not in use anymore (we assume) | View into the forest |
Given the seclusion of the area and proximity to water we expect to find at least a few interesting birds and the area doesn't disappoint with our first Yellow bellied Sapsucker which seems to be a resident given the number of holes in the trees nearby. We also see a few Cuban Pewees and our first male Black-faced Grassquit, cool!
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| Who did this?!? | A yellow bellied Sapsucker |
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| Cuban Pewee | Black faced Grassquit |
Now it is time to return towards the main road but not before stopping in Red Bay and buying some handmade souvenirs made from palm fronds for which the area is famous. And then after suffering again through all the potholes we arrive at Morgan Bluff Beach which is surprisingly quiet - we are the only people around. We decide to explore around especially the part towards the port which has some good views of ships being loaded.
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| Not a lot of vendors today | Morgan's Bluff Beach - we assume |
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| View in the other direction | Ship waiting to be loaded |
What we find quite interesting are the apparent impact from hurricane Dorian or another major storm - a beached ship there, some car tires on the beach here. Quite interesting and terrifying really - we are glad that we are not here during hurricane season.
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| Is this one wrecked? | End of the the beach and channel out of port |
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| From a hurricane? | Quite beautiful |
Obviously there are some nice areas with shells but not as much as we expected, mostly conch and we find even a few bottles here and there stranded from who knows where.
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| Lots of conch shells | And bottles |
The next attraction is relatively close by, Morgan's Cave where it is rumored that Morgan's Pirate treasure was buried (or a similar cave, who knows?). We are lucky that the cave is well marked from the main road and soon we start our search for the main entrance. However we are distracted for a while by the multitude of birds in the trees near the entrance, from parulas to grassquits.
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| Parking at Morgan's Cave | At least there is a sign |
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| Northern Parula | Black faced Grassquit |
After finishing our impromptu birdwatching session we descend to the main entrance which is quite beautiful with tree roots entering from multiple holes in the ceiling. We explore it for some time but we decide not to exit through the back exit as it is way too low and we would have to crawl and we are not prepared for that.
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| Cave entrance | Inside the cave |
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| Forest leaves | Official exit from the cave |
Now it is time to drive back towards our accomodation but we have a few more stops planned along the way. The first is close to the airport (again we are in the area of the airport) at Uncle Charlie's Blue Hole. We had seen the entrance when driving north but now it is time to stop and park our car before starting the short hike towards the blue hole. The hike is along a level road through the pine forest which unfortunately especially at the beginning is trashed but becomes more pristine towards the blue hole.
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| Entrance to Uncle Charlie's Blue Hole | Trail/road flat and scenic |
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| Some trash along the way | Where did they catch them?! |
The blue hole is of medium size, easy to walk around, with a few picnic tables and a rope ladder lowered in so you can exit if you decide to take a bath. We sit down for a while and enjoy the quiet until a car comes up the road with other visitors which is when we decide to return to our own car.
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| Blue hole | Exit from the blue hole |
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| No one inside today | Picnic table |
From the blue hole we continue south as fast as we can as the sunlight as fading fast and we still want to make a couple more stops. The first one is at the Atala forest trail which is somehow similar to the Maidenhair Trail earlier - it starts from a forest road and you have to know where it is. This time we do not have time to search for the start as it is quite dark already and we do not really hope to see any Atala butterflies. However to our surprise as we inspect the flowers along the road we actually find one butterfly - mission accomplished we can say.
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| Last stop - Atala forest trail | We even saw an Atala! |
Last stop for today is right after the Stafford Creek bridge, a small parking area that we noticed when driving north. It is in our mind the perfect place to stop to see the rest of the sunset while watching the river for any birds and wildlife. While we do not see any live wildlife on the shore there are a lot of conch shells remains and even something that looks like a pig/boar head....weird.
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| Violet sunset | And then it is orange - cool |
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| Conch shells everywhere | That looks....scary |
Soon afterwards we have to leave as we are in a hurry to reach the accomodation as the host has invited us to the nearby restaurant with his family and other guests for a Christmas dinner. We arrive a bit late (we are the last ones it seems) and have a nice dinner discussing The Bahamas, the state of the roads, what we should visit the next day and so on. The food is also reasonably good and filled we are ready to retire for the night as we have one more full day planned on Andros Island.
in the morning we wake up early similarly to the previous day so we can see the sunrise however it is not as glorious as the previous day due to the clouds that are gathering at the horizon, we really hope that it won't rain today. We can't stay that much outside due to the overfriendly neighborhood dog who jumps on us on every occasion he can get and if we are outside sitting it seems like a bonanza to him so soon we retreat back inside to prepare for breakfast. Today we are actually eating at the same restaurant where we have gotten dinner the previous day which is within walking distance - it takes unfortunately a long time to get the food even though we are almost the only customers and then to our surprise one of the dishes is onion based - our fault I guess for not having asked first.
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| Another sunrise on Andros | Enjoying the morning by the ocean |
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| The waaay too friendly dog | The restaurant next to our accomodation |
Given that we are not sure whether it is going to rain or not we decide to start with the areas where we have to hike while the weather is still good. Therefore we drive a short distance north where we know the Rainbow Blue Hole trail starts and on we go. This is likely the best marked trail from the ones that we tried, it is easy to follow and even has the descriptive signs on some of the plants and trees.
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| Start of Rainbow Blue Hole Trail | It is done as a nature trail - nice |
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| Trail can be rocky | Passing sinkholes |
Along the way we keep an eye out for any unusual wildlife and spot our first dragonflies in The Bahamas as well as quite a few Western Spindalis, there are more of them than we expected :).
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| Five finger plant | Western Spindalis |
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| Great Pondhawk | Band-winged dragonlet |
Arriving at the Blue Hole we are surprised at how big it is, it would probably take at least one hour to walk around it. We sit on the shore for a while watching the endemic Gambusia fish in the water and even noticing a Least grebe passing on the far side. Interestingly this is the one bird that was specifically mentioned in our brochure that it will be there - it is likely the first time ever that a brochure aligned with the reality :).
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| Arriving at the blue hole | Gambusia fish |
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| Very large blue hole | Least grebe enjoying the solitude |
We take our time on the return trip just to ensure we don't wall on the sharp rocks and our attention is rewarded by our first view of a Greater Antillean Bullfinch watching us from the trees. Unfortunately it also starts to drizzle which makes the going a bit more difficult as now the rocks are also slick but we make it back to the car ok just as the drizzle stops.
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| Returning to the car | Greater Antillean Bullfinch |
Undeterred we continue to our next planned stop, the most famous of the blue holes, Captain's Bill Blue Hole. It is part of the Blue Holes National Park and in our information it says that the road to it can be quite bad and should not be attempted after heavy rains. Hmmm....But then the day before at dinner our host almost laughed when we asked if we can make it there and said of course and we learn now why - the road is completely paved and in perfect condition! We stop at a gate a few hundred feet from the blue hole in a well maintained parking lot and then continue on foot on the well maintained road/trail.
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| End of road to Captain's Bill Blue Hole | Trail starts here |
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| It is part of the Blue Holes National Park | Anole along the trail |
The blue hole again is quite big and it is more developed than the Rainbow Blue Hole with a jumping-in point, wooden stairs up from the water and even a small enclosed pool. As we are the only people here we sit down and enjoy the area a bit until we finally decide to explore a bit more as it might start to rain again.
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| Huge blue hole | You can jump into it |
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| Stairs down to it | With a roped off area even |
We start exploring a few trails but then it starts to drizzle again and back to the car we go. And then the rain stops again as we approach the car so we explore the woods a bit more and find our first Cuban Emerald hummingbird right next to us, quite fun.
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| Trail around the lake | Picnic area |
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| Cuban Pewee | Cuban Emerald |
Now it is time to go south towards the beach. And torrential rain as we soon find out. It rains so hard that we can barely see where we are driving, we are lucky there isn't any significant traffic. Given this at an intersection where the GPS is leading us one way we decide to go the other one which looks shorter...and leads us into a military base...ooopppsss. Back into the rain and the other way we go and as we approach the beach suddenly the rain stops and when we arrive at the beach it is even sunny a bit, gotta love the caribbean weather. Still we decide to change to swimsuits, if it rains again we can pretend that we are just swimming on land and then we start exploring the beach and the tidepools as there are quite a few of them even though they do not really have any interesting fish in them.
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| Somerset Beach | Tide is out |
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| Lots of coral bits on the shore | Conch on the beach |
However we find a starfish which is quite cool, watch hermit crabs scurrying back and forth and watch the royal terns and ospreys doing flybys, all while walking down the seemingly unending beach.
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| Royal Tern flying over the ocean | Starfish |
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| Unending beach | Crab trying to make his way across the beach |
While it is sunny here we know it has to be raining nearby a view that is cemented by the beautiful rainbow we see over the water. Luckily the rain is avoiding us for now so we can explore to our hearts leisure before deciding to return to the car and continue on.
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| Looks sunny | Beautiful rainbow - so it is raining in the distance |
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| Canyon looking walls | Plants near the shore |
Next stop is the Ambrosia factory which in our guidebook is hyped as being the largest employer on the island so we expect something huge, of course we forgot the size of the population. In fact after arriving we assume that it has closed but then we notice the sales shop so we enter that one and buy an authentic Ambrosia batik as a souvenir before continuing on.
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| Androsia Batik factory | Factory shop |
Now we return back towards our lodging as we plan the explore the area around what is likely the most famous resort on Andros, the Small Hope Bay Lodge. Even the short road to the lodge is adventurous as we discover a colorful mangrove crab eyeing us suspiciously from the mangrove forest before scurrying into its hidey hole.
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| Mangrove forest | Mangrove crab displaying proudly |
At the lodge we explore the beach which is surprisingly deserted and walk towards the cape/end of the peninsula from where we actually have a few of our own lodging and the restaurant that we have eaten both today and yesterday.
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| Another beautiful beach | Most easily accessed from the resort |
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| End of beach | Our accomodation and the restaurant are over the water |
The last walk of the day is on a nearby road which is also set up as a nature trail that leads to a secluded lagoon. It is a nice view and would be a great spot for a sunset view but the sun is lost in the clouds so we give up and return to the car.
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| One last trail for the day | These plants are very colorful if you look on the back |
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| Boat ready to go | Mangroves are everywhere |
in the evening we eat again from our provisions as this is the last day on Andros and tomorrow we will return to the civilization where we hope we can find more restaurant or grocery shops as needed. After dinner it is time to go to sleep as we are quite tired and we also have a very early flight the next day.
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| Sunset at our accomodation | One last look in the falling daylight |
Today we have a flight at 7AM from the airport which is one hour away so we have to leave quite early to arrive earlier and hopefully be able to return the car before leaving as we still need to receive our $100 deposit back. On the way we are a bit scared that the plane might not even leave as it is windy, rainy and foggy. At the airport we feel a bit better as this time the small airport is a hive of activity which means at least the flight hasn't been cancelled yet. Ee try to determine how to check in - ultimately we find that the computer doesn't work so we receive a piece of handwritten paper with our seat assignment and then wait for the car rental people to show up - half hour before the flight is supposed to leave and they still aren't here. We call them and soon they arrive and with the handover done and the deposit back in our pocket we walk to the plane for the 15 min flight back to New Providence island.
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| Waiting at the airport | Boarding in Andros |
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| Arriving on New Providence Island | Luckily it was not raining when we disembarked |
Obviously it is way too early to check in at our accomodation so we have an exploration of the western side of the island planned until 4PM when we can finally check in. But first things first - we buy breakfast from the airport Wendy's (only place open again) and then try to find some area nearby that we can eat it. Our first try on a powerline road doesn't appeal too much - it is too muddy at the entrance to enter with the car and also there is no actual parking place we could park on the side of the busy road and eat but it doesn't sound like fun. Still on our short exploration we see a group of palm warblers and a gulf frittilary butterfly so it was worth it (but now we are really really hungry).
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| Short hike near the airport | The usual trash pile |
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| Palm warbler | Gulf Fritillary |
In the end we decide to drive to the Primeval Forest National Park as we decide it must have some kind of facilities and we are right, it has a secluded parking area where we eat our breakfast while listening to the birds singing. And then of course we have to enter the park we just hope it won't rain as the weather forecast doesn't look too promising.
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| Lake along the way | Our (un)healthy breakfast |
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| Time to enter the National Park | Official entrance |
Our hopes our mostly in vain as it starts to rain sometimes hard sometimes just a drizzle almost as soon as we enter the trails. We take our rain ponchos out and try to enjoy the park as much as we can. This park was created to protect the greatest concentration of sinkholes on the island and it is surprising how many there can be concentrated in such a small area - we pass one almost every minute and some of them can be quite deep (and deadly if you were to fall inside).
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| Trail through the preserve | Lots of greenery |
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| Famous for sinkholes | Quite a few of them |
The trail is very well done sometimes descending into sinkholes or side canyons for better looks and includes some very informative descriptive signs. The one we enjoy the most is the one under a rock overhang describing lots of fossils in a rock layer because we can stay in a dry place while doing something that engages our brain ;).
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| Going down the usual way | Or the stylish way |
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| Interesting formations | Maidenhair fern |
Towards the end the rain starts to abate and the birds start to come out and we can see the usual white crowned pigeons and cuban pewees but also a couple new species for us on The Bahamas, an American Redstart and a Cape May Warbler.
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| Glad we don't have to walk off trail | Inside a sinkhole |
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| American Redstart | Cape May Warbler |
As the weather seems to stabilize we drive to our next goal for the day, Jaws Beach, where supposedly parts of the Jaws: The Revenge movie were filmed. We prepare in the parking lot for both rain and sun before starting our exploration of the area.
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| Jaws Beach first view | Looks better from here |
The beach is situated between the sea and an inland lake and we start by exploring the inland lake. While at some point the lake was developed with boardwalks and overlooks most of them are closed now so we have to catch glimpses from between the reeds.
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| Not accesible | This one is closed also |
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| Finally got to the water | White Peacock |
We then continue on for some time along the beach looking for fish and crabs in the tidepools and enjoying the walk. The most interesting thing we find are a multitude of Fat Sea Biscuits, they really are everywhere mostly hidden but a few are more visible and they are quite fun to look at.
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| Quiet part of the beach | Lots of tidal pools and crevices for fish to hide |
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| Beaugregory | Fat Sea Biscuit |
Our last stop planned for the day is at The Caves. We found about it more by accident and we are curious on whether it exists and whether we can even park near it. We shouldn't have worried, there is ample parking and it easy enough to find. It also has an older person who just waits in front of it tells you it is free to visit and then proceeds to give you a tour of the caves more or less by force so you then feel obligated to leave a tip. No matter what the Caves are interesting and split in two areas with one being previously inhabited by the pre-Colonial people who leaved here. It also has bats so not all is lost :).
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| The Caves | Quite colorful |
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| Looking up - sinkhole | Looking up - bats |
We are quite hungry by this time, it is 2PM, so we find a nearby local restaurant and buy some grilled shrimp and pork which come in a completely different presentation than we expected. But the food is good and we are happy we found a place to sit so we enjoy our time before we finally have to leave to try to find our accomodation.
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| Eating at a local bar/restaurant | This is what grilled means |
Between all the accomodations on Bahamas we were most afraid on whether we are going to be able to find this one. And well - we were both right and wrong. We did find it but we didn't know as there is no obvious office and we are in a residential area where tens of young people sit outside on cars which makes us consider whether it is actually safe. We call the office and they don't answer so while one of us is searching for any living person in the complex the other one is already searching for alternative accomodations (unfortunately not many choices). And then someone is found and we get our room which actually is quite good even though it is placed near a path where people are moving back and forth all night. In the end we adapt and even enjoy our stay while our hosts are quite welcoming even gifting us some donuts that they made for Christmas and then providing recommendations on where to eat the next day.
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| Room for the night | Shells and glass |
Today is the last full day in The Bahamas and we start our day with a very unhealthy breakfast (basically the cookies/donuts we received from the host the day before) before driving to the south side of the island for our first stop the Bonefish Pond NP.
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| Our breakfast | Accomodation in the morning |
Bonefish NP is quite large but only one area has been developed for tourists and that one may be difficult to find so we are prepared from home with directions which make it an easy find. It has a large parking area with restrooms from which a long boardwalk expands over the marshlands for quite a distance. We walk on it for some time enjoying the views however unfortunately there are no birds for some reason only a few fish and dragonflies.
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| Bonefish Pond NP - start of trail | It becomes a boardwalk |
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| Quite impressive | With access to water |
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| Walking through the mangroves | Only fish that we saw |
Next we want to find the Hobby Horse Lake trail which is near the Baha Mar Resort. We know it was developed when the Resort was built and we can see the overlooks from the trail however it is not clear where to park, we first try the resort and that parking is quite far so we decide on trying to find a different one. And we find one at one end of the trail, quite small but there is still one place for us so we park and start walking. And almost immediately we find one of the birds we really wanted to see, the endemic Bahamas Woodstar hummingbird.
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| Baha Mar Hotel | Trail to Hobby Horse Lake overlook |
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| Mockingbird waiting to mock us | Bahamas Woodstar |
Soon we arrive at the first lake overlook that we noticed from home, it has some nice views but the ducks are quite far away from here, the only thing close by is a very fearless turtle.
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| View from the first overlook | This turtle was not scared of anything |
We proceed towards the second overlook but somehow it seems we see more birds between the overlooks with a nice view of a yellow throated warbler on the way.
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| That is an interesting place for a cacti to grow | Yellow throated warbler |
The second overlook provides as closer looks of the ducks even though they are still quite a ways away. At least a Least Grebe is more courageous and approaches us while a Belted Kingfisher fishes relatively close to us undisturbed and we can study the full hunt, the flight, the hover, the dive and then the flight back to the post with the fish in its beak.
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| Mix of birds in the distance | Least Grebe close up |
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| Belted kingfisher hunting | Got it |
At this point we are quite hungry so it is a great time to go to the restaurant that our hosts recommended. Instead of breakfast we do lunch instead with some good food even though it took a bit for it to be prepared.
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| Our lunch place | Lizard near the entrance |
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| Clam chowder | A little bit of everything |
For the rest of the day we have only one thing planned, a boat ride to Paradise Island and then exploring the island until the last boat back to New Providence late afternoon. Finding the ferry is much more difficult than we expected as there are no signs, you just have to follow a person shouting "Boat to Paradise Island" to a boat which is not even moored to a regular dock which makes the descent to it a bit terrifying. But we make it and then on the way we are treated to a description of all the houses on Paradise Island that are visible and their history and their famous owners for which we have to give the guy a tip at the end.
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| Crazy expensive house on Paradise Island | Only way to see this (cheaply) is from the ferry |
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| Yoga retreat | Former Club Med exclusive resort |
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| The new exclusive resort | Disembarking from the ferry |
After we disembark we walk past the Atlantis mega-resort entrance to our main attraction, a small lake nestled between the resorts with lots of fish and a few ducks that are just getting wed when we arrive.
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| Lake of the turtles... | ....or fish? |
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| Overall view of lake | Relaxing on land |
Continuing to explore the island we find our dream home, a secluded retreat with lots of interesting birds, that unfortunately is needing repairs and even so is likely quite aways from our price range.
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| Abandoned house likely after a hurricane | American Redstart watching us |
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| White crowned pigeon eating clumsily | Is this what every bird is eating? |
The last major attraction for us on Paradise island are the Cloisters which have an interesting history. A millionaire paid to have a cloister brought in from France however they forgot to tag the stones so when it arrived they didn't know how to put it together. It sat unfinished for some time before an artist took on the job and over two years put together what can be seen now (no idea how accurate the reproduction is though).
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| Walkway near the Cloisters | Well maintained gardens |
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| The Cloisters | Moved stone by stone here from Europe |
And then it is back to the port which is more clear on this side to wait for the last boat to leave. We even have a bit of drama on the boat as one of the passengers is a cruise ship passenger who is desperately phoning the ship trying to stop it from leaving (I am just now running to the ship she says while we are still sailing towards the island and so on). It seems that the ship has waited in the end but we are not actually sure of the resolution. The sunset however as usual is amazing, it is our last sunset here, and then it is time to take the car back to the accomodation for our last night. In the morning we check out and drive to the airport were this time there are people at the car rental counter so we can return the car properly. Then we use the lounge until our plane leaves back to Phoenix through Fort Lauderdale. Overall it was a great trip and we are happy we braved it - we enjoyed Andros the most but New Providence also was quite interesting to visit.
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| Sunset from ferry port | Inside the ferry |
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| Beautiful sunset | Faster way of transportation |
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| Last cruise ship in port | Soooo many gulls |
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