All in the family
WELCOME BAHAMAS - GRAND BAHAMA - 2008
All in the family
Bahamian Out Islands offer new worlds to explore
Most of the world has heard of New Providence, home of Nassau and Paradise Island. And millions have taken in the glitz and glamour of Freeport an Lucaya on Grand Bahama. But few know much about the other islands in the archipelago, known as the Out Islands or the Family Islands.
Although these tropical isles have much in common, each lures theadventurous traveller with its own seductive charms. ere are some of the greater and lesser members of this family.
Abaco
British loyalists colonized the Abacos after the American Revolution, first establishing the settlement of Carleton near what is now the major commercial centre of Treasure Cay.
With n economy based on slavery and cotton, the population grew steadily from about 600 to more than 2,000, but then the crops failed due to soil depletion and insects. By the end of the 18th century only about 200 whites and 200 blacks managed to hang on. Tha ratio remains about the same today, so Abaco has considerably more white residents per capita than The Bahamas in general.
Those who remained turned to fishing, boatbuilding and wrecking-salvaging ships that foundered on the reefs. As a consequence, th early settlers all but stripped the island of hardwoods to construct their boats.
Many Abaconians opposed Bahamian independence in the early 1970s, preferring to split from The Bahamas and remain a British colony. Descendants of the original settlers tavelled to England to petition the Crown, to no avail.
Today the Abacos are thriving thanks to the islands' exceptional boating, fishing and scuba diving. A more recent development is The Abaco Club at Winding Bay, an exclusive enclave of waterfront resiences with a links-type golf course and a generous stretch of pristine beach.
Despite all that's new and glossy in the Abacos, the past remains alive in the surviving loyalist settlements. No wonder this island group ranks so high with tourists.
Acklins& Crooked Island
Acklins island is long, narrow and hilly, with numerous caves and bays along its western shores. A ferry links Acklins to Crooked Island. The islands enclose a shallow lagoon known as the Bight of Acklins, a popular cruising ground for shllow-draft vessels. The atoll also includes Long Cay, southwest of Crooked Island and Castle Island off the southern tip of Acklins.
Columbus is believed to have sailed down the leeward side of the islands through the narrow Crooked Island Passage, now a important trade route for ships moving between Europe and Central and South America.
The Bight of Acklins is more than 1,000 square miles of shallow water. This is one of the largest bonefish-flats in The Bahamas. Exploring this system of flats, creeks,channels and mangrove marls could take a lifetime.
Colonel Hill, on the northeastern end of the island, is said to be where the first post office in The Bahamas was located.
The hamlets of Acklins island carry descriptive names such as Rocky Point, Binacle Hill, Salina Point, Delectable Bay, Golden Grove, Goodwill, Hard Hill, Snug Corner, and Lovely Bay. Some Crooked Island sites have more ominous names, such as Gun Point and Cripple Hill.
Andros
Much of Andros, the largest island in the Bahamian chai, sprawls like a giant jigsaw puzzle on the ocean. It is a maze of inlets, creeks, bays, bights and mangroves surrounding the forested heartland. Much of the island is covered with softwood and hardwood forest, including large stands of lignum vitae, mahgany and horseflesh trees.
Three major bights-North, Middle and South-separate the main land masses of Andros with shallow flats that make this a heaven for bonefishers. Divers and snorkellers also flock here to explore the third largest barrier reef inthe world, located just offshore, and the cobalt depths of an underwater canyon known as the Tongue of the Ocean. The waters around Andros are pocked with blue holes where underwater caves link the ocean with freshwater creeks on shore.
Legend says that wo dangerous creatures inhabit Andros. One of them, the mythical lusca, supposedly drowns unwary divers and swimmers who venture into blue holes. The other is the chickcharnie, a birdlike, three-toed, red-eyed horror that brings woe to anyone who disturbsits nest.
An Androsian folk tale has it that Neville Chamberlain, before he became the Prime Minister of Great Britain, chopped down a chickcharnie tree. As a result his sisal plantation on Andros failed, causing his family to lose a fortune.
Andros ha had many inhabitants, from the Taino-Arawak Indians who migrated from South America to the slave-owning San Andreans, to British army veterans who settled there after the War of 1812, to Seminole Indians who fled here from Florida.
History records the iscovery of Andros in 1550 was by Spanish explorers who were searching for slave labour. They named it La Isla del Espiritu Santo, The Island of the Holy Spirit. By the 1780s the island was known as San Andreas, possibly because of those who came here fro St Andreas Island off the Mosquito Coast of Nicaragua.
Eventually, settlers took the name Andros for their island home, perhaps in honour of Sir Edmond Andros, the commander of British naval forces in Barbados in 1672, or from the Greek island of Andro.
The local economy saw little growth until Greek sponge fishermen arrived in the early 1900s. An area off the west coast of Andros known as The Mud produced 25 per cent of the world's sponges until 1939, when a fungus ruined the industry. Today, Androsis a major producer of vegetables.
The Fresh Creek area is famed for its Androsia batik factory, where hand-dyed fabrics have been produced since 1973.
Bimini
Despite Bimini's proximity to Florida it has retained much of its ambience, reminiscent of te 1950s. During fishing tournaments Alice Town jumps but the rest of the year the aroma of baked bread and the squawking of sea gulls provides most of the excitement.
Bimini consists of a group of tiny islands-North and South Bimini, Gun Cay, Cat Cay anda few other islets- about 50 miles east of Miami.
These islands define the northwestern fringe of the Great Bahama Bank, and lie along the eastern side of the fish-rich Gulf Stream. The shallow waters of the bank, protected by North and South Bimini, span mammoth schools of bonefish. The deep waters of the stream produce trophy tuna, wahoo and billfish.
Bimini has earned its colourful reputation. Spain's Juan Ponce de Leon sought the Fountain of Youth there in the early 1500s. Then he found Florida.
Bfore the era of lighthouses, Bimini was home to wreckers who plundered the ships that ran aground on nearby reefs. During American prohibition in the 1920s, Bimini was a wide-open speakeasy and the focal point of shipments of liquor to the US. Writers Zae Grey and Ernest Hemingway enjoyed and established Bimini's reputation as a game fishing locale.
Berry Islands
At the southern end of the Berry Island chain is Chub Cay, a well-known fishing resort and a port of entry with a full-service marina, airstrp, restaurant and visitor accommodations.
With only 15 square miles of land spread across 380 square miles of ocean along the northeastern rim of the Great Bahama Bank, the Berry Islands are a vacationer's paradise, with great fishing, yachting and divin opportunities.
At the northern end of the chain, which includes about 30 large cays and plenty of tiny ones, is the Great Stirrup Cay Lighthouse, (circa 1863) believed by some to house a ghost.
Great Harbour Cay is the largest island, with Bullock's Hrbour the chain's largest settlement. The island has a 4,000-foot airstrip, modern full-service marina, grocery store, gift shop, clinic, police station and a few restaurants.
Cat Island
Rolling hills, dense natural forest and unspoiled beaches are all prt of the verdant landscape of Cat Island, which has the highest point in The Bahamas. Mount Alvernia, with an elevation of 206 feet, gives visitors a 360-degree panorama of the surrounding land and sea.
Father Jerome, an Anglican missionary turned Cathlic priest, settled in 1939 to live out his final days as a recluse on Mount Alvernia where he built a hermitage. He also carved steps from solid rock by hand to represent the Stations of the Cross.
American loyalists who fled to Cat Island in the late 700s established a short-lived American-style plantation economy here. Ruins of great homes and slave houses can be found. Visitors can also find remnants of the first Bahamian railway, along with the ruin of a mansion built by Colonel Andrew Deveaux, whorecaptured Nassau from the Spaniards in 1783. Caves near Port Howe were once used by the Arawaks to survive hurricanes. Cat Islanders continue to farm using traditional slash and burn methods.
Cat Island is often referred to by other Bahamians as the lan of obeah-a Bahamian version of voodoo. Cat Islanders are said to be more superstitious than other islanders.
Other points of interest here are Tartar Bank, an underwater pinnacle located two and a half miles off Devil's Point on the south side of the iland, and Columbus Point at the southeast tip, both noted for nearby deep-sea fishing.
Residents take pride in producing the finest rake 'n scrape music in The Bahamas and they hold a lively festival dedicated to this music-making every year.
Eleuther
One hundred miles long and only two miles wide at the most, Eleuthera effortlessly keeps visitors near its famed pink sand beaches. The island is noted for its colonial-style homes and villages.
European society gained a foothold here in 1648 when a grup of dissident English Puritans, known as the Eleutherian Adventurers, sought religious freedom here. Although they gave the island its name, it didn't give the settlers much back. They suffered from shortages of food and internal strife. This split theminto separate communities located today at Governor's Harbour and Preacher's Cave.
Seeking help, the leader of the Eleutherians, Captain William Sayle, sailed to the American colonies, where he obtained supplies from the Massachusetts Bay colony.
Later the Eleutherians created another community on Harbour Island, at the northern end of Eleuthera, where they could more easily defend themselves against marauding Spanish ships.
The colony died out, but more than a century later, another wave of expatriaes arrived when American colonists-still loyal to the British crown-left the newly independent nation, bringing their slaves with them. They also brought their building skills, agricultural know-how and shipbuilding expertise, all of which became the prinipal influences in Eleutheran life.
To solidify their independence, the former loyalists, assisted by militia from South Carolina, took up arms in 1783 and forced the Spanish from the region-even from places as far away as Nassau and Bermuda-with no shot fired at all.
Today the languid pace and the casual sophistication of Eleutheran life, the vivid colours and the balmy climate give the island the feel of a grand illusion.
The Exumas
Situated in the middle of The Bahamas are the Exumas, a chain of moe than 365 cays spanning 150 miles of coral reefs and limestone and sandbar plateaus. These islands boast vibrant reefs, stunning beaches and exceptional anchorages in what was the Caribbean's first marine fishery reserve. It is now home to the 176-sq.-mie Exuma Cays Land & Sea Park, the world's first such area to be declared a national park. Most of the cays are uninhabited, and each has a topography and character all its own.
Highbourne Cay, the northernmost populated island, was used by the British tosettle slaves rescued from illegal traders between 1807 and 1838. Farther south are Norman's Cay, once the home of the infamous drug baron Carlos Lehder and his henchmen, and Staniel Cay, where you can snorkel into the spectacular Thunderball Grotto, a loation used in the James Bond movie Thunderball.
Toward the southern end of this necklace of cays are the two largest islands, Great Exuma and Little Exuma. George Town is the capital settlement on Great Exuma and the place where the annual Family Island egatta is held in late April each year. Elizabeth Harbour comes alive during this week-long event, which features Bahamian-built sloops from all over the country competing for prizes and pride.
Club Peace and Plenty in George Town took its name from th ship that brought the slaves of Lord John Rolle to Exuma in 1783. The British Crown granted Lord Rolle a large tract of land there to compensate him for the property he had lost in Florida during the American Revolution.
After the emancipation of these laves, most of them assumed the surname of their master. That's why you'll find so many families named Rolle and communities called Rolleville and Rolle Town.
A short boat ride south of George Town is Little Exuma, where you might visit William's Town ad its 200-year-old Cotton House. Because salt farming was once a big business here, you can also visit ancient salt ponds.
One of the smaller islands in the Exuma chain is Musha Cay, now owned by magician David Copperfield who swears he has found the fabed Fountain of Youth there.
Long Island
Long Island is often called the beauty of The Bahamas because of the alluring contrast between its dramatic, rocky shoreline on one side and its sandy beaches on the other. Loyalists migrated here from the US in th 1790s and prospered for a time on their new plantations. Dunmore House in Clarence Town was owned by the Earl of Dunmore until poor soil and insects killed off the plantation system of farming. Today's farmers employ the pothole method, planting in depresions in the rocks to grow their crops.
Clarence Town, the largest settlement on Long Island, features two of the largest churches outside Nassau, one Roman Catholic and the other Anglican, both of them built by Father Jerome. Six miles north of Clarenc Town at Deadman's Cay is a labyrinth of caves with stalagmites, stalactites and archaeological evidence Arawak Indians used them, supporting a theory that they were important as ceremonial sites.
Inagua
Great Inagua is the southernmost and the third-larest island of The Bahamas. Lake Windsor occupies almost one-quarter of the interior. Inagua National Park is the 287-square-mile home of the world's largest colony of West Indian flamingos. Almost extinct in the 1950s, they now number about 60,000.
Neary, the Morton Salt Company exports more than a million tons of crude salt per year. Despite Inagua's large size, the only settlement is Matthew Town and the population is less than 1,000.
Little Inagua lies five miles to the north. It covers 30 square mies and is inhabited only by herds of wild donkeys, goats and bird life.
Mayaguana
The least developed and visited, Mayaguana is the eastern-most island of The Bahamas. Mostly farmers, fishermen, children and seniors, all noted for their friendliness, poplate the main settlements of Betsy Bay, Pirates Well and Abraham's Bay.
The waters surrounding Mayaguana are rich in conch, fish and shipwrecks.
Mayaguana's lone airstrip is part of the former US missile tracking station. Some of the base buildings hav been renovated for storage use by ERGB, the acronym for Environmental Research Group Bahamas, Ltd. This company has built a Euro-style villa north of Abraham's Bay and has plans for a 60-room hotel to introduce Mayaguana to tourism.
Ragged Island
RaggedIsland is part of a 110-mile arc of islands that includes the Jumentos Cays stretching from the southern tip of Long Island down towards Cuba. Duncan Town, the only village on the island, has a population of about 80.
A thriving salt industry operated i the 1930s trading between Cuba and Haiti. In the 1950s the island fell victim to Hurricane Donna, which caused extensive damage. Then, 10 years later when Fidel Castro came to power in Cuba, the little trading which existed at the time came to a halt.
Rm Cay
Rum Cay, a small, sparsely populated island, is mainly flat but has a few rolling hills rising to about 130 feet. Christopher Columbus named the Island Santa Maria De La Conception.
The only settlement is Port Nelson, a picturesque village on the outh coast. A 5000-foot runway was opened in early 2004.
The wreck of the 101-gun man-of-war HMS Conqueror, built in Devon in 1855, which served in the Crimean War, lies in 30 feet of water off Rum Cay where it sank in 1861. It is the property of The Bahamas government, and none of the contents of the ship may be removed.
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