A day on the Exumas

Today was the true highlight of the holiday - the long-awaited and postponed powerboat trip out to the Exuma Cays - some 40 miles distant from New Providence Island.  We had a really early start this morning, finished our packing and breakfasted on the leftovers in the fridge.  I checked us out of our apartment at 8 a.m. and had all our luggage safely stowed away in Harborside's security room.  We then set off for Paradise Island Ferry Terminal to join the powerboat to take us out to Ship Channel Cay and also Allen's Cay.  We set off on time at 9.30 a.m. and motored under the Paradise Island Bridge of 1969 and out to the western tip of Paradise Island from where we powered up and started to zoom out into the ocean at full throttle.  The wind blew hard in our faces as we motored along until suddenly the boat stopped - engine problems - a clip for the coolant hose had come adrift and there was danger of the engine overheating so for 30 minutes we continued on our way at a slow 10 knots or so until, finally, it was fixed and we were on our way again.  First stop Allen's Cay to feed the iguanas.  The sun was baking hot on our back but the cays were extraordinarily beautiful - a real picture from the front cover of a travel brochure - azure seas, white coral beaches and green vegetation.  After a twenty minute stop we then powered along the cays (Miami Vice style with the theme tune played loudly over the sound system) until we pulled into Ship Channel Cay where we were greeted by a friend of Trish's - Mona who looked after us during our stay on this private island.  Here we enjoyed snorkling over the reef, shark feeding and were also able, ourselves, to feed the giant stingrays.  We enjoyed an excellent lunch of sneak, grouper, green beans and spaghetti.  Beers and cocktails were "on tap" and it would have been quite easy to get roaring drunk.  I explored the island a little which seemed to be covered with lizards. Our time on the island was all too short but it did give us an opportunity of enjoying a taste of the out islands and a slower and simpler way of life.  Back at Paradise Island, we changed and then after an ice cream in the Marina Village, before being taken by a Lincoln limousine to the airport for our flight back to London.  The end of another fantastic week in the Bahamas.