Little Whale Cay to Nassau to Allan’s Cay, Exuma Islands April 24

     We were up early, and passed out by Sister Rocks before turning south toward Nassau on New Providence Island.  It is the largest city in, and the capital of, The Bahamas.  We will return here when relatives visit in a few weeks.  The most convenient route from the Berry Islands to the Exuma Island chain includes a passage through the middle of the Nassau harbor, and thus we traveled.  After checking in by radio with Harbor Control, we traveled past massive cruise ships, hotels, large resorts, large inter-island mail/supply boats, and numerous marinas before exiting the eastern end of the island and turning south onto the Great Bahama bank to dodge coral heads on our way to the Exuma Islands.  In this part of the world, weather is everything, and almost as important is the ability to navigate depths by the colors of the water.  We are getting much better, with no painful lessons thus far.


Cruise Ships, Nassau Harbor

Nassau Harbor Entrance




Allan's Cay

Atlantis, Nassau



Bahamas Mail Boat

     After arrival at Allan’s Cay, north of Highborne Cay made popular in a novel by Jimmy Buffett, we anchored for a nice evening (a bit more “rolly” than ideal), and anticipated our trip ashore the next day to attempt to view the highlights of Allan’s Cay—Iguana iguana (yes, genus and species are the same).  We landed on a small beach on small Southwest Allan’s Cay, and wandered up into the vegetation.  Sure enough, we saw several quite large iguanas, some as close to us as 20 feet!  They can weigh up to 30 pounds, and live up to 80 years.  We moved slowly, and they seemed curious enough to watch.  I got some good photos, and we returned to the boat.  Later in the day, several “cigarette boat” full of tourists arrived from Nassau and went to a different cay in search of the same view!

Mama, Don't Let Your Babies...

...Grow Up To Be Cowboys

Iguana, Iguana