This morning we got going kind of early, partly because there was a knocking sound that woke us up. At first we thought it was housekeeping, but it seemed to be something else in the building, like they were repairing something. Our goal for the day was to explore South Bimini, so I only brought my phone and Niko, and I wore sensible walking shoes. After breakfast we took a free golf cart (kind of scary!) to the spot where all the taxis congregate, and right away a Catholic woman named Julie with a rosary hanging from the rear view mirror of her very comfortable van asked where we would like to go. She brought us to the port for the ferry that goes to the other island, and this was the furthest south we had been on the island. All this time we have been in Bailey Town, but this morning we drove through Alice Town. Here are some photos.
The ferry goes back and forth on a two-minute passage all day long. Here are some photos from when we were waiting at the port.
This is the much larger ferry that carries vehicles between the two islands.
The airport is somewhere on South Bimini, so a ton of people were on the ferry coming from the south island. Hardly any of us were going from north to south. It costs $8 per person per passage, but it is well worth the price. Travalon didn't get a photo of the whole ferry, but here I am on it.
And here is South Bimini!
This is looking back across the channel at North Bimini, where most of the action is.
Apparently the price of the taxi is included with the ferry ride, but we kept tipping Andrew the taxi driver because he took us all over. Our first stop was the supposedly real Fountain of Youth.
We drank the water and are still alive... and still old. Our next stop was a nature walk. The beach there was stunning, and then you go into a sort of jungle.
These are the ruins of the Conch House, built in the 1920's by a famous Australian swimmer whose name I have already forgotten.
There were explanatory signs on the Nature Walk.
No explanation of what looks like a well. Maybe part of the Conch House?
This is a conch shell. It's pronounced Konk and not like how it's spelled.
Coconuts just ready to fall on the head of some unsuspecting passerby.
Gumbo limbo trees are sometimes called Tourist Trees because the bark is red and peeling like a tourist's skin.
I noticed a bunch of hermit crabs... and then right above them was a sign talking about hermit crabs.
Another gumbo limbo tree.
When we came out from the Nature Trail, we were right by a resort. Here is their infinity pool.
Here is their harbour area. (Travalon insisted I spell it with a u, because it used to be a British territory.)
The harbour opens into the ocean.
There was a restaurant right by the infinity pool... but it was closed today. We had to walk halfway around the resort and then up a flight of stairs to find an open restaurant, the Petite Conch, but it was worth it. We had delicious conch fritters and conch chowder and tons of water, and Travalon also had wings (and I had one of his wings). Then we called Andrew the Taxi Driver and went back to the port to take the ferry back over to North Bimini. We saw a great blue heron and a couple of egrets as we were waiting.
This is a sandbar with a lot of birds and a small boat on it.
The color of the water is so spectacular here.
Back on North Bimini, we called Julie to come give us a ride to the Public Market, where we bought T-shirts, and then she took us to Radio Beach on the west side of the island.
This is a bar on Radio Beach.
Once we returned to the hotel, we went down to the infinity pool. It has a bar, but that seems to close by early afternoon. Nobody else was around, and the pool was cold at first, but I started swimming and then it felt great. It is a very long pool that goes all along the side of the hotel, and I swam 22 pool lengths according to my FitBit. We lounged by the side of the pool for a while, showered, and then we sat on our balcony enjoying the night. We saw all kinds of interesting lights, like this boat lit up red.
Eventually we went to the casino restaurant for dinner, only now that a big cruise ship has left, the restaurant is closed and you have to eat at the bar, and the menu is limited. I will say that it has been hard to eat a lot of plant matter on this island (I don't know what the natives do), although we did have bananas at lunch. But our dinner of grilled cheese sandwiches with lobster on Bimini bread (whatever that is, it's amazing!) was absolutely delicious, and the mango mojito I had for dessert was perfect. Mango and lime and mint and rum? Yes, please! It tasted like a tropical sunset. Travalon stayed at the casino to gamble away a whopping $20, while I came back to the room to blog. The Bahamian bartender made Travalon a coffee martini thing and then the native drink, the Goombay Smash, which has three kinds of rum in it. Luckily he still found his way back to the room.
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