Conception, Rum and Who Names These Islands, Anyways?

Actually, it may have been Christopher Columbus who named a couple of them!


Sometime, as we sail, we see Dolphin. On this particular day, as we sailed from Salt Pond to Conception, we were joined by a pair that came to hang out and play awhile. They followed us for about a half hour, just racing past us, circling back, rolling, and flipping their tales to say "hey!". They'll go sideways to get a good glimpse, even. (Another shameless commercial for how cool it is out here...)


















Conception Island is a National Park, and all the flora, fauna, and fish and fowl are protected. It was a nice place to anchor, and dive- lots of live coral- Elkhorn, Staghorn, and some huge heads Brain coral. No pun intended. There were 6 or 8 other boats there, which felt quite crowded compared to our next stop.
Flamingo Point, on Rum Cay was totally deserted. Just us and Kaleo.
It was a "quite uncomfortable" spot- a lot of surge in the anchorage meant we rolled around (like on a carnival ride...remember the tilt-a-whirl?)- but the trade-off was pristine beaches, good fish for spearing, and tons and tons of shells. So Christie and I wandered the beaches looking for treasure while Ted hunted for a different kind of treasure. (Dinner.) Sometimes Matt goes with Ted, sometimes he comes with us. He'd rather go with Ted. We understand.


There's a cave here, in an out-of-the-way location, (right on the beach- no roads leading there) that dates back to the ancient Lucayan Indian times. We almost swamped our dinghy getting in, but it was worth it! It's full of bat guano (wish I'd worn shoes!)- but, once inside, you can see the carvings on the walls depicting the sun, and symbols that probably told a story once upon a time.



































This is what life looks like in Port Nelson, the only settlement on Rum Cay... I'm sitting on the porch of the Batelco office (Bahamas Telephone Company). You can sit under the tower, and get WiFi. The guy sitting next to me was scrolling through music videos, so at least we had some tunes going.
It's getting warmer during the days here, but still a nice breeze at night and in the early morning. We're swimming more, and Ted's been able to spear some good dinners.




(And to teach our friend, Matt, how to use his Hawaian Sling!). Grouper, Trigger Fish, Lobster (but that season's over now), Snappers... no Mahi Mahi yet- but at home June's the season for them- so maybe the case here, too. We'll just have to wait and see, I guess.



















Today we're heading to another remote spot (As soon as we get our groceries, and finish this blog post!). We'll be out of technology range for a few days, as we venture towards the Jumentos.
Our goal is to be back in Salt Pond (Long Island) by Easter. After that, it's George Town, and heading North...homeward bound.