Our Last Day - Exumas, Bahamas

Usually when my husband and I take a vacation, we come back always saying we need a vacation just to relax from our vacation.  However this time, we decided to take the time and RELAX!  And that's exactly what we did on our last day in the Exumas.  So this post is going to be short and sweet as our day pretty much went like this. . .

Woke Up, had another amazing meal prepared by chef (breakfast), set up our lounge chairs, read a little, walked the beach, took a swim, played with the owners dog (who for some reason loved chewing on my husband's toes,) napped, packed our bags, went to dinner, played with a crab that walked into the restaurant (and basically into his funeral as the cook snatched this guy right up to turn him into a meal), and called it a night.  Today was all about much needed r & r.  I think for the first time in 6 years we actually came home rested and rejuvenated instead of exhausted and worn out.  This trip was everything we hoped for and truly look forward to coming back.

Thank you Chef, Claire, & all the staff at the Exumas Palms for an amazing time!

Hint for Country # 3. . . Beer, Chocolate, & Smurfs

 

Day 3 - Exumas, Bahamas (Stocking Island)

Today we decided to do a little exploring.  Chef's girlfriend was heading into Georgetown (the capital of Great Exuma) and offered to give us a ride. 

Georgetown is extremely small, just a few restaurants, bank, grocery store, a couple shops, and some houses.  After stopping by the grocery store to pick up a few snacks and drinks for the day we headed to the docks to catch the water taxi over to Stocking Island. 



Water Taxi

Stocking island is a gem.  The water taxi drops you off in a small cove that is home to quite a few houseboats.  You follow a small path past the beach bar, and onto one of the most amazing beaches I've ever seen.  We grabbed a few chairs, threw down our towels, and jumped right into the glistening waters.  We were told by several locals to come here to see sting rays, so off on the hunt we went.

After swimming around a little, we headed back to the shallow waters, and wouldn't you know, a huge, friendly sting ray appeared. 

It was 10:00 in the morning, and the local conch shack just opened.  As the young boy was making his first conch of the morning, I asked him if I could have the discarded parts to feed the sting ray.  I learned how to actually feed these unique creatures at Sea World, and thought I would try my knowledge with this large fella.  So I sat in the water, and as he swam towards me placed the food between my fingers and laid my hand flat on the ocean floor.  It didn't take long for him to come over and devour it.  This guy would not leave my side at this point, and would swim up in my lap just like a puppy.  Now this was an amazing experience.  Soon the other tourists saw what we were doing and decided to join in.  After awhile we had three sting rays, all playing with us.  I could have stayed here all day. 

My husband and I decoded to take a walk around the beach.  Every corner we turned was just another more gorgeous beach then the last.  When we reached one spot, we donned our snorkel gear and went exploring.  There was nothing but small reef after small reef.  The corals were gorgeous, completely untouched.  At one point we actually found a what seemed to be a memorial next to the corals.  After swimming around, we headed back to play with the sting rays some more. 

Once back to our beach chairs, we broke out our snacks, bought two Kalik beers from the beach bar, and just relaxed.  We had a couple more hours until the last water taxi would pick us up and take us back to Georgetown, and I honestly couldn't care less if he never came back, but as the saying goes "All Good Things Must Come To an End."

Next on our agenda was food.  We were starving.  As we were walking through the streets of Georgetown, looking like the lost tourists we were, a car stopped.  It was the waitress from the Exuma Palms Hotel we were staying at.  We asked her where she recommended we have dinner, and without hesitation told us to get in her car she would take us (the people here are so friendly).  We  ended up at a small restaurant that is known quite well by the locals.  The food was great (especially the pea soup) and the service even better.  The only thing we haven't figured out at this point was how we were going to get back to our hotel.  Sophie (the owner of the restaurant) called her cousin, and that was it. 

We made it back to the hotel, shared our adventure with Chef and some other patrons, and called it a night.