When Pigs Fly . . . or SWIM! 02/0713

We’re still in the Staniel Cay area and enjoying weather about as perfect as it gets along with perfectly crystal clear water and amazing surroundings.  The boats in the anchorage change every day.  This is apparently quite a cruising destination spot. 

The anchorage is protected from almost any weather with the exception of a westerly – but there are few westerly protection spots in the Exuma chain as a whole.  The area is one of the more striking we’ve seen to date with beautiful vistas just about everywhere you look. 

Staniel Cay is a nice little town with more services than are found elsewhere including fuel and water, several restaurants, quite a few rental cottages and a significant population of “imports” from the US and other countries.  The prices are something that take some getting used to – the avocado that I got so excited about seeing in the store today stayed on the shelf after I learned the $5.75 price tag!  Our $20 bag included a pound of carrots, 2 plantains, 1 apple, 2 pears and a head of lettuce.  I’m finally learning to cook for 2 instead of making big batches of everything!

Our friends aboard Pegasus and Java decided to stay an extra day so we enjoyed their company yesterday, taking a long beach hike in the morning and visiting the Thunderball Grotto in the afternoon.  The grotto is our favorite experience to date.  It’s accessed at slack tide and is entered through a couple of low lying spots in an imposing looking rock/small island.  When you snorkel in you find a hollow cave with a high “ceiling” and the most amazing light from every direction.  We loved feeding the fish and hung around until we were too cold to stay any longer!

We finished the day with a beach BBQ and a rousing game of “golf”, a new favorite card game we’re sure to play for years to come.  Of course, since I won that round I’m that much MORE enthusiastic to play again!  We compared notes of our upcoming destinations and made plans to reconnect in the Abacos in the end of March.

Our friends pulled out of the anchorage this morning early and Rob and I headed to town to take advantage of the “mail boat” arriving with groceries for the stores, thus making my expensive bag of goodies possible.  We’ve had a nice day and look forward to more friends arriving tomorrow.

We’re anchored just off the pig beach and watch them all day swimming out to get goodies from anyone passing by.  Really – swimming pigs!  And underwater caves!  I find it amazing to look on the sparkling water, the passing stingrays and sharks, the glorious rainbows with just about every sprinkle, the spectacular sunsets and sunrises and think this is my new normal!  Someone pinch me!