We got moving early on May 7th. We were up anyways due to the Noseeum Nightmare, and made our way to Warderick Wells.

It was another dead calm day, so once again, we felt like we were motoring through the world’s largest swimming pool.

We entered the southern boundary of the Exuma Cays Land and Sea Park and continued on to an anchorage area to the west of Emerald Rock (or is it Cay?, I can’t remember), near Warderick Wells.

Waderick Wells is home to the Headquarters of the Exuma Cays Land and Sea Park. Here’s a excerpt from the Park’s website:

Established in 1958, Exuma Park is one of 25 National Parks and Protected Areas managed by the Bahamas National Trust. Unique in the world, the Trust is believed to be the only non-profit, non-governmental agency mandated with management of a nationwide system of parks and protected areas. In 1986, The Bahamas National Trust established Exuma Park as a complete NO TAKE ZONE and marine protected area, the first in the wider Caribbean.

We went snorkeling shortly after getting settled – here’s some of what we saw…

Then we did some floatin’ around in the gigantic pool…

Then enjoyed the sunset – how could we not (even the picture isn’t bad).

The breeze picked up (thank goodness!). After getting munched the night before, we decided to sleep on the deck to avoid the noseeums still lurking in the boat. We brought cushions, our pillows and a blanket up to the bow, and set up the laptop on the forward hatch and watched an episode of Downton Abbey (Edith got jilted at the altar!) under the stars. It was a clear night with no new noseeum bites.

The next day we moved to the Exuma Cays Land and Sea Park North Mooring field where we were assigned mooring ball #C16 ($15/night).

Phill tried out the kite cam again (the wind being back, and all).

We went to the park office, paid the mooring fees, read some of the park literature and rented a DVD for $2. We couldn’t get it to play that night, so we just watched another Downton then went to bed early – we planned to get up early the next day to hike the trails on Warderick Wells.

So we were up early as planned the next morning and made our way to the Headquarters Dinghy Dock.

Here’s some of what we saw on our hike – fortunately for us it was a cloudy day, and not too hot. Perfect day for a hike.

We did the Boo Boo Hill trail first, so named because the wind through the cliffs on the windward side sounds like ghosts wailing – or there are actual ghosts from a wrecked ship haunting the hill. Hard to say.

We didn’t hear any ghosts while we were up there, but we had a nice view of the storm in the distance. We could hear the thunder and see the lightning.

All along the trail could be found evidence of the Bahamas Hutia (Geocapromys ingrahami), which was believed to be extinct until 1966 when it was rediscovered in East Plana Cay (which I remember passing on our way to Mayaguana). Once common throughout the Bahamas, the hutia was hunted for its meat, and its population was decimatd by the dogs and cats brought to the islands by early settlers.

Hutia from the East Plana population were transplanted to some of the cays of the Exumas in the 70’s and 80’s (Warderick Wells being one of them), and if the poop is any indication, it appears that they’re making a comeback.

We crossed Banshee Creek, and needed to take our shoes off…

There’s a pile of driftwood at the top of Boo Boo Hill, the one exception to the Park’s strict no-dumping rule. Cruisers have been leaving driftwood momentos of their visits for years, and the pile has become quite vast.

We left Boo Boo Hill and explored a few more of the trails…

And saw lots more hutia poop, but no hutias yet. I didn’t really think we would see one, as they’re nocturnal, but I still hoped and listened for their rustling in the brush.

I made a brief detour to Butterfly Beach…

And got a few shots of some local critters.

And some plants…

And then I saw one! A hutia! It scurried into the hollow of a rock. I had to get down on my belly to get this picture, but here it is…

We went back to the boat, hungry and tired from all the hiking, so we had lunch and a short nap. Shortly after, our neighbour moored on C#17 next door brought over a loaf of his homemade cinnamon and raisin bread. We invited him aboard and had a nice visit. As he was leaving he invited us over for sundowners with him and his wife, Ruth.

We went over at 6 and had a nice visit over rum & gingers on their beautiful sailboat. John had just celebrated his 80th birthday, which we could hardly believe (he is a very young octogenarian). They gave us some great advice about cruising and life in general (which we might include in a future “relationship” post) – they’ve circumnavigated the world and just a few weeks ago completed a circumnavigation of South America!

We reluctantly said goodnight to our new friends and went back to the boat. We left the next day, May 10th, bound for Hawksbill Cay.

We picked up a hitchhiker on the way out of Warderick…

But he left before we were too far from Warderick Wells.

I’ll tell you about Hawksbill, and our our favourite stop yet – Norman’s Cay – later.