Allan Cay, Exumas

Allen Cay, Exumas

More needs to be said about Highbourn Cay, it is the first inhabited island in the Exumas, it sports a high-end marina that charges for everything but the air that you breathe ($4.00 for a five minute shower, $10.00 to dispose of a small bag of garbage, 40 cents a gallon for water, etc.) 

It was late afternoon when we arrived and we needed to get the dolphin cleaned.  To do that we had to get the dolphin to the end of the dock on the other side of the marina where there was a fish cleaning station.  Luckily a local gentleman offered to clean the fish for us, we in turn, offered half of the fish to him as it was more than we could store and eat.  As we walked over to the cleaning station I was impressed to see that the local denizens of the islands, the local nurse sharks, were queued up and ready to be fed.  The nurse sharks are deemed “harmless,”  “toothless” but is this environment, we have seen over and over again, how they are the local answer to food garbage disposal and they appear to have adapted to this opportunistic feeding; the are analogous to our sea gulls in what they consume.   Given their size, two to six (plus) feet, and my observation of their lightening fast snatching-vacuuming ability, I would not be inclined to want to jump in and give them a belly-rub.  Of course, interspersed with the nurse sharks was a lemon shark that does have those razor sharp teeth that give sharks their bad rap.

                                                

A dingy trip from Highbourn Cay brought us to Allen’s Cay, a unique, protected reserve island that is home to a colony of the Endangered Exumas iguanas.  The attractive lizards can live to 80 years, grow to several feet long and can weigh up to 24 pounds, they eat the scrub vegetation that grows on the island. 

We landed the dingy on the beautiful white sand beach where there the welcoming committee of 30-40 assorted sized iguanas appeared to be waiting to see what treats we brought.  There are prohibitions against feeding the lizards, but most visitors to the island bring iguana kibble so of course we did also.   The stealthy populace quickly consumed the contents of our bag of celery, scallion tops and lettuce.  Kneeling in the sand with my arm outstretched, several bold beasts quickly grabbed tidbits from my hand; one managed to leap completely off the ground to secure a piece of celery (and the skin from his finger) that Kurt held.  How wonderful that this colony of Endangered iguanas is protected from all but the occasional visitor bearing treats.