The cab was waiting for us at 6 AM and we headed to Marsh Harbour airport. Clear sailing through security and into the waiting area. We had a quick flight back to Nassau and had to go through security again there.

While waiting in Nassau airport, we had a lovely omelette served with a little side salad. We bought a couple more things for the kids. John bought me a necklace and earring set (starfish) for my birthday present…like this trip wasn’t enough! Then the duty free…did you know that there is such a thing as Junkanoo Gin? AND it has a pretty label! John didn’t want to get anything because he didn’t want to carry it, especially with a long layover in Toronto. But, Bill and Sarah got a bottle…more to this story, as it turns out!

Uneventful flight to Toronto, and uneventful for us through customs and security. When you buy duty free, the alcohol needs to be completely sealed in the bag and the receipt needs to be there too.  I know that, you know that, but apparently the worker in Nassau airport duty free did not know that.  The bag that the Junkanoo Gin was in, was not properly sealed, so Bill and Sarah had to re-route through the airport and in the end had to check another bag to put the duty free in.  It took them a grand total of 90 minutes, and (according to Billy who hates to walk, about a hundred miles). While John and I were enjoying drinks and appetizers at Fionn McCools with a sweet waitress, but they made it after a while! At least we had 7 hours to kill!

It turned out we got home about an hour late and got a couple of hours of sleep before reality hit!

Interesting facts:

• Left-hand driving with the driver on the left side of the car, because most of their cars come from the US.
• There is no recycling – everything goes in the garbage.
• The dead trees everywhere were pines. They were not killed by the hurricane but by the salt water. You can see the regrowth of the pine forests as you drive around the islands. Many areas looked like forest fires had ripped through.
• Ian’s Lunenburg friends had significantly more success fishing than when Bill and John went. They caught 4 fish and they looked pretty big…and they didn’t even have us there to help cook or help eat them!
• There seemed to be a million roosters in Elbow Cay. We could hear them from everywhere when up in the lighthouse.
• We found Junkanoo Gin at the airport – a nice bottle.  Bill and Sarah bought a bottle.
• In Treasure Cay, the electricity was not restored until a year and a half after Dorian!
• Animals and sea creatures we saw: Yellow-crowned night heron, geckos, sand dollars, starfish, dolphins, lobster, fish (several kinds), pigs, roosters and chickens, Conch, snails, Hermit crab, sting rays, and sea turtles.
• We didn’t see any sharks, but at least one saw us!
• Our cab driver told us about evacuating to the church in the eye of the hurricane (they had information from a battery radio to let them know approximately how much time they had to get evacuated). They had a Suburban with about 5 people in it and people were coming from everywhere onto the road. He said everyone knew him and they were crying out, Mr. Albert, don’t leave us here! He said by the time they got to the church he had about 20 people in the vehicle and it had taken about an hour to drive the 5-minute drive to the church. The church roof had caved in but there was a back section on the church that wasn’t damaged. There were about 200 people there when they arrived and more came after to this small section of the church – this was a designated safe evacuation spot for them.

On a lighter note, for those wanting the all-important recipes:

Junkanoo

Pineapple Juice
Orange Juice
Lime Juice
Grenadine
Rum
Ice

Whackadoo

Gin or vodka
Ice
Pineapple and/or Orange Juice
Lime Juice
Grenadine
Tonic water and/or 7up

For both beverages, amounts may vary and there are never two alike…just like snowflakes!

We want to extend a huge thank you to Ian! Not only did he take us on his boat several times, but he had everything scouted out for us, helped us with our itinerary and where to stay, gave us food from the boat, AND was tour guide extraordinaire! We truly appreciate the opportunity he gave us.

Thanks for sharing our adventure! See you next time!