March 26, 2015
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March 26, 2015
Thursday: Norman’s Cay
Jack and Evie gave us a tour of “The Pond” at Normans Cay. Normans is shaped somewhat like a shepherds crook. The Pond is in the crook part of the cay. It is possible to anchor here but the entrance can be tricky because of shallow waters. It offers great protection in a hurricane. Any vessel with a draft of more than 3′ should enter through the Exuma Sound, clear the outlying cays, and find the small deep water cut. We were glad to be going to The Pond in our dinghy and even then we had to look for water deep enough to get across.
At the entrance of the pond on the western side are three caves that would be fund to explore and off the northwestern tip are several small caves. One of these has several rooms. It is said the Carlos Lehder used these caves to stash both money and drugs. Jack took us up to a small gap in the mangroves where we tied up, got out and walked up the hill to a dirt road. We were passed almost immediately by two vehicles. It was a shock to see real automobiles on this remote island.
There are a few dilapidated homes which despite their state of disrepair have spectacular views of the Exuma Sound. Window were broken and boarded up. A lone matchbox car sat on an outside table as if a child got up for a moment but never returned to collect the toy. We walked along the rocky beaches to another home which had steps leading down to the beach. We went up the steps carefully avoiding the missing steps to yet another once lovely home that had succumbed to neglect and harsh winds and salt. Walking down the driveway to the road, we crossed to the pond side of the road to discover a new home with a solar panel garden and a garage in which the two vehicles we had seen were safely tucked.
On the top of the hill is a large home in the middle of construction. Of course, it called us to come take a look. The bones of the house indicate that it will be beautiful –we all hope that it will not be another tragic Bahamian construction project that goes unfinished. From here, we did discover Carlos’ old home. By this time, we were all telling crazy stories about murder and crime and what it must have been like during the seventies and eighties when this calm little island was a patrolled by Lehder’s guards in helicopters and in jeeps with vicious dogs.
Joy