We spent several days here as we missed this area on the way south.  We took the dinghy to Guana Cay which has a nice beach.  There are a group of iguanas living here and they are very friendly.  Unlike iguanas we’ve seen in Florida, who flee as you get close, these fellows came right up to us.  They are protected by the Bahamian government and we were advised not to feed them.  Daisy didn’t go to this beach as they wouldn’t be good playmates.

We also went to a salt pond on Norman’s Pond Cay.  There is a small opening to a canal which the guide says you can enter at high tide.  We didn’t think that would work, so we waded up to the salt pond through the mangroves at low tide. 

Right next to the canal opening we saw a beach strewn with live conch.  It was low tide and they were so close to the shore that we could walk amongst them in water up to our ankles.  It almost didn’t seem fair, but we did find 12 (six are allowed for each boat) large enough to harvest which we took back to the beach, cleaned, and had that evening in a conch salad. Cleaning conch involves making a hole in one end of the shell with a hammer claw and then pulling the conch out.  They are like a snail inside their shell and hold on very, very tightly.  

We met some cruisers on a Lagoon 410 named Sabbaticus who were anchored by us.  The owners are Canadians....you guessed it....on a sabbatical.  Their son Connor is a sixth grader and lucky for him :-) I happened to have some of my assignments for 7th grade English saved on my computer which I gave to Deena, his mom.  “Boat Kids” have a great life and while they probably miss their friends, they make lots of new ones, as a surprising number of cruisers have children with them.  Imagine the experiences they have while traveling on a boat.  Of course they are home schooled, or more correctly boat schooled.  We enjoyed a lovely dinner with the crew of Sabbaticus aboard Ultra this evening.

Bud and Patti, who are Canadian teachers on their spring break were also aboard Sabbaticus.   I’ve had a number of discussions with Canadian teachers, including friends Vince and Linda from Fortnight.  Being an educator in Canada is quite different than in the United States.  They are very respected, highly paid, and getting into the profession requires top grades so teacher colleges attract the best in their fields.  Pay is comparable to what they would receive in other professional jobs, so those with the skills to teach are not tempted to go elsewhere in order to support their families as they do in some areas of the States.  Also, all schools in a province receive the same funding, unlike in the States where funding often depends on property taxes. The quality of schools varies greatly within a state, cities, and their suburbs.  More photos of Leaf Cay and Norman’s Pond Cay are here.