Saturday May 7:  Green Turtle Cay

     We spent Saturday morning showering up at Treasure Cay and using their internet.  The wifi from the marina didn’t reach the boat, and didn’t even reach their outdoor bar where there was shade and a plug for the computer, but fortunately the nearby coffee place - Junkanoo Java - had free wifi for the asking.  We took care of business and then headed out of the harbor, leaving behind the Disneyland of the Abacos.  On the way out we met a young Canadian couple on La Milville, who trailed us to Green Turtle Cay.

     After the fancy atmosphere of Treasure Cay, Green Turtle Cay was a welcome site.  The town New Plymouth is similar to Man o’ War;  it’s a charming, happy place that caters to cruisers as much as it provides for its own people.  The buildings in town look like a small harbor settlement in New England except in color.  On a little wharf we saw tents and a stage set up: we just happened to arrive on the last day of their Island Roots Festival.  

     At first we thought we’d go to the festival tomorrow, as it was after four and we were ready to settle back with a drink and dinner.  However, we eavesdropped on the conversation going on between La Millville and their marina guide who helped them find their mooring, and learned that this evening there would be a Junkanoo and the festival would end at midnight.  So we had an early dinner and got into the dinghy to go ashore.

     We did not bring the camera!!  We didn’t even have our cell phones with us.  The way to town involves a long dinghy ride out of our anchorage at Black Sound, around the point, and into the town harbor to the town dock.  When we have such a long dinghy ride, we usually don’t bring much with us as it means carrying a backpack or at least a dry bag.  We regretted this decision as soon as we got ashore.

      The town itself is very crowded together, with narrow, cement-walled alleyways winding every which way around the small buildings.  Many of the houses have white picket fences around their yards, some of them have Southern-style wrap around porches on their second stories.  Like Man o’ War, the streets are made more for golf carts than cars.  Tourists and townspeople alike were making steady progress toward the wharf with the tents and tables and we fell in with them.  Everyone was friendly, happy, and excited.

      After paying a small entrance fee to the festival, we went into the first tent which held displays by the grade school students about the island’s history.  Pirates, buccaneers, shipwrecking, and rum-running were proudly defined and explained in posters and drawings.  We were impressed with the attention to spelling and sentence structure. (I’ve seen lots of grade school posters where these things were obviously not part of the lesson plan.)  This island, like many others in this part of the Bahamas, was first occupied by natives called Lucayans, who died out soon after Columbus discovered this place.  Then it was populated by British Loyalists fleeing the Carolinas, who brought along their own slaves and found much of the land inhospitable to their way of life.  Many people who stuck it out in Green Turtle turned to pirating and shipwrecking, and some enjoyed brief careers as profiteers during the American Civil War.  

     While we were soaking in the history, we heard drumming and music.  The Junkanoo was here.  A Junkanoo is a street parade with costumes, dancing and music.  We have heard the term throughout our stay here - there are many festivals advertising a Junkanoo, the most famous of which is on Boxing Day, the day after Christmas.  Here the kids had donned elaborate, colorful costumes with large, plumed head-dresses and masks and were dancing along in a parade to the music provided by a small brass section and many hand-beat drums.  Walton Cooper, my friend from the laundromat in Rock Sound had told me a Junkanoo has its roots in Africa, and that it must be “experienced”, not just viewed.  The pictures here are provided by Sylvain on La Milville,  and by Gail and Mark on C-Soul.  

     We stayed until after sunset, checking out the local crafts for sale, and Dan purchased a small pineapple pie to take back to the boat.  He said “How could I not? With a name like pineapple pie?”  The sunset was spectacular, by the way (sorry, no picture!) but we suspect it was so colorful because we close to the pollution provided by Florida.