Crawfish Time!!

 Let the spearing begin :)

 

 August 1st is always a special day for Bahamians. It's the opening day of crawfish (lobster) season. We thoroughly enjoy this time of year and a chance to re-stock the freezer. Dallas was able to get 11 the other day with the crew he took out, but some of our relatives up in Abaco got over 200 we heard... that's insane! 

It never fails, a day out in the boat/spearing always results in an encounter with "Barry" (a barracuda). Apparently we were hanging in this one's territory the other day. We've found barracudas to be very territorial and super nosey. And in my book they aren't the prettiest creature in the sea to look at with their fang-like teeth...so I always keep one eye on them when I'm in the water with one. They are attracted to shiny objects and things like diamond rings and things that bling. I usually turn my rings around so that they are inside my palm when I'm swimming (especially if we've got a Barry around). I was a little nervous that my camera might attract some unwanted attention, so after I snapped a shot or two I swam with it out of the water above my head :) Dallas could tell by the way I was swimming that one was near by.

 Most the time when folks are coming on our camping trips in the Exuma Cays they ask us what to be worried about and what to keep a close eye out for. I usually warn them about barracudas and their little tendencies (mainly an issue if you're fishing), and then the long-spined sea urchins (see below). These guys can be incredibly painful (not poisonous) if you step on them. Most of the time you can see the bright black image from a little way off since the water is usually crystal clear. Obviously they aren't soft and inviting to pick up and play with, but it is best to not touch them and especially be careful not to step on one. They feed off the algae on the reefs and keep them nice and pretty. So it's nice to see them in abundance down here. 

 

 Our summer months are always our slowest season for tourism. The bigger areas like Nassau and Paradise Island seem to have lots of visitors still, but we seem to get overlooked in the summer time. We enjoy offering our summer discounts to lure folks away from the hustle and bustle! The summer months are really beautiful down here though. We get our little afternoon showers and more rain than any other time of year. It never lasts very long though, just enough to make everything around us grow up like crazy. It's much more green this time of year and is so pretty.

We get lots of little critters too like these Banana Spiders which seem to be all over the place right now. We found one the other day on the kayak rack on our truck after it had been parked for just a few hours with a full web already, it was crazy.

 I love seeing the pretty flowers and interesting critters on land, but it's not hard to see why we're famous for our turquoise waters and white sandy beaches down here in Exuma, Bahamas. They are truly breath taking. Even for locals that have seen them their entire life!