Exuma
The Exuma island chain consists of more than 360 small islands scattered in the ocean over a stretch of 193 km. In the southern part there are two rather large islands – Great Exuma and Little Exuma, where the bulk of the population is concentrated. The two islands are connected by a small bridge.
The commercial center of the islands is located on about. Greater Exuma (60 km long and 72 km² in area). The largest city of the archipelago, Georgetown, is also located here, with a constant population of approx. 1,000 inhabitants. The island hosts a festival of Bahamian music and a sailing regatta. Also on the island is Lake Victoria, which is connected to the sea by a channel. Sisal fiber used to make clothes and baskets was soaked in the lake. Previously, there was a large amount of phosphorus in the water, which appeared on the surface and glowed beautifully, illuminating the entire reservoir, especially on windy nights.
The small island of Exuma (Exuma Sound) is chosen by lovers of sailing. The island is framed by coral reefs, and exceptionally clear water with an almost year-round constant temperature provides a real riot of life. At the bottom of the sea, you can find a large number of sunken ships and aircraft and luxurious underwater canyons.
Because of its interesting reefs and caves, the archipelago is attractive to yachtsmen and divers. Many unnamed beaches and caves, as well as offshore reefs, are part of the protected Exuma National Land and Sea Park of the Bahamas National Trust. Until the 17th century, the islands were uninhabited, used by pirates as a shelter.
The Exuma Islands have become famous for their unusual attraction – swimming pigs. Once these animals were brought to one of the islands and left to fend for themselves. To survive, the pigs had to learn to swim through the shallow water from one island to another. Now the difficult times for pigs are long gone, and they have come to a real paradise – many tourists from all over the world come to them every day with a lot of delicious food for unusual experiences and unique photos! The pigs are very sweet and friendly, they are not afraid of either people or boats, and when they see them from afar, they joyfully jump into the water and swim towards the guests.
Bimini Islands
The Bimini Islands are a group of islands with an area of only 26 sq. km, the largest of which are North Bimini and South Bimini. North Bimini is a small island 11 km long and no more than 366 m wide. South of the strait (at 130 m) is South Bimini – a tiny and virtually uninhabited piece of land. The islands lie just 80 km from Miami between Andros Island and the south coast of Florida.
The Bimini Islands are often referred to as “Ernest Hemingway’s Islands” – here Hemingway wrote his famous novel To Have and Have Not. Thanks to Hemingway, the capital of this tiny island group, Alice Town, is considered one of the most famous cities in the Bahamas. The city still continues to be the fishing capital of the Bahamas, whose numerous hotels and marinas provide thousands of fishermen and tourists with communication with the Great Ocean. Currently, this place is a mecca for fans of the writer’s work. In this place, of course, there is a museum where the writer’s things, rare photographs of him, and so on are presented.
The islands are a wonderful place for fishing; there are tuna, sailfish, wahoo, mako shark, garfish, barracuda, blue marlin. Diving fans will be delighted with the clear and transparent waters of the Bahamas. There are many dolphins around the Bimini Islands, which are very friendly to people.
The “Bimini Road” and “Bimini Wall” near Bimini claim to be part of the “lost” Atlantis. In 1968, one American, returning to. on his own plane from vacation home to the States, he discovered a strange underwater structure from a bird’s eye view: at a depth of 3-9 m, two parallel tracks paved with stone slabs 500 m long and 90 m wide stretch. Many other strange structures were found under water in the same area — concentric circles and platforms. During one of the dives to the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean at a depth of three meters, hundreds of stone slabs of a clear square and rectangular shape, square platforms, paved roads and dolmens were discovered – unusual stone structures: several columns topped with a slab. It is difficult to imagine that such construction work was carried out only by the power of nature, by themselves, without the participation of people or any other intelligent beings. In the same year, the world was stunned by yet another news: the ruins of a temple were found at the bottom of the Atlantic. Archaeologists assumed that their age is 10-14 thousand years.
