We had a very good year of travel in 2009 and are trying to top it this year, starting with a 2-week trip to the Exumas, Bahamas.

We hadn’t had a trip to the Bahamas since 2006 and assumed that once we were retired, the Bahamas would be forever out of our budget.  Well, we decided to splurge and make one last trip to two of our favorite islands.  We stayed at Staniel Cay (pronounced like ‘key’) the first week and at Compass Cay the second.  We really enjoyed the hiking and kayaking and swimming. 

We discovered that Staniel Cay has added an official ‘Staniel Cay Ocean Park’ with a nice hiking trail that starts, or ends (matter of perspective) on Pirate Trap beach, near the once famous Club Thunderball.  It’s nice to spend time on an island where the primary mode of transportation is golf cart.  We were sad to find out that Club Thunderball closed last year.  Now the only restaurant in town is at the Staniel Cay Yacht Club, and that is much too boisterous for us.

Compass Cay is privately run by Tucker Rolle, who is someone to admire.  He has a lot of drive and vision. The island has gorgeous beaches, miles of trails and an unbelievably beautiful crescent beach. The trails include a real jungle walk and a ‘mountain’, Compass Peek (sic), that is 92 feet tall, with great views of the entire island. We discovered that the Cliff Walk is not a good idea on a hot day since, for the nearly two hours that it takes to make the walk, there is no access to a place to cool off.  We both overheated and were ecstatic when our bodies finally got to immerse in ‘Rache'l’s Bubble Bath’, another highlight of the island. 

We’re glad to be home in Maine, but can dream of returning to Compass Cay someday.