We decided to spend a month on Green Turtle Cay, working during the week and making weekend hops to nearby cays as wind/weather allows. We got a mooring at Donny’s Marina in Black Sound – a slip would be twice as expensive and power was limited to 20 amps, meaning we wouldn’t be able to run our AC. The entrance to Black Sound is shallow, and even though we were a couple hours after low tide, it was dicey coming in.
As soon as we got settled on our mooring, we went to explore town. I wasn’t sure what to expect – I knew the Abacos were hard-hit by Dorian and that many places still weren’t recovered. But I wasn’t prepared for so many homes to still be being rebuilt two years later, and I think the shock of seeing so much destruction hit me quite hard. I wasn’t sure if we’d made the right decision. It seemed like everything was closed, and no one was around, but then it was New Year’s Day.
Since there really wasn’t much to do, we headed back to the boat to kill some time. At 5:00, they were celebrating Junkanoo – a street parade with costumes, dancing and drums, typically celebrated on Boxing Day and New Years Day.
Though the exact origin of the festival is unknown, there are plenty of theories. Many believe it was established by John Canoe, a legendary West African Prince, who outwitted the English and became a local hero. The most popular belief, however, is that it evolved from the days of slavery. Loyalists who migrated to The Bahamas in the late 18th Century brought their African slaves with them. The slaves were given three days off during the Christmas season, which they used to celebrate by singing and dancing in colourful masks, travelling from house to house, often on stilts. The uncertainty of its origin only proves that Bahamians don’t need a reason to throw a wonderful celebration.
bahamas.com
We met another couple from the marina and walked back into town, which was now much more alive. We ordered drinks and dinner at the Wrecking Tree while we waited for the festivities to begin. The parade started on the street running parallel to the one we were on but eventually worked its way over to where we were. The celebration was small compared to what I’d heard of others, but the island spirit was big and infectious. By the time we walked back to the boat, I started to feel like I was going to like it here.