Today we did something we've been wanting to do for years: we hiked to the very southern tip of the island of Eleuthera (pronounced eh-LU-thur-a) in the Bahamas. Thanks to specific directions we received two days ago from Brian and Kandace, the American couple who live on and manage the Princess Cays property, we knew exactly how to get there.
It wasn't a long hike (just over an hour each way), but it was slightly tricky in that the road/trail/path (choose one. They'd all apply except perhaps the word "road") was very uneven in spots, composed primarily of coral/limestone and, in some places, some long disintigrated asphalt. I was so thankful for the way-too-expensive Teva sandals I bought last summer ($90 for a sole and some straps?). They performed perfectly at a time when a sandal failure would have left us stranded. We saw more broken sandals along the way than anything else, which left me wondering how those poor unfortunates ever got out of there.
But the reward when we reached our intended destination more than made up for the slightly rough walk. We were at the very southern tip of Eleuthera, where the Atlantic Ocean meets the Caribbean Sea. On the Caribbean side (the first photo) was a long stretch of undisturbed beach, with powder-soft sand and gentle waves.
Just around a series of three small and unreachable rocky islets was the beach on the Atlantic side, with heavy waves and a series of rock walls and caves at least 100 feet high that had been carved out over time by the water (the second photo).