The creek leads into a narrow mangrove forest that is part of our first eco-zone -- a swash. A swash, unlike a swamp, has tidal movement, which is the reason it doesn't smell bad. The crystal-clear water is a nursery for barracuda, grouper, turtles and spiny tail lobsters.
An hour later, we beach our one-man boats a short walk from Gold Rock Beach, an empty white strand of sand that gets its name from an offshore rock that glows in the sunset. In my opinion, Gold Rock is the best beach on the island, if you aren't counting Paradise Cove, which features both powdery white sand and a coral reef within shallow walking distance.
A guide points out the lush vegetation on a nature tour of Grand Bahama Island.
(Bahamas Ministry of Tourism)
|
|
Raccoons and native birds show up to beg at our picnic table in the woods just behind Gold Rock Beach. There are more than 80 native species on the island, Sam tells us, and another 2,000 species migrate through each year.
A hermit crab wanders by. Kathy can't bear the thought of seeing the coons eating the crab and takes it to safer ground closer to the beach.
Our little group has the beach pretty much to itself. One couple decides to brave the chilly waters. Throughout the winter, the air temperature on Grand Bahama is generally in the 70s. Tourism brochures say the water averages about 80 degrees year-round. But it doesn't feel that warm to me.
I decide not to make a plunge, but then see a stingray near the shore. I swim toward it hoping for an encounter, but it wings its way just out of reach, wherever I go.
The sand on which we sit is courtesy of parrotfish, Sam tells us. The brightly colored fish eat polyps from the reefs and expel the bits of coral that get mixed in their food. Each fish puts out about a ton of sand a year. The ecosystem, Sam says, is a "rocky coastal sand strand, also known as a beach."
Our hike resumes into a third system, whiteland coppice -- a sandy area fed by hardwood trees whose decaying leaves build topsoil in which plants grow. Sam points out sea grapes, spider lilies, wild coffee. Bromeliads dehumidify the air. If you're ever lost and thirsty, he advises, look for saw grass, dig three to four feet and you'll find fresh water.
I don't notice that we have moved from the whiteland coppice to a fourth zone, called a rocky coppice, until Sam points out the distinct differences. The limestone base washed by tides supports totally different plants, all with a special purpose. The land, Sam says, is the island's medicine cabinet: The bark of the casuarina pine is good for diarrhea, the leaves are good for hypertension and the pine cones, mixed with nutmeg and water, help toothaches.
The path leads onward through a fifth zone, the blackland coppice, where hardwoods grow. Here, too, are poisons, and antidotes to those poisons, and trees with sap that can put out fires. There's even a tree whose bark, if ground into a powder, stuns fish. It must be true, since the penalty for using the bark of the dogwood tree on a fishing trip is up to a year in jail, and/or a $25,000 fine.
