Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
COLONEL HILL AREA
The settlement of
Colonel Hill
(population 240) may have the island's airport, but in other
senses it's a bit of a backwater. The village comprises a few dozen ramshackle clapboard
huts, emancipation-era houses, and pastel- painted modern concrete homes. The only build-
ing of note is
St John's Baptist Church
, atop the hill.
The road leads northwest 1½ miles to the lime-green
All Saints Church
, surrounded by
African flame trees in Cabbage Hill, and the small
Baptist church
, fronted by a tiny bell
tower in Cripple Hill.
Two recommended lodging options can be found in nearby Major's Cay.
Tranquility on
the Bay Resort
( 242-344-2563;
www.tranquillitybayresort.com
;
r $190; ) is not-
able for the hugeness of its pristine rooms and the accuracy of its name, sitting as it does on
a lovely and peaceful bay. The enthusiastic owners are trying very hard to build up a tour-
ism industry here and are extremely helpful. They also operate the
Conch Shell Restaur-
ant
( 242-344-2563, mains $10-15) , one of the very few on the island. Next door you'll
find
Sonsette Beach Resort
(
242-344-2041, r $150;
) , three attractive beach-front
studios with lovely terraces.
COLONEL HILL TO COVE POINT
Follow the north shore to
Major's Cay
, a hamlet facing turquoise-jade waters rimmed by
the narrow but beautiful
True Blue Beach
. Further east, the road becomes a narrow track
leading to
Cove Point
, 12 miles east of Major's Cay. There's nothing here but a tiny con-
crete wharf where the ferry departs for Acklins Island.
Long Cay
This small island is separated by a mile-wide channel from Crooked Island. Columbus, it
seems, landed here on October 19, 1492. The explorer named the island Isabela after the
Spanish queen who funded his jaunts to the New World.
The island was later known as Fortune Island and once boasted thriving sponging and
salt industries. Flamingos wade in the bight on the south side of the island and an endemic
subspecies of iguana inhabits two tiny cays - Fish Cay and Guana Cay - that lie 7 and 10
miles southeast of Long Cay.
In the 19th century
Albert Town
, also called Windsor and the island's only settlement,
was the main base in the archipelago for transatlantic mail and freight ships hiring and
dropping off stevedores, or 'coast crew.' Wild goats have taken over the ruins, though the
largest
Anglican church
south of Nassau still stands.
