EXUMA ELIXIR: Visions of Space Travel, Indigo Waters, and the Obeah Man

By Tyrone L. E. Fitzgerald Photographs Courtesy Of Steven Miller and L. Roscoe Dames II

Exuma was a planet that once lit Mars

I’ve got the voices of many in my throat

The teeth of a frog and the tail of a goat…

I’ve sailed with Charon, day and night

I’ve walked with Houngaman, Hector Hyppolite

I drank the water from the fiery sea.

I’m Exuma.

Excerpt By: Tony “the Obeah Man” McKay

3 Sisters Rocks Beach

Ionce travelled in space—not to the moon, Mars, or Mercury, but to the beautiful, pristine, 365 islands and cays that make up the magical, almost mythical, Exumas in The Bahamas.

Peering down the miniature window of my imaginary, gold, blue, and white-coloured space shuttle, known to many local visitors and tourists as Bahamasair, our national flag carrier, I could see clearly what retired NASA astronaut Scott Kelly saw and tweeted during his mission, “Exuma was a refreshing sight and the most beautiful place from space.”

As I disembarked my forty-minute “space flight” from Nassau, the nation’s capital, to Georgetown, Exuma, with my overpacked weekend bag filled with far too many swim trunks, flip flops, unread books, a straw hat, multiple sunglasses, and loads of sunscreen, on my shoulder, I hurried through the small airport to cross the street to get a juicy, conchy conch burger with fries and a cold Kalik from Kermit’s Airport Lounge, the friendly, native “go-to spot”.

Once I collected my Kia SUV from Thompson’s Car Rental nearby, I was on my way to check into my quaint oceanside villa at Hideaways at Palm Bay for my weekend island getaway!

I took an afternoon “dip” in the hotel pool whilst sipping an iced cold, homemade Switcha (our Bahamian version of limeade), then swam and sunbathed on the beach for a few hours with my new book, “The Water Dancer”, by Ta-Nehesi Coates—heavy reading for a light summer day, as the Exuma sun carefully baked and broiled my caramel brown skin to near Bahamian Christmas turkey perfection!

Since the conchy conch burger was not enough for a Bahamian “grabalicious” foodie like me, I changed into my funky island-print T-shirt, khaki “Dad shorts”, and flip flops, and walked to the Saturday Night Seaside Fish Fry, which was a brisk ten-minute walk from Hideaways.

There, I got a mouth-watering blackened grouper dinner with peas ‘n’ rice, macaroni, coleslaw, and lots of plantain. My sweet-mouth was graciously satisfied

Chat And Chill

Directional Sign

with a sumptuous native guava duff brimming with a creamy rum sauce and a cold Gully Wash (coconut water, sweet cream, and gin)—“fully leaded”.

The rest of the night was spent chatting with locals and tourists about my ever-expanding “Things to Do on Exuma in Two Short Days Bucket List”, playing dominoes on the beach, and dancing to the local DJ who played Bahamian, soca, reggae, and calypso songs, whilst the Fish Fry became “jam-packed” with locals and tourists from every settlement, it seemed, on Great Exuma, before the end of the night.

Sunday morning was greeted with an early morning meditative walk on the beach, complete with my Android phone, Gregory Porter playlist, and a legion of mosquitos who seemed more painfully attracted to itching skin than brutally annihilated by my expensive, designer-brand insect repellent.

Exuma “the Obeah Man” descending the sky on a roughshod lightning bolt (no joke!). I rubbed my eyes twice, shook my head, and thought about that after-dinner rum punch that seemed to have had more rum than punch. Hmmmn, maybe its slowly creeping, potent power was now taking over the better of me and my senses. After all, this must just be a night vision.

Maybe.

Then again, I was the one who travelled to the Exumas just two days ago on a makeshift space shuttle, only to travel back home and tweet of the wonders of this beautiful, mythical place, like NASA astronaut Scott Kelly, and the many would-be Bahamian astronauts like myself, who would travel to these 365 islands and cays that make up the Exumas, and marvel at their splendour, thousands of feet way up in the air, at only forty minutes away from this wonderfully sweet paradise! UA

Chat And Chill Boutique

Sunday afternoon, after a “light” Sunday dinner of steamed conch, peas ‘n’ grits, potato salad, and macaroni, I boarded a water taxi to Stocking Island to visit the world-famous Chat & Chill, a boater’s party paradise, complete with a pig roast, drinks, food, music, dominoes, volleyball, playful stingrays, and an awesome local and touristic crowd.

The clear, turquoise, indigo-changing waters that splashed against the water taxi on our way to Stocking Island could only be compared to the sea blue skies hovering over our watercraft, and a glistening bright yellow Exuma sun, welcoming unsuspecting, partying beachcombers without their SPF50 sunscreen.

After having some fresh conch salad with lots of lime and pepper, and a cold Kalik beer, I strolled around Stocking Island to explore its many attractions and to chat with the revelling boaters who lined its shores in their overly crowded boats, blasting rock, rap, dancehall, and Bahamian music to a dancing crowd ashore.

It was certainly Sunday Fun Day in the Exumas.

After a long day at Chat & Chill, I headed back to George Town and prepared for my “last supper” before my early flight back to Nassau in the morning.

The dinner did not disappoint – more fish, more peas ‘n’ rice, more coleslaw, lots of potato salad, and several refills of freshly squeezed Switcha (the bartender at Hideaways was now my “plug” by the end of the weekend). It’s funny, food seemed to be the openly secret theme of my Exuma getaway weekend.

Struggling to rise from the restaurant table after a brief spell of ethnic fatigue set in, I took an evening stroll on the beach, texting friends, checking emails, posting on social media, and avoiding those incoming calls too untimely for this last night in Great Exuma.

As I sat awhile on one of the orange-coloured beach chairs gazing upward towards the brightly lit stars that adorned the Exuma sky, I suddenly thought I saw