Hope Town Abaco

I asked Marc this morning what I should write about Hope Town, he responded with, “ it’s beautiful.” So I questioned, well, anything else? “It’s quaint, lovely.” Before I start writing a post I always make a list of topic I want to share, pretty, quaint, beautiful, was at the top of my list too. 

We spent a day walking the narrow roads of the Hope Town settlement, the only town on Elbow Cay, checking out the many clapboard houses painted two contrasting shades of pastel that is so popular in the Bahamas, many of these appearing historic.

We visited the yacht club, just a short walk from the dingy dock, chatted with Bill who snickered and shared about just being chastised for interrupting the bridge club presently using the facility. 

Hope Town boosts a population of 458 but, I would bet, many of those are retired transits who have claimed this island as their own. It seems there is a vibrant social community, always something going on, whether it’s an art show or sailboat race. 

Excitedly for me we found the local school while we were on walk about. And for the first time in the Bahamas we found a recycling station and a school garden. My heart be still, it is not my place to judge as I know so little about the political situation in the Bahamas, their mandate for landfill or recycling. But, seeing an eco friendly initiative, was exciting. Though in Canada we have adopted environmental land fill practice it wasn't that long ago we didn’t, I can only hope and do my part and encourage others while in the Bahamas.

Hope Town is the home to the famous Elbow Reef Lighthouse.  Striped horizontally red and white it is probably the most recognizable landmark in Abaco, Built in 1862 the lighthouse is one of the last manual lighthouses in the world and can be seen as far away as 17 miles. The light works on a weight system that has to be hand cranked by the light house keeper every two hours to maintain the sequence of five white flashes every 15 seconds. Marc noted that the Light House worked on the same system as his mothers Grandfather clock. Two keepers and their families live at the light house, sharing the task of keeping the light going. For nothing but a small donation, Marc and I crawled all over the light house unsupervised, enjoying the view.