Friday, February 21, 2014

Highborne Cay

Heading back now, a reasonable stopping point appeared to be Highborne Cay.  As you may recall, we tried to get into the marina there not long after we first arrived in the Exumas, but they were full and we ended up in a nice anchorage spot outside the harbor....  Anyway, Highborne has one of the few marinas and restaurants in the norther part of the Exuma chain, and we were ready for some eating out and exploring, so in we went.  It's a nice little resort that appears to take up the whole island (it's all private property and they chase you away if you are not staying at the marina) with a bunch of rental houses, bar, restaurant, and a small store not unlike a small New England general store.  And a short walk away is a really nice beach on the ocean side.  We enjoyed a great meal and the next day walked across the island to check out the beach.

One thing we heard were visible from the beach were a number of stromatolites.  According to Wikipedia "Stromatolites provide the most ancient records of life on Earth by fossil remains which date from more than 3.5 billion years ago".  Apparently it's a pretty recent discovery that these buggers are still growing and not just rocks, and an even more recent realization that they have been sitting right in front of us in a number of places around the world, including the Exumas.

Stromatolites as much as 3.5B years old

Stromatolites at Highborne Cay, Exuma

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