POST 9 – PRIVATE ISLAND: DAYS 15-16 (1-2 January 2026) BAHAMAS (Little San Salvador Island): Half Moon Cay.

Welcome to Bahamas, my 141^st Visit and 134^th Run UN Country out of a UN total of 193. After my blog photos below are the key statistics, brief history and interesting facts about this destination.

 

STOP PRESS:

New Years Day was spent entirely at sea. This meant a nice long lazy sleep-in until 9am. Had some brekkie upstairs followed by a check of trip finances and catching up on emails. Spent the middle of the day in the gym – Bundy walking fast on the treadmill and me on two machines to strengthen my quads for my 3^rd run. I also walked up and down the stairs between levels 1 and 9 five times to complete the quad quest for strength. The arvo was spent kicking off our Best & Worst List which I publish as the last post of the trip. Just to get you interested, after 6 countries and territories, here are the rankings to date…

The 2^nd of January was glorious. We anchored off the island of Little San Salvador in the Bahamas at around 7am and by 815am we were being transported to the main beach called Half Moon Cay in the ship’s life boats !!! Each carries up to 205 people with engines and sophisticated radar !!! This island is owned by our cruise line Holland America and is essentially a giant sand bank with some greenery but featuring a long almost 2km beach with pristine powdery white sand and water that is clearer than an Olympic swimming pool. In reaching this sandy beach I launched into my run with bearable pain left over from my rushed return to running. The day was glorious. Clear skies, tons of sun and water clearer than glass. After my run, we walked to the far end of the beach with hardly any people and let up the drone. I then swam 1.6km to confirm this beach as the best one so far. We returned to the ship at around 130pm and proceeded to prep for our return to Miami tomorrow where we needed to fix Bundy’s glasses and buy myself a new Go-Pro since the Palestinian Jeep claimed my old one !!!

This was a terrific day of exercise and sunshine which I know you will enjoy…

BAHAMAS IN A NUTSHELL:

 

•           Official Name: Commonwealth of The Bahamas.

•           Capital: Nassau, located on New Providence Island.

•           Area: 13,943 square kilometres of total area, with 28% water. The archipelago comprises around 700 islands and over 2,000 cays and islets, of which only about 30 are inhabited.

•           Population (2025): 403,033.

•           Official Language: English.

•           Life Expectancy (2023): 74.5 years.

•           Urbanization (2025): 88.4% lives on New Providence Island.

•           Currency: Bahamian dollar (BSD), pegged one-to-one with the U.S. dollar (USD).

•           GDP per capita (2024): $USD35,257.

•           Tourism: Accounts for approximately 70% of the GDP and employs about half of the workforce.

•           Financial Services: The second most important sector, contributing around 15% of GDP.

•           Unemployment Rate (2024): 9.4%.

•           Form of Government: Unitary parliamentary constitutional monarchy; the British monarch (Charles III) is the head of state, represented by a Governor-General, and a Prime Minister serves as the head of government.

 

BRIEF HISTORY OF BAHAMAS:

 

•           The first inhabitants were the Lucayan people from South America between 500 and 800 AD.

•           Christopher Columbus landed here in 1492.

•           Spain, finding no gold, did not settle the islands but enslaved nearly the entire Lucayan population and shipped them to Hispaniola, leaving the islands mostly deserted by 1513.

•           The first permanent European settlement was established in 1648 on Eleuthera.

•           During the late 17th and early 18th centuries, the islands, especially Nassau, became a notorious haven for pirates like Blackbeard.

•           To restore order, Britain declared The Bahamas a Crown Colony in 1718.

•           Slavery was eventually abolished throughout the British Empire in 1834.

•           The Bahamas gained full independence from the United Kingdom on 10 July 1973, becoming a sovereign nation within the Commonwealth, with Sir Lynden Pindling as the first Prime Minister.

 

INTERESTING FACTS ABOUT BAHAMAS:

 

1.       The Bahamas is an archipelago of over 700 islands, cays, and islets, with only about 30 being inhabited.

2.       "Pig Beach," is home to wild pigs that swim in the ocean.

3.       Once a Pirate Haven In the late 17th and early 18th centuries, the Bahamas, particularly Nassau, was a base for pirates like Blackbeard.

4.       Site of Columbus's First Landfall Christopher Columbus's first landing in the "New World" in 1492 was on San Salvador in the Bahamas.

5.       Home to the World's Deepest Blue Hole.

6.       Features Pink Sand Beaches.

7.       The Bahamas is famous for the Junkanoo festival, a vibrant street parade with music and costumes held on Boxing Day and New Year's Day.

8.       The Andros Barrier Reef is the world's third-largest barrier reef system.

9.       The beautiful scenery of the islands has made them a popular location for films, including James Bond and Pirates of the Caribbean movies.

10.  The national bird is the pink flamingo, and the Bahamas has one of the largest wild flamingo populations globally.

 

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