Around The Island

Salt Cay is the sleepy home of about 70 people. Geographically, it is the southwestern most inhabited island in the Bahamas chain.  Politically, it is part of the Turks and Caicos Islands, a British crown colony.

For 150 years,  Salt Cay was one of the world's leading producers of sea salt. The salt is produced by evaporating sea water, and then collecting the salt. A natural salt water pond in the center of the island feeds a series of salinas or "pans". The pans are lined with clay and the water in them is only a few inches deep.  The sea water passes through 3 pans, the first two remove impurities. The third produces the pure salt.  The water is pumped with wind power. The salt and impurities were collected with back-breaking labor in the tropical sun.

The Salt Industry depended on two things,  a dry climate and hard manual labor.  The combination led to misery.  It hardly ever rains on Salt Cay (less than 20 in./year), and constant trade winds facilitate evaporation. One rainstorm could ruin a "crop" of salt which took weeks to "grow".  The labor was provided by slaves and their descendants. Several thousand people lived here at the height of salt production in harsh conditions.  Every house on Salt Cay has an elaborate system of rain gutters and pipes leading to a cistern.

The reverse osmosis watermaker makes tourism on Salt Cay possible.  However, water is still a very precious commodity here.

	Here we are at last, Mt. Pleasant Guest House. We enjoyed all of the absolutely delicious meals on the front porch which serves as the dining room. Yes, That's a cow in the front yard under the tree.
	The main guest house was being remodeled, so we stayed in "the annex".  The annex is a three minute walk from the main house.  We had the whole place to ourselves.
	A view of the Salinas from the second floor of the annex.  Note the windmill towers.
	The White House. The White House is the property of the Harriott family. The house was built in 1832.  The bottom floor is a salt warehouse, the upper floor is living space. We had the great fortune to meet Rosalie, a family member now living in Canada.  Rosalie grew up in the house before the second world war while the salt industry was still going strong.  I was  fascinated with her stories of life on Salt Cay.  She graciously gave Heike and I a tour of the house.
	Part of the dock complex behind the White House.  The Harriott's salt production properties, along with all of the others on the island were sold to the government in the early '50s. Under government control, the industry collapsed.  The old sail-era dock complex behind the house lies in an untouched state and is a historical treasure. Fortunately, the family maintains ownership of the house.
	An Osprey decided that the old windmill tower in front of the White House would be a perfect place to raise a family.  She could be seen often fishing for the family.  Here's a Closer View
	A view to the south from the salt pans in front of the White House.  Salt can be seen forming in one of the untended pans in the foreground.
	A view to the north from the salt pans in front of the White House.  The large building in the center of the picture is the Anglican Church.  We explored it and it's graveyard one morning.  One could sense the struggles of the people who inhabited this hostile place.
	A Salt Cay rental car cruising the main drag.

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