Travel with me #72 : Visiting Major Cay and taking a swim with the pigs! (photos + video)

Dear Steemit friends :

For me, travelling to Bahamas is as much about relaxing in places like Atlantis as it is about island hopping and visiting the unique wildlife on the many small islands of Bahamas.

In my previous post about Exuma, we had the opportunity to visit and feed the very rare and endangered Bahamian Rock Iguanas. Seeing these rather large reptiles in their natural environment and interacting with them was an incredible and unforgettable experience.

With feeding the Iguanas under the belt, I decided to visit perhaps the flagship 'attraction' of the Bahamas, which is now famously known as Swimming with the pigs.

Just two hours on a boat from Nassau takes us a little further along the strip of islands collectively known as Exuma Cays to this rather mysterious place called Major Cays - nowadays known as Pig Beach.

Pig Beach

The island is an uninhabited cay which is populated by two dozen feral pigs which survive by foraging in the forest for food, and then come out to the beach for a swim to cool down.

The Mystery of the Pigs

It is unclear as to how the pigs ended up on this island and survived to this day, but the locals like to tell the story of how the pigs swam ashore from a pirate shipwreck and survived by eating food from dumped passing ships.

Two farmers, Wayde Nixon and Don Rolle claimed to have brought the pigs to this island in the 90's to start a pig farm for fear of the Y2K computer meltdown.

Either way, the pigs have become some what a legend to tourists and have brought a lot of interest to the Bahamas as well as an opportunity for visitors to interact closely with pigs swimming in the sea!

I was lucky to visit on a splendid day, usually the June to November period is considered Hurricane season and the pigs are taken to a shelter by a local water sports company.

The gorgeous blue sky is only rivalled by the glistening light blue waters of the sea. An absolutely stunning view.

As we approached the infamous beach, I could already see several of the larger pigs greeting other visitors. They were much larger than I expected. In the flyers I saw back at home, I thought the pigs would be cute little piglets.

The three biggest pigs are the ones with the spots on their backs. They are completely unafraid of visitors and will even swim out to greet you, snorting as they wait for you to feed them food.

Seeing pig's nearly twice the size of myself, I decided to down some beer before I go ahead and greet them closer up.

Feeding the pigs is a great way to get them to interact with you. It's important and respectful to feed them natural food, so avoid things like bread, cheese, hot dogs and beer.

Earlier this year, half a dozen pigs were found dead, initial reports cited tourists feeding the pigs Beer and Rum as the cause of death, but autopsy reports later showed that their stomachs were full of sand.

So, best stick to feeding them fruit and vegetables, and in the water!

Once in the water, I was quickly greeted by one of the pink ones. Although smaller than the huge spotted hogs, it was still pretty big!

Finally, my carrots caught the attention of one the little piglets which came rushing over to me expecting some treats.

I definitely get along better with the piglets, at least they're not bigger than me!

This piggy came straight over and had a whiff.

There are quite a number of different pigs here :

The big black spotted ones..

Plain pink ones..

Brown ones..

In the end, I think the big spotted ones are probably the most assertive, they have no fear coming up really close to you expecting a good treat.

My tour guide told me to never have my back turned to one of the big ones, as they are known to have taken bites out of people's bums!

Best stick to the smaller ones for selfies with the pigs.

This piggy has quite interesting patterning on it's back.

Remember not to feed them by leaving food on the sand!

Of course, seeing pigs swim in the water is the main attraction, so it's best to lure them into the water with your food in hand, and make them work for a treat!

This is one of the smaller black spotted pigs.

It's hard to believe they grow up to be so big!

Can you see the little piggy getting a belly rub in the background?

Because the bigger pigs tend to 'hog' the water a bit more.

I realised I could get more interaction with the smaller ones by going into the shallower parts of the water.

This guy really likes to follow me around!

Time for some more selfies with the pigs.

Looking around, I really couldn't find any pigs small enough to hold.

With a dash of luck, I heard some a really loud oink from further down the beach and noticed one of the smallest ones being held by someone.

I decided to go over and see if the little piggy would let me hold it too!

Success! The little piggy was actually still pretty big, it was so heavy I could only hold it for a few seconds.

It was very well behaved though and seemed to enjoy the physical contact.

And just like that, I had my first ever experience interacting with pigs, and moreover pigs swimming in the sea!

I can now tick off Swimming with Pigs on my list of things to do before I die.

Hope you enjoyed my post, remember to up-vote if you liked it, follow me to keep updated with my activities, and leave a comment of what you think!

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从很久很久以前,我就听说在这个宇宙上,有一个美丽的小岛可以和小猪一起快乐的游泳,这就是巴哈马加勒比海的猪岛。准确地说，我是从猪岛得知的巴哈马这个度假胜地。Pig Island又叫做Big Major Cay，正式名称叫作大沙洲，它位于中美洲巴哈马群岛。我这次选择从巴哈马首都拿骚坐船过去，途中还经过了很多明星和企业家的私人岛屿。下面是我和小猪们游泳的视频，希望大家喜欢哦。

想必大家和我一样，一开始最好奇的应该小猪们是怎么搬迁到海岛的。关于海岛上身事离奇的小猪，有很多传说。一种传说是90年代的时候，农夫们为了躲避当时的千年虫谣言，把小猪带到岛上，准备在这片自然的净土上生活。另一种说法是小猪们被当年的海岛带到这个岛上，希望这座岛成为日后航海时的补给基地，回程的时候再来接他们回家，可惜很多年过去了，海盗们没有再回来，因此遗留在岛上的小猪们快乐的生活下去，繁衍后代，可谓是真正过着无忧无虑，没有天敌的日子。

小猪岛上没有人类居住，岛上到处是天然泉水，并且受到周围岛屿的庇护，不常会遭受热带风暴引起的巨浪袭击，所以这里确实是小猪们名副其实的栖息天堂。被海浪拍打了2个小时之后，终于看见了一片白花花的沙滩，清澈见底的海水，还有这个小岛的主人——自由自在游荡的可爱小猪们。现在岛上大概有30只小猪，看上去是很多个猪家庭组成的，有大号的猪，更多的是像宠物狗大小的小猪。它们比起一般的猪，非常擅长游泳，因为他们经常要游去海里捡拾漂流的食物，猪仔们会游到船边，更游客们讨要零食吃。船长发给我胡萝卜和面包片喂小猪，我的心情激动极了，我期待能和小猪自由自在的泡在海水里很久了，现在终于看到了梦寐以求的画面。沙滩，阳光，海水，还有一群快乐的猪朋友。我猜这群小猪应该是世界上最幸福的猪仔们了。小猪们游泳好可爱，和狗狗们一个样。天气很热，所以我决定清凉一下，直接从船上跳下海水。我拿着胡萝卜走到猪猪身边，他们很友好的走过来，一点也不怕我，非常热情，比较大的猪可以一口吃掉整个萝卜，喂小猪的时候，需要一点点喂，因为他们好像咬不动整个胡萝卜。看到他们开心地嚼着胡萝卜，我也很为他们感到开心，同时我也很惊讶，没想到肉猪摆脱了被人类当食物的任务，竟然变得这么可爱。它们比我平时看到的猪漂亮好多，有些有漂亮的斑纹，还有些像染了头发一样，一道棕一道粉的。有一只小猪，还试图想要尝尝我手里的啤酒，真是太有爱了，我都担心以后我会不会舍不得吃猪肉了。

最后我鼓起勇气，抱起拉一只小猪，原来它们的毛发很粗，有点像鬃毛，硬硬粗粗的，而且虽然小猪们吃素很健康，不过真的比猫猫们重很多呢，不过小猪仔真的好呆萌，简直是天赐的萌宠，躺在我怀里四角朝天，舒服极了。希望大家喜欢我和猪猪玩水的经历，之后还有更多有趣的巴哈马故事要分享给大家呢。