Bermuda, one of Britain's oversea sovereign states, is an archipelago of 181 island's covering just 54 square kilometers. The most significant islands are connected by bridges and appear to form one landmass which has been subdivided into nine parishes.
Situated in the North Atlantic Ocean, Bermuda is over a thousand kilometres from its nearest neighbour, North Carolina in the United States of America, and over 5300 kilometers from the UK. It is also located in 'Hurricane Alley', which contributes to its reputation as one corner of the infamous Bermuda Triangle, a legendary ocean zone where ships and aircraft have been known to disappear under mysterious circumstances. There are many fanciful reasons given for these dissapearances, but geophysical and environmental factors have been scientifically found to be most likely to be responsible, not aliens or sea-monsters.
Earlier this year, our daughter and her family relocated to Bermuda and very soon our plans were underway to visit them. We were looking forward to some long awaited family time on their new turf and also excited about exploring a new place.
Exploring by car was not an option, as visitors are not allowed to drive on the island of Bermuda, its narrow winding roads are considered too difficult for non-Bermudians. They are obviously catering for Americans, and not us Brits who are well used to the narrow winding country roads threaded from tip-to-toe of the UK, and they have certainly not visited The Ribble Valley, where we are from, The Lake District or the Highlands of Scotland. But never mind, all the more reason for exploring on foot; after all, we do enjoy a good walk.
It soon became evident, however, that Bermuda has not been designed with walking in mind. Maybe the climate is the reason; I can see that hot and humid weather all year round does not lend itself to exercising outdoors.
Or maybe because it is such a small island, the space is all needed for property and roads, and this does seem to be the case as there is very little open space. Another problem is that, as well as being narrow and winding, few roads are built with a pathway for pedestrians, making it quite dangerous to walk them as they are quite busy.
Not to be defeated, we consulted the tourist map and discovered that there was once a railway in Bermuda. It is now disused and has been cleared to provide The Bermuda Railway Trail, a series of walking lanes that wind their way around the island, from Dockyard at the western tip to St. George at the eastern tip, and although they do not provide a continuous route, and some roads would need to be navigated, it was a start.
Our first walk was from Flatts, in Smiths Parish, to Tom Moor's Jungle, a nature reserve and beach in Hamilton Parish.
We set off from the aquarium and zoo in Flatts village, where we had spent a lovely morning with our granddaughter, following the road for about a kilometre until we picked up the trail. The track ran alongside the ocean for about five kilometres and we had spectacular views of the coastline and ocean, passing Shelly Bay with its glorious Bermudian pink sands, then walking high above Bailey's Bay, spotting parrotfish and a turtle below us on the way. We stopped at some of the many viewing points to admire the craggy rocks and the incredible views of the ocean, a crystal clear aquamarine in the shallows, gradually becoming cornflower and cobalt blue in the deeper water.
On reaching Wilkinson Memorial park, we followed the road, sometimes on narrow paths but mainly on the road, until we reached Tom Moor's Jungle, a tangle of mangroves growing at the waters edge surrounding the pale pink sand of the beach with that crystal clear water lapping gently to shore. Further into the nature reserve, we descended to a hidden saltwater lagoon where we enjoyed a refreshing swim amongst the fish and explored the many small caves.
After a few days enjoying Hamilton, the capital city of Bermuda, the smugglers caves at Spanish Point Park, and a ferry ride to explore Royal Naval Dockyard and its museum, we took to the trail again, this time starting in Southampton Parish then passing through Sandy's Parish to Somerset Village. This time the trail began as a dusty inland path, dense tropical forest surrounding us, birds darting in and out of the trees and the sun beating down as we made our way north.
We crossed Somerset Bridge, the smallest drawbridge in the world, to progress to Sandy's Parish, now passing typical Bermudian houses with their brightly coloured facades with turreted, white limed rooftops, especially designed to collect rainwater, and lawned gardens edged with brightly coloured hibiscus and oleander, white beach spider lilies, fan palms and bay grape trees, to walk past Fort Scaur, beneath an arch of shade provided by bay figs and Indian banyan trees, introduced to the island almost 200 years ago.
We reached the end of this section of the railway track in Somerset Village and followed the narrow roads to explore the coastline, discovering Mangrove Bay, Somerset Long Bay and Daniels Head Point where a deserted beach resort sits like a ghost town at the edge of pristine beaches and crystal clear bays. Further along the coast, we walked along the waters edge past a series of small coves, exploring each for signs of marine life, queen conch shells and coral. One of these was Glass Bay, so called because of the tiny shards of broken glass that cover the shoreline. The reason given is that, historically, visiting sailors used to throw their empty rum bottles overboard and, because of the tide, they were broken into pieces and eventually washed up at Glass Bay, their sharp edges rounded by the movement of the sea over time.
We made our way back home, utilising the island's excellent bus service, and spent the next few days being typical tourists: visiting the magnificent Crystal Caves, made even more enjoyable by our theatrical guide Ron; exploring the tiny Coney Island and walking a short part of the trail in St, George where we learned about Vincent Astor, a business who built his own narrow gauge railway joining him to the main line, just so that he could get the train to work. At the end of this part of the trail there is a Martello Tower, one of several on the island and typical of the small defensive forts built across the territories of the British Empire. From here you also have a great view of the bridge piers where the railway swing bridge crossed Ferry Reach.
Hurricane Lee interfered with the weekend, making it difficult to explore further, although we did take this opportunity to educate ourselves further with a visit to the Bermuda Underwater Exploration Institute, and we did venture to the coast to witness the hurricane in action, the coastline unrecognisable with trees bent double and huge waves crashing as far as the roads. It was certainly a sight to behold!
Our final Railway Trail walk was from the botanical gardens in Paget Parish to Gibbs Hill Lighthouse in Southampton Parish.
We joined the trail at the Trimington Road roundabout, passing under South Road through the one remaining Bermuda Railway tunnel. For this part of the trail, we were surrounded by lush vegetation, much of it made up of tropical species which have been introduced to the island. We passed through Paget's Marsh, one of the few remaining areas of authentic Bermudian landscape, Sherwin Nature Reserve, the second largest bird sanctuary in the island and approached the Little Sound, where we left the path to climb to the highest point on Bermuda, home to Gibbs Hill Lighthouse. The lighthouse is one of the oldest cast iron lighthouses in the world. It was built in the UK and shipped to Bermuda in pieces to be assembled on site in 1846. Climbing the 186 steps to the top of the Lighthouse, a narrow gallery gives access to expansive views over the whole archipelago as well as the Great Sound and the Sargasso Sea and on to the Atlantic Ocean.
After testing our 'head for heights', we descended the 186 steps and followed South Road to Horseshoe Bay, the most famous beach on Bermuda, if not the world, according to many international travel magazines. Fringed with natural limestone cliffs, sculpted rocks and greenery, the curved bay of pink sand is stunning and the clear, warm shallows inviting, however, it was by far the busiest beach we visited, which spoiled it a little for me.
We visited many, many beaches during the two weeks we spent on Bermuda and spent lots of time swimming, snorkelling and playing with our beautiful granddaughter who is a real beach baby. Our favourite was Tobacco Bay, a short walk over the hill from the old town of St. George past the unfinished Church and the golf course. As you walk down the hill, the bay comes into view; tranquil and picturesque with warm yellow sand and surrounded and sheltered by rocks.
It's best feature, however, is its shallow waters which allow a fascinating view of the many and varied colourful tropical fish and corals. We saw too many to list, but among our favourites were the stripy Sargent Majors and magnificent Parrotfish, and I even saw a Barracuda. We loved it here so much that we returned several times, spending long periods of time face down in the water.
We had a wonderful two weeks on this tiny group of islands, making precious memories with our wonderful family, exploring their new home and seeking out the well-hidden pathways known as the Bermuda Railway Trail.
Bermuda's beaches, corals, climate and its flora and fauna make it a truly beautiful place to visit; or live, if you are really lucky.
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