Inagua

Inagua National Park

Covering more than 280 square miles, this is a vast park incorporating inland waters, rocky shoreline, saltwater flats, and large areas of shrubland and jungle. It's here you'll find Inagua's famous flamingos: huge flocks of bright pink, long-legged birds that rise and fly, almost as one, from their nesting grounds around Lake Windsor. Although the drive from Matthew Town to the National Park campground is only about 20 miles, it takes an hour.

Aside from the colonies of flamingos, more than 200 species of birds make their homes in the park. Lake Windsor itself is an unusual sight: the waters are pale pink, due to the salt content. Here and there, wild donkeys can be seen in the distance, but never up close.

If you want to rough it a little, camp out in one of the park's two rustic cabins. The accommodations are basic, to say the least, but bedding is provided, and there are a couple of fresh-water showers that make life in the outback tolerable. You will need to provide your own food, which you can cook in the park at a specially designated area.

Morton Bahamas Salt Company

Vast mountains of snow-white sodium chloride mark the boundaries of this, the mainstay of Inagua's economy. Beyond the salt lie hundreds of acres of what appear to be ice-bound lakes, something of an enigma in this land where the temperature rarely drops below 70°. But the pink-tinged surface is in fact a thin crust of brine that sparkles and shines in the sunlight, more so at the lakeshore where the crystals build like the edges of some giant pie crust. The salt produced here is sold around the world to highway departments, fisheries, chemical plants, and the like. If you'd like to visit the plant, take Gregory Street and go north of Matthew Town. But make arrangements beforehand. Call the Bahamas Ministry of Tourism in Nassau for information: tel. 242-322-7501, fax 242-328-0945.

Matthew Town Lighthouse

Located just beyond the Matthew Town limits, this picturesque lighthouse was erected in 1870 to light the way for ships using the Windward Passage between Inagua and the larger island to the south, Hispaniola, where Haiti and the Dominican Republic are located. It's a lonely spot, fit only for bird-watching, but there's something indefinable about lighthouses that draws people to them. This one is no exception. The climb to the top is a long one and, perhaps, not really worth the effort. The view is of a lonely, rocky shoreline with only Matthew Town to break the monotony of the flat, almost featureless, land- and seascape. Interesting, though, is the machinery that drives the light, and its great fresnel lens.

Inagua

Geography
Inagua (Bahamas )
Location	Atlantic Ocean
Coordinates	21°03′25″N 73°25′28″W / 21.05682°N 73.424377°W / 21.05682; -73.424377
Archipelago	Bahamas
Area	1,544 km2 (596 sq mi)
Length	90 km (56 mi)
Width	30 km (19 mi)
Country
Bahamas
Largest city	Matthew Town (1000)
Demographics
Population	1000
Density	0.65 /km² (1.7 /sq mi)

Inagua is the southernmost district of the Bahamas comprising the islands of Great Inagua and Little Inagua.

Great Inagua is the third largest island in The Bahamas at 596 sq mi (1544 km²) and lies about 55 miles (90 km) from the eastern tip of Cuba. The island is about 55 x 19 miles (90 x 30 km) in extent, the highest point being 108 ft (33 m) on East Hill. It encloses several lakes, most notably the 12-mile (19 km) long Lake Windsor (also called Lake Rosa) which occupies nearly 1/4 of the interior. The population of Great Inagua is 969 (2000 census).

The island's capital and only harbour is Matthew Town, named after George Matthew a 19th century Governor of the Bahamas. This town houses the Morton Salt Company’s main facility, producing one million tonnes of sea salt a year - the second largest solar saline operation in North America and Inagua's main industry. Great Inagua Airport (IATA: IGA, ICAO: MYIG) is located nearby.

There is a large bird sanctuary in the centre of the island with a population of more than 80,000 of American Flamingoes and many other exotic birds such as Roseate Spoonbills, pelicans, herons, egrets, and Bahama Pintail ducks.

The neighbouring Little Inagua five miles (8 km) to the northeast is uninhabited and occupied by a Land and Sea Park. It is 30 sq mi (78 km²) and has herds of feral donkeys and goats (descendants of stock introduced by the French). Little Inagua has a large protective reef that prevents boats from coming too close.

The original settler name Heneagua was derived from a Spanish expression meaning 'water is to be found there'.

Local legend has it that former Haitian tyrant Henri Christophe, king of Haiti from 1811 to 1820, buried treasure at the Northeast Point of Great Inagua where he had a summer retreat.

Several documented treasure laden ships were destroyed on Inaguan reefs between the years of 1500 and 1825. The two most valuable wrecks lost off the Inaguas were treasure-laden Spanish galleons: the Santa Rose (1599) and the Infanta (1788). Other ships of considerable value were the British HMS Statira and HMS Lowestoffe in 1802, and the French Le Count De Paix in 1713.

Main Guest House in Matthew Town, Great Inagua.	Downtown Matthew Town, Great Inagua.	Old disused prison, Matthew Town, Great Inagua.	Window in old prison, Matthew Town, Great Inagua.
Modern police station, Matthew Town, Great Inagua.	Grocery store in Matthew Town, Great Inagua.	Part of the Morton Salt facilities on the north shore of Great Inagua.	Northern rocky shore of Great Inagua exposing Pleistocene reefal limestones.

v • d • e    Districts of the Bahamas Acklins · Berry Islands · Bimini · Black Point · Cat Island · Central Abaco · Central Andros · Central Eleuthera · Freeport · Crooked Island · East Grand Bahama · Exuma · Grand Cay · Harbour Island · Hope Town · Inagua · Long Island · Mangrove Cay · Mayaguana · Moore's Island · New Providence · North Abaco · North Andros · North Eleuthera · Ragged Island · Rum Cay · San Salvador · South Abaco · South Andros · South Eleuthera · Spanish Wells · West Grand Bahama

Coordinates: 21°03′25″N 73°25′28″W / 21.05682°N 73.424377°W / 21.05682; -73.424377

External links

• The Inaguas

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