'This little piggy went to.....swim?!

You could be forgiven for thinking that this is some kind of April Fool...but it really isnt! On a recent trip to the glorious islands of Exuma, Bahamas, we joined one of the most bizarre excursions ever...swimming with pigs! Nothing quite prepared us for the sight of almost a dozen porkers appearing from behind the bushes, trotting enthusiastically along the beach, launching themselves into the ocean, and swimming out to meet our boat, greeting us with loud and urgent snorts, which we could only interpret as 'feed us quick, or we will jump on board and feed ourselves!!' These are not little Peppa Pig piglets...these are adult, heavy-weight, initially rather intimidating, but thankfully friendly, and very clean pigs! Once fed (the Captain has brought supplies for the purpose,) the pigs are more than happy to let us join them in the water and indulge us by posing for photos, and being stroked and scratched!....How long they stay and swim with us is very much on their terms, and when they choose to they turn (curly) tail and retreat back to their beach, to chill out and lounge on the beautiful white sands...another bizarre sight! There are numerous stories and theories as to how the pigs came to be on an uninhabited island in the middle of the ocean. One is that hungry sailors dropped them off to fatten them up for a later feast only to forget about them. Or that they are escapees from pens on one of the nearby islands. Another story suggests that they are the only survivors of a shipwreck. Or perhaps they were a business scheme to attract tourists...if that is the case then it has certainly worked! So we have been at Major Cay, or as the locals call it, Pig Island. It is one of the highlights of full day and half day trips offered by various reputable local companies, like Island Routes, Four C's Adventures, Roberts Island Adventures to name just three. Other wonderful options are visiting the Stingrays of Stocking Island, the Sharks at Compass Cay, snorkelling in Thunderball Grotto (featured in the Bond film of the same name) and meeting amazing iguanas at Sandy Cay...all fantastic! For me though nothing quite matched swimming with our 'Pigs in Paradise'... They are (as one writer has described them)....a real Pig Family Robinson!!