I would love to move to the Bahamas.

Today I got this interesting invite:

 

Dear Carole/Jamie (and Susan!),

 

I am the new British Chief Technology Officer (CTO) of the Grand Bahama Port Authority (GBPA) and work directly with its President, Ian Rolle, the Minister of State (Kwasi Thomson), and the Ministry of Tourism.

 

GBPA administrates the sovereign City of Freeport and acts as a "government within a government" on the island of Grand Bahama, owning approximately 235 sq miles of land which reminds me a lot of my own time in Africa. We are only 52 miles from West Palm Beach and can see the lights of the US coast from the West End of the island.

 

We recently had our American design agency here for a field trip and we all remarked how the place looked like a Safari park. We already have a world-renowned dolphin sanctuary here which prides itself on its ethics, and the Discovery Channel can be regularly found filming the coast.

 

As part of a huge regeneration project this year underway to refurbish the beaches, we have been discussing the idea of establishing a home for big cats on the island. Bahamians are famous for their deep love of animals and the ecosystem in general, with the islands being the world's fishing and sailing capitals. After 14 years of waiting, we are lighting a fire under the need for development and need to make some dramatic changes.

 

However, we have little to no current knowledge of whether the landform itself would be suitable habitat for a conservation effort. The ground is largely limestone, and covered in Casuarina pine forests, grassland, and palm scrub. That said, i have it directly from the President that any modification needed would be welcome and supported. To me, the entire place looks like lion country, particularly the forests.

 

We have been working with a few academic researchers/specialists in the field to determine which, if any, animals we might be able to accommodate. We have a large workforce who would be eager to contribute.

 

I have it on direct authority from the President and MoT that we would be open and willing to donate a very large amount of land to the initiative, entirely free-of-charge, to enable to us to reach further to our goal of regenerating the island through tourism and technology. GBPA has absolute authority over the free trade zone area and does not need government approval for conveyancing or other such hurdles.

 

Obviously, we have no clear idea of your own needs, or whether it would even be an attractive offer in the first place.

 

Would you be interested in accepting a fully-paid invitation to come to Grand Bahama, or for us to travel to you, to discuss such a proposition?  Yours,  Alex Cameron. Chief Technology Officer, GBPA

 

My reply:

 

Hi Alex,  Well, your email is certainly the most interesting thing that has come across my desk this week!  I've looped in my husband, Howard, and our Director of Research, Lauren.

 

Can you clarify for me if the goal is to create a contained wildlife park for tourism purposes, or if you are thinking to "re-wild" the entire island by introducing species who were native at one time, but no longer thrive there?  I'm not aware of any cat species that were ever native to Grand Bahama and introducing them to run at large could dramatically impair your eco system.

 

How much land are you thinking to devote to this?

 

I really love the idea of huge expanses where wild cats can roam, but they are all solitary by nature, except for lions who are related, so it could be difficult to see a single cat on several acres of land.  I'm really interested to know more.

 

Then Alex responded:

 

Good evening guys - that's wonderful to hear, and glad i could have put a smile on your face and raised an eyebrow!

 

Ian (the President) and I were talking today and his son is actually in his second semester at Tampa University, so he's planning a visit to you regardless (we both absolutely love big cats). Unfortunately i can't visit a