We have made our way up the western side of Cat Island and are now anchored off Como Hill (elevation of 206 feet), the highest point in the Bahamas and site of Father Jerome's Hermitage at the top of what he called 'Mount Alvernia'.

It was well worth the trek up the steep rocky path just for the view from the top. We looked across the island over the now feint outlines of the old colonial plantations and farms where they once bred cattle and supplied the island with fruit and vegetables.

Bill Russell took this photograph of Father Jerome's Hermitage, a small monastery that looks as though it should be in the Aegean, but hand-built by him here in 1939 with just enough space for one man to live. We climbed the tower, looked into the small confessional chamber and living quarters and traced out his freshwater channels that still capture rain water for the cistern.

On the way down the hill, we walked through the old fields, now derelict and overgrown and found strawberries, small tomatoes and cabbages among the weeds and wild flowers.