The Bahamas are situated in the Atlantic ocean, South Est. of Florida (USA) and stretch across 100,000 square miles for approximately 350 000 inhabitants. They were discovered by Christopher Columbus en 1492. Out of a myriad of islands, approx 700, some minute, only 30 have settlements on them. They were in the past occupied mainly by pirates like the infamous Blackbeard who used these island to intercept ships coming back from South America and going towards Europe with their precious cargo. Rich and famous people like Johnny Depp own some of these island.
Official language is English although more American in tone than English, and the currency is Bahamian dollar (BSD). If you are planning to visit, best option is to take US dollars or travellers; most credit cards are accepted. In 1973 Britain granted the Bahamas independence after 325 years of British rule. Although their cars are left hand drive, they still drive on the left. The majority of the population is of African origin and very religious. Nassau, (the capital of Providence Island), has an Anglican Cathedral and many churches from all denomination. Walking on the outskirts of Nassau I heard a jazz band, curious I turned round and saw people wearing bright colours, singing and dancing : - Festival ? Celebration of some kind? No a Funeral!
Nassau is over 4000 miles from the UK. Flight from London will take approx. 9 hours to reach Nassau's International Airport. It wasn't until the sixties that tourism started booming.
☼ Climate, vegetation and +
Temperature is more or less the same all year round 80 to 90 degrees Fahrenheit, winter is a bit cooler 70 to 80. Christmas, sun, sea and sand! Rainy season between June and November; hurricanes usually bypass the Bahamas. The sea is turquoise/blue, the visibility is over 200 feet and water is warm. The sand is white and in some places pink. It is idyllic for holiday makers 90% of them are Americans. If you go to the beach early enough you will be able to collect the most marvellous seashells you have ever seen. The island is covered with magnificent flowering trees like the flamboyant with big scarlet flowers like the Poinsettias and the Jacarandas with blue flowers. Seawater being so transparent you can admire all sorts of beautiful colourful fish as well as crustaceans. But also dangerous varieties like barracudas, sharks, piranhas and rays. It is wise to stay on guarded beaches - in fact where all the Americans go. I have nothing against Americans but I do not like noisy crowds. I did try these beaches but my legs were eaten alive by sand flies. Going back home, 8 month later my mother refused to let me wear shorts. The ugly spots the sand flies left resembled small pox!
If I sunbathe nowadays, my legs still show the sand flies signature.
☼ Places of Interest
♥ Family
Enjoy the seaside with the beautiful white/pink sands and shallow transparent warm water, amazing swimming pools, but don't forget insect repellents and sun cream, Beautiful warm/hot weather, colourful parks Incredible marine life and crustaceans.
♥ Walking
Victorian houses, Parliament Square, Government House, Prince George Wharf, Prince Albert Dock, 14th Century Augustinian French Monastery, 66 steps Queens Staircase leading to the Water Tower with magnificent views of the town, Fort Fincastle, Bay Street/George Street (Nassau's main avenue) where you will find everything you ever wanted providing your wallet allows it; designer fashion, jewellery, there is even a Body Shop! Obviously you cannot miss Straw Market where you can buy straw hats/baskets, carved wooden statuettes, leather goods, T-shirts and duty free shops. If you are in Nassau around New Year or 26 December you will be able to join the Junkanoo Festival. The same Festival occurs also every weekend during the month of June. Independence day very much celebrated is on 10th July. Visit www.bahamas-travel.info/index.html where you will find more information and admire beautiful photographs. The beautiful photos I took disappeared after several removals but Coooeee very kindly offered to download pictures from internet for me. Thanks.
♥ Mini-buses called Jitneys
Don't waste time waiting at the bus stop they never stop there, but flag them down they will stop for you even reverse to pick you up. Have the right fare with you $1 and pay on your way out. Look for the ones with closed windows, as they probably are air-conditioned. The Jitneys circulate in town (from 6am to 6pm) so if you want to go further away or to the airport you will have to get a taxi. If you are brave enough you can rent a bicycle (you can get them free from some hotel) or view the town on a colourful horse drawn carriage. Don't waste time going around the island (1 mile across and seven miles long) the road is abominable and there is not much to see.
♥ Kiddies and Families
Enjoy the Pirate Museum where you can board the ship "Revenge" or come face to face with Blackbeard, Go and see Flamingos, parrots etc… at Ardaska Gardens, Go horse riding on the beach early morning, Visit the caves in Lucayan National Park, once occupied by Indians but now home of nursing bats, Go to Paradise Island (4 miles long and ½ mile wide) with its 17 beaches and visit the magnificent Atlantis Hotel Aquarium http://atlantis.com/flash.aspx by either crossing the bridge or taking a ferry, Or a 25 minutes catamaran ride to Blue Lagoon Island (3 miles northeast of Paradise Island) www.dolphinencounters.com and swim with Bottlenose Dolphins; only snag here is you have to reserve months in advance). The beautiful film "Splash" was filmed on Blue Lagoon. Or take a boat trip to see sharks been fed if you like the buzz, Travel between Islands on the mail boat or jump in the plane for a 20 minutes flight to Andros, the largest Island on the Bahamas.
Try snorkelling to admire the coral reef and marine life or perhaps find lost treasures? Under currents are very strong (Atlantic) so beware! If you are planning to get married, Nassau is an idyllic place. Sunsets are breathtaking. Night- life can be as exotic or challenging as you like. Restaurants from Chinese to Burger bars, I do prefer local sea-food especially the Conch (pronounced Conk") pubs where you can try the local beer called Kalik, the daiquiris or the ever present rum (there is a Baccardi distillery on the Island) or go to the Casinos (2 world Class Casinos in Nassau) and if you can't stay away from booze, try a booze cruise. Enjoy Steel Bands and jazz. Keep your belongings safe - like in any other world- wide destinations, temptation is always present! Crime is rising and there is a lack of justice for foreigners.
☼ My Experience
I will write about Nassau New Providence where I lived during 8 month. The following is my own experience as an inhabitant 100% true without any frills. Are you ready? Fasten your seat belts I warn you! But before we go I have to explain certain details. We lived in Madrid for six years, thinking of staying, after having built our own house, we did order 18 months before, a car. Madrid is very cold in winter and we asked as an extra, an ice detector. One week after receiving the famous car we left for the Bahamas!!! Ice detector? … what a laugh !!! Anyway it was a super car. I remember when I started the engine it sounded more like the roar of a powerboat than a car. I named it Batmobile.
☼ Departure
We are now in November, end of rainy season. House has been sold with all furniture, machines etc, suitcases densely packed with summer gear, car shipped, the two kiddies 2 and 4 ready,
Pictures of Nassau (Bahamas)
Landing
we took a flight from London to Nassau. After a very long and tiring flight, the landing was quite scary as the only thing you could see was water. We now wait patiently for our luggage; every suitcase has arrived except my little white case, which I filled with goodies (sweets and non perishable delicacies) for Christmas. After going two or three times around the globe, the famous white case arrived two months after Christmas!Going out of the airport the air is suffocating, hot and very humid. We are greeted and taken to our reserved apartment. Two storey building, air-conditioned, all made of wood with magnificent views of Nassau. A few yards under the balcony, separated by a wall is the Bahamian village, little circular huts with thatchedroofs. Our neighbours are Americans, very pleasant couple with a young son.
☼ The Batmobile
Three months after our arrival on the island, I received a phone call from the docks. Yuppie Batmobile has arrived!! The solemn voice at the end of the line said: « the ship transporting your car arrived three weeks ago, it is in the docks but there is a slight problem…., a missing paper I thought. No, the ship sank on arrival but don't worry M'am you car was on top deck so it's dry!…. No worry…be cool! When I went to collect B., half of the wheels were rusty due to standing in salt water. No compensation whatsoever was given although I threatened to sue them. Totally cheesed off, to cool down I went with the kids for a trip around the island and test the car. Six miles in total, and the so-called road - more potholes than tarmac - no chance of breaking the sound barrier here! The scenery is pretty boring, sand, sea and bushes. I didn't see a living soul. I should have guessed they are all in Nassau! Cars, taxis, mini buses plus horse drawn vehicles, bicycles, scooters, dogs and Mamas, all circulating without a single traffic light no stop panels either! The Bobbies in trim white jacket and colourful pith helmets usher the circulation perched dangerously on what looks like a stool!
☼ The Mamas
In general larger than life, very colourful, similar to the houses here; if they don't know which colour to wear they put them all together. So you will find the Mamas mainly in Straw Market where they sell colourful straw hats/bags, leather goods, wooden statuettes etc. They are very friendly but if you look carefully in their eyes you will see a $ sign - they have an incredible memory for faces and if they see you more than twice, their smile turns sour. Now if you go to the local supermarket they are incredibly unpleasant! Saying that, you don't have to go to the Bahamas to experience that sort of behaviour!
☼ Bahamian Village Ablaze
Three days after our arrival, the « joker » my ex. had to go to a two days conference in Miami. During the night I suddenly woke up, my bedroom was brightly lit, looked at the clock…2 am! Can't be the sun! I jump out of bed, open the curtains and to my horror I saw the Bahamian village a few yards from my balcony, alight! Considering the whole village is made of huts with thatched roofs and seeing them try putting off the fire with buckets! Not one minute to spare got something over my pyjamas, grabbed car keys, passports, a bottle of water and biscuits, grabbed my two kiddies with their blankets and ran towards the car. With a big smile on my face trying to hide the fear, I sat my kiddies in the back of the car and drove off. At the end of the street a couple of locals, hands in their pockets and grin on their faces asked me where I was going! I am going as far as possible from the blaze and will come back when all is safe…But M'am don't panic you can stay here you'll be ok!!!! …They are so relax but as far as I am concerned I follow my instincts. Came back a couple of hours afterwards, all the Bahamian village was in cinders but the flat was intact!!! The Bahamian were right…no panic…be cool!
☼ Nose to Nose with a Shark
Had enough of been eaten alive by sand flies, and having an overdose of Americans, (as I said before I have nothing against Americans but like any other nationalities when they are outside their own countries they tend to be louder than usual. So I decided to go and find a quieter beach, not to sunbathe, not to swim but walk in the sand with the kiddies. Each one of them had bucket and spades, one red one green. Crabs were rushing towards the red one to be caught but they were swimming away from the green one. Who said crabs were colour-blind??? Kids are getting bored of catching crabs and we carry on walking in the sand - we can see under the clear waters a magnificent stingray; then a noise attracts my attention, a few yards away, in deeper waters, sharks are fighting. I asked the joker to take the kids away from the shore as sea levels rise very quickly, but I wanted to stay and see what was happening. I am perched on a small rock, just the right size to support both my feet, surrounded by water when I see a shark coming toward me and stopping right under my feet…. why is he so close to shore? He stopped moving. I read a month ago Jacques Cousteau's book on sharks and he said sharks never come to shallow waters unless they are dying! So armed with this knowledge plus a small rock I quickly picked, I decided to throw the rock on the shark's head to see if he was dead! Suddenly half of his body emerged from the water, he was so close I could have hugged him but the fiery eyes and the enormous wide open jaw crowded with sharp teeth told me it was not a good idea! He swam in haste towards deeper waters - was he scared of me?? He was all silver grey on top and white underneath with starry eyes and an enormous jaw! I ran towards the beach faster than the speed of light…Phew that was too close for comfort. Talking about my encounter with a local later, he told the local supermarket dispose of their rotten meat in the sea on that side of the island!!!!!! So it is very wise to stay on guarded beaches as they have special nets to protect swimmers.
☼ Time to Go
The joker's job was a one-year assignment but after 4 months he had enough and myself, expecting my third child (my lovely Bodsquidge) end of September it was big decision time. Seeing hospital facilities here there was no question I would take a risk. We completed 3 months before all necessary paperwork to immigrate to the States in Miami. Time is of the essence because airline companies did not take women over 8 months pregnant. The day we received the green light to go and live in Miami, the joker played his last card and decided he didn't want an American kid! So after all that, we took a flight to England, his homeland. The Batmobile stayed on Bahamian grounds; it's perhaps pink or lilac by now or who knows at the bottom of the ocean.
☼ Conclusion
The + Great choice of hotels and places to eat and drink, shallow warm transparent waters, very fine white/pink sand, beautiful weather, amazing sea life, incredibly beautiful flowering trees, non stop music: Jazz and Steel Bands, fresh fruit and sea food (especially the delicious "conch" pronounced "conk" and for the amateurs the local beer called Kalik, or the ever present rum. Like the Bahamian say: « You gotta have a little rum if you want a little fun ».
The - noise, chaos, poor hygiene, excessive luxury when poverty is very much present, tourism too much orientated for Americans, rainy season, powerful under water current (Atlantic), sand flies, mosquitoes, cockroaches etc, beach vendors, burger bars.
≈A week in Nassau is a Beautiful Experience ≈A month is Boredom ≈Eight months is Madness.
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