I'm back. Sorry for the drama. I'm sure I can blame it on somebody besides myself...but I can't think of anyone!
Day 3 of vacay we ported in Nassau, Bahamas. It was a much nicer day out, the sun was shining and the wind was just a breeze. The first thing we did was shop (yay!). While shopping, I noticed something peculiar happening in the Bahamas. The previous day, I thought it was original to the Subway in Freeport, but of course we visited the Subway in Nassau and found the same situation there and in the two of the other bathrooms we visited. Apparently it is commonplace in the bahamas to have to be buzzed in to the bathroom of a store or restaurant. Three bathrooms then had steep stairs leading up to them. It gave me a sense of impending doom...like the restrooms were booby trapped!
We braved the marketplace for an hour or so, rejecting all the cries of, "taxi, I take you where you wanna go, mon" and "hey, pretty lady, let me braid your hair" and "baby, I take you to Atlantis...you wanna see Atlantis, I take you." We met up with our tour group and boarded a large catamaran (motorized). Our tour operators were wonderful. They gave us an interesting rundown on the history of Nassau and pointed out the houses of the rich and famous along the way to the reef. Jason and I boarded our clear kayak and off we paddled. I was a little nervous about the kayak because it was a lot more like a canoe. It was wider than a traditional kayak and thin edged, not like most ocean kayaks. Apparently they are easier to tip, too, because we were briefed on what to do in case of just such and emergency and each kayak was actually equipped with a baler (which I was hoping not to use). I relaxed once we got into a paddling rhythm, though. It was fun to see through the kayak at what was swimming just under us. Too much looking down made me feel motion sick, though! We kayaked for about 30 - 45 minutes, then paddled back to the boat, geared up for snorkeling, and jumped in the water.
Even though it was sunny and much warmer out, the water was still cold enough to take your breath away when you jumped in. Andrew & Michelle proved they were smarter than us by staying in their kayak! Once we got going, though, we saw an amazing and beautiful array of fish. Some of them were HUGE. We saw one that was about as big as Avery! I can't remember them all, but I know we identified damselfish, parrotfish, grunt, Nassau grouper, white margates, etc. I could've stayed all day...but it was really cold. When our tour operator blew the whistle for us to get out of the water, I was ready! We sat in the sun on the bow of the boat as we road back to Nassau. On the way we actually say Nicolas Cage boarding his yacht (he owns a home in Nassau). Not one of my favorite actors, but still fun to brag about.
Probably the funniest thing on our whole trip happened as soon as we got off the boat. We were standing on the sidewalk, trying to decide what to do next, when we were approached by a man. He assured us that he wasn't trying to sell us anything, but that he had a "free gift" for us. He kept blathering on as he dug in his pockets (cursing like a sailor) and finally produced 3 anklets and a bracelet which he then handed to us. He informed us that the anklets & bracelet were worth about $10 each at the straw market and what they were made of. He started telling us that he worked for the division of tourism, blah, blah, blah, then tried to force us to put on the jewelry we were still awkwardly holding. In fact, he picked up my foot and slid the anklet on my leg. Then, Michelle tried to put on her anklet and it busted, scattering coral all over. She was so embarrassed! The rest of us almost couldn't hold it together it was so funny! He gave her another one and assured her it was no problem. Then he started going on and on about how he worked as a "big brother" for the children's home (really? what do you do, teach them to curse and lie) and if we gave a donation for the jewelry it would go to buy the kids shoes. It was so comical. We ended up giving him $20 combined...mainly to get away from him!
We ate at the hardrock cafe, then shopped at the straw market. After some t-shirt shopping for the kids, we headed back to the boat.
Day 3 of vacay we ported in Nassau, Bahamas. It was a much nicer day out, the sun was shining and the wind was just a breeze. The first thing we did was shop (yay!). While shopping, I noticed something peculiar happening in the Bahamas. The previous day, I thought it was original to the Subway in Freeport, but of course we visited the Subway in Nassau and found the same situation there and in the two of the other bathrooms we visited. Apparently it is commonplace in the bahamas to have to be buzzed in to the bathroom of a store or restaurant. Three bathrooms then had steep stairs leading up to them. It gave me a sense of impending doom...like the restrooms were booby trapped!
We braved the marketplace for an hour or so, rejecting all the cries of, "taxi, I take you where you wanna go, mon" and "hey, pretty lady, let me braid your hair" and "baby, I take you to Atlantis...you wanna see Atlantis, I take you." We met up with our tour group and boarded a large catamaran (motorized). Our tour operators were wonderful. They gave us an interesting rundown on the history of Nassau and pointed out the houses of the rich and famous along the way to the reef. Jason and I boarded our clear kayak and off we paddled. I was a little nervous about the kayak because it was a lot more like a canoe. It was wider than a traditional kayak and thin edged, not like most ocean kayaks. Apparently they are easier to tip, too, because we were briefed on what to do in case of just such and emergency and each kayak was actually equipped with a baler (which I was hoping not to use). I relaxed once we got into a paddling rhythm, though. It was fun to see through the kayak at what was swimming just under us. Too much looking down made me feel motion sick, though! We kayaked for about 30 - 45 minutes, then paddled back to the boat, geared up for snorkeling, and jumped in the water.
Even though it was sunny and much warmer out, the water was still cold enough to take your breath away when you jumped in. Andrew & Michelle proved they were smarter than us by staying in their kayak! Once we got going, though, we saw an amazing and beautiful array of fish. Some of them were HUGE. We saw one that was about as big as Avery! I can't remember them all, but I know we identified damselfish, parrotfish, grunt, Nassau grouper, white margates, etc. I could've stayed all day...but it was really cold. When our tour operator blew the whistle for us to get out of the water, I was ready! We sat in the sun on the bow of the boat as we road back to Nassau. On the way we actually say Nicolas Cage boarding his yacht (he owns a home in Nassau). Not one of my favorite actors, but still fun to brag about.
Probably the funniest thing on our whole trip happened as soon as we got off the boat. We were standing on the sidewalk, trying to decide what to do next, when we were approached by a man. He assured us that he wasn't trying to sell us anything, but that he had a "free gift" for us. He kept blathering on as he dug in his pockets (cursing like a sailor) and finally produced 3 anklets and a bracelet which he then handed to us. He informed us that the anklets & bracelet were worth about $10 each at the straw market and what they were made of. He started telling us that he worked for the division of tourism, blah, blah, blah, then tried to force us to put on the jewelry we were still awkwardly holding. In fact, he picked up my foot and slid the anklet on my leg. Then, Michelle tried to put on her anklet and it busted, scattering coral all over. She was so embarrassed! The rest of us almost couldn't hold it together it was so funny! He gave her another one and assured her it was no problem. Then he started going on and on about how he worked as a "big brother" for the children's home (really? what do you do, teach them to curse and lie) and if we gave a donation for the jewelry it would go to buy the kids shoes. It was so comical. We ended up giving him $20 combined...mainly to get away from him!
We ate at the hardrock cafe, then shopped at the straw market. After some t-shirt shopping for the kids, we headed back to the boat.
1 comment:
THANK YOU! Okay so whats funny about your story to me----adam thought I was going to get us KILLED in the marketplace because I was arguing down prices, we came out and a guy put jewelry on us (for donation which we just took the jewelry *were cheap like that*) AND I got bahama mama braids from the ladies hanging out by all the boats waiting to take us to Atlantis. Im glad you updated for me ;)
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