I was having so much fun in the Bahamas! It’s too bad I’m smack-dab in the middle of reality again.
Friday, April 16 I went on another adventure: I rode a submersible motor scooter in a reef. It’s basically a one-man submarine. Your head stays out of the water the entire time, but the rest of your body is underwater. I did this adventure with Stuart Cove.
So our bus driver took us to Stuart Cove, where the 1995 movie Flipper was filmed. We were given very good instructions by our guide. These submersibles had a lot of similar features to scuba gear; they were even regulated by Bahamas laws concerning SCUBA. Then we got on a boat that took us to where we got in the water. It wasn’t a very nice day, so the first location didn’t work because the water was too choppy. The diving crew chose instead on a second location called “Maly Maly.” SCUBA divers got in the water first. Then for each of us, the crew let down a submersible. We got into the scooter, and then we were taken 15 feet below the surface. I had a submersible camera, so I was fortunate to be able to take photos and videos while I was down there. The divers led us to the set of the Cessna 310 airplane wreck from the movie Jaws.
The airplane wreck set from the movie Jaws
Once my turn was over, I took some snorkeling gear and went out again and took more photos. Unlike the Sea Garden, this area had more yellowtail snapper. I saw a school of black fish that had blue on the top and bottom. Also, a school of sergeant major fish swam up to me to say hi. I thought that was really neat because I didn’t have any food with me, so their interest in me was purely curiosity. The sergeant majors in Naly Naly were much larger than the ones in the Sea Garden—maybe six to eight inches long.
Sergeant majors show their curiosity in me
Yellowtail snapper, a scrumptious meal!
A school of blue and black fish
Saturday, April 17 I spent the day with my new friends Sonny and Julie. Sonny is Bahamian, and Julie is from South Africa. I met Sonny where he works at the Botanical Garden on Monday and I met Julie at my hotel. Sonny wanted to take me to the Straw Market and show me around downtown a little bit. Up to this point, I had walked past the Straw Market, but I didn’t go in because most of the time that I was in downtown I came in the evening after it had closed. As well, the Straw Market is situated in a very confined space, so if you didn’t know what you were looking for, you might miss it. Apparently the original Straw Market had burned down and the city is in the process of building a new one. In the meantime, they had this to serve their needs. If you look carefully in the photo, you can see that it goes on for a good distance. The Straw Market is a place where tourists can buy their souvenirs. I noticed that if you saw one booth, you typically knew what was in the other booths as well, but there were a few surprises here and there.
The Straw Market
We ate lunch at the Poop Deck and I had this awesome hog fish. It was grilled with garlic, salt, and pepper. Sometimes the simpler things taste the best. Oh wow! That was really good fish. The restaurants in the Bahamas in general are all very delicious. I just wish they were open in the evening more, instead of only being open during the daytime. The Poop Deck is located near the Paradise Island Bridges and along the dock. You could see Atlantis Resort from where we were, but the number of boats, yachts, and ships there was just incredible.
Me and Sonny at the Poop Deck
Julie and me at the Poop Deck
After we ate, we took a stroll to the Government House, which is the Governor General’s mansion. The Bahamas in the last week or so just got a new Governor General as well. It’s my understanding that the Governor General is the equivalent of our President. While we were out we saw Rawson Square and Parliament House.
Government House
Parliament House
Sundays in Nassau are very quiet. It’s not like the rest of the week. I guess I should have expected as much, knowing from personal experience in my job how a tourist community is likely to close early at night and be slow on Sundays. As well, the Bahamas are a very Christian nation, so people generally go to church on Sunday mornings or evenings. So April 18 Julie and I went to the Pirates of Nassau Museum in the downtown area. A lot of research and construction went into the making of this museum, but it’s still pretty small compared to the museums I’ve been to. The early 1700s were an extremely active time for piracy in the Caribbean and this museum showed what was used to fight, the strong boxes that were used to protect property on ships, and explained the myths that we hold about pirates. Surprisingly, much of what we think about pirates is accurate, though.
Later we explored Fort Fincastle, a smaller fort than Fort Charlotte, but I found it just as interesting. This fort didn’t seem to be the waste of resources that Fort Charlotte is historically known as. Next to it is the Queen’s Staircase. This landmark was cut out of rock by slaves who wanted to honor Queen Victoria (England) for abolishing slavery in the Bahamas. It took, according to our tour guide, about 16 or 17 years to cut out the 65 stairs and the surrounding rock. It’s a very impressive thing to see from the bottom. At the top, you don’t quite realize how much effort it would take to do that work. For some reason the waterfall wasn’t working.
Fort Fincastle
Queen’s Staircase
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