Showing posts with label Bahamas. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Bahamas. Show all posts

Monday, April 21, 2008

Even more of the Bahamas

This is the last of the Bahamas photos, I promise. I have to admit this was not the most exciting place I have ever been, but we couldn't drive 1500 miles without finding some kind of photo ops!
The Queens Staircase carved out of solid limestone by slaves in the 1790's was our first destination in Nassau. There was a pretty, young Bahamian lady running up and down the stairs for her morning workout. Bonnie and Ken raced her up the stairs and kept up with her for one trip.

Our next destination was gardens and zoo. The main attraction at the zoo is the flamingo march. We missed it but enjoyed all the birds roaming around the garden free of cages.

There were a lot of schoolchildren visiting today, most of them in uniform from private christian schools.
The flowers, trees and bushes were plentiful and gorgeous.



In the afternoon, we got a taxi over the one mile bridge to Paradise Island. This is Atlantis Resort, reported to cost one billion dollars. It has shopping malls, a theater, and 35 restaurants.We toured the world's largest man made marine habitat, consisting of 11 lagoons filled with 14,000 exotic sea life, sharks and manta rays. They call it The Dig and it has has a system of interconnecting tunnels, underground rooms and chamber filled with ancient artifacts and stone carved hieroglyphics depicting the Lost City of Atlantis. The Mayan Temple water slide is a popular place for families with kids. Some people on the cruise reserve a room there and spend the day at the 14 acre water scape. A sweet moment!Down the street, we found Cabbage Beach, Versailles Gardens, and the remains of a 14th century stone monastery. Our taxi driver told us this is a popular place for weddings and that Oprah has a home just down the street. A lot of famous people have homes in the Bahamas: Johnny Depp and Sean Connery, Lenny Kravitz, Shakira, Michael Jordan, John Travolta, David Copperfield, Faith Hill and Tim McGraw, Sean "Diddy" Combs. If you own a $500,000 home here, you are eligible for permanent residency and there is no income tax!


The gardens over look Nassau Harbor.

Saturday, April 19, 2008

More Bahamas ..Coco Cay

Coco Cay is a tiny island with beautiful white sand beaches owned by Royal Caribbean.
There is a lot of things to do there, such as get a sunburn.


Watch the enormous iguana population and hand feed them if you so desire.


Watch the para sailors and discuss all day whether or not you have the cajones to try it and by the time you decide you do, it's too late.

Thursday, April 17, 2008

Our Cruise to the Bahamas

I have been slow about getting photos "fixed and printed" from our multi-purpose trip. But, I have have excuses.


As soon as we got home, I started working on a book for Ken and Bonnie on Shutterfly with the photos I took at the ordination. I spent way too much time obsessing about every little detail, because the last one I did in a big hurry because of a half price deadline and it was not a success. I was pleased with the final results and Bonnie,who did the journaling for me, seemed very happy with it, too. If you want to see it, email me and I can "share" it from the Shutterfly website. Here are Bonnie and Ken, looking very spiffy on formal night on the ship.




Our cabin was tiny but comfortable. We had little towel animals on our bed every night. The waiters and the room attendants are the only ship employees who receive tips and they work very hard to make a good impression. They are from all over the world and they work for months with no time off, then have their "vacation" and go home to visit their families. Many of them are married with children. I find it hard to imagine a life like that.


Basil chose the late dinner sitting so he could
make sunset as well as sunrise every day.





The port of Nassau as we arrived at sunrise. It is the
very colorful capital city of the Bahamas. They have
been independent from the UK since 1972.








This house would cost you
$1,000,000 or more.




The courthouse


There are some very interesting signs
on the buildings.














Over 60% of the population is Baptist. Many of our drivers had christian radio stations on in their taxi.