February 25, 2010

• Bahamas trip journal....

  Island time and weather

  Weather has certainly played a factor in planning activities such as snorkeling or diving….both Monday and Wednesday mornings woke up to rain, add wind to this and it is not safe to go out on the water for these trips.

   

  On Monday afternoon we drove to a local beach as Amelia wanted to swim donned her wet suit, as the waves were high, My umbrella got blown backwards so decided to walk along the beach and  breakwater instead. Some of the shots here show the power of the ocean Also ran into a few pairs of shore birds that were obviously nesting. These trees long dead from being coated with wind and salt water make unique frames to the ocean view. But so do holes in the coral rock such as this one. Different patterns of rock and debris caught my eye.

   

  As we have rented a car we headed Monday afternoon out to Garden of the Groves named after Wallace Groves the founder of Freeport. The parks guide Darren gave an excellent history not only of the gardens but the island as well….no municipal or provincial government but Grand Bahamas Port Authority, Independence was in 1973 from the British, but still a Commonwealth nation, with a parliament and governor general, as representative of the crown, similar to Canada. With many species of local and migratory birds, these gardens were lush with  colorful flowers, different types of trees, many wit medicinal purposes and tropical bushes (you know the ones we grow as house plants but 10x bigger), waterfalls and other unique features, such as a small catholic chapel, wooden sculptures dedicated to original Lucayan Indians of the area and  a labyrinth, which Amelia and I walked. This was a baby heron that would turn up for feeding at 3 PM…. Amelia had a fun time pretending to feed him. We finished up by have a late lunch of smoked salmon, salads and Sands, the local beer.

   

  Tuesday morning dawned sunny and clear with a 7:30 AM knock on our suite door. Good weather, OK for diving and need to make a decision NOW. So she went off on a series of the first two of six dives, which included a mad drive to the dive shop to get there in time and yours truly getting lost driving back to the resort. At 11 AM I went on a noon hour snorkeling cruise….the water was warm and in a shallow coral reef, 3-15 feet, schools of baby blue angelfish and yellow and blue-stripped fish, flat red fan coral and rounded white shapes…it was amazing! Been quite a few years since I had donned a snorkel. The boats docked from the Lucaya harbour front with many colorful shops and hotels around. On the return trip viewed this large hotel and casino shaped like a cruise ship…really glad we are staying in a smaller setting.

  • 9:07 am
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