Recently my roommate Sara and I went on a cruise to the Bahamas. The weather was perfect with a light wind to keep us cool while baking out by the beach. We stopped at Port Lucaya Marketplace (as you can see in the picture) to do some shopping and relieve our sunburned bodies from the sun's rays. The shops were quaint with colorful signs inviting us to come spend our hard earned money on fine gems, designer watches, perfume and Duty-Free liquor. My favorite part was the women selling straw crafts, t-shirts, key chains, and shot glasses. I met this woman named Doris, she was charismatic yet aggressive when it came to negotiating the price of her straw bags. In her Bahamian accent she proceeded to tell me all about how they had been kicked out of the marketplace to fumigate and she was left to sell out of her home for a few days. So she was glad to be back at the marketplace and decided to give me a good price on t-shirts. (I bought like four).
Alcohol was shoved in our faces everywhere we went on the cruise as well as on the island. We kindly refused their offers; even after our tenth refusal they still persisted. I guess it was their way of welcoming tourists to the island. It's called a "Bahama Mama" which essentially is orange and pineapple juice with some rum. We were told it was their specialty and most of the tourist really enjoyed it. It may seem that way during the first few drinks but after a while most of the tourists were throwing up. Gross! The only enjoyable part was watching the drunk men and women do the "Dollar Dance". I didn't record this but this is basically the gist of the dance with a Bahama Mama in hand.
We did visit the island during hurricane season but fortunately for us we didn't encounter any storms and the waves were gentle on the way there and back. Luckily for my roommate she did not have to take care of me because I usually get seasick. The best time to visit is during the months of March-July. Take plenty of sunscreen. You will need a passport if you want to get back to the US although after a few days in paradise you just might forget all about home. The legal drinking and gambling age is 18 (I say this with a cautious warning to all because throwing up is not fun and losing all of your money in a few hours isn't either). And finally, nude or topless sunbathing is illegal so wait until you get back to Florida to find those particular beaches.
On my honeymoon in Mexico there were tons of little kids selling really dinky little toys and necklaces. After almost two weeks there we felt bad for them, so one day we offered to buy something. We were swarmed by little kids, and we ended up buying like $10 worth of stuff.
ReplyDeleteAnd they refused to give us change :)
Im SOOOO glad we actually finally made it happen. Every sunburn and every drop of sweat was worth it!! We have to do it again! lovve you!
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