Wednesday May 5, 2010 Day 3-- Nassau, Bahamas
After a great night of birthday surprises and entertainment, Jeff and I slept like babies and awoke to find ourselves here....
WELCOME TO NASSAU!
Just a little history/information for those of you not familiar with the Bahamas.
*The Bahamas are an archipelago of about 700 islands and 2,400 uninhabited islets and cays lying 50 mi off the east coast of Florida. They extend for about 760 mi (1,223 km). Only about 30 of the islands are inhabited; the most important is New Providence (80 sq mi; 207 sq km), on which the capital, Nassau, is situated.
*By 1700, Nassau was actually ruled by pirates, who chased off most of the law-abiding citizens. Edward Teach, the notorious Blackbeard, commandeered Fort Nassau as his residence and spent his time infuriating the British Royal Navy. Finally in 1718, the British appointed a former privateer, Woodes Rogers, to be Royal Governor of Nassau. He offered pardons to all pirates who agreed to cease their operations except for Blackbeard, Charles Vane, and eight other swashbucklers. Blackbeard and Vane escaped, but Blackbeard was later killed in June 1718 off the coast of Virginia.
*The Bahamas were a Crown colony from 1717 until they were granted internal self-government in 1964. On July 10, 1973, the Bahamas became an independent nation.
I love history and learning about new places so this port of call was going to be exciting! But...before I get ahead of myself, where were we??
Oh right...we woke up to find ourselves in Nassau, capital of the Bahamas. I love that we woke up each day with a different view out of our porthole!
Our plans for the day were pretty laid back. We were going to meet up with J & K around 9 and head into town. We wanted to visit the Botanical Gardens and Zoo so we were going to share the cab ride. After that, Jeff and I were going to head out on a self-guided walking tour of the city. I had printed out the map and directions from an internet travel site and was very excited about this! We also wanted to have lunch at an authentic Bahamian restaurant and visit the Pirates of Nassau Museum.
The ship was docked until midnight, so time was not an issue. We had all day!
After getting dressed, we made our way up to the Windjammer Cafe on Deck 11. Breakfast was plentiful and delicious as usual. I especially loved all the fresh fruit.....pineapple was a regular choice each day! It was a little early and we had some time before meeting J and K, so Jeff and I went to the lobby to take care of some business.
As you may remember, our trip to Orlando didn't exactly go as planned. We had purchased bus transfers from
Royal Caribbean to transport us from MCO to Port Canaveral. But.....we never made it to MCO, therefore never used the transfers. I had gone to the desk the day we arrived and asked if it was possible to get a refund of the $72 ($36 per person). They had said they would check into it and get back to me. The night before there was a message on our cabin phone that they had some information and could we stop by. So...with a few minutes to spare, we figured now was as good a time as any. I approached the desk, let the man know my name and what we needed.....and waited. No big deal, but we did have plans! Finally, I was able to talk to someone about our refund and it looked like they would be able to refund our money in the form of shipboard credit. (That just meant that I needed to use it to apply to whatever charges we accumulated on-board.
That works!) I just needed to provide them with a copy of the transfer confirmation that I received in the mail. Being a good DISer....I had my trip binder and the necessary paperwork in my cabin! I quickly ran to the cabin while Jeff headed back up to Deck 11 to see if J & K were waiting. On my way back with the paperwork, I noticed (in small print of course) that unused transfers are non-refundable.
OOPS...oh well..that just goes to show you that it never hurts to ask!
So...with an extra $72 on the way to our ship account, we were ready to disembark and hit Nassau! Jeff had met up with J & K and met me in the lobby. It was about 9:45 when we made our way off the ship. There were 7 other cruise ships in Nassau this day.....this is a quick view of Prince George's Wharf as we headed off the Monarch of the Seas and into the city.
Each berth has enough room for 2 ships, so you can see our ship (the Monarch of the Seas), the Carnival Triumph in the next berth, and the Norwegian Jewel closest to the front. Before the day was over, the berths would be full. You can really see why places like Nassau depend on cruise ships for their financial well-being. On a day like the day we were in port, the city is filled with tourists ready to spend their money!
Once off the ship, we made our way toward Festival Place. Essentially, it is a big welcome center that all cruise passengers must pass through upon entering Nassau. It has an information desk, phone center, and lots of little kiosks with handmade items for sale. This is a pic of the outside of the building as we are walking toward it.
Inside was crazy crowded! Jeff and J & K and I struggled to stay together as we pushed our way to the outside doors to exit into the city. As we exit, we are accosted by taxi drivers all wanting to take us anywhere we want to go! They are not pushy, but definitely enthusiastic! There are also
scooter rentals, ferry boats, and horse drawn carriage rides readily available as we exit the building. It's like one-stop tourist shopping! If you are not aware of what's going to hit you, it can be overwhelming. We politely declined offers for hair braiding and ferry boats to Atlantis and found a nice taxi driver willing to take us to Ardastra Gardens for $4 per person....DEAL!
We followed the taxi driver to his taxi which was really more of a van. We were also joined by 2 other couples on their way to a destination close by...so it was a cozy ride! I had been to Jamaica in 2006, so was familiar with the way the people in the islands drive...but Jeff was in for a treat! First, being a former British colony, they drive on what we would consider the wrong side of the road in the Bahamas.....very interesting! Also, horns are used very liberally and what we would consider one way streets are used in both directions! Sometimes you just have to close your eyes!
After a very interesting ride through the city of Nassau, we arrived at Ardastra Gardens and Zoo. Now, we were really only interested in the garden portion and knew there was a Botanical Garden nearby. But, it had been badly damaged in a recent hurricane, so this was the best place to see some of the island's most beautiful plants and flowers. So, we tolerated the zoo, but focused on the tropical beauty of our surroundings.
One of the main attractions at Ardastra Gardens are their famous marching flamingos. Now.....flamingos are birds, so I was not all that excited to check it out. But....when in the Bahamas.....
So off we went.
Jeff had the camera and snapped this pic of another bird.....
good grief!
On our way to the Flamingo Arena.
On the way, Jeff found this cute squirrel. It was really playful. They just don't let you do this in Zoos in the states!
As I was trying to get over to Jeff to take that picture, I went off the path and tried to step over some plants. Bad idea....whatever it was happened to be full of sharp prickers and I ended up having to pick them out of my leg. My first Bahamian souvenir....
OUCH!
We also saw this beautiful peacock. (Another bird, I might add)
The trees and foliage here was just beautiful.
We finally made it to Flamingo Arena and waited for the famous birds to arrive. The flamingo is the National Bird of the Bahamas...a little known fact that the announcer shared as we waited for the show to begin. He was hilarious and cracked jokes the whole time. Made all the more funny by his cool accent, by the way! At last, the long awaited flamingos arrived. Now, it is said that these flamingos march to verbal commands such as about face and forward march from their trainer. I guess we'll see! Here come the stars of the show!
And their trainer putting them through the paces.
At one point in the show audience members were chosen to have an up close and personal experience with the flamingos. Needless to say I wasn't volunteering for that one! They had the volunteers do the traditional stand on one leg stance for photo ops.
Our up close look at one of the stars of the show.
So, do they follow orders in the form of verbal commands? My observation is not really....it's more like they go in circles around the arena with their trainer urging them along by chasing....but that's just my opinion! LOL!
Let's continue our journey through the gardens, shall we? I'll let the pictures do most of the talking as I really don't know what all the plants and flowers are anyway!
We thought these vines were cool.
Jeff, seriously?? Another bird picture?
I'll continue this in my next post...coming soon. Are there animals at this zoo?
You're right, it never hurts to ask!!
They are very beautiful though! 
What is with men?
