How walking people enjoy a cruise

Sunset in dock at Freeport

The best thing about a cruise vacation is that each person on the same boat can enjoy himself differently.  There is the party and drinking crowd, the casino crowd, the families swimming and playing putt-putt crowd, and the relaxing with nooks and kindles on the deck crowd.  My husband and I don’t really fit into any of those categories.           

            We enjoyed  looking out over the ocean on a shaded deck back of the boat.  We loved exploring and walking each deck and walkway of the boat. One day we started on the lowest deck, walked the entire circumference of the boat, climbed the staircase one deck and walked again.  We walked the entire boat this way, one level at a time.  This was interesting, as we noticed the different layouts of each level, and we found lots of little spots to relax and read.  We walked the running track on days when the wind wasn't too high and that deck wasn't closed.  Like many people we enjoyed the food, and we had opportunities to try new things.  My favorite dessert now is Crème brûlée. 

            When cruise ships dock the passengers have the option of purchasing shore excursions or just exploring on their own.  We chose to just explore.  Our first stop was Nassau, Bahamas.  Once we had fought our way past the multitude of ship photographers, taxi drivers, tour guides, hair braiders, and passengers that randomly stop as if they were in Walmart isles, we enjoyed strolling along the city streets.    Nassau is an old town with crumbling buildings and junk cars, as well as a tourist town with modern shops.  

With a map we walked along the main shopping street, quickly left the crowds and found the turn we were searching for.  We began to walk uphill, past old city buildings and parks.  We passed the hospital, crossed a parking lot and arrived at our first destination, The Queen’s Staircase.  This staircase was carved out of limestone in 1793-1794 by slave labor as a back exit from a nearby fort.  Later Queen Victoria freed the slaves, and the staircase was renamed in her honor.  There are 65 steps, and she reigned 65 years.   We walked in a narrow canyon whose walls were covered in ferns and exotic plants.  We climbed the stairs to the top in time to hear a local man in a wheel chair tell the history of the stairs to one of the tours.

The Queen's Staircase         

   We walked on uphill to Fort Fincastle, one of the highest points on the island.  Turning around we enjoyed views of the entire area.   Crowds moved through the fort, herded to the little shops set up along the walkways, then back to their vans to be driven to the next attraction.  We leisurely wandered off, following a narrow path that wound down the hill, through a residential area and back on the busy shopping streets of town.  It was a long walk through the crowds until we reached a small beach area.  We walked out onto a concrete jetty and dangled our feet over the pale blue water.  After a rest we continued on, our goal was Fort Charlotte.  

Beach and clear water in Nassau

Again we climbed a steep winding road, this time passing a soccer field.  One of the shore excursion options was to participate in a Segway tour of the town.  We stopped climbing to watch the Segway riders practice on the soccer field.  Although the scooter looked like fun zipping around the large field I had a hard time imagining a herd of segway tourists plowing through the crowded streets.

Fort Fincastle, it looks like a ship 

View from the top of the hill and the fort.  Notice the cruise ships at port

Door at Fort Charlotte

Segway riding tourist on soccer field        

    We finally reached the top of the hill, hot and sweaty, and began exploring the fort.  Fort Charlotte was much larger than Fort Fincastle and much less crowded.  We spent nearly an hour in this fort, underground and above ground and even walking along the perimeter.  Finally, very hot and tired, we headed back.

            Back in town we stopped to taste conch fritters and frozen yogurt and to rest our feet.  I have no idea how far we walked but I know we were tired. 

            That evening we heard people talking about their visits to the town.  Almost everyone chose to shop, and nothing else.  Nassau has a straw market that everyone visited.  It was a large market crammed full of booths, filled with purses, bags, key chains, toys and t shirts and wood carvings.  We entered the market, became claustrophobic and quickly left.  I cannot imagine an entire vacation centered around a flea market, no matter how exotic.

            A comedian on the ship ribbed a member of the audience one evening saying, “You just went shopping?  What a way to delve into the culture, sir.  Very exciting.”

            Freeport was our next stop.  This time we rented a moped and scooted rapidly across the island.  The scariest part was driving on what for us is the wrong side of the road.  We had the freedom to explore neighborhoods, country roads and the less visited parks.  We loved Freeport.

            We stopped at the Rand Nature Center, much to the surprise of the caretakers.  This nature center was created to save the natural state of the island before the development took over, and we were able to walk among the old Bahamas flora and fauna.  We saw wild coffee bushes, tamarind trees, maderia or mahogany trees, and Caribbean pine to name a few of the many plants.   Inside we saw exhibits on the native Indians, the baskets woven by early settlers, and on the shells and corals of the water.  We learned how to tell if a conch shell is mature enough to remove from the water or if it hasn’t had time to reproduce yet.  When people cut out the conch to eat and then toss the empty shell back into the water a chemical is released, warning all the other conchs to leave.  This tour was my favorite visit of both days.

Walkway of Caribbean Pine trees, the way the Bahamas used to look

This Conch shell is too young to harvest.  You can tell by how thin the edge is

 Bahama crafts display at Nature Center

Orchids growing on a tree

            We took the moped through town, through neighborhoods, and along quiet palm lined streets before returning to the ship.  After these two days of exploring we were happy to just relax on the ship and watch the water as we returned home.