Tripppin In The Bahamas – Now What?

A continuation from my earlier post, http://wp.me/pKtoE-bF. 

Credit: Google Earth

So we’d all made our respective journey to the island in some way or another, and it felt good to be back with the rag-tag crew. I knew at this point nothing would get in our way for a successful trip. That first morning with everyone in the house was amazing. You could see the eagerness on everyone’s faces when they woke up saw the amazing 280-degree views out our living room windows. The first order of business the morning after everyone’s arrival became apparent when the last of the amazing pastries we’d bought the day before were gobbled up.  We needed food, and the girls were quick to say they’d like to see Marsh Harbor.  

The team loaded up into the boat for a trip into town. It was interesting watching their faces as we scooted along the shoreline. I had taken it for granted that we’ve been looking at this scenery for a few days now and they were just now seeing these beautiful islands. Once we hit the docks in town we all split up with our respective missions. I was on the “get food” team, so we asked a local taxi driver where the grocery store was and hit the road on foot. After about 40 minutes of aimless wandering, loads of sweat and some minor sunburn we threw in the towel. I could have sworn that the locals were screwing with us when they kept saying, “just a little further”. We headed back to the cabstand, caught a cab with AC and realized that we were literally fifty feet from the store when we’d finally decided to turnaround.  Go figure.

The first thing you’ll notice in the grocery store is obviously the cool and interesting brands on the shelves. The second is the price. Holly price shock Batman. Like many other island counties the Bahamas have very few local farms, so they import a majority of their food. Hence the insane prices. Nonetheless; we had an entire car full of food, and headed back to the Harbor. I’m not really sure how we would have ever carried that stuff back to the boat. Thank God for the cabs.

 Source: http://www.worldofstock.com/stock-photos/bahamas-abaco-marsh-harbour-taxi-driver/PWO2125

Upon our arrival back at the Harbor we noticed that the “get tanks” team had indeed done just that. We had a leaf-cutter ant style line of tanks shuffling to the boat.  A very nice gentleman was quick to help out with the tank duties, which was no surprise. The harbor is full of folks looking to help in hopes of a tip. I say that not in the way you think about people pandering you for money, but in a classy way. With a deep Bahamian accent the man introduced himself as Captain James. Wanting to know more about our new dock friend I asked him where his boat was, assuming that the Captain would surely point to one of the beautiful catamarans or trawlers that littered the bay.  He smiled confidently, looked me in the eye and said, “All of em, young man”. He went on to explain that he captains a lot of the boats in the harbor and he’d be happy to help us on our adventure should we want a Captain to take us fishing, hunting conch or diving. I told him thank you and let him know we’d get in touch with him should we decide to go that route. He handed my dad a business card that contained the words “Capt. James” and his local phone number. We wished him a good day, said out goodbyes and shoved off. The boat was packed with 18 tanks, 9 people and a truckload of groceries. We idled out of the harbor, hit the throttles and pushed Tripppin back towards the homestead.

We’d made it back with supplies, newly-rented tanks and accomplished our early-morning adventure. Now what?

You can read the rest of the journey here, http://wp.me/pKtoE-c9.