As my final stop on this impromptu-planned adventure, we headed off to the Bahamas. Just an hour-long flight from Miami and a whole different vibe. I have always had to ‘take a dip in the Caribbean sea’ on my bucket list, and now was the time. I was extremely excited to go to my first Caribean Island but unfortunately, out of this whole trip, this was definitely my major takeback. The water park was amazing but the food and the atmosphere didn’t have much to offer. The month-long trip didn’t have a grand finale as I was expecting. I am still for the experience I gathered, the adventures we went on and the things we learned.
Conch (Conk) is the main food of the island. I tried it in every form they could offer: chowder, fritters, “cracked,” and even in a quesadilla. I never asked for seconds. With a rubbery chewy texture which, people that have seafood say, resembled calamari. Conch was the one thing you could find anywhere. Ian loves seafood, but on the third day, he was excited try anything else we could find.
I was eager to try fresh fruit but it was either extremely expensive or impossible to find. I was naïve to think that Caribean meant lots of fruit. It was an ignorant assumption on my part. On the whole trip, I was able to buy 1 mango (watermelons were almost $20 USD). I got the mango excitedly but when I cut it open, I was very disappointed. The inside was black and rotten, the same as my heart when I see a bad fruit. The one fruit I could find I had to through away.
During the last few days of our time there, I needed some fruit. I was feeling gross and after the delicious fruit I had throughout the trip, my cravings were at an all-time high. I caved and bought a $9 fruit cup. It hurt my soul, wallet and heart spending so much money on it. But my body needed something fresh which was completely backwards given where we were in my mind.
We do have to give it up to the drinks. We did have some delicious beers and cocktails (in a tiki glass). The local beer, Kalik, had different flavours. Guava, mango and cranberry were a few of the Radler we tried. They are highly recommended and very delicious. Very sad that it will be impossible to get something similar here in Canada.
After purchasing those beers to try, we got ourselves in a bit of a dilemma. How are we going to open them? Finding a bottle opener was more difficult than expected. This felt like a scenario where a gimmicky, touristy bottle opener would have been perfect. We realized we needed one after shattering multiple glass bottles the day before with impromptu opening methods by Ian (this was never my idea for the record).
The bottle opener we ended up with was an old, rusted one we were given by the man we called “the worst salesman in the Bahamas.” He insisted it didn’t work and tried opening a beer to prove it. The beer opened, after which he tried giving us the beer and the bottle open for free. We felt wrong taking everything for free after his insistence. He reluctantly and unamusedly took our $5 as we headed out the door with a bottle opener, a road-beer and a great story. We just hope the guy had a working bottle opener to serve his customers.
It was interesting to look back at our experience and ask why to too many things. Nassau seemed a bit abandoned. Tourists were secluded in one specific spot divided by a toll bridge. The rest of the city seemed designed to be a cruise ship day trip stop. There wasn’t much ethical tourism to be made, resources, information and transportation were scarce. You could see the effect of the pandemic as you walked the main street. Abandoned houses, closed businesses, and few people other than tourists walking around. It looked like a place that had a life and was left forgotten.
We did create new memories, and we brought back some stories to tell but there are many other places I would recommend first. The ocean water was beautiful and refreshing. The company was the best I could have asked for. Look at this beautiful view.
Final Thoughts of this adventure
If you can take a month off and travel to all the places you miss or have talked about going to, DO IT! Obviously.
It’s hard to choose a favourite moment. Italy was all I wished for, so many dreams came true during that week. Thinking back makes my eyes tear and makes me double-guess my whole life. I could be a pasta granda at 25 HAPPILY. Brazil filled the family and food corner of my heart. Going back as an adult definitely made me see things differently. The joy of life and the awareness of adulthood are in a constant balance over there. Then we moved to the party town of Miami and I once again realized that I can’t relate. Finally Bahamas, not the food place I was hoping for but the most mesmerizing and beautiful ocean I have taken a dip in.
This whole experience just deepened my love for travel, adventure and food. I got to share with you the whole journey through Instagram which I have never done before. I’m excited for the new foods I will try, the new adventures I will go on. I just hope you join me again or leave me a suggestion. Thank you!
(Thank you Ian Vanagas for editing, correcting and adding to this piece and for coming along on this leg of the trip).
Thanks for keeping alive your family’s travel cravings snd improving them so well! As rhe say goes “Why do therapy if you can go to Italy?”. Love, FMS
Nice touch!!! 🥰❤️