nassau

Returned to the bus and made my way to Fish Fry, the fourth and last stop of the route. This stop held the tastiest fish restaurants of Nassau, a claim verified by those on the bus, as well as a beautiful beach.

Beach – check out the aqua water.

From stop 4 it was a short walk to the Ardastra Gardens, Zoo, and Conservation Centre, which has the only trained flamingo show in the world.

Here I found a variety of plant vegetation and wildlife.

And isn’t this an interesting collection of well fertilized plants?

There were animals that didn’t seem to be able to live together, yet they did. Lesson for US all??

And some interesting birds,

which you can feed.

If my hand surgeon saw this shot he would cringe..

Plus other creatures,

A Pot Belly Pig named Priscilla. There also is an Elvis. Who knew??

A Seville. This fella has legs longer than his body.

Some creatures were scary.

A park employee carrying a friendly python for all to touch. Not me!

But let us return to the Flamingos..

which walked among the zoo visitors fearlessly.

And lounged with fellow birds in the pond.

The Flamingo Show

The flamingos are trained to a command signal where they walk in procession and march in unison. Quite a show.

There are 70 to 80,000 flamingos in the Bahamas and they are protected by law. They weigh about 8 pounds with the males slightly bigger than the females. In the wild they can live up to 70 years of age. Their color comes from diet and the Caribbean Flamingo has the greatest number of the 6 species. One chick can be born each year. It hatches after 28 days. Both mom and dad take turns sitting on the egg. Flamingos feed by putting their heads upside down under water. Interesting tidbits learned from the show about a beautiful creature which we all love.

This concludes the Nassau adventure, however not before a rum cake was purchased, conch fries consumed, and baskets purchased at the marketplace.

Thanks, Nassau for a fun filled day.

Started the day late. Seas were rough and the drunkin’ sailor bachelors in the cabin across the hall came in loudly at 1 a.m., 2 a.m., and 3 a.m. Gave them at 9 a.m. payback by screaming comments in the hallway to my imaginary husband. “Hey, Harry are you coming?,” followed by another round of the same a few moments later. Oddly, it worked as there was no further offensive middle of the night wake ups from that cabin the remainder of the cruise.

Shortly after yelling at my “husband” an announcement occurred regarding a hop on, hop off bus tour with limited seating for $30. I ran to the Excursion Desk and purchased my ticket as I had heard cabs cost $25. once you placed your toe in them. This was a deal.

Left the ship at the designated time bringing passport, boat card, and drivers license. During the wait for the vehicle I inquired at the information desk about Ardastra Garden, Zoo, and Conversation Centre. I was told this venue was a short walk from a hop on, hop off stop which piqued my interest.

The bus had 4 stops and a sheet listing locations with pick up times was given. Our first stop was the Atlantis Hotel. Many departed here to gamble and shop. Not for me, but check it out and let me know what I missed 🙂 .

Next was Fort Fincastel. This 17th century castle had a $3 tour which was limited, save your money. However, the Castle did afford good views of the harbor and the local vendors had a nice cache of souvenirs.