|
The Bahamas conjures up visions of glitzy world class casinos, discreet banking, duty free Rolexes and Cartiers, and Gucci luggage, rich and famous people at play. Michael Jordan reportedly spent several millions for a lot near his favorite casino to be close to the action.
The no-frills side of Nassau, The Bahamas, is just as exciting, vibrant, and entertaining. Perhaps, more so.
Cheapest way to get there? Fly to Miami and take the ferry /mailboat over. Budget flights into Nassau are scarce unless you've bought a package but flights to Miami are often cheap and the ferry runs daily.
Accommodation? Presuming off-season, which is great weather for folks from intemperate climates like the north-eastern, north central United States, you can book a double room per night for as little as $54, or you can pay a bit more and get an efficiency double for $60, tax included. How about a cottage for $75? You'd pay that much for a truck stop layover on the Interstate!
Yet in Nassau there are bonuses, especially if you have an efficiency. You can do your own cooking. Grocery prices are easily comparable to Miami's, nor are they very much different from those in Canadian supermarkets. But Nassau has an edge if you happen to like fish and seafood: grouper, stripers, shrimp, lobster and much more, and especially conch. Fresh caught, available same day, dockside, from the fishermen who bring them in from the Atlantic Ocean. You can dicker your price and often get a dockside recipe for cooking your purchase.
If you don't want to do your own cooking, your costs will rise. However, bargains still abound. Check out the conch wagons; they're downtown and along the beaches. Lime-laced conch salads, and deep-fried as well. Check out the tucked-away off-Bay Street al fresco cafes for daily specials. If you don't care for seafood, or you've had a surfeit already, head over to Johnny Canoes at Coral Beach for, maybe, the best burger platter in town. Of course you can also hit the Golden Arches on Bay Street but, as you do, ask yourself why did you feel the need to leave Boise or Buffalo?
How do you get here? How do you get there? By jitney. Forget cabs, limos, subways, ORT; jitneys rule the narrow roads of Nassau. Seventy-five cents will take you anywhere. These mini-vans fly over the roads, side door open, so hang on; music blaring driver's choice and it may be reggae, sosa, gospel or Beethoven. Drink anything you like but keep it in a paper bag, and when you want off, holler it out!
Motor scooter rentals may seem like a good idea but you take your life in your hands. First, the roads are narrow; second, it's left-hand drive, like Britain. Third, traffic is heavy and sometimes erratic. Put it this way: in the local papers "Help Wanted" classifieds for jitney drivers request "sober-minded" more often than "valid license." Draconian island laws keep everyone safe, more or less.
So, where's the cheap stuff and the free stuff? First, for good deals, hit the Straw Market off Bay Street when the cruise ships aren't in. Do it in the afternoon, and dicker. The asking price is the starting price. Quarter it, whittle it, moan, sigh about appreciative grandparents who couldn't make the trip, and you can save money. Probably the price will settle at 60% of asking. Out at Coral Beach is a rather poor man's Straw Market where you may do even better.
For a few dollars, you can tour the Junkanoo Museum and throb along to a 45-minute, masterfully edited video of Jankanoo history. Junkanoo is Nassau's annual Mardi Gras, only better. The museum is loaded with full-size award-winning floats from different years, complete with costumes and regalia. Take your camera.
For a buck, you can enjoy 600 species of flora spread over sixteen acres of the Botanical Gardens. Best of all, jitneys #10 and #17 will get you there in rollicking fashion.
For fifty cents and a hike up the sixty-five step Queen's Staircase to Fort Fincastle, plus an elevator ride and another wee hike, you'll get a breathtaking view of the island of New Providence from its highest point.
That is the first day or two. What then? How about the public beaches, more of these than private unless you venture across the bridge to Paradise Island where most everything seems to be owned or rented by someone. In Nassau there are free outdoor concerts, too, and the historic Changing of the Guard ceremonies at the Parliament buildings.
Hey, remember last night you took the wrong jitney, ended up in Fox Hill with the locals? You heard gospel and reggae blaring across the neighborhood from loudspeakers attached to lamp posts, you ate some goat-stuffed pita from a local grocery store, and you shot some pool in a big hall that looked suspiciously outfitted for a revival meeting for when the pool table closed down. You got back to your hotel and discovered you still had change from a twenty. You just found No-Frills Nassau! Dang you had fun!
|
| |
