Vacation in Nassau Part 3...

Tuesday, September 29th we were booked for a trip on the Powerboat Adventures.  We had done this on our honeymoon when we were last in The Bahamas, and thoroughly enjoyed it, so we decided to try it again.  It did not disappoint!  We were picked up at the resort at 8am, and taken by shuttle to the marina.  Once everyone was checked in, we were loaded onto 1 of the 2 powerboats that were being used that day.

 

The trip took about 50 minutes to the 1st of 2 islands we would visit.  The first island was home to iguanas.  The iguanas are protected by the government in The Bahamas.  They also have learned that when boats approach, they are going to be fed.  We were given grapes to put onto the end of sticks and feed them to the iguanas.  They were amusing creatures, and lightning quick when ready to grab their grapes.

The next island was a short 10 minute boat ride away.  This is a private island owned by the operators of the excursion.  Once there, we were treated to an open bar.  The first activity was to feed and pet the stingrays.  The stingrays were in the area already when we got there, and before we even got the fish to feed them, they were bumping our legs, looking for food and attention.  They were large, but relatively docile aside from their aggressiveness in looking for attention.  When we were given the slivers of fish to feed them with, they would come suck it up from between your fingers.  Their mouths are beneath their bodies.

After that we got to watch them wrangle sharks.  They tied some fish to some rope, and the sharks would grab on and not let go without the fish.  They pulled them all the way up to where they were standing and it was quite funny to see the sharks not wanting to let go of the fish.  Their were reef sharks, lemon sharks, and nurse sharks.

Once they were done, we waited a bit before doing some snorkeling.  One of the guys took my underwater camera and got some great pictures of the sharks before they left the area.

Once the sharks had cleared out, we did some snorkeling.  The current was rather strong, and it wasn't very easy this time, as compared to the last time we had gone.  Lunch was served a short time later, consisting of fresh fish, steak, salad, fresh fruit, and hot dogs.  After lunch we had a couple of hours to lay on the beach and relax, or just do whatever.  We left around 3:45 after a fun day!  We arrived back to the marina around 4:45ish and caught our shuttle.  Back to the resort around 5:30, we changed, grabbed some dinner, and decided to relax in the room.  Between Sunday and Tuesday I had gotten a little too much sun, and was quite red around my shoulders, as well as on my head.  As fun as the day was, it had been tiring, and we went to bed early, anticipating another beach day Wednesday.  Unfortunately, Mother Nature had other plans...

Wednesday we got up, and headed down to breakfast.  On the way to the buffet, I noticed the tv in the lounge was on the weather channel, and I saw that there was a hurricane watch for The Bahamas.  I hadn't even realized there was a tropical storm developing, let alone a hurricane!!  Hurricane Joaquin had started picking up steam, and had the ocean riled up.  While the waves weren't huge, the current were very strong and the ocean had been declared off-limits.  The storm was projected to hit The Bahamas later in the week, and potentially go through Nassau Friday night into Saturday.  We ended up spending the day hanging out at the pool rather than the beach.  Wednesday night we went to a repeat guest party.  They were giving away a few prizes to repeat guests, including 3! 4 day, 3 night stays at the resort.  Other prizes included 2 30-minute massages from the spa and $50 credit at the resort to be spent at the gift shop.  Sadly, we did not win any of the prizes.  Later, we decided to check out the band that played in the lounge most nights, Funky D and the Summer Breeze Band.  Funky D was good and entertaining, and the band played well behind him.  We enjoyed ourselves!  We headed back to the room around midnight, intending to sleep in and then head back to Atlantis Thursday to cash in my winning sports bet tickets.