Stay to the left, it's a raccoon!
Trip Start
Unknown
1
2
7
Trip End
Ongoing
Where I stayed
Carnival Sensation
What I did
Freeport, Grand Bahama Island, Bahamas
Monday, May 30, 2011
Having only slept for 4 hours we finally woke up and found ourselves at Freeport, Bahamas. We didn't have a group excursion to follow because all the events were really expensive. Even taking the cab into town was overpriced. So our only and best option was to rent a car at celebrity rental for $70/ day. Traveling with a group of 5 made things a lot cheaper. Our whole self excursion ended up costing only $18 per person. Our destination was 45 minutes away from port harbor. We were headed to Lucayan National Park. An easy hike filled with caves and Freeports most beautiful beach!
Good thing Vera was 25 because the rest of us are 24 and we didn't want to pay an underage surcharge fee to rent a car. As if it wasn't odd enough that everyone drove on the left side of the road and the steering wheel was on the right passenger side, navigation was old school! Forget GPS navigation, Bahamas does not have satellite for GPS to work let alone the radio. We had to use Vera's google phone for music and an old street map for navigation. Good thing the road wasn't too difficult to follow and my sense of direction was pretty good. Managed to make it to Lucayan Park and back in one piece- without getting lost.
Since Marvin scared me to wits about the Bahamas kidnapping people, we had to roll up our windows and lock our doors every time we drove pass a shady person. Hey, better safe than sorry eh?
Admission to get into Lucayan National Park is $3 per person. The trail is an easy hike with simple trails to follow. There are many beautiful butterflies in the field- big and small. Our first cave was at Lucayan Cavern. This cavern was a burial mound for several Lucayan Indians that were buried under a rock in 6 feet of fresh water. Haunted much? Probably so we quickly left this cave.
The second cave: Ben's Cave, went deep down under and here we had to be sure not to make any sudden sounds because this was a bat cave. I must say, this is the first real life bat encounter I've ever had.
The park was smaller than I expected and a little disappointing until I got to the other side of the road. On our way to Golden Rock Beach, well lets just say that destination was well worth the 45 minute ride. As we walked, the very first sign we noticed was information in regards to the different types of plants in the area. The only thing that stuck out to us was the poison wood. So throughout the hole hike we all made sure to avoid any wood and well, anything at all. Kind of funny because at one point a thin leaf grazed Vera's leg and she freaked out, thinking she was poisoned. Haha.
Crossed the path, over the bridge, through the woods, under trees when I finally saw an opening. I ran up the steps as fast as I could because I knew what lies beyond would be spectacular. And I was right. As I saw the view of the open ocean I jumped up and down like a maniac. It was breathtaking and I couldn't wait to jump into the water. As I ran, I threw my shoes off and was throwing my clothes all over the ground. The sand was cool and wet against my bare foot and as soon as I reached the water, it was warm. Unbelievably warm. I didn't care that there was a rain cloud over my head because the ocean was still warm even with the trickles of on and off rain.
I don't know why my friends hesitated to jump in the water but Vera and Jenn finally managed to get into the water with me. I felt like a little girl all over again. Swimming, jumping waves and listening to the ocean speak its words. We held hands and sheltered each other from the crashing waves. Sat on by the shallow end and meditated or rather just laughed about nothing at all. Just taking in every breath and feeling the waves as it crashes on our backs.
Having enough wet sand in our pants we finally decided to leave. Good timing too because at this rate it started to rain a little harder. Instead of taking the long path back we decided to take the shortcut. Little did we know that the short cut would have made us walk around the park in circles 3 times... lost much? you betcha. Our first attempt of heading back we were met face to face with a wild raccoon. It stopped, we stopped. It stared, we stared. Marvin said to me "don't move" but as I saw it begin to run towards us, I freaked out and ran back the way I came from. I ran, Marvin ran, Will ran, told Jenn to run but she didn't and instead got shoved into the bush. Well, our only hero was Vera. She seemed to think the raccoon was soooo cute. So instead of running away she ran towards it and took lots of "cute" pictures. Well someone had to go make sure the coast was clear because that was the only road back to our car. Marvin first, coast clear so we continued on our venture. Saw a wonderful swamp marsh with beautiful birds but realized that the bridge cuts off and ends. So much for the only road back...
Bu in a distance we saw there was a real bridge on the other side! We must have missed it somehow. That must be the way back. Back to where we started, took a turn we somehow overlooked and crossed the right bridge. So we're on the right road but then the road turns and dissapears so we're once again walking on unpaved trails and I stopped when I saw a gigantic spider web. No one has gone down this path because it's not a trail. We're going the wrong way again! At this rate, we'll never make it back to our car....and yes it's still raining. Don't know how but we finally made it out. With lots of time to spare before our cruise departs too.
So with old school navigation we decided to venture to Lucayan Market downtown. Went a little bargain shopping and was already exhausted at all the over priced items they were trying to sell tourists.
Back on the cruise we had another night of comedy clubs, elegant dinners and club dancing.
