Bahama -ramama (pt 2)

Our second day was spent in Nassau where we did a dolphin excursion on Balmoral Island. Nassau itself wasn't really of interest to me. We walked through the famous straw market which is full of (sometimes) pushy vendors... the city itself didn't have that much to offer, but we walked around for a bit.

We then traveled to Balmoral Island where you could get up close with the stingrays or dolphins and, of course, we chose dolphins.  I have wanted to touch a dolphin for as long as I can remember, but have always been wary because I've heard some places are inhumane and don't treat their dolphins well. 

I asked over and over about it and it sounded like the dolphins were rescued from a bad situation in Honduras. Since the dolphins were already brought up in captivity they weren't able to be released back into the wild. The trainers said multiple times that of all the places they've worked at, this one has been the best by far. (as far as treatment of animals goes)

I never want to see any animals mistreated, abused, neglected, forced to do things they don't want to do... 
but these dolphins seemed happy and all I can do is trust the people I talked to that they made the best of a bad situation.  

We met two dolphins- Dixon and Pigeon.  Dixon almost peed on me (thankfully his aim was off) and we witnessed Pigeon do a #2.  They know lots of tricks like nodding their heads, splashing, dancing, doing flips, clapping fins, and swimming fast! Both dolphins are 15 years old. The trainer said dolphins can live 35 years out in the wild and 60 years if cared for by humans. 

 

They are sweet, sweet creatures and they felt amazing. So smooth and beautiful! I loved my time with them... Again, just hoping and trusting that their humans are telling the truth and that they're being well cared for. 

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Our third day was spent on Grand Bahama Island. We did an ATV adventure through Grand Bahama Nature tours and it was so fun! I fell in love with ATV riding when Mike and I went at Ace Adventure Park.  This one was far less muddy and far less scary. :)

After our ATV ride we went to the Garden of the Groves  which was absolutely beautiful! We definitely could have spent more time walking around there, but we were hungry and thirsty so we needed a little break. ;)

Overall, I enjoyed the Bahamas. I'm not much of a "lay at the beach" person, but I enjoy doing activities surrounding the beach so this trip worked well!  I love being in the water, I love animals, I love adventure activities... so all the activities we did matched up with my travel taste. :)

Thanks for being my travel buddy, C*le ! 

Bahama-ramama (pt 1)

Earlier this year Mike and I were supposed to go to Europe, but due to his heart surgery we had to cancel that trip. I have been DESPERATE to get out of the country and thankfully one of my best friends agreed to travel with me! We decided on.... the Bahamas! I had never been to the Caribbean before so I was quite excited. 

We did a Norwegian Cruise which is only my second cruise ever. (My family and I did a Celebrity Cruise in Alaska back when I was in high school.)
I've been on two other "cruises," but don't really count them. I have been a Yangtze River cruise in China and an icebreaker ship we took to Antarctica.  Those are not your typical cruises/cruise lines! 

Overall, Norwegian was fine. I'm not sure what to compare it to since my parents planned, booked, and paid for the celebrity cruise way back when... The Norwegian Sky was nice though. We liked our room, we liked the ship, the food, etc. I felt like they weren't totally upfront about all the costs, but I have a feeling other cruise lines might do that too. (False advertising is everywhere, isn't it?) I would book a Norwegian Cruise again, but I would perhaps be more cautious in booking and try to find better deals. 

Here are a couple of pictures- one is of our room and one is us getting ready to depart from Miami.

Our first stop was Great Stirrup Cay where we had a swimming with the pigs excursion. I have seen plenty of posts from other travel bloggers about these famous swimming pigs and I was so excited to finally meet them and take a swim with them. We got some great pictures and I enjoyed my time there. 

As I'm writing this blog post I was researching more about these cuties when I came across this blog. Definitely worth a read. This is a different island, but I imagine it could be a similar situation which would be very sad. 

Great Stirrup Cay was a nice private island with plenty of water activities- swimming, snorkeling, kayaking, jet skiing, and my new personal favorite- stand up paddle boarding. Yes, I tried SUP for the first time and I actually really enjoyed it! The water there was so clear - I could see straight down beneath me and saw some underwater sculptures, real live turtles, fish, and even a stingray ! 

More later...

P.S.

Did you know that the Bahamas just gained their independence in 1973?! They're only 49 years old! 
There are also around 700 islands, but only 30 are inhabited.