Persuading post

Imagine yourself laying on the warm beach sand, with your eyes closed, but you can hear the waves softly crashing. The seagulls above you squawk happily, indicating a beautiful sunny day. You open your eyes and look in the distance to see dolphins jumping above the surface of the water. On your left is your family and friends with whom you love spending time, and you look down to see beautiful pink sand in the palm of your hands. Imagine if you could have this opportunity, to be in this exact situation. Wouldn't that be amazing? But it is possible, in the Bahamas.

The Bahamas are a made up of 700 islands, each luxurious and beautiful with a long history behind them. Some include Andros, the largest, Eleuthera, Paradise Island, and Harbor Island. The Bahamas is known for its stunning beaches and magnificent marine life.

Traveling to the Bahamas may seem inconvenient, but is not a hassle at all. Fly through the Nassau Lynden Pindling International Airport from anywhere in the world, to make your trip as convenient as possible. During your stay, island hop along with Bahamas' ferries, to get the full experience of each island.

Come during New Year's to partake in the cultural parade, Junkanoo, to see the colorful and festive music and costumes. Or travel near Majority Rule Day, to learn about the interesting history of how the Bahamas gained its independence. During the time of slavery, the Bahamians fought against it as well as fought for their independence. Eventually, they gained majority rule successfully.

The Bahamas are home to the most beautiful pink sand beaches on the islands Eleuthera and Harbor Island. On a trip to the Bahamas, they are a must to see. If you enjoy diving and snorkeling, this is also the place for you. In the bodies of water surrounding the Bahamian islands, blue holes, or underwater caves exist. These blue holes are the perfect place for diving, because of all the unique life found in the caves. Andros Island has the Tongue of the Ocean, which is a large underwater trench that is home to all types of marine life, which makes it great for snorkeling or scuba diving as well.

For food lovers, the Bahamas is the perfect place. Here you can find the best seafood you have ever tasted! Some of the classic mouthwatering dishes include lobster, shellfish, and cracked conch. Conch is in fact, the national dish of the Bahamas. Seafood is a staple item for all Bahamians, and it simply delicious!

All in all, for a relaxing and fun vacation, the Bahamas is the place to be! Whether you like animals, beaches, food, or music, the Bahamas has got you covered. So next time you are a planning a trip, make it to the Bahamas!

14th day 1/10/17

Today is our last day in the Bahamas!  Everyone was close to tears, but we knew that we had to leave today.  We grimly packed up, this time with many new souvenirs.  All the way to the airport, we talked and laughed about the good times and mishaps of the trip.  We had all learned so much and enjoyed our time immensely.  We drove the rental car to the airport about two hours early, about 10:45.  Then we had to wait - once again - for the flight to load.  Alyssa's impatience had not improved since the first time!

As we flew away from Nassau, we stared at it until it disappeared out of sight.  All we could take with us were the extra pounds we had gained and the happy memories of our time there.  Everyone was in a reflective and thoughtful mood until the flight attendant spilled soda all over Kailynn's favorite pants!  That got a laugh out of everyone except Kailynn.

We landed in Atlanta at about 3:00 and waited again until 4:20 for the second flight.  Everyone slept on the plane this time!  When we landed, we said goodbye once and for all to the tropical paradise of the Bahamas.

13th day 1/9/17

Today was a great educational experience for us to learn about the intricate history of the Bahamas. When we woke up after a long, relaxing sleep at 11:00, we got ready and went out to experience the majority rule holiday. Unlike most days, today, the streets were filled with people enjoying their day off. Firstly, after breakfast, we were given the opportunity to go into one of the primary schools and listen to the guest speakers talk about this holiday and its importance to the Bahamas.

Majority Rule day is a very important holiday to all Bahamians. It first became a public holiday, however in 2014, which is very recently. It commemorates the Bahamians gaining majority rule, or equality and fair game. Majority rule is very high on the scale of important events, along with the emancipation of slavery and independence from Britain. This day was a moment of liberation in the Bahamas and changed the people and its culture to who they are today.

For us, it was an amazing holiday to watch the people and how they celebrate this holiday. We even went up to a stranger, asking him about his past and how he came to be in the Bahamas.

After visiting the school, we went to the Super Value Food Store to pick up some yogurt and fruit for a light lunch because we had a late breakfast this morning.

Today felt so good learning about this culture and the history behind it. After hanging out around the town for the rest of the day, we decided to eat dinner at a restaurant called Poop Deck. We thought the name was very funny! This restaurant was the only one open today, since it was a big holiday. For appetizers, we got the Old Bay Hot Wings, which were so spicy! For the main course Avni ordered the Grilled Mahi-Mahi, Alyssa got the Cracked Conch, and Kailynn ordered the Classic Caesar salad, because she wasn't very hungry.

After dinner, we drove back to the hotel, soaked our feet from walking so much around the town, and went straight to bed.

12th day 1/8/17

Our trip is drawing to a close!  We have started dreading the day we will leave this tropical paradise.  The things we have done have been so different and are a stark contrast to North Carolina.  The next thing on the itinerary was the Ardastra Gardens, Zoo, and Conservation Center (Natural Environment)!

The Ardastra includes a zoo and beautiful gardens; we had the opportunity to visit both!  The Ardastra Gardens, Zoo, and Conservation Center happen to be the only zoo in the Bahamas!  It was started as a nature preserve by horticulturist Hedley Edwards in the 1950's.  The plants that live there include coconut trees, mangos trees, orchids, and hibiscus flowers, shown below.

Hibiscus

Orchids

Mangos

Coconut Palm

The gardens were pretty, but the animals were far more entertaining!  The Ardastra houses rabbits, pigs, peafowl, iguanas, tortoises, and ring-tailed lemurs!  As a group we thought that the lory parrots, Caribbean flamingos, and Bahamian boa constrictors were particularly exotic.  Lory parrots, or rainbow lorikeets, are vibrantly colored birds found in Asia and Australia.  They eat nectar and berries and are surprisingly territorial when their small size is considered.  Occasionally they will even intimidate birds larger than them.  We went to a feeding session at 11:00 AM and got to feed the creatures apples right out of our hands!

Rainbow Lorikeet

The Caribbean flamingos are the Ardastra's call to fame.  They are common in the Bahamas and have a breeding population of 70,000.  They eat shrimp and algae.  The species is currently protected by the law because they were hunted for meat in the 1940's and 1950's.  This is around the time the Ardastra was established.  We went to the Flamingo Exhibit at 4:00 PM to watch them perform!  They have been trained to follow instructions, such as moving in a certain direction or turning around.  The best part about our trip to the zoo was that we were allowed to go inside the exhibit after the show and take pictures!  It was super cool to interact with the flamingos and admire their beauty up close.

Caribbean Flamingos

Lastly, we got to see the Bahamian boa constrictor.  It is native to the Bahamas and is thankfully non-venomous.  They help get rid of pests by eating rats and other small animals.  The three snakes at the zoo were named Chunk, Slim, and Jackie.

Bahamian Boa Constrictor

We left the zoo at about 5:00.  Then we decided to play a sport none of use had tried before: squash (sport)!

Squash, we discovered, is quite similar to tennis.  It has a specialized court where the players hit a small ball to each other with rackets.  However, the ball is bounced off the front wall to your opponent and must be hit back before it bounces twice.  Alyssa was pleased to see how similar it was to tennis, her favorite sport!  The first person or team to nine points wins a game, and the person who wins three out of five games wins the match.  The game got very intense!  We played casually since we didn't have two people for singles and four people for doubles.  It was kind of awkward but funny to laugh about afterward.  Kailynn even got hit in the face with the squash ball five times!

One of the staff at the court told us of the history of squash.  It originated at the Fleet Prison in London.  The inmates hit balls against the walls, and the activity evolved into a game called "Rackets."  The game spread to the Harrow school in England, where the students there modified the game even further.  They deflated the ball used to play Rackets and invented the sport Squash as we know it today.

We played squash until about 7:30, then ate dinner at the hotel and went to bed.  Our trip is drawing to a close - we are dreading the day when we have to leave!

11th day 1/7/17

We all woke up and got dressed thinking about the fun and exciting day ahead, where we would  learn more about the culture of the Bahamas.  We got into the car and drove to Heritage Museum (Culture). 

It was such a fun place to go and actually see the culture of the Bahamas.  We learned how most people there are of African descent and a few are of American or British descent. A lot of Bahamians had ancestors who were captured and forced into slavery.  Other people came to the Bahamas in search of religious freedom.  We saw many other historical artifacts from simple, day-to-day Bahamian life.

We dropped by briefly at the hotel.  Then we went to see the Bahamian Heritage Center.


After that we went to our hotel to relax and talk about what we learned and how unique Bahamian culture was.  We also watched Kailynn's favorite movie, Elf.  Avni and Alyssa complained because it was past Christmas, but Kailynn insisted and we ended up enjoying it anyway.

We then went to the pool at the hotel, even though we have already been to many beaches in the Bahamas.  It was really fun!  Avni is actually a super good swimmer and beat both Kailynn and Alyssa in all of the races!  The pool wasn't very crowded luckily and we had it all to ourselves.  It was great for something not to be crowded!  After we had relaxed by the side of the pool and eventually got tired we went up to our hotel room at 8:00.

10th day 1/6/17

This morning, we started off the day with a kind, good morning call from the hotel lobby. Since we were so tired from last night, we requested for them to wake us up, as we knew that we wouldn't do that on our own. This Marriott hotel is by far the best if have ever been to in terms of customer service. Along with the alarm, when we came down to the lobby for breakfast, they packed us a few travel bags for the island hop of the day. How nice is that? At around 6:45, we drove down to the same port as yesterday, because today, our adventure was to Andros Island. Avni was particularly the most excited for this island because she loves science and Andros is known for its blue holes, or underwater caves (Natural Environment). Unlike Eleuthera, Andros was only a three hour long ferry ride. This was such a relief to Kailynn after her terrible sea sickness experience yesterday. On the ferry, we snacked on the treat bags that our hotel provided us with, and chit chatted with each other about what we planned on doing during the day.

When we arrived at Andros, the vibrant colors of the water caught our eyes right away. We walked up to the shore to relax for a bit near the crystal clear ocean. Near the beach we noticed a blue hole diving rental gear shop. We took a jet ski into the ocean where we could see a blue hole. This was one of the most beautiful things we had ever seen! Luckily, we brought our Go Pro, so we were able to capture this magnificent moment. We put on our diving gear and went into the water. It looked amazing and unlike anything we had seen before. The rocks underwater had formed unique shapes that made it look mysterious and eerie, but definitely cool as well. We took many pictures and videos, and swam with the fish for a while before heading back to the shore.

The blue hole diving took up so much time, and we were so caught up in the moment, we realized we only had one hour left. For the remainder of our time, we hung out around the salt lakes and marshes to try out the famous Bone-fishing (sport), which is unique to Andros island, the Bone-fishing capital of the world. We rented fishing gear and bait, and sat near the marshes, waiting for a catch. Alyssa was the only one of us who had ever fished before, so she was able to catch multiple fish. She even caught one that was two feet long! We weren't going to keep the fish, so we let them back in the water, but it was really interesting to see the amount of people fishing, especially on a weekday. It was also simply entertaining to take part in a classic event that is so famous on this island.

After returning the fishing gear, we headed back to the port and boarded the ferry once again. We enjoyed the last three hours on a ferry as friends. When we reached Nassau, it was about 3:30pm. Today we weren't as tired because last night we had a good rest. We went back to the hotel first to freshen up, and then drove out to the market to buy a few groceries to stock up our fridge. For lunch, we ate a few of the things we bought, like fruit and granola bars. Afterwards, we went to the movies nearby and watched a replay of Finding Dory. That movie never gets old! Once the movie was over, we returned to the hotel, changed into our pajamas and ordered room service dinner while hanging out, talking with each other, and playing games. When we were done eating and playing, we finally dozed off for the night. Overall, this day was one of the best we have had on our trip! We learned a lot about the culture and natural environment by exploring and visiting Andros island.

9th day 1/5/17

Today we had an amazing time on Eleuthera Island. To go by ferry, we woke up at 6:00 in the morning. We got ready, ate breakfast at the hotel, and drove up to the port where the ferry's are docked. Luckily, the hotel we booked is right off the shore, so most of the places we needed to go were very close by. This spot on the port in particular was about 12 minutes away, and we were able to be there a few minutes early. After about five minutes upon arriving, we began to board the ferry. In our bags, we brought a few bottles of water along with some snacks we took from the hotel. We also brought a few towels and a pair of extra clothes, in case they got wet on the beach. I was so excited to go to this island because it is one of the most beautiful in the Bahamas.

By far, the most tiring part of the day was the ferry ride. Unfortunately, Kailynn gets seasick often, so the boat ride wasn't great for her. The ride was a total of five hours long to get to the island! We made use of our company and made friends with other people on the ferry as well. For part of the time, we played games on our phones and otherwise, we spent time talking and viewing the ocean scenery around us. Avni is not much of a morning person, so she took a nice and long 2 hour lap while we were awake. How lucky is she? After the time passed and we were approaching our destination, we began to repack our bags and be ready to get off of the boat, at last. After getting off, at around 12:00pm, we had about 2 hours, more or less, to explore. For money purposes, we didn't pay for any excursions, instead we took the "DIY" route of making our own arrangements for places to go.

Our first stop was the pink sand beaches (Natural Environment). We managed to find one beach that had such vibrant pink sand, it was unbelievable! Another beach we found had pure white sand, almost as if it were snow. On the beach, we relaxed and swam in the shallow waters for a bit. The water was surprisingly warm, even though it wasn't very late in the afternoon. One word of advice is the bring loads of sunscreen, because it was HOT! After hanging out at the beach, we went on to our next stop- the pineapple plantations (Natural Environment). Alyssa, was jumping with joy before going here because pineapples are her favorite food in the whole entire world. Getting to the plantation was a bit of a struggle, because in Nassau, we drove our rental car. Here, on the other hand, we were force to take the train instead. It was a new experience for us, and a bit of a hassle, but we eventually got through it.

At the pineapple plantations, we were given an exclusive tour of the field because lucky enough for us, Kailynn's uncle works with the company. The tour guide let us sample a freshly cut pineapple straight off the plant. Alyssa's eyes were glowing when she saw the rows of pineapple plants. She was mesmerized by the bright yellow color of the fresh fruit. Her face made us laugh hysterically! But before we knew it, our two hours were up and we had to go back to the port, get on the ferry, and return to Nassau again.

When we arrived back at the Nassau port, we were STARVING!!! Immediately we drove to the hotel and ate at the restaurant in the lobby. I don't think hotel food has ever tasted that good! After going up to our room and showering, we passed out for the night, although it was only 8:30.

8th day 1/4/17

We woke up to a gorgeous day.  We weren't sure that our day could compare with our safari yesterday, but after the day was over, we agreed today was fun in a more relaxing way.

We visited the Government Building (History).  It was very similar in style and color to the buildings in Parliament Square.  Both are a very vibrant pink!

It is located on Mount Fitzwilliam.  We didn't have time to traverse the entire 10 acres of the estate!  As the name implies, it is also the home of the governor-general of the Bahamas.  The history of the house is rather complex.  It was first built in 1737 as the home for the Governor Richard Fitzwilliam. Next, a new building was constructed in 1806 and then destroyed in 1929.  Then a new building was constructed in 1932 and redecorated by the Duchess of Windsor.  This is how the building is today.  The architecture combines the styles of many different places.  Some elements resemble those from North Carolina, South Carolina, and Virginia.  There are also elements that are Bahamian-British, as the Bahamas were ruled by Britain until 1973.  The Government House is also a good example of Georgian architecture, which was popular in the 1700's and had an emphasis on symmetry and proportion.  The statue of Christopher Columbus in the front celebrates his discovery of San Salvador in 1492.

As a more relaxing activity, the three of us went to The Hair Republic to get manicures and pedicures.  The service was very good there and we all had a great time!  Alyssa leaned more towards the sea greens and turquoise.  Avni decided to go with magenta, and Kailynn ended up with a different color on each nail because she couldn't decide!  Once our nails were done, we went to a cute cupcake store called Something's Different.  

We looked over the flavors for at least half an hour!  The salesperson looked slightly annoyed.  Avni got a chocolate buttercream, Alyssa got a vanilla buttercream, and Kailynn got a cookies n' cream cupcake.  After we eat tasted each other's and tried to come to a verdict about which one was best.  We couldn't decide and agreed it was a tie!

Afterwards we had dinner at the hotel, watched a little TV, and then went to bed after an eventful day.

7th day 1/3/17

Oh my goodness! Today is definitely the most exciting part of our trip. We are going to get to go on a safari trip to swim with pigs (Natural Environment)! Who would've thought that we would get the chance to do this?  This is a day long trip, so we had to get up early to be there on time. The last thing we would want is to miss the boat. We woke up bright and early at 6:45 to get ready for the safari. At around 8:00, we drove up to the Bay Street Marina where the boat would depart from. The boats that we traveled on were called Parker RIB's. Although they were comfortable, they were very small and made us feel a bit sea sick. But it was definitely worth it! When we reached the Exumas, our first stop was meeting the famous Bahamian Rock Iguanas.

These iguanas are very unique to the Bahamas and are mostly found near the Exumas. The Bahamian Rock Iguana is dinosaur-like and is one of the most endangered species in the world. They live mostly in sandy areas, which are best for nesting. We were able to feed the iguanas by putting grapes on the end of a twig, and letting them jump up and eat it. It was really interesting to see these iguanas in their natural habitat. Up close, their scales were greenish-brown, very intricate, and beautiful. It is terrible that they are going extinct!




After the iguanas, we went on the most exciting part of our trip. The pigs!!! The main attraction was at Big Major Cay, a.k.a Pig Beach. We got off at the shore and immediately we were able to see almost 10 pigs approaching us. At first, we were a bit scared, but as soon as the little piglets came up out of the water, we got out of our comfort zones to pet them. They were the cutest little things! We got the chance to feed them carrots and swim with them in the shallow waters. They were very fun to play with, so when it was time to go, we didn't want to leave.

After seeing the iguanas and pigs, we stopped at the Staniel Cay Yacht club for lunch. This restaurant was by far the best food experience we have had on our trip so far. Or maybe it was just that we were starving! But seriously, all jokes aside, the food was amazing, and the club was just off the shore, so from our table we could see the stingrays and baby dolphins in the crystal clear waters. It was an amazing view that was just unreal. As for food, Avni ordered a Conch Po'Boy sandwich, Alyssa got a Garden Veggie Burger, and Kailynn got a BLT. I'm so glad we went there for lunch because it was such a fantastic beach sight!

After our meal, we proceeded back to Nassau and arrived when the sun was starting to set. We sat on the beach to take pictures of the sunset, relax, and hear the waves crashing. When it got too dark, we drove back to the hotel, showered, and dozed off right away. We had a long day, but it was totally worthwhile and was an amazing and beautiful experience!

6th day 1/2/17

We barely recovered from a fantastic New Year's by morning.  We decided it would be a better idea to sleep in before we started our explorations for the day.  At around 10:00 we drove to the Versailles Gardens (History).

The European-styled gardens once belonged to Huntington Hartford's private estate but were then bought by the One & Only Club.  It is 75 feet wide and is structured with multiple terraces.  Many of the statues in the garden are from the 12th century bought by Hartford from an estate in California.  The gardens were set up in 1962 by Jean Castre-Manne.  At the top of the gardens is a French cloister, or walkway that was part of a convent.  It was built as part of an Augustinian monastery and shipped to U.S.  Hartford took the pieces and arranged them for his garden.  A beautiful statue called Silence stands in the middle, as shown below.

Silence

Next we stopped at Parliament Square (History).  It has lovely pink-and-white colored buildings that provide meeting places for the Bahamas' government.  The buildings were built in the 18th and 19th centuries and modeled after the North Carolinian architecture in New Bern.  They were build by North Carolinians who moved to the Bahamas because of their loyalty to the British government.  The three buildings include the House of Assembly, the Supreme Court building, and the Senate Building.
The House of Assembly is where the Prime Minister of the Bahamas and Parliament - comprised of the Senate and House of Assembly - meet.  The debates are open to the public if they desire to attend.
The Supreme Court Building, which was built in 1921, has the judges in session dress with the traditional British attire - the iconic wigs and robes.  The Senate Building also has a statue of Queen Victoria in the front, built in 1905.

We also visited the Garden of Remembrance.  It contained a monument to the Bahamian soldiers that died in World War I and World War II.  There was also a memorial to four Bahamian marines that died in the sinking of the HMBS Flamingo ship in 1980.

We gravely reflected on the sacrifice these soldiers made.  We returned home at around 3:30 and stayed in the hotel the remainder of the day.

5th day 1/1/17

Today we were up at midnight, since it was New Year's Eve.  We finally heard the words 3, 2, 1 HAPPY NEW YEAR!!! It is finally 2017 and New Year's Day. It was not long before we realized that this was our very first New Year’s not being with our families and being out of the country.  We knew we had to make it just as fun as if we were home with our families.

We decided to share our New Year’s resolutions with each other to try and have some fun and celebrate the New Year.  Kailynn wanted her new year's resolution to be to meet more new people.  Meanwhile, Alyssa wanted to go to more countries and travel around the world.  We tried to ask Avni what her resolution was, but when we turned the corner she was dead asleep!  We thought that it might be a good time to take a small, quick nap and get ready for the early hours of the next holiday, Junkanoo, which is a street parade with music, dance, and costumes of Ibo origin.  Once it was around 1:45am, we all woke up to go to downtown Nassau to celebrate this holiday.

This holiday is all about how Junkanoo (Holiday) was the strongest tribe in the Bahamas at the time.  They were slaves who worked about all year long except Christmas.  This time was used for celebration and this is how Junkanoo was born. Junkanoo is a holiday that celebrates Bahamas' culture through colorful clothes and parades.  These costumes were made out of the materials they could find like leaves and feathers.  Today the costumes are normally made of cardboard, crepe paper, aluminum rods, tie wire, and contact cement.  These costumes were made to celebrate the gods Neptune and Amphitrite and also John Canoe which the holiday is named after.

It was an absolute great parade and we could really feel the culture of the Bahamas while watching it.  It was a great opportunity for us to participate in the Bahamian tradition.  The parade was full of music, dance and costumes.  The most interesting part was seeing all of the colorful costumes that people were wearing and how energetic the whole feel of the parade was.  The parade was said to go from 2AM to 10AM from some of the locals, but we all could not take it for that long and headed back to our hotel around 6 AM.  We slept until almost 4 PM!  It was a needed nap from the long day we had.

When we woke up, we were all starving, so we decided to go to Arawak Cay and find a restaurant to eat at for the night. We ate the famous fish fry from some of the vendors in Arawak Cay. We have no complaints about this food, and it was really neat to eat Bahamian street food for the first time!