A week of Bahamian sun and sand, in Eleuthera (2)

Paradise

Eleuthera is one of the many islands of Bahamas, unique in its own way. It is a 100 mile long island with an average width of a mile, and has a worm like shape, making it one of a kind. At any point on the island, you are within walking distance to the sea on both sides, the Caribbean and the Atlantic. I had read a couple of reviews about what to expect before going there, but nothing had prepared me for what we finally would experience. It was like being away from the world, in a place where time had slowed down...


Getting there

Getting to Eleuthera is easy. There are three airlines which fly onto the island - Bahamas air, Pineapple air and Southern air, from the US and within Bahamas. And even though it is such a small island, it has 3 separate airports. One in the north, one in the centre and one in the south. Clearly this place is popular with tourists, who are lazy and don't want to drive too much.

We were flying out at 730 am from Nassau airport and surprisingly, it was very cold in the morning. As expected, the airport was quite small but it did have a lot of flights going to its various islands. We were flying Bahamas Air to Governors Harbour, the airport in the centre of Eleuthera, and the flight was expected to be only 15 mins. There are flights to all 3 airports on the island at around the same time, and Bahamas Air combined ours with the flight going to the Rock Sound airport, in the south.

Our small plane to Eleuthera

However, they did not change it on the display boards showing the gate numbers, and we kept waiting outside the gate showing the flight going to Governors Harbour! Thankfully we figured it out on time and got on board the right plane. It was a small propeller plane and looked charming in front of the morning Caribbean sun. Funnily enough, since two flights got combined, the seat numbers were no more relevant and they asked us to sit anywhere we wanted. Thankfully we got window seats, which was wonderful.

As the way to Eleuthera was full of stunning views. The sea there wasn't deep, and you could see the rocks at the bottom too. And then we flew over some very small islands which each had a house on it. I am sure, these must be those typical billionaire holiday homes and they looked quite desirable from above.

We first landed at the Rock Sound airport within 15 mins. It was surrounded by very dense mangrove forests all around. It was very casual there, as people were getting on and off the plane as they wished. Some even got off by mistake when they didn't need to. And a guy entered the plane through the door to take the luggage off. We then took off again for a 10 min flight to Governors Harbour.

Eleuthera from above

As we flew along the island, we could see the one central road which runs from north to south and is visible from far. And the edges of the island were lined with some stunning coastal towns, lines of elongated white sand beaches and amazing crystal blue-green waters of the Caribbean Sea. The rest of the island was full of mangroves. The views throughout this 10 mins plane ride were very captivating.

The airport was quite interesting too. We got down and walked to the room which was the terminal. A guy got our luggage from the plane and just kept it on the outside of the airport so we could pick it up 😀. There was no luggage belt there. And we asked for a taxi as it was about 15-20 mins to our hotel, 15 kms away on the main road of the island. The guy who runs the airport duty free shop at the airport also drives people to their hotels, so he got his car out and dropped us at the hotel.

We could already see that we have come far away from civilisation as the road was bare and the air warm. I asked the taxi driver a question and he answered for the rest of the 20 mins drive a prepared speech as if the radio was on 😀. He told me the history and geography of the island, about its people and their life - all as if he was reading from a prepared speech. As if he told the same story to every passenger of his. It was actually quite funny.

Even though the island is so small in terms of area, its different parts are different and have a different vibe to it. The northern part is made up of Spanish Wells and its villages have a Spanish influence plus Harbour Island, a very famous resort island for the rich and famous. The rest of the island is very sparsely populated.

The island has only about 11,000 people. Everyone knows each other, its extremely safe and no one locks their doors. It is famous for its pink sand beaches. Also, the movement for Bahamas's freedom started from this island, from Cupids Cay, a location at the Governors Harbour village where our hotel was located. Apparently our hotel was earlier part of the Club Med hotel chain, but when one of the yearly typhoons destroyed it, it was taken over and converted to French Leave Resort.


The French Leave Resort and around

Our resort

And then we reached our hotel - The French Leave Resort. Thereafter, for the next 4 days we were in a different planet altogether, life became surreal for us. The resort was out of the world - in terms of its gorgeousness, calmness, beauty and luxuriousness. It was located on the Caribbean side of the island, and had a beach on the Atlantic side. The resort was quite spread out, with individual English white bungalow style villas with full or partial ocean views. It had an infinity pool, a jacuzzi, lot of outside sitting area, a very popular restaurant and some activities to do around. All enclosed within tropical shrubs and trees.

Breakfast views

Most of our days were spent lazily lounging around the hotel itself. Morning would start with a sumptuous breakfast in the restaurant, with a gorgeous view of the blue green waters and the Governors Harbour village across the bay. It was the perfect way to start every morning.

The hotel pink sand beach

Then we would sometimes go to the beach which was on the other side of the island and we could take our golf carts to get there. The beaches on this island have a pink tinge because of a small animal called Foraminifera, which is brought to the shores by the tidal waters. Their beach was in fact a pink sand beach, and seemed endless. It was definitely one of the best beaches that I have been to. And it was mostly empty, our hotel just had some sunbeds there, that's it. The water there was sparkling green blue and the sand was white and pink. It was choppier and windier as this was the Atlantic side, so it was a bit tough to swim in the waters with the waves and the wind. There was lot of sand also in the air, which covered all our stuff. But it was still fun to lay here in the sun, enjoying the view.

One of the days I went snorkeling off this beach and was amazed by the corals and sea life. The reef was a dead one but I could see how it would have been full at some time, with the huge rocks, all covered with dead corals. There were loads of fish there, at least some 40 types. In all colours, white, blue, yellow, orange, fluorescent yellow and blue. Everywhere. I also saw a sea snake which was a first for me. I got so engrossed in the snorkeling that I lost count of time and distance. I ventured quite deep out in the sea. I was also at times swimming very close to the reefs below, but thankfully not when the snake was around 😀. I really enjoyed the snorkeling here, though the winds had made swimming in the waters a bit tough.

Infinity pool

Then we would go back to the hotel, and laze in the pool or jacuzzi or sit in the shaded area for a long time. The bay there had a striking green colour which shone brilliantly when the sun was out. Without the sun, it would look a deep blue, still pretty but not as brilliant as the green. We went snorkeling in the bay but didn't see a lot of fishes, just a few sea cucumbers and a few fish. One afternoon, I went kayaking in the waters too and loved it. It got too hot very soon though, so I came back without leaving the bay. Also apparently the water was choppier than usual, thought I didn't feel it. I have generally kayaked in much tougher waters than the Caribbean sea.

The rest of the day would go just like that. There was a gym in the hotel too (but we never used it). And the infinity pool where we were most of the time. Or the jacuzzi next to it. Even though it was warm, when the clouds were out, I would feel a bit chilly, and sit in the jacuzzi, gazing lazily at the sea.

But during peak afternoon, it would get too hot. It took me a few days to figure out how to move the umbrella around during the day, that I could still stay out in the sun, next to the pool but still not feel too hot and avoid direct sun. I also realised that the bay used to look different depending on whether the sun was out. The green that we loved would go away when the clouds were out. When it got too hot, we would come back to our villa and sleep. It felt so amazing to just laze and do nothing the whole day.

There were two jetties at the resort where boats would come and dock, sometimes the visitors would come to the resort for the day too. And the views of the jetty and the bay at sunset were magnificent. Each day we had a different view, depending on how many clouds there were on the horizon. And each sunset was unique and fascinating in its own way...

One day we ventured out to the village. It was quite average though, as it had a lot of rundown buildings. The ones on the main island, which were holiday homes were definitely prettier. The village looked glorious at sunset though, from our resort, with its twinkling lights reflecting in the calm bay water. We also found a grocery shop in the village and got groceries to cook in our villa. The cost of everything was multiple times though.

Views from our villa

Our room was upgraded to an oceanfront deluxe villa, and it was awesome. It was like those English wooden bungalows, made of wood, with lot of windows and very airy. Right outside us was the jetty and one of the best views of the resort. And the rooms were very comfortable, perfect for such a lazy life. It was so hot everyday that all we wanted to do was sleep and relax. It was like we had come into a slow time zone.

The service at the hotel was very friendly too. The owner and the managers all knew us by name and made a lot of effort to help us, whether it was getting taxis, booking rental cars or diving, giving tips on what to do and so on. In fact one of the staff was a dive master herself and helped us plan for the dive. All in all, they took great care of us. Though we had a day when there was no internet in the resort, which was tough to deal with 😀.

Peaceful evenings

And the nights at the resort were perfect. One day there was live music in the restaurant which added to the whole ambience of the place. There were countless stars in the sky that were visible. And even the Milky Way could be seen two of the nights. It felt so amazing just to sit outside, with the waves lashing on the cliffs, no sound anywhere and just the stars above. In fact one day, there was a power cut for a bit and the sky looked absolutely fabulous! When I was there, I suddenly realised its been years since I sat outside under a clear sky. It was just amazing. Of course the mosquitoes in the evenings didn't help, there were loads of them. But they would clear out by night, so we could observe the skies comfortably...


Trip to Harbour Island, diving and exploring the island

There was only one day in the 4 days that we left the resort. That day, we rented a car and drove to Harbour Island which is in the north of Eleuthera. You can rent cars from the locals, most of which are second hand cars. Ours was a Japanese one, with instructions in Japanese. But it got us where we needed to go, so no complaints.

We had an early morning diving start from Harbour Island, and so left around 7 am from our hotel. The drive was about 50 miles and along the central road, known as the Queens road. While driving out, we didn't stop much on the way, just kept driving north. The sun was coming out and the morning colours were very refreshing. It was also coldish in the morning which we hadn't expected.

On the way, we crossed lot of small towns along that one single road. There were lot of bungalows on the sides, all isolated from each other and with sea views. The rest of the drive was just surrounded by green dense mangrove vegetation all around. We sometimes would come near the sea and sometimes would drive in the interiors. One noteworthy place on the way was Hatchet Bay which was quite crowded (relatively). Apparently the ferry from other islands comes here, docking inside the lagoon protected from the open sea. It would be good to come here sometime later.

We kept driving like this (the road was pretty good) and then turned right for the airport in the north. Right next to it is the ferry terminal at 3IS from where you can get boats to Harbour Island. This island is clearly popular with Americans, as direct flights come to this north airport from the US. We also saw a law firm's charter plane at the airport. And you can just get out and drive 10 mins to the ferry to Harbour Island.

Harbour Island

The water taxis leave from there every few mins as soon as it is full, and costs $6. A lot of locals stay on Eleuthera island and go across daily on work. Interestingly, they all say hi and talk and chat with the people in the taxi which felt like a welcome change. The taxi dropped us at the Valentines resort where our dive centre was located.

On the way to dive site

The day was glorious and sunny. We took a boat from the resort and they took us some 30 mins away to our dive site. The boat ride there was scenic. The water was not very deep all the way, sometimes just 7 feet deep and had a great sparkling green colour. At times, we could see the rocks on the bottom and sometimes the reefs too. We also crossed a few islands with holiday homes, seeing up close the lives of the rich and the famous.

Corals on rocks

The boat driver was quite talkative and told us titbits about his country. Apparently the Bahamian flag has 3 colours which stand for its people (black), sun (yellow) and turquoise (waters). He said he was from the island of Abacos which was all destroyed in the typhoon season and that's why he was working here.

Moray Eel

Our first dive site was at a wreck, called St. Fuegos. It was a good dive with lot of small reefs and some usual fishes. The next dive at Cabbage patch was outstanding. First, we saw loads of different kinds of fishes, lobsters, moray eels, lion fish, file fish, sea cucumber, sting ray and so on. There were some corals too. And it was fun to explore all the huge rocks and their surrounding plant life.

Dolphins

The crowning glory though were the dolphins! It happened in the middle of the dive when a group of four dolphins came near us, and I was late to spot them. They left soon enough, and I thought that maybe I had imagined the whole scene. We swam around a bit after that when I kept trying to figure out if I really had seen them or not, when the dolphins came back again. They kept circling us, swimming fast and slow, diving in and playing with the rocks, and generally having a good time. They then swam away and I was happy that this time I had got a good look at them at least.

Dolphins up close

They then came back a third time, as if coming back to make sure we had seen them play 😝. We could hear their whistles, watched their acrobatics in the water, and were just mesmerised with their antics. I think I forgot for a moment to breathe too, I was just so engrossed in watching them play around, swim around us and almost come face to face with us, as if smiling 😊. I think after this, we didn't really care about seeing anything else on the dive. It was already the dive of a lifetime and I felt on top of the world.

Dolphins

Dolphins

Dolphins

Lion fish

After this, I think we were done for the day. We went to eat at the Blue Bar and were surprised at how expensive the whole island was. We then explored a bit of the island and walked to the Pink Sands beach which is supposed to be the most famous beach of the island. To be honest, our hotel beach was definitely better. Though apparently the sand gets pinker on some days, especially during sunset. The beach was nice, with blue waters and white pink sand till where you could see. There was wind still and the water had too many waves.

Pink sand beach on Harbour Island

Its so hot during the afternoon that it makes you very lazy. We could have explored the island on golf carts but didn't. We did come across some churches and lot of pastel coloured houses which were very pretty. After spending some time on the beach, we walked back and took our water taxi to our car.

So we started our drive back and even though we had decided to stop and explore a few places on the way back, we finally didn't. We only stopped at the glass bridge which is the narrowest point of the island, where the island is barely 24 feet wide! And standing there you get a view which I hadn't imagined till then. On the one side is the Caribbean sea, green, shallow and very calm. And on the other side, the deep blue deep choppy waters of the Atlantic. Their difference is quite stark. Looking at this scene this way made me see the differences clearly. And it felt quite exhilarating to stand in the middle, where two oceans meet.

Between the oceans

While coming back we also stopped at the famous cliffs of the island but couldn't find them, so we just came back. Back to our resort before sunset, we sat in the pool and jacuzzi and enjoyed the sunset from our room. There are a few other places to visit on the island, like Gregory Town, Caulding Cay for its snorkeling, 'Ocean Hole' for its natural inland swimming and the Leon Levy Native Plant Preserve. We didn't venture out much from our resort, so missed these places but they may be fun if you have more time.


And just like that our vacation ended. We were flying back to Nassau on the short 15 min flight and then off to London. We again had an early morning flight (somehow, 4 of the 7 mornings we had to wake up at 6 am which wasn't fun). There were dark clouds today, so it was colder. The taxi driver on the way back was also chatty. He was saying that sometimes they do get a cold wave in the island, when the temperatures touch 21 degrees Celcius 😁. Apparently the island is so safe, that people rarely lock their doors or cars. Also it is cheaper to go from Eleuthera to Miami than other islands in the Bahamas, so a lot of locals would have been to the US but not to the other islands of Bahamas! That was a very interesting piece of information.

Governors Harbour "airport"

The airport was full of people as it was just a room and there were multiple flights at the same time. But it had very simple processes, so we were ready to board very soon. We landed at Nassau on time and had to take a different terminal to go to US. However, they have immigration check at the Bahamas airport itself, which makes the connections in US a lot easier. And their restaurants have outside seating, which I found quite interesting. It even started raining today, though we didn't mind as we were leaving. And just like that, our vacation was over.

This trip was definitely one of my best, and the laziest. The place was lovely and I can see myself going back to Bahamas, maybe to a different island next time. By the way, its definitely not a cheap holiday by any standards. The food, the travel, the hotels are all exorbitantly expensive. Plus they all charge 20% tip on top of everything. And the hotels charge extra charges per day plus service charge on top of the room rates.

Still I loved it. The Caribbean is always the best place to relax, with the waters, the sun and the amazing vibe of the people. My all time favourite holiday destination...

Nassau(1)

A week of Bahamian sun and sand, in Nassau (1)

This winter, I landed in Bahamas for a week long trip, booked literally the last minute. And I must say, I had one of my most exotic, fun and relaxed trips in a long while! But it definitely had nothing to do with the lateness of the trip 😜. It is just that the Bahamas (and I think most of the Caribbean) has this amazing ability to make any vacation feel outstanding. The warm air, the blue green waters and the chill vibe of the people needs nothing else to make you forget everything else. And just enjoy the feeling of being. The trip to Bahamas was just like that...

We stayed two days in Nassau, the capital of the country. We found it to be a nice relaxed place, even though most reviews rate it as too busy and full of tourists. We explored the local fish market, the downtown and Paradise Island over the two days. And I didn't feel it was too crowded at all when I was there. But when we went to our next location, the remote island of Eleuthera, it dawned on me what people really meant by their comments. It was in comparison to the other remote parts of the country. In Eleuthera, we stayed at the French Leave resort and it was pure paradise. It was a remote resort, with lovely luxurious villas, facing the crystal green Caribbean sea in front and the famed pink sand beaches on the Atlantic side. We had such a fabulous time at the resort that we got out only once in 4 days! It felt heavenly, just to laze in the sea, the pool, the beach or chill in the room the whole day. We needed nothing else...


The trip to Bahamas needed a bit of research as it has many big islands and each is different. So you need to figure out what you want to do and which island you want to go to. All the islands sounded awesome and I was torn by which island to pick in addition to Nassau. We had to stay in Nassau on Providence Island for 2 days anyways as our flights were landing there.

The Bimini has great diving while Andros has vast forests, mangroves and reefs in its national parks. The Grand Bahamas has unique diving and swimming with the sharks options, especially in the Lucayan National Park while Exumas have some amazing highlights like iguana islands, sharks islands and swimming pigs islands, spread across its various Cays (small islands).

It's not really easy to commute between the islands. There are ferry services between them but these ferries are not regular. So it was a bit tough to plan the connections. The Exumas sounded interesting but the flights did not work for us as they only flew to the main city, Georgetown. Getting to the smaller Cays from there was still quite a long and expensive affair. You might as well do a day tour from Nassau to visit the Cays rather than fly there. (In hindsight I feel it is best to tour the Caribbean on a cruise ship. The transport becomes easier. During the day you can explore the islands, and use the nights to get to the next island. It is definitely worth it in the Caribbean)

After a lot of permutations and combinations, I finally realised I could book an amazing resort in Eleuthera using hotel points and we could get there easily by flight. So we booked the hotel and decided to stay in Eleuthera of all the islands. We didn't find much luck in booking airbnbs in Nassau, and so decided on a downtown hotel, booked the day we were flying! Given all the last minute bookings without enough research, I was somehow expecting something to fall apart on the trip. But nothing like that happened at all 😁.


Introduction to Bahamian life in Nassau

Getting there

It took me a bit long to get to Nassau, as given how late we booked, we were only able to find flights with 2 connections to get there. I had a long journey ahead with stops in Charlotte and Miami in US. My first flight was a long one to Charlotte. A Jamaican woman sat next to me and brought back memories of my last trip to the Caribbean. We talked about all the places I had visited in Jamaica. She was quite shocked that we had driven to all those places as she felt it was unsafe to drive there. Well...!

The connection time was quite short at the second stop, in Miami. So I was a bit worried about missing my flight. Initially I was impressed with American Airlines, given how efficiently we connected in Charlotte. This included getting out of (US!) immigration, getting my luggage, checking it in again and then going through security too again. This took literally 30 mins at the airport and so I got 2 hours to spend in the AA lounge. And their lounge definitely felt better than BA lounges. They had better seats, and even a nachos counter which was preparing fresh guacamole for everyone. I loved it.

Even though I was going to the Bahamas, the first day felt very American. I felt an onslaught of American accent on the flight itself and then in the airport. A visit to US also always reminds me how much more polite people in UK and Europe are.

By the time I was landing in Miami, it was evening and Miami looked stunning while landing. With its high rises along the beach and the glittering lights all along. This view never fails to stun you. My flight was 30 mins late, and I missed my connection as I had only a 40 min layover. I guess the flight could have waited for me but they didn't.

AA do have a standard process setup for missed connections. Very quickly, the service desk gave me a hotel for the night, vouchers for meals and a shuttle to get these. But the rest of the process took too long. It took almost an hour to get onto the shuttle though the guy had assured me that he had booked me a personal shuttle to the hotel! By the time I reached the hotel, it was very late. So I spent about 5 hours in the Miccosukee resort, which turned out to be an Indian casino hotel. I was tempted to sit on the blackjack tables but good sense prevailed and I decided to sleep, even if only for 5 hours.

Landing in Bahamas

The next morning, I got to the airport to get to Nassau. And realised again, how the US airports are never fun - they have long queues at security and the staff are quite rude. Anyways I made it through and was soon on a small plane to Nassau. The plane ride was very short, barely 40 mins. No wonder Bahamas is so popular among the Americans. And the first views of the islands, peeking out of the clouds were spectacular. All you can see are small green islands, surrounded by green waters. The view was enough to get me in a relaxed mode! And the ambience at the airport added to that mode. There was a person dressed in Bahamian carnival clothes, welcoming all incoming tourists with Indian style dhol music. And the immigration area had a live band playing music. It was already a good sign of things to come 😊.

We were staying at the Marriott on Junkanoo Beach, and I took a taxi till there. The way was all through green areas, with some mangroves and some small lakes here and there. It felt quite open, with good roads and lot of bungalows around, which must have been holiday homes most likely. The sun was out and the air was warm already. And I was all ready for the trip to start.

Most of our two days were spent in and around our hotel in downtown Nassau, with a trip to the neighbouring Paradise Island once and the fish fry multiple times a day.


Downtown Nassau

Cruise ships around Nassau

Downtown Nassau has been called a tourist trap, crowded and so on. I was a bit skeptical on what to expect there, but to be honest, it was pretty good. They do get a daily dose of cruises coming in everyday. We could see 5-6 cruise ships parked in the harbour every day from 11 am to 5 pm. And during these times, the downtown was quite full of tourists and activity all around. The beaches would be full of water sports, the shops and local market trying to sell their stuff, the restaurants were full of people eating and listening to music and the roads full of people walking around. And after 5 pm, it would suddenly go all quiet. And after that, all that was left were a few of the inland tourists walking around. Most of the shops and restaurants would also close down after that. And because of the quieter mornings and evenings, I didn't mind the extra activity during the day at all.

In Nassau, we spent our time in 4 different areas, all within walking distance. One was at the fish fry at Arawak Cay - apparently its the place where the locals eat. It was a local market within walking distance to our hotel. It was a collection of many small and big shacks serving local food, near the beach. It was always lively any time of the day, with live music playing and tons of people walking around. We had one lunch and two dinners there, at the Brunos, Twin Brothers and Goldie's. And all of them offered great food, especially the fish and seafood was quite tasty.

Indoor straw market

The second area we walked around a lot was the main market on the waterfront along Bay Street. The whole atmosphere was quite alive, with crowds all around but still had an element of relaxation. It was lined with the usual stores, selling branded and local stuff. And had many restaurants with a view of the sea. But my favourite place was the covered straw market, where the locals came to sell their products. The straw and wooden products there were exquisite. And walking around felt so much fun.

Market near waterfront

I also strolled through one of the colourfully decorated streets on Bay Street and walked into a store which was selling Indian stuff. It turned out that the the owner was also Indian, from Mumbai. He had decided to migrate to Bahamas, and I can't question that decision 😜. We spent a lot of our time just walking around the market area, exploring the shops, beaches and the marina. There were tons of restaurants there with good food and loud music. Our favourite was still the fish fry.

Nassau bungalows

The third area I explored was Nassau town. It was mostly empty as all the cruisers stayed around the waterfront and Bay street. So I decided to walk along the small quiet lanes away from the madness. The town is very small, located on a small hill, and you can walk up and down the streets. I loved the pastel coloured houses in town, everything was in different shades of pink, blue, green or yellow. And there were lot of huge British bungalows on top of the hill, those huge airy wooden houses (which I love!). How lovely they looked, in this paradise of sun and sand. We also walked to the Fincastle Fort and Queens Staircase in town on top of Bennet's Hill which gave a picturesque view of the town around. We could see all of Paradise island and all the cruises shining in the sun during evening. The town looks lovely when walking through it.

The beach

The fourth area we walked around a lot was the beach and the pathway next to the water. Right in front of our hotel was the Junkanoo beach which was spectacular. It was lined with coconut trees, the sand was white and the water deep blue and green. You could see the cruise ships and Paradise Island across the waters beyond. It was empty most of the days, but got extremely happening when the cruise ships were in. It would get crowded then and was fun to just observe. People would be going for water sports, playing games or just dancing on the beach. I loved it totally. Just walking by it multiple times in a day was uplifting by itself.


Paradise Island

Paradise Island is a small island very near the main Providence Island of Nassau, which has been developed into a luxury island. The main stay of the island is the resort of Atlantis which covers most of it and is visible from all around because of its trademark shape.

It is also home to a lot of celebrities, all of whom have their bungalows on the island. Like Oprah Winfrey, Tiger Woods, Michael Jordan and so on. And some fancy yoga retreats, all of which are not connected by road but can be reached only by boat. It is connected to Nassau through a bridge now, but the best way to get there is to take the small water taxis from downtown which run every 30 mins. The trip costs $4 and is 15 mins during which the guide tells you the history of the island. Apparently it was called Hog Island but they changed its name as no one liked visiting a place called Hog island!

And once there, you have many options. You have the usual Atlantis options of adventure park, dolphin parks, casinos etc.. And the resort is HUGE! We walked in while trying to get to our beach and kept walking for 10-15 minutes before we could get out. But we chose to go to one of the beaches, Cabbage beach.

Cabbage beach

It was a long beach with white sand and deep blue waters. The weather was sunny and warm. But it was quite windy and the water was full of very high waves because the beach faced the open Atlantic. So it was a bit tough to swim there for too long. We sat in the sun for a bit, read some books and then had a lazy lunch at Viola's restaurant which had an outside seating area. It is located right next to the Sunrise Beach Villas and I found them a great location to stay.

Paradise Island

And then we decided to walk back to our hotel. First we came across a small pond, randomly on the island itself, which was full of tortoise and fish! Some 100s of tortoise. While crossing the bridge, we got to see some interesting views. On one side, we could see all the cruise ships lined against each other. Then the mail boats which sometimes transport people between the islands. And on the other side we got a view of the green island, with Atlantis as its crown. And the blue waters in between this all.

Walk back

Its a view which I think a lot of tourists don't see. We then kept walking for an hour back to Nassau, through the bylanes of the island, all empty streets, lined with pastel coloured houses. It was fun, but we also realised that its not that easy to walk a lot in the humid Caribbean sun.


Our hotel

We were staying at the Marriott on Junkanoo beach. The hotel was not too high end but was comfortable and quite convenient. It was located right on the beach and was very close to downtown and Fish fry. And a good place to stay if you are not looking for luxury. It reminded me of the Marriott Courtyard in Kingston, Jamaica that I stayed in for many months.

Cruise ship leaving the harbour

It had all the amenities you would need. A view of the beach and the shallow waters. In the evening you could just lie next to the pool, watching as one by one, the cruises leave the bay, shining in the setting sun. And at night, you could hear the sound of ocean waves in the background while sleeping (if you left the balcony windows open). I would totally recommend this hotel irrespective of what the reviews online say.


Other things to do in Nassau

There are loads of other things to do in Nassau which we had researched on but never got to do. Some are mainstream but a few give an inside view to the other real side of Nassau. Here are a few:
- Explore Atlantis, e.g., take a day-pass to the rides at Aquaventure or visit the Dolphin Cay Atlantis
- Visit Pirates Cove Beach, Casuarina Beach or Paradise Beach on Paradise Island, if you are looking for peace, quiet and seclusion
- Take a day trip to Rose Island or Pearl Island
- Snorkel around Love Beach and explore the undersea sculptures at Clifton Heritage National Park
- Take a dive trip to Stuart Cove and spend time on Cable Beach and the bars of Baha Mar
- Take a day trip to the Blue lagoon
- Visit some original Bahamian villages, like Adelaide, Fox Hill or Gambier
- Try the local drink, sky juice made of gin, coconut water and sweetened condensed milk


Impressions

I left Nassau feeling very happy, and having enjoyed being there. Everything was awesome - the weather, the views the vibe and the people. Nassau has great sunsets, every evening. Sitting and observing them is definitely a great end to every evening.

The people here felt a lot friendlier than in Jamaica. Even the shopkeepers did not hustle or try to sell their stuff aggressively. It felt they were more keen to strike a conversation than sell their stuff. The locals spoke in something like a Trinidadian sing song accent. And the ones involved in tourist facing jobs all had very strong American accents.

There was quite a lot of traffic. Surprisingly, the cars have both left and right hand drive, because most of the cars here are used cars from US and other parts of the world. It must definitely be interesting to drive like this. The island is quite expensive also, from food to travel to stay. They do accept US dollars everywhere though, which helps.

Overall, I wouldn't say Nassau is a must do but would definitely rate it as a great place to spend a day or two. Especially when connecting with the other islands. It is good to be with crowds for a while, as you won't get much on the other islands...

Eleuthera(2)

Skiing in the stunning Les Trois Vallees

This year, I got to spend a week skiing in the gorgeous Les Trois Vallees (The 3 Valleys) resort in France, which comprises of the valleys of Val Thorens, Meribel and Courchevel. It is known as one of the best ski resorts in the world and I totally agree. It feels almost endless, with the three interconnected valleys providing skiers with miles and miles of slopes all around. We were there for a week and did not even start to get bored with the slopes.

Skiing on...

The weather was spectacular and sunny for the first two days, and then there was a snowstorm which gave us fresh snow for skiing the next few days. In addition, we were staying at a luxurious serviced chalet in Meribel which was the icing on the cake and made it the perfect holiday. This vacation was also just before Corona struck Europe, so it was good to get away and get a chance to ski before the entire year's vacations got cancelled.


Getting there

We took a chartered plane from Gatwick to the town of Grenoble (in France), to get to Meribel. And it felt that the whole plane was filled with people going skiing. Grenoble was a small airport but we were surprised that everyone there spoke very good English, definitely much better than I've seen before in France. Apparently this resort is very popular with British people, so everyone around has learnt to speak in good English.

We were then driven in a bus to Meribel where we were staying for the next one week. The initial part of the route was through plains but surrounding us were high mountains, some had table tops, some had high pointy peaks and some were low. And almost all of them had no snow on top. Towards the end, we had a bit of drive in the mountains. Even then all around there was barely any snow and most of the mountains looked green. It wasn't surprising as we had already heard that this year the snow hadn't been good. But still it felt surreal, to stay at a ski resort with barely any snow. And even when we reached Meribel, it was devoid of any snow, which felt unnatural.

Across the chalet

We reached our chalet in the afternoon, but were not skiing on that day. So once we had settled in, we walked a bit into the village to get our skis and explore the place. There was no snow there and very few people around too. But we heard that the snow on the peaks wasn't too bad and were raring to go skiing as soon as possible.


About the resort

Crossing the peaks

Les Trois Vallees is a huge resort, where you can keep on skiing and getting onto a ski lift and so on, for many days without landing at the same place! As the three valleys are linked through some of the peaks, you can get from one to the next and explore those too (given good weather though). You just have to make sure, you get out from those valleys to your own valley in time before the lifts stop. You can also very easily get lost as the maps are very complicated given the amount of slopes there are, so always carry one with you. We were staying in the middle valley of Meribel, so it was definitely easier for us to come back in time and not get lost.

There are 4 levels of slopes marked here - green, blue, red and black - which was surprising, as most of Europe does not have greens. And I didn't find a lot of difference between the blues and the greens, and sometimes even the reds. As all of them were quite wide and comfortable to ski. All the slopes here had names rather than numbers, which was not helpful as French names are not easy to pronounce or remember. Also some of the slopes's names were repeated across the different valleys, which added to the confusion sometimes.

Otherwise there were loads of markings on the slopes, of the next ski lift or village you would reach if you ski in that direction, which sometimes made it possible to ski without looking at the map. Also on every slope, there were regular boards after every 100-200 meters, highlighting how many 100s of meters of slope was remaining. And that was a real life-saver especially on some of the tough black and red slopes, to know how much longer did I still have to go 😊.

I saw a much bigger variety of lifts here, there were chair lifts, gondolas, rope lifts, button lifts and bubble lifts; literally all kinds of transport were available. The rope and bubble lifts were a first for me. They also had a few gondolas which would stop at two places on the slope, and people could get off and get on at either of the stops.

There were lot of children parks on the way to try different kind of skiing, like Yeti park with narrow turns and so on. There were also a lot of other activities like sled riding, husky riding, paragliding and so on, all around, to keep the non-skiers busy. I was quite impressed by the amount of infrastructure at this resort and it is definitely one of the best.

Even though we thought we had timed it well, there were loads of crowds on the slopes as well as in the lift queues. And the size of the queues were not helped by the fact that we had to scan our ski passes even when getting up on lifts much above on the mountains. Most resorts I have been to, check passes only on the lower gondolas where people come in directly from the villages. Once you are on top, there are no more checks. And that helps move queues faster, but not here. Also the staff here was not very insistent on filling the chair lifts, gondolas etc.. I saw so many times, on a 6 person chair lift, they would let even 2-3 people get on all the time which felt quite an inefficient way to clear the long queues.

People were also ruder here. Or maybe it was because of the long queues. It felt like a different experience to me than other places I have been skiing. Everyone was trying to get ahead in queues. So many would block your way, push ahead, try to be all macho and take up all the space to get ahead. It was not a good experience.

In fact on one of my lifts, there was a couple who had come from Canada and were talking among themselves. They had been warned about the rude people here and were discussing how they would ski as they weren't used to people being rude on the slopes before. My response was, welcome to the club. You will soon have to be like them to sustain yourself.

The first 2 days of our week there, the weather was hot and sunny, so we skied a lot farther, going from Meribel to Les Menuires and Val Thorens. The next two days there was a massive snow storm and visibility was low. So most of the lifts on the higher slopes were shut down and we skied in the lower reaches of Meribel itself. The last two days were again clear and sunny, though still cold. And we mostly skied in the Courchevel valley. And we could easily see how the skiing was different in the different valleys, in terms of level of difficulty as well as type of tourists.


Skiing in Val Thorens and Les Menuires

On our first two days of skiing, the weather was awesome. It was sunny and warm, sometimes more than 13 degrees even on the slopes! So we decided to use the day and get far as the 3 valley peaks were all open. To get to Val Thorens you have to take a couple of lifts and ski down a bit. It took us an hour or so to get anywhere to start skiing too as there were huge crowds on every lift. It turned out that even though we had avoided the UK half-term rush, we had turned up there during the French one. So the waiting times were huge. And we decided to stop in Les Menuires itself and ski there to avoid the crowds.

But the skiing was amazing. We would time our skiing such that we were skiing on the side of the mountain which was getting sun at that time of the day. It was perfect. All the slopes were very wide and had much better snow than expected given it was so sunny. There was some powder too and not a lot of moguls. There were also tons of people skiing in fancy dress which provided some lightness and entertainment. And we would just go swooshing down the blues and reds all the way down in the sun. It was perfect to spend the whole day like this.

Sometimes we got some brilliant views of the mountain ranges till far, especially when crossing the peaks to the other valleys. Val Thorens and Les Menuires looked like charming villages from the top, extending in to the valleys. They were lined with rows after rows of wooden ski chalets, full of tourists. I really felt there were very few local huts, as most looked like identical ski chalets.

View of top of the world

The food on the slopes wasn't as great though. And it was bloody expensive. We ate at one of the simpler restaurants which was ok. And then next day at Chalet de Sunny which was nicer. There was a restaurant on the slopes in Val Thorens that I passed one day - Folie Douce - which was playing live jazz music outside. It looked like a really amazing place to stop and have a nice time. This was on the second day when snow had started falling, and it made sense to get back to Meribel as soon as possible. As I was already late in getting back to my valley, I didn't stop, but otherwise I would have loved to stop here and enjoy the music in that ambience. It had felt like the perfect place to end two days of perfect summer skiing.


Skiing in Meribel

Meribel valley

We were staying in the village of Meribel and two days were stuck skiing within the valley as there was a huge snowstorm. And all the lifts to the top of the mountains were shut down because of extreme winds. So we couldn't cross over to the valleys on the other sides, and skied within Meribel. Which was still fun except the crowds. The first day, it was crazy at the bottom with 100s of people waiting to get up. In fact, once we took a lift up, come what may, we would not come down to the base for a long time. We would just keep going up and down the slopes above, to avoid the massive queues at the bottom. In fact, one of the days I skied around the Altiport area continuously as they were above the base and had lot of trees around which stopped the wind a bit.

The skiing during these days was amazing in some ways but crazy in others. When the snowfall was slower, the powder snow felt awesome to ski on. But couple of times during the two days, we also got stuck in really bad weather. We would go up a chair lift and then see nothing after that! No slopes, no mountains and no people to follow either! And the snow would be blowing directly into our faces. It was scary, as you just had to trust your gut and go down. And sometimes it would get so windy and snowy, I could barely see a couple of feet ahead. It was a test of strength and courage to ski down like that.

I did have a very crazy experience on one of those days. I skied down a slope which was an extremely steep red, full of powder, with zero visibility, heavy snowfall and winds, tons of moguls and fogged goggles (the Coombe 2 slope). It was one of the toughest and longest (it felt so) ski slope I have gone down. I was actually helping one of my friends try the slope as it was tough. But I kept thinking all the way down, I should never have offered to go down with her 😆.

The whole time, I couldn't see anything, including the ground! And just somehow I had to come down without falling too much  At one point I flew and fell on my face, but given all the fresh snow, did not hurt myself 😁. It did take me some 10 mins after that to get up and a further 15-20 mins after that to clear out all the snow which had got inside my clothes and bags. What an experience that was. Though I went back up the slope again, so I could come down more gracefully this time. Well, I did but lets just call it 'more' gracefully than the previous run 😁.

But I learnt a lot during these two days. I also went to a few of the parks on the slopes - the Elements Park which had a series of about 10-15 jumps on skis, and the yeti park with narrow turn slopes. They were fun to try especially now with less people. In fact, the second half of the days were perfect for skiing. By that time, the crowds would have thinned as everyone would have given up and gone back home. And that is the time, I got some of the most empty slopes to ski as I pleased. And go up the lifts as much as I wanted. As long as I could avoid getting stuck in the heavy snowfall area. There were a lot more people falling today definitely than usual. Also there were lot of off piste skiing happening during these days because of the wonderful snow. But I stayed on the snow mostly, trying to do what I do, without falling 'too much' 😊.


Skiing in Courchevel

The last two days of the skiing were spent in the third valley of Courchevel and it felt like a completely different experience. It was sunny again and quite hot too, which was great for skiing especially as we still had fresh snow. The Courchevel valley was relatively easier to get to, and was very open and expansive, with much wider slopes than the other two valleys. I explored many different mountains here and found them all different.

Courchevel slopes

There were shorter queues here but the slopes were somehow still full of people. I did a few reds the first day and once got stuck in a really bad one. After that, I've decided that I don't like the powdery reds with lot of moguls. If any of the three things is missing (steepness, lot of powder, lot of moguls), I can still ski, but with all three, I hate it. There were many very long blue runs here too, which were not too steep, on which you could ski leisurely. With the wide slopes below and the sun above. The blues here felt like a good break from the tough red runs around.

I came back to Courchevel the next day too and did a few blacks that day. They were not too long thankfully, and I was just happy to have come down in one piece. And left feeling happy and content. There was a lot of powder snow still and it was fun to go off piste for a bit, though I would fall very soon as you need different types of skis to ski in the powder. So maybe I can try that the next time. I also realised if you fall in fresh snow, you hurt yourself less. So its a good time to push yourself a lot more and take the risk. I definitely did, and improved my skiing. Thankfully without hurting myself 😊.

Courchevel restaurants

On the first day, Friday, I was trying to find a place to eat lunch and found some amazing restaurants with live music and breathtaking views. The first one was the La Cave des Creux but they said they were all booked. I hadn't heard that on the slopes ever before. The second one I came to, the Le Cap Horn also said the same but the neighbouring Italian restaurant, Les Mille Sabords had a place free and allowed me to have lunch there. And it took me time to figure out why the restaurants here were so full.

These restaurants were not the typical ski slope fast food places but really posh. They were huge, had a lot of outside sitting, the views were lovely and the food was gourmet food. The guests here were more interested in dressing up for skiing than actual skiing. They all looked really rich, and I felt like too rustic a skier in the midst of a fancy party going on. It looked like they stopped skiing by lunch time and spent the rest of their evening eating and partying. Even at my restaurant, by 2pm, the loud music had started and the mood changed to a party mood, with no more skiing after.

And then I realised that the Courchevel resort by itself was more expensive than usual,and the guests here came to relax rather than ski. The second day though, all these fancy restaurants were empty and closed, so I ate at a normal place, with a great view but normal prices. I realised later that there were less people skiing on Saturday, as turns out that is the day the new set of package skiers comes in, and the old ones leave, making it a low rush day. As much as I enjoyed skiing in Courchevel, I realised also that this resort had easier slopes. This place was for the richer, fancier and more dressed up people rather than serious skiers.

GoPro slope

Leaving Courchevel, you need to take a huge Sauliere gondola all the way to the peak and from the top you can get a view of Mont Blanc very far off. I couldn't see much though either of the days as the clouds were always there. There is also an extremely steep slope at this peak called the GoPro where you literally drop off a cliff to ski. The slope was officially closed but skiers were still going down. And it was very scary even to see other people go down that slope. I just chose not to.


Meribel village and restaurants

Meribel village is located in a huge long valley, which we could see from the ski slopes. The first two day, the valley had limited snow and was greener. It felt like the valley was filled with ski chalets on every slope all around. I don't know how many people are local and actually stay here as lot of the accommodation looked like it was available only for tourists.

Meribel village

The village was small, but had lot of pubs. Most people knew English and there were a lot of English skiers around. Apparently a lot of the properties around here is also owned by British people. The buildings were all made of wood and looked cute. And at night, all the winter lights on the streets were switched on which gave it a very nice Christmas-ey feel.

We didn't eat out much in the village as we had dinner prepared for us daily in our chalet. Though one day we called for Indian food from Tsaretta Spice and I must say, I was pleasantly surprised. The food was really yum. And the highlight was the gobi manchurian which was a hit with the mostly non-Indian gang. One other evening, we went to the Lizzi restaurant, walking all the way from our chalet. The christmas lights were all lit and it felt nice to walk in the snow finally, with no skiing boots on. The food there was good and it was fun to be out.

There are lot of Apres skiing places around, a popular one is Folie Douce where I didn't go. There was one in Meribel too, sister restaurant of the one in Val Thorens with the open jazz performance I had seen during one of the skiing places. The last day, we went to Rond point which closes by 5pm and is on the slope itself. And it looked like it was a good party place. I am sure there are a lot more but I didn't get to go anywhere as I was too tired by the time I came back all day after skiing.

Driving was tough in the village, especially on the day it was all snowed in. Apparently there were a few accidents too. Our drivers (who picked and dropped us from the slopes) had put snow chains on their cars but they were still very scared of driving. I think its because they were not local but just 'some English lads there for the season, who weren't very comfortable driving in the mountains in the snow...' (as someone said).


Our chalet

We had booked a chalet through one of the ski package companies for 14 of us and it was amazing. The whole trip was very well organised and the chalet was the icing on the cake. It was located very close to the village centre. The local buses stopped in front of out chalet to drop us to the lifts. Though we never used the bus as we had drivers who would pick us up and drop us every day at the lifts.

Stepping out from the chalet

The chalet had an amazing location, on a mountain face, with a view of the opposite side of the valley across. It always felt lovely to come back to. There were games to keep us busy, a pool table, a sauna and a hot tub outside. We used the hot tube everyday, to get over the tiredness of the day. You could stare into the snow covered mountains, while sitting in hot vaporous water in the open. It was pure bliss. In fact, one of the days it was snowing while we were in the hot water. And the mix of hot and cold was interesting. And one day we also saw some clouds slowly come into the valley and cover everything behind us. While we sat in the tub. It felt quite a surreal experience.

We had all our meals in the chalet as our breakfast, evening snacks and dinner were included. There were two guys managing the chalet and they were English (as expected) and came here every season. They used to cook us our meals daily. The food quality and presentation was comparable to what you would get in a fine dining restaurant. And the tables were decorated with candles every night. Living there was pure luxury, and was definitely the high point of the trip for us. We loved the chalet. Except one day when the internet was down all day!

Winter Wonderland

The last day it had snowed all night, again. And when we got out in the morning, the view that greeted us was even more charming, with snow on top of trees, all the house roofs and the mountains. It looked like winter wonderland all of a sudden. Also because we weren't carrying a lot of heavy ski gear with us. And then we drove back to Grenoble, where there was a lot more snow than usual. The villages in the French Alps here did not seem as pretty as the Austrian or the Swiss ones though.


And just like that the vacation ended. It was also an end to vacations for a long time, as by the time we came back, Corona was starting to pick up speed. And within a week, Italy was in lock-down, then France and then UK. So all we are left with are memories from this trip, for a long time to come. It was a fun vacation. And I can see myself going back, there is so much to explore still...