Exploring Nassau

For the last week, Sue and I have been staying at a marina in Nassau. Our friends, Paul and Bev, flew down from Chicago to visit us for the week. Unfortunately, a cold front came through the day they arrived so we couldn’t do much on the boat due to the cold and strong winds. Instead, we decided to explore some of the tourist spots in Nassau

The marina we stay at is 2 miles east of the downtown area. The resort they stayed at was 4 miles west of the downtown area. We’re avid walkers, but that’s more than we can handle.

Normally, we’d get the bikes out and cover the 6 miles in no time. Unfortunately, neither of us felt safe riding a bicycle in Nassau. The roads don’t have shoulders and in many places, they don’t have sidewalks either.

The other other idea we entertained was to rent a car. Since I was going to have to drive, I shot that one down pretty quick. In The Bahamas, they drive on the left side of the road and many intersections are traffic circles. I can handle driving on the left, and I’ve had practice with traffic circles. But, there is no way I was going to do traffic circles, while driving on the left, in heavy traffic.

As a pedestrian, I’ve noticed the drivers use their horns to communicate with each other. In Chicago, a horn only represents anger or frustration. Here, they communicate using horns. A single short blast is a “may I”. A double short blast is “you can go, I’ll yield”. A single long blast is “No”. There are other signals, but I didn’t hear them enough to figure out what they mean.

The drivers are maniacs here, but they’re also very courteous. They let others in, they merge properly, there is no cutting. They drive fast. If there is a shoulder or walk, it’s fair game. The high speed traffic circles have their own horn codes that I couldn’t figure out.

After talking to several locals, we decided to use the Jitney bus service. It’s $1.25 a ride, and once you figure out the routes, it’s great. The drivers and locals on the bus can tell we’re tourists, and try to help us out the best they can. This is so different from the CTA experience.

It still amazes me how friendly and helpful everyone is. Walking down the street, folks say good morning or good day. No one is in a hurry, and if you have questions, they’ll stop and talk. If I look confused, which I often do, they’ll stop and ask if I need help.

Our week with Paul and Bev flew by. The resort they stayed at was very exclusive but they were able to get guest passes for Sue and I to join them at the pools and private beach. The cold and high winds have passed, so we plan to leave the marina on Saturday and head south again.