Cruise to da Bahamas-Part 1

The first thing we did as soon as we got on the boat was eat!  They had a fantastic Italian buffet set up so we filled our plates and headed out onto the deck.  We ate our food and watched dolphins playing in the water bellow us.  This is all before the boat even left the port!  We still had a little while until we were allowed to our rooms so we explored and then tanned our pasty white little selves :)



Charleston, SC



Charleston, SC

Day #2 was a fun day at sea.  We tanned some more, ate some more, and played some mini golf.  We even took a Cha Cha lesson!  We had our Elegant dinner that night.  I was a dummy and forgot conditioner AND a blow dryer so my hair looked like a big pile a poo the entire trip :(  After dinner we went to a show and then went and saw the comedian.  Neither were very good but we were just happy to be out after 8 pm!  I did end up getting pretty sea sick this day(along with half of the people on the boat).

Day #3 we watched out of our window as we pulled into Freeport, Bahamas.  I was expecting white sandy beaches, blue water, and palm trees.  I was surprised to see that it was mostly just industrial and really kind of ugly.  We decided that we were going to swim with the dolphins but we didn't want to spend the 200$ per person that the boat was going to charge for booking with them.  So we hopped in a "taxi" and headed over to Lucaya.  The drive was ugly.  It was mostly brown weeds, some ragged pine trees, and ugly orange coconut trees.  Our driver had no idea how to drive a stick shift so the grinding/screeching noise and the fact that we were driving on the wrong side of the road  at 90 mph with no seat belts had me praying for my life.  When we got to Lucaya we could see the UNEXSO facility so we just walked over and paid for our excursion.  We saved a TON of money and we arrived a good 15 minutes before everyone else from our cruise got there so we had time to stand on the dock and watch all the tropical fish swimming around which was pretty fun. 

We had to ride on a little boat to the place where the dolphins were.  I don't really like being on boats so I was a little nervous.  The captain of the boat was really funny so that helped. 

Ben and I got to go into the water first which was the way to go.  I feel like the second group didn't get to swim as long as us.  I got bit by the sand fleas while we were sitting in the water waiting for our turn to swim but I didn't even notice.  I was too excited!  I got to swim with Exuma and Ben got to swim with Robala and her baby.  He kept getting head butted by the dolphin he was with.  I stayed far enough away that I could still touch them but they couldn't hit me.  I'm kind of a baby about that stuff.  My favorite part was diving under water and watching the dolphin dive down with me.  I only wish that I had brought goggles!  I was lucky that my contacts held up in the salty water or I would have really been in trouble!  We got to make them do some tricks and then Ben and I rode in with them and then they gave us a hug and a kiss.  They are such sweet creatures!  

The boat ride in was WAY less intense.  We went and found a little Greek restaurant to eat at for lunch and then did some shopping.  When we went on a cruise to Mexico you can barter with the people selling souvenirs and get some pretty cheap stuff.  That's part of the fun!  But the people in the Bahamas are not willing to barter more than 2$ so it took a lot of fun out of it.  We met this guy carving walking sticks and looked in his shop.  He had these "hand carved" boxes (or so he said) so I bought one of those.  But other than that we really didn't buy much because it was so expensive!  I was so mad when I saw the same box in every other shop.  He totally lied!  I asked him "Did you carve this?"  He said "Oh yes I did everything in here"  LIAR!

My Sand Flea bite :(