Brit gals in the Bahamas, part 1

This is a brief travel blog of two Brit gals living in the USA who headed to the Bahamas for a long weekend. You don’t want the long version, cos we nattered non stop on our holibobs!

1. We get all excited about British road signs! Yes, the signs for speed limits, ‘Give Way’ (not ‘Yield’) and roundabouts are all done in a British fashion! How we squealed!

2. We got disorientated about driving! The Bahamians drive on the left handside of the road, but mostly have left-hand drive cars. This is very disconcerting. But, as our Bahamian taxi driver, Leo, told us ‘Driving on the left is the right side, driving on the right is suicide.’ 🙂

3. We totally loved the colours of the buildings in the Bahamas. They are not allowed to paint their houses the same colour as their neighbours, which is very cool, so they are always different. I don’t think that in my current home of Columbia, MD, the residents’ association could cope with this. There YOU MUST CONFORM WITH CREAM! Oddly, the Bahamas house colours did remind me of a colonial, Caribbean Torquay in this way!

Now that’s a house!

4. The Bahamas kind of reminded us of Gibraltar in someway with its British history, the Queen’s steps and the buses. They are super proud of  their Commonwealth heritage. And the local bus experience is some kind of journey. Yes, as Brit gals we did that thing where we ran after a bus shouting, ‘Stop please!’ and then got a big smiling reaction from all the locals on board. We had no clue what to do, how to pay, or where we were going, but that’s the adventure we wanted!

5. Bahamians love the Brits, and right back at ya! With the community fish fries on the beach, the ramshackle beach bars and reggae music, the very friendly and smiley attitude, the Sky Juice (a highly recommended a Bahamian beverage combining coconut water or milk, condensed milk or evaporated milk, and alcohol – gin or rum), the acres of golden sands, the busy markets, the carnival atmosphere, and the eclectic mix of cultures (think Queen Victoria looking disdainfully down on the colourful town square of Nassau!), what’s not to love?!

6. We saw both sides of the Bahamas. We experienced the local neighbourhoods and some of the ‘low income areas’. We also experienced Atlantis and all the decadence that is tourism. Two very, very different Bahamas.

Next up: Grumpy Bahamas Brian, Happy Palmrick and his Travelling Butler Boyfriend, we gatecrash Miss Bahamas Teen International, rum tours, snorkelling and then we blag our way in to the World Relay Athletics in the Bahamas stadium!