Bahamas Vacation Update #2
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
Today we rented scooters and rode out to Lucaya National Park first. Gretchen knew of two geocaches there, so we thought it would be fun to look for them. I knew the general location of one of them, and was pretty sure of the other one, too. We arrived at the park, and set off on the trail. Since last year, there have been many improvements to the park, which I really enjoyed seeing. They had cleared a lot of brush, and also improved the trails. We made it to our first stop, Ben's Cave. This was supposed to be the location of the first geocache. We looked forever, all three of us, and still did not find it. We moved onto the next cave, the Burial Mound, and continued along the short trail back to the start of the park. We crossed the road, bought some snacks from the lady selling them and made our way to the beach and the site of the next geocache. When I was here last year, there was a portion of the trail that had been washed out and was being rebuilt. This year, it was open, so we went that way. It's much shorter, just as scenic, and features a wooden bridge that goes across a mangrove "swamp". It was so pretty!
This beach is one of my favorites on the island. We wandered around a bit, found the "virtual" geocache, made note of a few things, then worked our way back to the road and our scooters. We rode another 7 miles to High Rocks and the best conch fritters on the island! There is this really cool spot called Bishops and it's right on the beach. We got there just before a tour group arrived, so our food took a little bit longer than expected. I had the fish fingers with cole slaw and fried plantain. Lisa had the ribs with fries and Gretchen went all American with a cheeseburger and fries. My food was delicious! I couldn't finish it all, but wish I could have.
After lunch we wandered around and found the geocache! Success at long last! We logged our find, left something behind and put it back where we found it. I'm sure people were wondering what we were up to, but no one said anything.
We headed back down the road to some other places I had visited before to take pictures. Heading back to Port Lucaya, we made a couple of stops near Free Town to find the "Pirates of the Caribbean" set. I had found part of it last year, but had heard there was a spot you could go to and see what's left of it. We found two of the gates and then just as I was getting a little discouraged, I noticed a sign for "Gold Beach-New Access". I knew the set was somewhere near Gold Beach, so we headed down this dirt road and sure enough, we found it! The fence is torn down in some places, so technically you could probably walk through it but we didn't feel like taking too many chances. :) We did get some pictures and actually, this is a really cool beach area I wouldn't mind exploring the next time I am here.
We made it back to the condo around 5 p.m. and promptly all fell asleep for a quick nap before the fish fry. Around 7 p.m., we left for the fish fry at Taino Beach. I kind of remembered where it was from last year and after almost killing myself twice on the scooter (why do they have to drive on the left side of the road?!), we made it there safe and sound. I had the broiled lobster tail with a side of peas & rice and a side of homemade macaroni & cheese. I also splurged for a slice of the coconut tart and the sweet potato bread, too. Lisa also had the lobster with a side of plantain and Gretchen had the fried chicken dinner with macaroni & cheese. There weren't many people there, so we didn't really interact with everyone like last time, which was kind of disappointing. We had a long day so we rode back to the condo and watched TV before heading to bed.
Today, snorkeling and sea kayaking at Peterson Kay!
Today we rented scooters and rode out to Lucaya National Park first. Gretchen knew of two geocaches there, so we thought it would be fun to look for them. I knew the general location of one of them, and was pretty sure of the other one, too. We arrived at the park, and set off on the trail. Since last year, there have been many improvements to the park, which I really enjoyed seeing. They had cleared a lot of brush, and also improved the trails. We made it to our first stop, Ben's Cave. This was supposed to be the location of the first geocache. We looked forever, all three of us, and still did not find it. We moved onto the next cave, the Burial Mound, and continued along the short trail back to the start of the park. We crossed the road, bought some snacks from the lady selling them and made our way to the beach and the site of the next geocache. When I was here last year, there was a portion of the trail that had been washed out and was being rebuilt. This year, it was open, so we went that way. It's much shorter, just as scenic, and features a wooden bridge that goes across a mangrove "swamp". It was so pretty!
This beach is one of my favorites on the island. We wandered around a bit, found the "virtual" geocache, made note of a few things, then worked our way back to the road and our scooters. We rode another 7 miles to High Rocks and the best conch fritters on the island! There is this really cool spot called Bishops and it's right on the beach. We got there just before a tour group arrived, so our food took a little bit longer than expected. I had the fish fingers with cole slaw and fried plantain. Lisa had the ribs with fries and Gretchen went all American with a cheeseburger and fries. My food was delicious! I couldn't finish it all, but wish I could have.
After lunch we wandered around and found the geocache! Success at long last! We logged our find, left something behind and put it back where we found it. I'm sure people were wondering what we were up to, but no one said anything.
We headed back down the road to some other places I had visited before to take pictures. Heading back to Port Lucaya, we made a couple of stops near Free Town to find the "Pirates of the Caribbean" set. I had found part of it last year, but had heard there was a spot you could go to and see what's left of it. We found two of the gates and then just as I was getting a little discouraged, I noticed a sign for "Gold Beach-New Access". I knew the set was somewhere near Gold Beach, so we headed down this dirt road and sure enough, we found it! The fence is torn down in some places, so technically you could probably walk through it but we didn't feel like taking too many chances. :) We did get some pictures and actually, this is a really cool beach area I wouldn't mind exploring the next time I am here.
We made it back to the condo around 5 p.m. and promptly all fell asleep for a quick nap before the fish fry. Around 7 p.m., we left for the fish fry at Taino Beach. I kind of remembered where it was from last year and after almost killing myself twice on the scooter (why do they have to drive on the left side of the road?!), we made it there safe and sound. I had the broiled lobster tail with a side of peas & rice and a side of homemade macaroni & cheese. I also splurged for a slice of the coconut tart and the sweet potato bread, too. Lisa also had the lobster with a side of plantain and Gretchen had the fried chicken dinner with macaroni & cheese. There weren't many people there, so we didn't really interact with everyone like last time, which was kind of disappointing. We had a long day so we rode back to the condo and watched TV before heading to bed.
Today, snorkeling and sea kayaking at Peterson Kay!