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Bahamas Pictures
November 11-15, 2010

Last year, I went to the Bahamas on a free trip that I won from a scratch-off card that I got for participating in a time-share lecture. I went in January of 2009, and the weather was a bit cool-ish, but for a NorCal girl, it was plenty warm enough for swimming and bikinis. They, apparently, didn't agree. The travel agency called me up a few months later to apologize for the "bad weather" and offer me the exact same trip for $200, total, for up to 4 people. I found out 3 days before the trip that the $200 didn't include the cruise ferry to get to the island, which was an additional $149 per person. But it was still a great deal. We stayed at the same resort, in the condo next door to the one I stayed in last time, and spent 4 days and 3 nights in the Caribbean.

Datan0de, Kim, and I went and had a pretty good time, with only a few disapointments. I wrote all about it in my LiveJournal. We stayed at the Island Seas Resort in Freeport on Grand Bahama Island, Bahamas. Thursday was driving down to Ft. Lauderdale & staying at a hotel walking distance from Port Everglades. Friday was an obnoxiously early morning and the cruise/ferry out to the island, plus dinner at the hotel restaurant, and relaxing. Saturday was shopping in Port Lucaya (our least-favorite day of the trip). Sunday was snorkeling and swiming at the beach. Monday was relaxing in the hotel outdoor bar and taking the cruise/ferry back to Ft. Lauderdale, plus driving home.

Here are some of the pictures we took, and more are in the Landscapes, Water Animals, Architecture & Structures, Sunsets, Other Stuff, and Events & Photojournalism sections of my Photography.

Click on the thumbnails below to see larger images. Please do not steal these images. If you wish to copy these images, show these images on your own website or link to mine, please ask permission first.

Please let me know if your name is incorrect and/or you want a link to your website at your name, and I will fix it.


Thursday

The largest cruise ship in existence

Our hotel was walking distance from the fenced-edge of the port

I tried to get pics of the new ship in its home port

I should have brought my tripod

We had to walk through a construction site to reach the fence

Bobcats!

One of them had no cab door.

Datan0de plays in one

Again with low light & no tripod
 

Friday

Drinkin' booze before 7:30 in the morning. Vacation has started!

Me, Datan0de, & Kim

The other couple at our breakfast table took our pics for us

We took theirs in return

On deck, still in dock

Port Everglades

Recursive photos! Datan0de takes Kim's pic

Recursive photos! Kim takes Datan0de's pic

Me & Datan0de taking pics of the scenery

Kim and me taking pics of the view

Datan0de taking pictures

Datan0de taking pictures

The view

Setting "sail"

Ft. Lauderdale

A bridge in Ft. Lauderdale

The deck

The captain's bridge & navigation equipment

The captain's bridge

Kim in front of the bridge
 
Me & Kim on deck

The smokestack or funnel behind the deck chairs, empty this early

Datan0de & I pose for a picture in front of the bridge
 
 

Removing the gangplank (nothing like those rickety wooden boards leaning precariously off pirate ships that the word evokes in us modern landlubbers, huh?)
 
 

Pulling out of the harbor
 

The Allure Of The Seas seen from our ship as we set sail

Leaving Ft. Lauderdale

Another boat races out of the harbor

Leaving Ft. Lauderdale
 

Video of the scenery from the starboard side of the ship as we pull out of the harbor, with some dance music from the upper deck's outdoor bar
 
 

The Discovery Sun cruise ferry is escorted out of the harbor by this Pilot boat, which keeps up with us until we're clear
 

We're escorted out of the harbor

Being escorted out of the harbor

The upper deck bar, with the dance music

Me on the starboard upper walkway

The view

The view

The view

Datan0de takes pictures off the port rail

Datan0de taking pictures

The upper deck in front of the bridge
 
The view

The wake from the cruise ship

The side of the ship with the ship's name
 
 

See the side of the ship with the ship's name, and the wake created by the ship leaving the harbor
 

Kim puts on her hoodie in the wind & I sit down

Kim at "her spot" on the foredeck

Kim at "her spot" on the foredeck

The side of the ship

Approaching the Bahamas

We can just see the island on the horizon

Pretty clouds over the island

Discovery Sun pulls closer to port

Another cruise ship in the harbor

Some industrial ship
 

Approaching into the harbor
 

Entering the harbor

Neat decaying industrial structure

One of the sailors getting ready to secure the ship for debarking

The harbor

More sailors about to make fast for mooring

Sailing into the harbor

That decaying industrial structure again

The other cruise ship at dock

A closer shot of that decaying structure

Pulling into our dock slip

In our slip

Looking down the side of the ship in the slip

Sailors about to make fast

Sailors making fast

Throwing a mooring line

Throwing a mooring line

Attaching a mooring line to a bollard

A frayed mooring line attached to a bollard

Making fast

Making fast

The shore crew

One last picture of the cruise ship from the pool deck, with the bar on top

The much less electric gangplank

Shore crew on the gangplank

Moored to shore

View of the harbor from the deck of the ship

View of the harbor from the deck of the ship

View of the harbor from the deck of the ship

Our hotel, the Island Seas Resort

Our room was the on the top floor, center right

The living room. Left: dining area & kitchen, bath behind mirror, bedroom behind bath

View from the balcony of the canal

View from the balcony of the canal

View from the balcony of the canal

Outdoor bar with only wi-fi hotspot

Hotel pool with waterfall

Kim's internet access spot

Saturday

The restaurant that tried to steal $10 from us

Me watching flies choose sugar crystals

Guess who can't go in this restaurant?

Datan0de & me kissing at the Port Lucaya marina

Datan0de & me at the Port Lucaya marina

Datan0de goofing off at the Port Lucaya marina

Datan0de & Kim at the Port Lucaya marina

Datan0de goofing off with Kim at the Port Lucaya marina

Datan0de goofing off with Kim at the Port Lucaya marina

Datan0de goofing off with Kim at the Port Lucaya marina

This party boat has a ROCK WALL

The boat with a rock wall.

Kim and me, posing in front of the dolphin statue in Port Lucaya

Curly-tailed lizards live in the Bahamas

A closeup of a curly-tailed lizard

Datan0de takes a picture of me taking a picture of the curly-tailed lizard

My picture of the curly-tailed lizard

I find another lizard to take pictures of

It's hard to get close enough

But I do

The lizard in question

The closest I can get

First attempt

Much closer

Best shot

Kim, Datan0de, & me at the Port Lucaya marina

I found a wharf cat!

She was very friendly

I have a thing for striped cats

Cats: my kryptonite

Datan0de takes pics of me petting the wharf cat

She even let me pick her up ... briefly

Then she wandered over to Datan0de for attention

Then she wandered off into the sunset along the wharf

The view from the wharf cat's pier

The view from the wharf cat's pier

Then we found the pirate ship!

There it was, hanging out behind the hotel at Port Lucaya

Looking all picturesque with the lighthouse behind it

The "pirate ship"

Too bad that little boat was in front

I have no idea if this is someone's real ship or not

Could be a tourist prop

Could be a junker

Could be some themed but functional tourist day-cruise ship

Could be privately owned

Could be owned by the hotel or lighthouse nearby

Could be some local's home

With a name like that, I'm betting tourist prop

So I was walking down the road one day...

and I ran into this pirate ship!

We wanted to get closer for better photos

So we did

The moored "pirate" ship

The Ghost

A closer look at the deck

The Ghost's aftdeck

The Ghost's mid-deck

The Ghost's foredeck & bow

Datan0de represents for the ninjas

Down with pirates!

The lighthouse

A closer-up of the lighthouse

Back at the pirate ship, Kim poses on the swing

I take a turn on the pirate ship swing

Me on the pirate ship swing

Swinging on the pirate swing!

Me on the pirate ship swing

Me posing on the pirate ship swing

On the pirate ship swing

Posing on the pirate ship swing

Datan0de on the deck of the pirate ship

Picture of Datan0de & 10 ninjas after taking the pirate ship

Datan0de favors ninjas over pirates

Back at our hotel, we got besieged by island cats

Kitty!

They wanted our leftover dinner

They knew they'd find us easy marks

There were 4 cats in all

Cuteness-strength in numbers!

Tuxedo here was the boldest

Trying to get good picture of his face markings

With flash

Without flash

I was quickly surrounded
 
Those wily cats

I was no match for their kitty-fu

Me taking Tuxedo's picture
 

Sunday

Me on the boat about to go snorkeling in the Caribbean!

Our captain, Captain Kirk, and Kim on the boat

Captain Kirk, the back of Datan0de, & part of Kim

A private boat on the canal

The canal out to the sea

More of the canal

A blurry Datan0de & the view from the top of the boat

Datan0de & Kim

A house on the canal

The canal

A private pier/shack on the canal

On top of the boat

Approaching the open sea

Clear seas dead ahead

Leaving the canal
 
Leaving land behind

The sun-kissed beach

Bye bye, canal!
 
 

360° view from atop the boat
 

Heading out into the wild blue yonder!

The view of land from the boat

The boat was also a glass-bottom boat

Kim looking at the sea floor through the glass

Theo's Wreck on the sea floor

An accidentally sunken boat

Sunken about 60 years ago

Now a tourist stop

Now home to tropical fish

More fish
 

Very short look at fish through the glass-bottom boat. The sound is muted because the camera is already locked in its hard underwater dive case, so don't bother turning up the volume to try and hear it - you can't.
 
 

Looking through the glass-bottom boat
 
 

Looking through the glass-bottom boat.
 

The Burger King's Castle

This man owns all the Burger Kings & some other stuff in the Bahamas. He built a castle.

This is our hotel

Digital zoom into the Castle, visible from our hotel

The glass-bottom boat, Kim, & our shipmates

Datan0de watching through the glass

Datan0de watching through the glass

Deeper water

Deeper water fish
 

Fish swiming under the glass-bottom boat. At about 2:40, you'll catch a glimpse of the local barracuda, Tyrone
 

Feeding the fish

Feeding the fish


Feeding the fish
 

We feed the fish so that we'll have something interesting to look at through the glass-bottom of the boat
 

Heading towards the coral reefs for snorkeling

The reefs

Fish swiming in the reefs

Yellow-tail Snapper (according to Captain Kirk)

Yellow-tail Snapper & Sergent Major
 

Yellow-tail Snapper & coral
 

Yellow-tail Snapper & coral

Yellow-tail Snapper & coral

Yellow-tail Snapper & coral

Our first sight of Tyrone, the barracuda

Tyrone is the only 'cuda in this area

He generally leaves divers alone

Which is good, since we're going snorkeling here!

Feeding the fish gives us tourists something to photograph

Sergent Majors attack the bread

Feeding frenzy!

Fish eating the bread we throw overboard

Datan0de gets in the water

Yellow-tail Snapper from Datan0de's camera in my underwater bag

Yellow-tail Snapper & Sergent Majors

More fish

A blurry photo of me holding my camera underwater

Our only other shipmate who would get in the water

As usual, Datan0de takes a picture of my butt

Sergent Majors

They were really close

Datan0de adjusts the underwater bag

Underwater

Yellow-tail Snappers

Me swimming, from underwater

More of me swimming, from underwater

Me swimming, from above water

Me with snorkle gear on

Datan0de tries some underwater video. The squeaking is the underwater bag being moved about & the water amplifies the sound. Towards the very end, it settles down & we get a glimpse of fish, and me snorkeling & taking underwater pictures.
 
 

More underwater video from Datan0de. This gets really clear for a second, plus we see bits of the boat, both under and above water.
 

Now my pictures. They were REALLY close!






I finally catch sight of Tyrone, the barracuda

Tyrone was playing hide & seek with us

Where's Tyrone?

Random picture taken without looking


Tyrone, the friendly barracuda

We really were that close

I accidentally set my f-stop too low...

so these had to be fixed in Photoshop...

which is why they're all red and grainy

Tyrone
 

Underwater video I took of snorkeling in the Caribbean. We see lots of Sergent Majors, the underside of the boat, our snorkeling shipmate, Datan0de, a couple of scuba divers, Yellowtail Snappers, and the coral reefs.
 

One of the scuba divers under the boat

Datan0de diving

Datan0de's camera in my underwater bag

Datan0de snorkeling

Datan0de surrounded by fish
 

Underwater video I took of snorkeling in the Caribbean. We start out by following Datan0de, then move on to the fish.
 

Underwater

Datan0de diving

Hi Datan0de!

Datan0de diving

Datan0de checking out the coral

Datan0de underwater

Recursive photos! Datan0de takes underwater pics of me taking underwater pics of him

More recursive underwater photos!

The Paradise Princess, Captain Kirk, Kim, and a couple of shipmates on top

Me, Datan0de, Kim, Captain Kirk doing "Spock" on the Paradise Princess boat

Me, Datan0de, Kim, Captain Kirk of Paradise Watersports

Kim poses on the beach while I grab a cheesy lunch before swimming

Kim & Datan0de try the water

Our hotel, from the ocean

The beach, from the ocean
 

I tried to get video of the angel fish swimming near my legs as I walked out into the sea. Unfortunately, it's mostly just sand underwater and a few seconds of my legs.
 

Datan0de is much wussier about the cold than while snorkeling

Ah, life in the bahamas

Datan0de & Kim in the ocean

Datan0de & Kim out in the ocean

Random father & child silhouette walking along the shore

Me, Datan0de, & Kim on the beach in the Bahamas

Silhouette of Datan0de & Kim kissing on the beach at sunset

Datan0de goofing off on the beach at sunset

Datan0de and me kissing on the beach at sunset

Datan0de still goofing off on the beach at sunset

Me, Datan0de, & Kim in front of a Bahamian sunset

A paw print in the sand

Concrete wave brake along the shore

Me & Kim walking along the beach

A new take on writing love notes in the sand

Someone is really happy to be single

Nice to see something alternative in the homophobic Bahamas

U can pay 4 divorce...

Shore birds running from the waves

Me photographing the birds, Kim watching the beach

This fella was curious about us, but skittish

These guys weren't.

They followed us almost back to the hotel, fighting the whole way.

Monday

Kim, Datan0de, & me in front of the pool's waterfall at the hotel

Kim, Datan0de, & me in front of the pool's waterfall at the hotel

I asked this hotel employee to take a picture. He obliged.

Kim, Datan0de, & me on the beach in the Bahamas

Kim, Datan0de, & me on the beach in the Bahamas

The view of the port from on deck as we're about to depart

A stunning view of sunbeams through clouds

Zoomed in on the "god light"(*)

Random fire on the island

view of the sunset from the deck
   
view of the sunset from deck, leaving the harbor
   
 

Sailing into the sunset, part 1
 
 

Sailing into the sunset, part 2
 
 
Pretty clouds over the ocean

The sun sets on the horizon

The sun sets below the horizon
 
 

Sailing into the Sunset, part 3 - video of the sun actually touching, and sinking below, the horizon.
 
 
The bridge in Ft. Lauderdale lit up at night

The largest cruise ship, Allure of the Seas, is the first thing we see coming into port

Funny how standing on a moving ship with a long shutter speed makes blurry pics
 

*A "god light" is a term used in stage and film lighting and is pretty much what you'd imagine it to be: a single, bright light shining from directly above the actor. Although it comes from actual religious imagery, I use the term out of industry habit of naming a mechanical method for deliberately creating a desired reaction from the audience, not because I've slipped into religious-inspired jargon. It *is* pretty, though.

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