ART IN THE BAHAMAS

 Daisha Douglas (left) & Akira Smith (right)

Erskine and I had a lovely time this afternoon at Baha Mar, Cable Beach. It was packed with people attending international conventions or Tailgate Super Bowl Parties there, as well as residents out for a family Valentine’s lunch. 

After a bite to eat and coffee at Starbucks, we decided to check out The Current Gallery and Art Center. We had never been there before. It was quiet and peaceful and the large collection of art work by local artists spectacular. We were glad to see that our artists are deservedly commanding top prices for their work and we highly recommend a visit. There is no charge for entry.

The two ladies on The Gallery’s front desk, Daisha Douglas and Akira Smith, who are students at the University of The Bahamas, told us it’s usually quiet when there are a lot of events going on. Daisha is an Art student at UB and Akira is training in the medical field.

After we left Baha Mar it lashed down with rain and we got soaked. Then we had quite a job getting home with all the roadworks under way on West Bay Street, but it was a very worthwhile afternoon!

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HAPPY EASTER!

Hubby Erskine and me surrounded
by Easter flowers in Baha Mar Lobby

Baha Mar was hopping today for Easter! We enjoyed our usual Starbucks coffee and cookies and watched all the people coming and going.

Happy Easter everyone!

CHINESE NEW YEAR IN BAHA MAR!

Erskine with Chinese New Year decorations in Baha Mar

One of the dragon decorations in Baha Mar, just off the Casino

Another dragon decoration in Baha Mar 

Some of the parasol decorations in Baha Mar

It’s Chinese New Year for the huge, luxury Baha Mar Resort, owned by Hong Kong based conglomerate Chow Tai Fook Enterprises!

Baha Mar is a $4.2 billion, 1,000 acre development on half a mile of beachfront in Cable Beach, Nassau, Bahamas. Little did Erskine and I know when we leased a small apartment in Cable Beach some years ago that we would be neighbours of this exotic and glamorous resort!

Baha Mar boasts three hotel brands - Grand Hyatt, SLS Hotels and Rosewood Hotels and Resorts, with a total of 2,300 rooms.

It consists of a 100,000 square foot casino (the largest in the Caribbean), overlooking the ocean. There are also forty-two restaurants and lounges, thirty luxury retailers, an eighteen hole Jack Nicklaus Signature Golf Course and Golf Club, and eleven swimming pools. 

When Baha Mar first opened, Erskine and I would park free of charge outside in one of the expansive car parks and stroll through the resort to have coffee in Starbucks. However, now all of the car parks have signs, stating $10 parking. If we pay that for parking, it makes it a very expensive cup of coffee!

WELCOMING NEW YEAR IN NASSAU BAHAMAS!

PART OF A DISCARDED JUNKANOO FLOAT
IN DOWNTOWN NASSAU NEW YEAR 2018

Last night we brought the New Year in by watching Baha Mar’s spectacular fireworks display from our window. Then after lunch today Erskine and I headed over to Atlantis on Paradise Island. The streets were still being cleaned up after “Junkanoo” that started early this morning. A few discarded remnants of Junkanoo floats and costumes lay on the pavements.

“Junkanoo” is a vibrant pulsating street festival and competition that usually takes place in The Bahamas in the early hours of Boxing Day (December 26th) and New Year’s Day. The roots of Junkanoo can be traced back to West Africa. It is said that the name originated from that of “John Canoe”, an African tribal chief.

Groups of participants spend months prior to Junkanoo in the “shacks” making elaborate costumes and floats out of crepe paper, cardboard, beads, sequins and other innovative materials. Tourists and residents alike huddle on bleachers or hang over balconies on Bay Street in downtown Nassau to watch the floats and performers pass by. Spectators revel in the sound of rhythmic cow bells, whistles, goat skin or steel drums and horns; the kaleidoscopic costumes; and the enthralling dancing called “rushing”. Other islands of The Bahamas also have their own Junkanoo rushes.

We parked in the pay parking opposite the Riu Paradise Hotel and walked through Atlantis to Marina Village for a coffee in Starbucks. The weather was sunny and the temperature about 78 degrees. A perfect New Year’s Day!

Wishing you all a very Happy, Healthy and Peaceful New Year!