Recently I took a trip to the Bahamas to swim with the pigs and sharks.
Flying into Nassau from Ft. Lauderdale, Florida was only a 40 minute flight. Once arriving we took a taxi from the airport to our hotel (take one of the city buses instead, they go almost everywhere on the island for only $1.50). We arrived at the British Colonial Hilton, a luxury five-star, AAA four-diamond hotel, with its own private beach. The hotel first opened in 1924, sits on the site of the Old Fort of Nassau.
The lobby and overall decor of the facility is a combination of tropical and luxury which compliment my style rather well. Walking in you get a real sense of high end island living.
Our adventure the next morning started off with an hour or so boat ride with Captain Grouper on Harbour Safaris an inflatable boat ideal for fast island hopping.
We first arrived at a small protected uninhabited island, home to a rare and endangered species of rock iguana. Captain Grouper explained to us that someone he knows had been bitten by a shark just a few yards out from shore and to keep and eye out when swimming.
After some time exploring the beach and checking out the iguanas we got back in the boat and took a pleasant ride through the islands to Big Major Cay. Also known as Pig Island, an uninhabited island (cay) located in Exuma, a chain of islands in the Bahamas. The island takes its unofficial name from the fact that it is home to a colony of feral pigs that live on the island and in the surrounding shallows.
We fed the pigs fresh carrots and were told that a while back several pigs had died because they were fed spoiled food. I found that interesting because I had always thought of pigs as being able to digest things of that nature.
Some say the pigs were dropped off on Big Major Cay by a group of sailors that planned to come back and eat them. The sailors said to have never returned and the pigs survived on scraps and shrubs. Another legend has it that the pigs are survivors of a shipwreck and swam to shore. Yet another story suggest that the pigs were part of a tourism trap to attract tourists to the Bahamas. Either way the pigs are now fed by locals and tourists daily and seem to really enjoy the vacation life.
After feeding swimming and enjoying the company of the pigs at the beach we boarded back into the boat and took another island hopping ride to have lunch at Staniel Cay Yacht Club.
Not only is the seafood as fresh as can be but cooked to perfection. Did I mention the view is amazing with crystal clear waters and a dock swarming with colorful fish and nurse sharks. There is even an area with steps that allow you to get in and swim at your own risk with the sharks, so of course I did.
The snorkeling at the docks here was amazing the sharks let me pet them and they were so calm I didn't feel nervous at all.
On the boat ride back to Nassau we stopped at a beautiful desolate beach on the eastern most edge of the island chains. From this beach the next closest land east is the coast of Africa, so just don't take off in the wrong direction or you could be on one long boat ride.
The overall trip was great we had a nonstop day of island adventuring and I would highly recommend going.
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