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The Bahamas must-do list.

Ania Orlowska
Dec 6, 2017
5 min read

ISLAND HOPPING

I started island hopping in 2000, not long after graduating college. I started before having kids, but having kids in tow has ultimately made the hops more interesting and with significantly more baggage (both figuratively and literally). This lifestyle of ours began with my boyfriend’s job at an oil refinery and my job teaching writing to high school students. Then he became my husband. Then we had a baby and life just continued on with new island jobs, and another kid, and another. I started photographing it all, documenting the journeys and the memories, which then became write-ups for tourists; I was a tourist too, after all - one with insider knowledge. And this became our normal. Some stints were long (4+ years) and others were shorter (6+months), but with each hop I gratified my creative cravings by taking photos, piecing together visual island stories that have sequentially become my own family’s story.

LOCAL TOURIST

With each new island comes the opportunity to experience a new culture, new foods, new must-do lists, new people, new music, new art and of course, new beaches.

Being a visitor is fun because everything is novel, and it’s exciting to load up a week’s itinerary with a plan to see it all! However, actually living on an island as a “local tourist” is even better because there is no hurry;

you slow down, you put down roots, you aren’t tethered to an exit date. You really meet people, and you meet them again and again in various locations until they become friends.

You garner your own routine in this unfamiliar new slice of paradise - Where is the best Yoga studio? Where can I get a decent haircut? Who makes the best rum punch? You actually have to shop for those new foods and learn how to cook them and how to eat them, and sometimes how to like them. Your kids learn about local holidays and sing new songs in their school assemblies and without realizing it, they become tolerant and respectful of what might be considered different in another part of the world.

Like me, local tourists are transient. They come and go for a plethora of reasons: short term jobs, short term loves, escapes from their own daily grind or the winter, and most often their time on an island is less than a few years. Given that, there is a popular thought among islanders that it’s sensible not to get too close to new people because they’ll be leaving soon. I understand this. Change is hard, and it’s even harder when your heart gets attached to people, places and things. However, with only a few island jaunts behind me, I realized that I was unknowingly working diligently against this popular thought.

I come to each island with my heart wide open and my mind unburdened with expectations, and this has rewarded me beyond measure. The goodbyes are inevitably awful, but I wouldn’t live it any other way because what I have taken away with me to each new adventure is real and meaningful and deep.

THE GRAND BAHAMA ISLAND

We moved our family to Grand Bahama Island in 2010 and lived there until 2014, my longest island post yet. I traveled around to the surrounding islands and the tiny out islands too, for various writing assignments and simple curiosity. The Bahamian people are easy going, warm and welcoming. They are proud of their country and celebrate for any given reason. Whether it’s a funeral or a fundraiser, life on a small island motivates you to get creative with social events. The Bahamas weathered a very serious hurricane in the fall of 2016, and the true spirit of the Bahamian people came alive (as it does with every hurricane, big or small) in their efforts to support each other. Part of the charm of The Bahamas is that life moves at a slower pace there, and people take the time to savor the important “tings”. Island time is a very real concept, and the best advice is to just embrace it.

In 10 years I imagine myself still atop a paddle board in the Caribbean, still plotting out the next island expedition, still celebrating little umbrellas in my drink, and finally mastering the art of holding a steady Tree Pose in the sand.

MY MUST-DO LIST:

• Conch Salad, start to finish: From pulling the conch straight out of “da sea”, to the dicing, chopping and mixing of citrus juices, onions and peppers, to the serving of it five minutes later. It doesn’t get any fresher than that! And every vendor has his/her own twist as to what makes it taste just right. Yeah, mon!

• The Beaches: Bahamian beaches are postcard perfect; fine white (or pink!) sand, stretching on for miles. Beaches are public in The Bahamas so you are free to visit them all, even if they front a resort, but it’s more fun (and easy) to scope out the more secluded areas for the feeling of having a beach all to yourself! (Bringing a shovel, scouting for driftwood and building a bonfire became our favorite beach activity.)

• The Sea: With the help of shallow shorelines in The Bahamas, the aquamarine color and stark clarity of the water is truly unmatched in The Caribbean.

• Animal life on land and underwater: Whether it’s swimming with dolphins, sharks or pigs (yes, pigs), petting stingrays, starfish or hermit crabs, collecting endless amounts of sand dollars, or scoping out more than 300+ species of birds, The Bahamas is a haven for every animal lover.

• Diving and Snorkeling: Given the beauty of the water and the abundant marine life alone, these sports are already guaranteed to leave a lasting memory of your time in The Bahamas, but add to the experience snorkeling across a Blue Hole or diving through an underwater cave, and you might not spend time out of the water at all.

• Rake N Scrape: No Bahamas experience is complete without clapping along to guys playing music on tools from the garage. Trust me, it’s catchy.

• Junkanoo: Lively Junkanoo parades take to the streets around the holidays, but special occasions and other island events also bring about the brightly colored costumed revelers dancing to cow bells.

• Gully Wash (sometimes called Sky Juice): A real Bahamian cocktail made of gin, coconut water, sweetened condensed milk and a dash of Angostura Bitters.

• Bonefishing: Cruise the flats (shallows) while fishing for the elusive silver fish. Home to some of the finest guides in the world, The Bahamas is the place to go if you ever wanted to try your hand at this sport. After your first catch, you’ll be hooked.