Bahama Sunset - See more photos on Flickr!

This incredible sunset photo represents much of what the Bahama islands mean to me: pristine, wondrous, relaxed, ethereal….beautiful. We have a long, blissful history oozing with some of my most dear and grateful memories. Every trip continues to create a new blessed experience.

These islands aren’t far from where I grew up in South Florida, so as the daughter of an avid boater and fisherman, the ocean became my playground just as quickly as I learned to walk. The Bahamas and the Florida Keys bore my fins, that is to say, it’s where I learned to swim, snorkel, and dive among a divine marine world that felt just as natural to me as walking through soft green grass.

The majority of my past lodgings in the Bahamas have been in the less inhabited out-islands, where I camped on boats in marinas, or anchored offshore, or in modest beach-side accommodations where you catch your own food and share the evening’s BBQ with the locals and fellow visitors alike. It’s my most preferred way to go, because that is the true rustic island experience.

However, this time around was more a touristy jaunt in a superficial environment, but that is certainly not to say I didn’t relish or enjoy it any less. It just seemed rather like going to Vegas set on a tropical island. But my stepdaughter just graduated from high school, turned eighteen, and is headed to college later this summer. This is how she chose to celebrate and be sent off, along with two of her closest friends. So where else would three teenagers amped for a party look to go? The Atlantis Hotel and Resort in Paradise Island, of course!

Atlantis Royal Towers

Atlantis is a landmark on Paradise Island, just across a bridge and a waterway from Nassau. The pink, towering monumental structure dominates the skyline as a sharp contrast to the flat green terrain. It’s been a few years since I’d been last and to my surprise the property has grown into added towers, swimming pools, marketplaces and attractions, just as fast and spectacularly as you’d expect on the Vegas strip. At first you can’t help but to be in awe of the impeccable theming and features that are of such mammoth proportions you feel like a wee, insignificant mortal in a land of great mythological Gods. The artistry and expense into creating such a complex is beyond impressive.

And what would a mega-resort be without famous chefs making their marks by stamping another one of their ever growing restaurant brands on property? The Cove, the newest tower that is by far most chic and caters to the VIP and celebrity crowd, is home to Bobby Flay’s Mesa Grill. Back off the casino in Atlantis’ main tower is Nobu, whose NYC location was made famous by Nobuyuki Matsuhisa and Robert DeNiro. And then there’s Cafe Martinique, another venue of Chef Jean-Georges Vongerichten’s repertoire - exclusive, French, and conveniently located just off Atlantis’ picturesque marina where mega-yachts dominate every slip.

Bobby Flay’s Mesa Grill at The Cove

These establishments and their appropriate fits within the Vegas-glam-mega-resort format are well and nice and they complete a well-rounded, Americanised foodie-obsessed selection of dining choices. I was very impressed to find an abundance of vegetarian items in the food and beverage program overall - even veggie burgers and raw veggie snack bags were sold at poolside concession stands! Yet I did frequently flash back to my love of beach-stand conch salads, a simple ceviche made with raw conch, peppers, and lime juice, that is as commonplace in the Bahamas as burgers are in the States. And then this led me to further disconcerting feelings, because the reality is that celebrity chef-ified restaurants and commercialised bling are not the real Bahamas.

During my first day as I walked about moment by moment, I was increasingly keen to the hundreds upon hundreds of tourists barreling through hallways, packing the bars, restaurants, shops, and swimming pools, sliding down the water slides, laying like washed up man-o-wars down the beach. I’ve never been one to care for the cattle herded tourist corralling or any such activities that resembled so. Makes me a bit anxious in a very uncomfortable way, as a matter of fact. And as I looked on at the massive towers with their hundreds of tiny windows and surmised the thousands of guest rooms in total on Paradise Island (not a very large land mass), I couldn’t help but wonder - what must be the ecological weight load, the strain on the island, the resources needed to keep this all afloat?

Originally, I thought that the first thing I wanted to do upon my arrival is relive what I know to do in the Bahamas. I wanted to take my husband, get on a little out-boarded open fisherman, and buzz off to do some remote snorkeling and picnic on a secluded beach. Or, we could even take the fast ferry to Eluthera, known for its undisturbed beauty, quaintness, and pink sand beaches. But it didn’t take long to think this all over twice. You think the U.S. is in a fuel crisis? In Nassau, you’ll pay no less than $6.50/gallon to fill your car, and $9.00/gallon for your boat - possibly even more on other islands. Suddenly, I merged this reality with my silent inquisition of mass resort eco-stress. Do I really need to use more energy over and above what I am already contributing to, only to think that I am escaping the problem? Or would it do the environment and my pocket more good to just stay put, relax, and be a vegetarian resort tourist with a conscience?

The beach at Atlantis

Ultimately I decided for the latter because after all, I was on a little vacation. I rationalised I could lay around and not do much of anything and it would be fine because the less energy used, the better. But this didn’t stop me from thinking, “Is it right to have dolphin pools which houses 15+ dolphins, all for the entertainment of tourists who will pay $200 each for an 80 minute interaction? Is it right to have a caged seal in the back of a motor buggy, whose primary purpose is to ride around the resort grounds all day and perform little tricks in exchange for fish? Who will pick up all of the cups, rubbish, and cigarette butts along the beach discarded by visitors who have absolutely not a care about spoiling and trashing the very place which they call paradise? ”

But I was also thinking every time I bathed in the amazingly crystal clear turquoise sea or had a sip of Kalik Gold, “This is my Bahamas, to which to be here, to be part of, to have known in this life, I am so thankful.” I also thought that I was very fortunate to have been met by these thoughts and realisations. They are all gifts from which to learn. They come from another chapter in my life, this present chapter, as a new awareness simply being the product of a different perspective within a familiar place. Ultimately, I relaxed and appreciated where I was and why I was there. It was all enough. It was another grateful memory.

Click here to see more photos of my Bahamas experience on Flickr!

<3, JMK

Congratulations Class of 2008 and Happy 18th Birthday Shannon!

Filed under: Bahamas, Travel & Galavanting