PARADISE FOUND

Canon EOS REBEL XS, Promaster 19-35 lens @ 19mm, ISO 100, f/20, 1/50 sec.

  The past week my family and I took a much needed 5-day vacation cruise from Charleston, SC to Freeport and Nassau Bahamas.
  The cruise was fantastic! 5 days on the open seas with daily stops on Wednesday and Thursday in Freeport and Nassau respectively.
  Nassau was by far the highlight of the two stops. We walked around in the market place just off of where we docked and then took a cab from there to Paradise Island and the beach. This is located by the famous Atlantis resort.
  The beach was tremendous. White sand. Beautiful blue-green water that is so clear you can see the sand underneath it. The water felt good too with the temperature being in the mid 90's and extremely humid. The sun beat down on us so bad that we could only take 2 hours of it.
  There were drawbacks to Paradise Island, though. The minute the cab let us out there locals everywhere bugging us to rent watercraft, banana boat rides, chairs, and umbrellas. It really deterred from the beauty of the place. As we paid attention to the urban landscape on the cab ride over and back, though, it was evident that there wasn't a lot of money to go around in this area and any way these people could get money, they were trying. Away from the resorts, the buildings were run down and dingy. There were a lot of empty buildings that were once homes to thriving businesses.
  We heard one individual talk about how the cruise lines have actually been a big reason for the demise.  Vacationers used to come and spend days in the islands and now only spend a few hours on their cruise stops. This reduces the amount of money spent in the local shops and restaurants. Hence the heavy badgering from the locals.
  It is unfortunate for the overall landscape of the area because the islands themselves sure are gorgeous. More images to come from vacation.