Visiting the Bahamas

A weekend Optometric conference at the tony Atlantis resort on Paradise Island in the Bahamas provided the perfect entrée to a tropical vacation for Dawn and me. Coming at the end of September allowed us to avoid the heavy crowds of the high season, a definite bonus in my book. I took a chance on this vacation, electing to leave my Canon 20D and it's howitzer lens at home, opting for complete reliance on my recently purchased Panasonic Lumix TZ3. It's built for travelers (the model name means Travel Zoom 3), so I figured I'd put it through its paces and see if my photography would suffer for not having a digital SLR with all of its flexibility at my command. You can judge for yourself whether I made the right choice-- All of the pictures in this post were taken with the TZ3.

So it was with excitement aplenty that we set out on Thursday morning for sunny Paradise Island. Our usual dubious vacation luck kicked in early though. Weather and a balky main door on our Canadair regional jet out of Rochester delayed our departure, cutting our nominal 50 minute layover at Atlanta's Hartfield-Jackson airport to a scant quarter hour by the time we pulled up to the gate. As so often is the case, our connection gate was at the far end, two terminals away, and with Dawn's reduced mobility from her recent knee surgery we were probably doomed to miss our flight from the start. As it was, we hoofed it as best we could to the gate only to find that the plane had pulled away a few minutes earlier. Angry and frustrated, Dawn sat down to fume while I called Delta Airlines (the last time we'll fly with them, I think) to re-book. Since all of that is done at the international terminal in Atlanta, we started walking again, then stood in line for what seemed like a long time at the counter. As luck would have it, we'd missed the last flight of the day to Nassau, but because our missed connection was due to weather, the airline did arrange lodging for us at a nearby hotel. It wasn't free, but we paid the airline's reduced room rate. Our luggage was nowhere to be found, though we were assured it had continued on to Nassau and we'd be able to pick it up.

Disposable toiletries in hand, we took the short shuttle bus ride to the Comfort Inn. Our room was a far cry from the luxury of the Atlantis resort of our destination, but it was cozy and clean, and at less than $60USD I really couldn't complain, all things considered:


We decided to make the most of the situation, and headed to the hotel's Mexican-themed restaurant for some dinner and margueritas:


We caught an early flight out of Atlanta the next morning, but since it's the busiest airport in the US, it was already crowded as we headed up the escalator to catch our flight:


We had great weather for the trip out to the islands, and I took the opportunity to grab a few pictures using the camera's Airplane scene mode:
          

The taxi ride from Nassau airport took a little more than a half hour on narrow coastal roads. Downtown Nassau was bumper to bumper, the sidewalks swarming with tourists from the quartet of garganutan cruise ships anchored at the harbor. We arrived at the hotel around lunchtime, and at check-in we were surprised to learn that we were to be lodged at one of the beachside villas rather than in the resort's soaring towers. It was a long walk to the villa, but an unexpected reward awaited us. The villas shared their real estate with a series of small artifical lagoons that teemed with wild ocean life. Literally steps outside our door was the Nursery Lagoon, home to Bonnethead (Sphyrna tiburo) and Reef shark (Carcharhinus amblyrhynchos) pups:


Only a few yards away another lagoon held 9 or 10 Nurse sharks (Ginglymostoma cirratum):


It turned out that we'd not only landed in a high-style resort, but a world-class marine park too! We spent the rest of the day getting our bearings and louging on the glorious white sand beach.

Dawn had meetings to attend the next morning so I availed myself of the opportunity to scout Atlantis in more detail and to take some pictures of the grounds:
     

One of the marine park's many highlights is the Predator Lagoon. A transparent tunnel runs beneath the water, allowing for some unrivalled views of the many carnivorous denizens of the deep:


Here's a Giant Grouper (Epinephelus itajara). These huge fish can be found in several areas of the park, often gathered together in twos and threes:

They're also known as Jewfish, because it is believed that the Giant Grouper (or one of its taxonomic cousins) may have been the "whale" in the Biblical story of Jonah.

Some of the other fish in the lagoon include reef sharks and Barracuda (Sphyraena barracuda):
     


Named for the mythic city of antiquity, Atlantis is a resort with a theme. The tunnel exits in a domed rotunda that's illuminated with ancient frescoes depicting all manner of sea creatures:


On my return trip through the tunnel I encountered some of the many "Seakeepers" who maintain the complex marine sanctuary:
     

The tunnel is a great way to view the inhabitants of the lagoon. This docile Southern Stingray (Dasyatis americana) skimmed along overhead providing an atypical perspective:


Of course it's possible to see the lagoon from above too. A rope suspension bridge crosses over the water, allowing visitors to spy some of the inhabitants like this Hammerhead Shark (Sphyrna mokarran):
     

The luxury of Atlantis surrounds the guests. Waterfalls like this one are common:

The TZ3 doesn't have a means to control the shutter speed directly, so a bit of creativity is needed to get the kind of shot that captures the water's motion. As you can see, I was only partially successful. Other amenities of the luxury resort include an inviting marina where a number of very expensive yachts were tied up:
     

On my way back to the villa I spotted this Queen Triggerfish (Balistes vetula) enjoying the morning sun:


At the Stingray Lagoon I encountered a Cownose Ray (Rhinoptera bonasus):

It seems no matter which way you look, there's a new marvel to see.

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The Atlanteans left behind a mysterious city, much of it still submerged beneath the sea. Crossing through the resort's casino, modern-day explorers descend into The Dig to retrace the steps of the city's long-dead citizenry:


Our journey begins in an antechamber that still bears the camp furniture used by those intrepid adventurers who discovered and mapped the city's ruins:
     

Many of the portals are adorned with hieroglyphic script, perhaps the forerunner of the Egyptian and Greek alphabets. The architecture has a proto-Egyptian feel as well:
          

Niches held amphorae, doubtless filled with oil and wine and destined for trade with the Atlanteans' neighbors, now home to these Moray eels:


A central navigation chamber features a tri-axial, planetarium-style map, the skeleton of a 4-person submarine, and a number of undersea exploration suits. The city walls are adorned with the work of long-dead artisans:
          

The ruins are indeed awe-inspiring, but now their broad avenues are visited only by creatures of the deep like Giant groupers and this Spotted Eagle Ray (Aetobatus narinari):
          

Perhaps the most impressive of the city's current residents are these Giant Mantas (Manta birostris):


One of the downsides to taking vacation in autumn is that we were firmly in the rainy season. After a couple of good weather days the clouds started to roll in. Still, the view from the pool was pretty impressive:


The wind-driven surf lashed at the beach, keeping away all but the most adventurous-- or foolhardy-- swimmers:
     

Still it wasn't all bad news. The off-shore storms made for some nice rainbows even as the winds bowed the on-shore palms:
     

After dinner one evening at Fathoms, a gourmet seafood restaurant on the resort with great underwater views of the Ruins Lagoon (we sat next to the viewing window you see on the website), we headed outside and got a great look at a passing Manta:


The heavy surf continued for the rest of our stay on Paradise Island, so we were obliged to find our entertainment elsewhere. Fortunately, there's plenty to do in Atlantis. Among its features is an extensive water park. The Mayan Temple waterslide features a 60 foot (20 meter) drop down a nearly vertical chute that leads to an underwater tunnel through the lagoon before spitting its rider out into a pool. I handed the camera to Dawn and gave it a try:
     

Yep, that's me, screaming all the way down! The terror was transitory enough, and we recovered with a bit of sunbathing at one of the resort's five swimming pools, then enjoyed lunch at the Lagoon Cafe. I ordered Conch salad, a local favorite that's more like a spicy seafood gazpacho. Here's Dawn, enjoying a tasty frozen adult beverage:


After lunch we took another tour through the Predator Lagoon tunnel. In addition to more views of the ubiquitous Giant Groupers, we got a surprise overhead pass from a Small-toothed Sawfish (Pristis pristis):
     

It took a few tries before I got a good shot of this guy:

It's a French Angelfish (pomacanthus paru)-- thanks to reader Joyce for the ID! I had to wait for it to turn into the light to get the yellow highlights on its scales.

Adjacent to the marina is a small village of shops that peddle high-end jewelry, clothes and leather goods. We took a walk there for dinner and a bit of shopping.

Impresive as it is in the daylight, Atlantis really shines at night:
     

On our last full day at Atlantis we spent some time shadowing the Seakeepers while they made the rounds feeding the animals in the various lagoons. After catching a shot of a colorful fish in one of the cave-like aquaria near our villa, our first stop was Turtle lagoon:
          

The sign may have warned us not to go into the habitat of the sea turtles, but that obviously didn't apply to the Seakeepers. Here's one of them feeding squid to the eager Green Sea turtles:


Just so you don't think the turtles were on a heavy Atkins diet, the salad course was next. The Seakeeper opened a big bag and invited the guests to grab handfuls of romaine lettuce which we tossed to the turtles below:
     

Next stop was the Stingray Lagoon, home to a dozen or more Cownose and Southern rays:


The Seakeeper handed out headless fish for us and instructed us on the proper feeding technique, holding the fish by the tail and waggling it underwater to get the attention of the rays. The Cownose were pretty shy. Not so the Southerns, which devoured everything that was offered. This one swam right up over my arm and sucked the fish out of my hand:
     

The afternoon feeding at the Predator Lagoon was strictly for the professionals. We stood at the edge and watched. Here's a couple of Sawfish swimming in the shallow end:
     

I had a chance to try out the Panasonic's macro capability on this Hibiscus:


We spent five days at Atlantis, but all good things have to end. On our way to check out, I caught this delightful pufferfish and starfish near the cafe where we had breakfast:


We didn't see a huge variety of birds. The usual shore suspects were there of course-- Laughing gulls (Larus atricilla) seemed to predominate. One of the most abundant birds at the resort is the Ruddy turnstone (Arenaria interpres). This one was grabbing a little morning sun on a stone in the Nurse sharks' lagoon.

Among other notables that I saw were a couple of Belted Kingfishers and one Green Heron, which I viewed at very close range, but because I was sans camera, I have no pictures to share.

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The "casual" birding got better when we arrived at the Orange Hill Inn for the last few days of our stay. Only a couple of miles from the airport, the Orange Hill Inn is everything that Atlantis is not-- quiet, homey and inexpensive. The food was delicious and their honor bar system was a stroke of small-scale genius. Accomodations were comfortable, if not possessed of all the luxury trappings. It was an ideal place to wind down our vacation.

I found some worthwhile subjects to photograph right away. The Bahama Mockingbird (Mimus gundlachii) was a common visitor:


Here's a view of the owners' cottage, with a great overlook at Orange Hill Beach:


The inn had a couple of mascots. They were both friendly and laid back, a perfect fit for the place:
     

But back to the birds. Bananaquits (Coereba flaveola) darted back and forth all over the place, but on occasion they kept still enough for me to get a decent shot or two:
     

Having never been to the tropics before, these were all lifers for me. Here's a Greater Antillean Pewee (Contopus caribaeus), also called a Cuban Pewee:


Here's one I haven't been able to identify. A Vireo or Sparrow of some sort, I suppose, but passerines aren't my forte:


There were other sights as well, including colorful flowers and little lizards that scurried everywhere hunting bugs:
     

I saw a flock of Smooth-billed Anis (Crotophaga ani) on the front lawn one morning, taking short flights amongst the low bushes. I took my camera and binos out onto our second floor balcony to adjust to the humidity, and shot a pair of them when they landed on a branch nearby:

They seem very sociable, at least among themselves. These two spent considerable time grooming each other.

While poolside, I spied this female Cuban Emerald hummingbird when it flew in to feed on some nectar from a hibiscus. I followed it around the grounds and got lucky when it landed briefly in a palm:

That was a real treat, since for whatever reason, I rarely seem to encounter hummers.

I wouldn't blame you for thinking that this was going to be a raptor-less vacation. I thought much the same thing until I saw this pretty American Kestrel (Falco sparverius) claiming the high ground on the central spire of a palm:
     
There were as many as three of them flying around the area and I ended up taking quite a few pictures of them.

As with previous nights, the evening skies made for some colorful vistas:


For our final day in the Bahamas we went for a snorkeling cruise with Stuart Cove's tour company. From snorkeling to scuba, and even submarine tours, they have a very professional, full service operation that offers something for water lovers of every stripe and adventure level.


We snorkeled three reefs, spending about 40 minutes at each one. The first was nice and shallow. It was a great opportunity to put my camera through its paces using the custom marine case. It adds quite a bit of bulk to the camera, but it's waterproof to 40 meters-- a real advantage if I ever decide to take up SCUBA diving.

Once we got into the choppy water it wasn't hard to find some vibrant fish to photograph:
          

Dawn and I traded some photos of each other too:
     

Among the TZ3's many well-designed features is an underwater mode. It makes using the camera's autofocus a little easier, but its real strength lies in removing the blue cast from underwater shots, allowing the subjects' true colors to show:
     

Our second reef was a little deeper. It held the possibility of seeing some Eagle rays, something I'd really been looking forward to, but unfortunately they decided to stay away that afternoon. No worries though-- I contented myself with more reef fish shots. Sometimes the fish were going...

Sometimes coming...

And sometimes they gathered all around.


Our third and final reef promised a bit of excitement, and maybe even danger.


Reef Sharks!


Reef sharks are primarily scavengers and among the least aggressive of their kind, but that didn't stop the adrenaline from pumping when they passed close by!
          
The TZ3's 10x zoom lens is pretty much useless underwater, so I shot all of these at its wide-angle setting, equivalent to a 28mm focal length, which gives some indication of how close the sharks really came. Some looked to be as long as 5 or 6 feet (1.6-1.9 meters), and being eye to eye with one of nature's greatest predator species was a memorable experience to be sure.

Back on deck, the Stuart Cove's crew fed the sharks from the bait box that they'd used to lure the fish:
     

It was a great opportunity for photos, and a perfect way to end the tour. On the bus ride back to the hotel I reviewed the 100+ pictures I'd taken on the TZ3's generous 3-inch LCD screen, and felt sorry for those who'd had only 27 exposures in their disposable underwater cameras, and who'd have to wait to have their film processed and printed. I received more than one favorable comment about the quality of the pictures, and I suspect I might have made another couple of customers for Panasonic.

We thoroughly enjoyed our Caribbean vacation. Overall I'd give a slight edge to our Maui trip last year, but there was more than enough variety to keep us busy, the travel time to the Bahamas is a lot shorter than the long haul to Hawaii, and since AirTran flies there, we have a viable alternative to Delta the next time we decide to go.