From:TheBahamasWeekly.com
The Bahamas' Out Islands: A Visitor's View
By Paul Ingram, Mississippi, USA
Apr 25, 2014 - 3:10:11 PM
Photos taken by Paul Ingram upon his many travels throughout The Bahamas Out Islands
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Dear Editor,
My wife and I are residents of Mississippi. After getting married twenty-five years ago, we took our first island vacation to St. Martin. Following that was Cancun, Bonaire, and St. Thomas. These are highly populated and heavily visited resorts. I wanted something else – “nothing”. No crowds, no mega-resorts, no having to lock our car at every stop. So we searched the Internet for “remote beach cottage” and found one in Abaco, wherever that was. The Bahamian owner graciously helped us to plan the route, which of course included planes big and small, taxi cabs, ferries, private boats and even suggested golf carts. A week on a house on Lubbers, an accidental discovery of Hope Town, and a real appreciation for the whole “Abaco isn’t for sissies” real vacation experience.
That was the first of fifteen or more trips, to Eleuthera, Cat, the Exumas, Long and back to Abaco. We have stayed in more remote beach cottages and in a few settlements, covered more miles of various “Queen’s Highways” than any queen ever did, made friends, hugged necks, picked up hitchhikers, bought local products, and beat it down more paths to amazing and empty beaches than it seems possible in this crowded world. We have quit looking anywhere else in the world for a restorative trip.
Yes, your country has its problems like others do. But you also have a special feeling of pride and friendliness, based on faith in God, strong family units, and a true appreciation of your amazing places. As a US Southerner, I too have a sense of place. But if I ever were to uproot myself and relocate, it’d likely be at the end of a sandy road on an Out Island.
Continue to take pride in your culture, your history and your surroundings. Never stop smiling or offering your graciousness to your visitors. We will be back, soon.
Paul Ingram
Photos taken by Paul Ingram upon his many travels throughout The Bahamas Out Islands
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