Re: Good news... well, sort of

[Jim <alarminex@xxxxxxx>]

On Sep 23, 11:15=EF=BF=BDpm, "Robert L Bass" <Sa...@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
wrote:
> "Jim" wrote:
>
> > I get antsy in an elevator with more than four people...
>
> I heard someone say he wanted to make oifficial-looking stickers to place=
 on
> the wall of an elevator saying, "7 Button Does Not Work. Please Press 3 +=
 4."
>
> > I Don't go to places where there are big uncontrolable crowds or hostil=
e
> > people.
>
> Carnaval is only half of that. =EF=BF=BDThey have uncontrollable crowds o=
f extremely
> friendly people.
>
> > Limits my travel destinations sometimes but there are lots of other cho=
ices
> > and the relaxation level is great.
>
> OK, I'll grant you that. =EF=BF=BDCarnaval is NOT relaxing... =EF=BF=BD:^=
)
>
> To experience true relaxation, Brazilian style, check out my album on Boi=
peba
> Island. =EF=BF=BDThis is a place where there are no cars, no roads and no=
 locks on the
> doors and windows of the "Bed and Breakfast" (Brazilians call it a Poussa=
da).
> You hop out of the boat when it pulls up to the beach and the driver hand=
s
> your luggage over to the taxi driver. =EF=BF=BDThe "taxi" is a wheel barr=
ow. =EF=BF=BDThey
> cart your stuff down the beach and you follow on foot. =EF=BF=BDIt's not =
a problem
> since the walk is only 5-10 minutes and the beach is beautiful. =EF=BF=BD=
The Poussada
> sits is not visible from the beach -- just a set of stairs leading up int=
o the
> mata (jungle). =EF=BF=BDOnce under the forest canopy, your eyes are greet=
ed by a scene
> out of Robinson Caruso, except the part of Friday is played by a bevy of
> beautiful Brasileiras offering to bring you a beverage as you relax in a
> hammock between towering palms while other helpers scurry back and forth
> carting your gear to your room.
>
> Evening meals consist of fish that was caught within the hour, fruit and =
salad
> plucked from the forest just long enough ago to cut and chill over a bed =
of
> ice and unbelievable salads and deserts. =EF=BF=BDBreakfast is a veritabl=
e feast of
> eggs, sliced meats, fresh fruits of every imaginable variety, home made b=
reads
> and little cakes, and fried creations made from manioc, tapioca and so on=
.
> Lunch was served at a floating bar/disco/restaurant a few miles out from =
the
> Poussada (the place looked pretty shabby but the food was excellent and t=
he
> drinks were ice cold).
>
> BTW, a couple of years ago I teased you by posting a link to a picture of=
 a
> run-down fishing boat that I jokingly dubbed the "SS Jiminex" (apologies =
for
> the rudeness). =EF=BF=BDThat boat was one of a group plying the bay that =
leads from
> Boipeba to the nearest mainland town. =EF=BF=BDThe tourist boats are most=
ly schooners,
> a few small power boats and a number of pontoon boats. =EF=BF=BDThey come=
 over from
> Morro de Sao Paulo (a famous and very busy beach resort on the nearby isl=
and
> of Tinhare) and from the capital city of Salvador across the huge Bahia d=
e
> Todos os Santos (Bay of All Saints) where I have a condo.
>
> We took the whole family to Boipeba for a long weekend several years ago =
to
> celebrate my birthday. =EF=BF=BDI hope to have time for a second visit ne=
xt time I go
> down. =EF=BF=BDThat will be my fifteenth (and possibly final) trip to my =
beloved
> second country. =EF=BF=BDWe'll see how all that works out.
>
> Friends have also asked me to go island hopping to the Bahamas via privat=
e
> plane (several are pilots). =EF=BF=BDIIRC, you've got a degree of experie=
nce there.
> Any recommendations?
>
> --
>
> Regards,
> Robert L Bass
>

Most of my more recent trips south are in the Leeward and Windward
Islands of the Carribrean and also the British Virgin Islands.

The Bahamas was about 50 years ago, so I don't think much of what I
experienced then would still be valid. However, I've seen TV Travel
shows that show some of the areas that I visited back then and some of
the areas don't seem to have changed all that much. Grand Bahama
Island has become commercialized I'm told, but I'm sure there are some
great things to still see there. I used to go there for spear fishing
contests. Spanish Wells is another place and is still as exclusive as
I remember it. Read up on it's history. Rather unique. Very very laid
back. The Island of Eleuthera is where I spent most of my time. About
two and a half years. It was very undeveloped at the time. Only one
tarred road that most times one car had to stop, so the other could
pass by. We would spend up to 5 days on the beach and never see
another soul. Scuba and free diving. Spearing fish and longusta, and
cooking them in an old wash pail on the beach. We'd pick pineapples
and bananas from areas where plantations used to be. And drinking lots
of booze. Sleeping out was kind of a love/hate thing, choosing between
the beauty of a pitch black night and a gazillion stars with the surf
crashing in the background and land crabs crawling in your sleeping
bag.  Great life when you're only 18 years old.

There were a couple of resorts there then, but not for the common man.
I think there's a Sandels Resort there now and I'm sure it's nothing
like I remember. I've been tempted to go back but then I stop myself.
I would rather remember it as it was.

Of course there was Nassau too. It was pretty good nite life back then
as Calypso music and doing the Limbo was all the rage. On the island
that the Atlantis hotel is on now, when I was there, there wasn't even
a bridge to get across to it. And, believe it or not, it was called
Hog Island. They would just let the hogs, run wild there and go across
every now and then to "harvest" dinner. How it ever became Paradise
Island, I'll never figure out. However, hearing from recent visitors,
there's lots of fast food Mc Donalds and others on the main drag of
town, now. The Straw market, where natives would make you anything you
wanted out of straw is gone and lots of the other quaint attractions
too. There used to be an old fort there, just on the outskirts of
town, Fort Montigue, that was in disrepair, which made it seem more
authentic. I don't know if that is still there or not. Also, on what
is now Paradise Island there were the remnants of the Cloisters that
we used to explore. I've heard, but don't know for sure, that now it's
part of a hotel, used for weddings or something, but still able to be
visited.

I played in a little four piece band back then and the natives just
loved Rock and Roll. I did a lot of drinking so there's a lot of
places I don't remember too clearly. I do know that I'll never drink a
vodka collins again. Or rum and Coke, either.  I often say, that if I
were destined to be an alcoholic, that was the time it would have
begun. Fortunately the drawbacks of throwing up  and falling down
often, won out over the party, party, party scene.

Ahh, and those "brown skinned girls" ........ Jannette Moree', where
are you now?

But, as they say, "those were the days"