Paradise in Guanahani
Paradise: Guanahani Island
As we wrote in a previous article, in his quest for a briefer route to the Far East, Christopher Columbus landed in an island he called San Salvador, which happens to be Guanahani, as it was named by natives “arahuacos”, part of the Atlantic archipelago today known as the Commonwealth of the Bahamas, an array of 700 islands and cays in front of Florida.
Bajamar
An old, though uncertain, legend says that “Bahamas” derives from the Spanish voice “baja mar”, since most of the islands is clearly visible during the ebb tide or “baja mar”.
Nassau –the capital located on the island of New Providence, is the largest city, and commercial centre of the Commonwealth of the Bahamas. The city has nearly 70% of the entire population of the Bahamas (303,611 inhabitants). Lynden Pindling International Airport, the major airport for the Bahamas, is about 10 miles (16 kilometres) west of Nassau’s downtown, and has daily flights to major cities in the United Kingdom, United States, Canada and the Caribbean.
Nassau boasts of Junkanoo, an energetic, colourful street parade of brightly costumed people dancing to the rhythmic sounds of cowbells, drums and whistles.
Junkanoo takes place on December 26th and January 1, beginning in the early hours of the morning (1:00 a.m.) and ending around 10 a.m.. They also have junkanoo June which is a month long celebration akin to Mardi Gras. Festivals begin at sundown.
Within the beauty of its landscape and magnificent coral atoll, diving and snorkell is an outstanding and funny practice.
