Do-It-Yourself Bahamas

Travellers: Eliana Cerasa and Massimo Marzani

After months of waiting and hoping, we set off for the Bahamas on 7 February; it's not clear which of Massimo's hats this destination came out of, since we'd been talking about Gambia, Sharm el Sheikh, Jamaica, Zanzibar, Formula Roulette and who knows what else, but it doesn't matter when you're travelling! Within a very few days, after spending whole hours browsing, we buy two flight packages through Opodo: the first, return Milan Malpensa – Miami (stopover in Atlanta), Delta Airlines, for € 392.77; and a second package including a first flight Miami-Nassau (Providence Island), a second Nassau-George Town (Exuma Island), a third about a week later from George Town-Deadmans Cay (Long Island), and the last from Deadmans Cay-Nassau, all with the flag carrier Bahamas Air for € 321.00.

Special praise goes straight away to Bahamas Air; their rules provide for no penalty for changing flights within the Bahamian archipelago; we even managed to miss a flight, the airline put us on stand-by for the next one, which was full, and when they let us board without asking us for a single dollar, they made us two extremely happy people! CURRENCY: The official currency is the Bahamian Dollar, which has the same value as the American dollar; so you can pay and be given both currencies without any problem. The traders are very willing to do you the exchange, that is, to give you American dollars in place of the Bahamian ones before you return to the USA.

There are only two banking institutions, the Royal Bank of Canada and Scotiabank Bahamas Limited, where you can also withdraw cash from ATMs, but be careful: the first doesn't change euros into dollars, while the second does but only gives you Bahamian dollars. Credit cards are not well accepted, except at resorts of course. TELEPHONE: On the islands there are Balteco phone booths, but those that work can be counted on the fingers of two hands. Be careful which cards to use: the only ones to use in public booths are indeed the Balteco ones, and they can be bought at the BTC, that is, The Bahamas Telecommunications Company Ltd. PRICES: The Bahamas islands are expensive for everything; just to give you an idea, we paid $2 for a salad tomato, $2.40 for spaghetti, $1.95 for peeled tomatoes, $1.60 for 1.5 l of water.

Toilet paper can cost from a minimum of $5 to a maximum of $16; half an hour of internet connection on Great Exuma costs $18. MAPS: Visiting the islands isn't difficult; you'll find very detailed maps showing the beaches and the places for snorkelling, refuelling, guest houses, etc. (obviously you'll find the businesses that pay for the advertising space on the map). In addition, "Visitors Guides" are published periodically; in advance you can see something on the site, or... TRANSPORT: to get around the islands it is absolutely essential to rent a car; there are several agencies. On Exuma we spent $60 a day at the one near the airport, "Don's Rent a Car", telephone (242) 345-0112, fax (242) 345-0113, e-mail donsrentacar@hotmail.com, but also "Thompson Rental co. Ltd", mentioned below in the accommodation chapter, rents cars - it's worth checking the prices.

On Long Island, on the other hand, we spent $50 a day at "Mr. T Car Rental", a friendly gentleman who struck us for two reasons: the first is the kind of English he spoke (practically incomprehensible), and the second is the place where he lives; in fact, to reach him we have to cross the planes' landing strip, so you have to look up as well as to the right and left. His contact details are telephone (242) 337-1054 – (242) 332-2773. ACCOMMODATION: our travelling spirit has always pushed us to buy only the flights and a good guidebook, although this time the Lonely Planet wasn't useful, having produced just one for all the Caribbean islands, so it turned out to be short on information. On the spot we wanted to "investigate" in order to provide more information to travellers who love to roam like us.

EXUMA ISLAND ACCOMMODATION: In all the diaries we read there was mention of the Coral Gardens, a property run by an English couple, its website located about 150 m from the main road. To get to the beach you have to walk about 300 m; the price was the cheapest we found on the internet, namely $99. We stayed at the Breezy Hill, found on Trip Advisor, where we paid $125 a night. We had a very spacious room in the Main House equipped with a queen bed, fridge, satellite TV (to Massimo's delight), air conditioning, ceiling fan and private bathroom. The very courteous owner is called Esther Taylor and has lived with her husband Larry and their dog Baddy for about 12 years; she makes her whole kitchen available to us, which, like all American things, has a mega-fridge and 2 mega-freezers, all fully stocked with everything you could imagine.

Beside the Main House there's the Guest House, a single house with kitchen-living room, two bedrooms and private bathroom, intended for two couples but with possible extension to three if you make use of the sofa bed in the living room. The daily cost is $250 a day, though Esther explains that prices can vary depending on the season. Their e-mail is: larryetta3632@hotmail.com, their phones 1-330-313-1667 (U.S.) or 1-242-358-4080 (Exuma). On Exuma there are many estate agencies; the phone numbers can be found in quantity along the road because you'll find a myriad of "For rent" signs. Just outside George Town there's "Thompson Rental co. Ltd", which rents out lovely little villas near the sea, costing $120 a night for an apartment with one bedroom, while with two bedrooms it costs $150. The telephone is (242) 336-2442/6, fax (242) 336-2445, e-mail: thompsonrental@hotmail.com.

In all the stores there are notice boards displaying various ads for houses to rent; we stopped at "Candys Aptarment", which is in Farmer Hill, and at a private house near the Coral Gardens; in both cases they're run by local people and the rent was $1000 a month. LONG ISLAND ACCOMMODATION: on Long Island, about 20 minutes from Deadman's Cay airport, precisely at Salt Pond, we find "Seaview Lodge", also listed by the Lonely Planet; these are little villas on the seafront right opposite the small harbour where the mailboats and the cargo ships dock. At the villa you spend $100 a night; we don't like it from the start; we immediately move on, in our usual spirit, looking for new accommodation.

The next day we set off and, after a couple of places, we arrive at Petty's, where in passing we read "Rooms to Rent"; the premises are brand new, the rooms are large, the kitchen is perfect, the price is perfect: $75 a night with kitchen and $65 a night without. The place is called "Neo Klima Villa", telephone 242-337-0217 or 242-337-6050, e-mail glamour_sr@yahoo.com. The matter of the notice boards applies to Long Island too; inside a Fedex Express agency in Hamilton's, where we'd gone for the internet, we found a flyer advertising "The Blue Cottage" (which we then saw and checked out): they're apartments with two bedrooms, 1 bathroom, kitchen, all for $600 a month. For contacts, Fedex on no. (242))-337-6786 or visit the site