I’m not going to sit here and pretend like I actually went to the Bahamas. To be honest I was cheated out of an Island! I visited the Great Stirrup Cay which is apart of the Berry Islands but was purchased by Norwegian Cruise Lines. I didn’t get to see or actually experience the Bahamas, try their food, or new drinks, be a tourist or channel my inner Rihanna. I AM UPSET!
I arrived to the Great Stirrup Cay around 11am via Cruise ship on a Monday. It was super sunny, the heat wasn’t intense, there wasn’t a cloud in the sky and the ocean was amazing. The first thing my group did was book our excursions at this makeshift hut looking station. I will say the Island was set up a little weird, and there was absolutely nothing to do. I really wanted to go snorkling but all of the reviews for snorkeling in the Bahamas were terrible. Apparently, Norwegian bought these man made statues and put them in the ocean for people to look at while snorkeling…. First of all…. No one in their right mind is paying $50+ to go snorkeling just to see a statue you bought. We want to see some damn fish, a jelly fish, a crab, Plankton and Mr. Crabs, SOMETHING!
After going through the excursion list, we decided to go zip lining through the Island for $59 at 12pm. Now, I can’t do anything adventurous on an empty stomach, so the next thing we need was get some drinks and go to the buffet. I’m going to try my best to illustrate this makeshift Island right quick. Walking on to the Island, there’s a long sand pathway that leads you straight to the beach. I passed bathrooms on my far right, and brown stoned hut with a straw ceiling to my right. The further I walked down the sand pathway, we Immediately saw rows of hundreds of blue beach chairs on my right, followed by the oceans. In front of us was a tall white light house looking cylinder building, and it looked very out of place. The buffet and seating area was to my left under a tent, and at the very end of the sand walkway was a bar, a stage and a DJ booth. The rest of the island was literally trees and giant rocks.
For lunch, I had a really, really nasty Pina Colada. A even nastier hamburger, and some good fruit (I survived off of watermelon for the day). Once 12pm came around, Lamonte, his cousin Shawn and I got ready to go zip lining! We walked toward the giant white light house looking building, signed a waiver and then got some help getting strapped in to our helmets, black gloves and other gear. If you’ve ever gone climbing, the gear is quite similar.
First, we were given a tutorial of how zip lining works, what each piece is meant for, and what we need to do to stay safe. Everything seemed pretty easy until we were informed that we had to use our hands to physically “brake” once we got to a certain spot. With whichever hand, I basically need to pull down on the line to slow myself, but if I pull for too long, I can stop too early and I’ll have to physically pull myself to the end of the line. BUT, if I pull too hard I risk dislocating my muthafu***ng shoulder!! I wanna to back out and go home, but mamma ain’t raise no bitch and I already paid money to do this.
After the safety tutorial, we walked down a gated pathway towards the weird light house looking building, walked inside of said building and got inside of a big black industrial elevator. Once the elevator started to move, my anxiety and adrenaline started fighting each other. I had no idea what to expect and suddenly remembered that I’m not the biggest fan of heights. It felt like I was on that elevator forever and we were all dumb quiet. All I could hear was the rattling of the elevator and then suddenly it stopped and the doors opened….. I didn’t hear anything, I couldn’t feel anything, I didn’t think about anything because the sight in front of me was terrifying. We had to step out on a platform that had no banister, to glass walls, nothing to hold on to, and the only thing I saw were the tops of trees and the sky.
The instructor asked which one of us wanted to go first, and not one of us volunteered. Straight crickets. Then my boyfriend spoke up to go first and like a dumb ass I followed right behind him. We were strapped to the side of the building with a few other wires and were told to walk around the perimeter of the building one after another. ISo, I’m like “ard, no biggie” until it was my turn to move! I had to walk around and UP the building by myself and it was in that moment that I realized, my mamma might have raised a bitch. I was shaking and hugging the side of the building for dear life! I could feel my heart beat in the tip of my nose! On top of that, my stupid brains starts telling me to look down (I ain’t look though!), so to block out my own thought’s I had to breathe really loudly with my tongue out like my yoga instructor taught me.
Finally, I got to my destination at the tippity tip top of the lake house building, and it was officially time to zip line. Now, on this island, there’s three different lines that I have to zip through, so technically I went zip lining three times! Anyways, back to my panic attack… My dumb ass decides to look down and I all I saw were rocks and dirt. I look up and Lamonte is right in front me about to zip through and I start saying to him “I love you! I cherish you! I really appreciate you! I WILL see you on the other side. Please be safe! I love you! I LOVE YOU!” and then he turned around and told me to shut up, so I did. Three seconds later he was zipped on down to the firs spot but stopped too early and had to pull himself the rest of the way (that’s what he get’s for telling me to shut up!). And then it was my turn… I was strapped in and told to gross my legs and left my knees in a sitting position. I did just that, and we did a little count down to calm my nerves. Before the count down was even complete, I was pushed off the ledge and began zipping.
Let me tell you something, braking is not as easy as it looks. I pulled the brake too hard and nearly dislocated my shoulder. It hurt so bad that I couldn’t stop and rammed into the first post. Turns out, I didn’t even do it correctly. Due to my nerves, I grabbed on to the zip line, rather than pressing down on it which resulted in me hurting my shoulder. Luckily though, I wasn’t injured, and was able to finish my course. So I got in my seated position and began the second and longer part of zip lining. this is when my nerves disappeared completely. All I could hear were the waves tumbling, birds chirping and the wind rustling. I could smell the calming scent of the Caribbean ocean and I felt the wind kiss my body as I made my way toward the end of the line. Beneath me, were the tops of giant trees that moved with the wind in a calming way. From up here, everything felt calm and at ease.
When I got the second post, I had to walk up another set of stairs to get to the last line. I was met buy a male instructor who wouldn’t stop flirting me and saying “look at how cute your belly is” and then asked to see my eyes before I started zipping again (I had on sunglasses). This became super annoying cause he’s supposed to make sure I strapped in correctly yet he was asking to see my face and complimenting my body before i was strapped in. He was annoying, but I didn’t let him ruin my beautiful moment!
The third, and last, line was twice as long as the second line. As I zipped through i realized that there was absolutely nothing for me to be afraid of. I oddly felt like the weight of the world was lifted off of my shoulders and instantly realized that this is what peace feels like… The simply act of trying something new allowed me to let go and actually enjoy the life around me. I saw children playing in the sand, people snorkeling and swimming and my cruise ship. By the time I got to the bottom, i felt instant gratitude for myself for being so brave and getting the chance to witness what complete calmness feels like.
After reuniting with Lamonte, we decided that it was time to get drinks and lay in the sun! We got in line at the bar, which was also a dance stage, and witnessed a dance battle in it’s prime. The DJ was playing Saweetie’s My Type and there was an older woman with curly hair twerking and the crowd was cheering her on. Here’s a video on my Instagram if you want to witness what I saw! Lamonte and I got a Bahama Mama, walked toward the beach and found two open chairs under a palm tree. We laid there together until we finished out drinks and then finally got in the water.
The water in the Bahamas was super nice, blue and clear but I absolutely hated the sand. It was mainly hard rocks, small and large! (Thank God I wore water shoes). The rocks made it difficult to fully go into the ocean because I was terrified that I’d hit a huge rock and break a toe in the process. So we stood on a giant rock together and spent time talking about zip lining. Around 2:30, we grabbed our belongings, went to the bathroom and stood in line to get back on the cruise ship.
I can’t truthfully rate the Bahamas because I was on a private island, but I had a wonderful time. I think I was the most comfortable and relaxed being here. Having access to this private island gave us the option to lay in the sun for hours and no have to worry about buying food or drinks or finding our way back to the cruise ship. Do I wish I was back? No. Do I wish I could have actually went to the Bahamas? Yes! Would I go zip lining again? Hell yes!
Traveling While Black 