Christmas almost

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We left West End and made our way further along Grand Bahama island to the Freeport area. We will be staying here over Christmas . The next few days promise to be quite windy so it is nice to be in another all round protected harbour. Yesterday we hunkered down in the large amounts of rain that fell.
We took advantage of the free shuttle boat to go into the Port Lucaya market. There is a collection of colourful shops, restaurants, a straw market and arts and crafts market. It is an interesting place to visit, although if you look slightly interested outside of an open stall, the hard sell begins. It may take me a time or two to get used to that, I was looking for an item of clothing but did not purchase today. I suspect one can bargain a bit in the open stalls. There were duty free jewelry stores, including an emerald shop and several liquor stores, two of which were duty free.
One of us is mostly recovered from the great rib squashing of 2009, an event NOT to be repeated. Getting between a boat and a piling is not an advisable activity...in other words Don't try this at home folks.
I have been enjoying trying to identify various trees,flowers and bird life. The lignum vitae tree produces the hardest wood and is in fact so dense it will sink immediately if you drop it in the water. This is an indigenous tree they used to plant in between the lanes on the road. This practice was stopped because if a car hits those trees, well let's just say they are very hard indeed.
Everyone has been very friendly and helpful, offering rides and asking if we were welcomed nicely and if we are being well treated. more soon, with photos.
Happy Holidays everyone!

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