After an early
breakfast, we headed over to BREEF’s office where we were given a presentation
on the many environmental issues they help to manage. BREEF works closely with
other organizations to preserve the marine life of the Bahamas. Their main
focus includes working with the government, developers, and local Bahamians to
ensure that land is used in an eco-friendly manner. For example, they recently helped
to pass legislation to preserve 20% of the natural lands of the Bahamas by the
year 2020. We also watched an excitedly narrated video discussing the diversity
and importance of marine life. The video was geared toward high school students
that may not have direct access to the marine environment and it was
interesting learning about the different fish in the sea.
After the
presentation, two amazing representatives from BREEF took us on an enlightening
tour of the Bahamas. We were able to see to very different sides of the island:
the developing resort Baha Mar as well as the Primeval National Park. It was eye opening to see how large the
resort is, and how there was actually concern for their environment taken into
account during its construction. For
example, the environmental consultant, Desean, showed us how the dust was being
contained within the worksite and how they were managing waste. He also mentioned
that there were using solar panels and seawater for cooling the resort. Then we moved on to the national park. The park was incredible. It has been
virtually untouched for hundreds of years due to sinkholes. We were able to explore part of the park,
learn about the types of plants and their use as herbal remedies, and explore a
cave. It was amazing how a representative from the Bahamas National Trust knew
so much about the history, myths, and medicinal plants of the park.
We then
started our city tour, which encompassed the city of Nassau and paradise
island. Both had tourist-like attractions, but Atlantis was a completely
secluded and exclusive resort. We learned that the penthouse was $25,000 a
night for three nights minimum, which surprised many of us. Even the city of
Nassau embraced tourism and treated our group as a potential customer at every
corner. We did get to experience some
Bahamian culture, through our tour guides and our dinner, but the influence of
tourism was still evident. We finished the day off at a local restaurant where
we got to try some of the marine life we had learned about earlier in the day.
We became attached to Abby (as in AB) a very friendly stray dog that
accompanied us back to the hotel. During our reflection, each person had very
interesting things to say about the day and we all discussed our expectations
for Andros!!
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