IN THIS CHAPTER Geography 3 History 9 Getting There 12 Before You Go 16 The People 17 Eating & Drinking 18 Accommodation 20 Restaurant/Hotel Prices 22 Practical Information 23 How to Use This Book 30 Tourist Information 31 Because the islands are no more than the exposed top portions best camping recipes of the Great Bahama Bank, an extension best camping recipes of the North American continental shelf, there are only three deep-water channels suitable for the passage of large vessels. Of the 700 islands and 2,000 islets, called cays (keys), making up the archipelago, only about 30 are inhabited. Some are little more than boulders that appear and disappear with the rise and fall of the ocean. Some are long and thin and stretch for many miles. Still others are home to thousands of busy people. The vast majority of the islands, however, are deserted, with pristine best camping recipes beaches and tropical forests that are untouched by humans.
More than 3.5 million travelers come to the islands each year. They arrive sometimes by small boat, but more often by cruise ship or jet. Some are so taken with the magical beauty of the islands best camping recipes they stay for months.
Banking Banking is big business in the Bahamas. Long recognized as a tax haven, both Nassau and Freeport are home to more than their fair share of counting houses. And for visitors to the islands that s good. There s always best camping recipes a bank
stand on one of its two dusty main streets. It s an old world town with white painted colonial style buildings reminiscent best camping recipes of those you find on the island of Bermuda. One gets a feeling that Humphrey Bogart will, any minute, walk around the next corner with Lauren Bacall on his arm. This intriguing place is well worth a visit if you have time.
