Here we are again, back to tabanca (melancholy). Bahamas Junkanoo Carnival was so sweet that we are literally suffering from withdrawal.
I have not had the heart to listen to one bar of soca music, lest it bring me back to the unadulterated fun that was had last week Saturday.
I began my Bahamas carnival journey on Thursday -- the first concert day. I was eager to see what the vibe would be like on the first night, what with the almost-postponement still fresh in our minds.
Well, our Bahamian entertainers and foreign artists did not disappoint. And while the crowd was a bit meager, the vibe was still nice for the first night of carnival.
I continued my carnival sojourn the next morning as I flew out to Miami to join Stephan Rolle on his Bahamas Carnival Cruise. I wanted to know what this cruise was all about and how the idea of it melded with carnival -- it is, of course, a one-of-a-kind thing for any carnival world-wide.
Stephan and I picked up some essentials from all around Ft. Lauderdale before heading down to the Port of Miami in a car chock-full of carnival costumes.
When we arrived we began our distribution of costumes immediately, with excited Bahamas carnival goers prancing up to us excitedly, signing in and grabbing bags of costumes from Bahamas Masqueraders, Xstacy, Enigma, Extreme and Euphoria Madness.
Before we knew it the Carnival Victory's horns were signalling us to board the ship, and we packed away the costumes not distributed and carted them off to our stateroom. The stateroom then became Bahamas Carnival Cruise headquarters, with people in and out securing and sizing costumes, and singing soca tunes in excitement for Road Fever the next day.
The Bahamas Carnival Cruise crew took over the nightclub Friday night, enticing the DJ to play soca music and preparing ourselves mentally for the road the next day.
As we pulled into the Port of Nassau, Stephan's passengers began to emerge in their greens, oranges, reds and whites, and the feeling of carnival washed over us. When we hit the streets of Nassau, buses whisked us off to the start of the Bahamas Junkanoo Carnival parade.
As we split off into our respective groups, I was in charge of showing Miami (by way of Guyana) social media personality, Vicky Vybez (Victoria Gunraj), and the owner of the website UK Soca Scene, Quinten Reid, the ropes at Bahamas carnival. Vicky donned an amazing costume from Bahamas Masqueraders and was the center of attention through much of the parade route, while Quinten immortalized the streets of Nassau with his photography (seen at www.uksocascene.com).
At the end of the route there were nothing but positive comments from the Bahamas Carnival Cruise goers about Bahamas Junkanoo Carnival. Many had never been to Nassau before. Almost all had never seen the streets of Nassau the way they saw them last Saturday.
Thanks to the carnival bands and the Bahamas National Festival Commission, the parade route was safe and enjoyable.
We do not yet know what next year will bring, but we know that we're ready to beat the road again.

Click here to read more at The Nassau Guardian