NiniaPimp Magazine

The Cloister is a hidden gem on Paradise island in the Bahamas.  It was created in 14th century France, and it was shipped to the island by newspaper tycoon William Randolph Hearst in the 20s.

Hearst was one of main reasons that the Island became a major vacation spot.  I arrived at the Cloister early enough in the morning that there were no other tourists there, so I got some good pictures.   

So I just returned from a trip to the Bahamas, and I spent a couple days exploring Atlantis on Paradise Island.  Here are some pictures of the aquarium.  It is my understanding that this is the largest open air aquarium in the world, and a good portion of it is free to see.  You walk into a lobby area, and the walls are this amazing aquarium.

For an extra $40 a person, if you aren’t staying in the hotel, you can walk through some more interesting areas.  Namely, you can see the Dig.  The $40 includes a tour guide, where they take you through the mythical ruins of Atlantis and explain the findings.  (I will show more of that later, so come back to this site.) 

The Predator Tunnel was not free, unless you stay at the hotel, but you may want to check it out if you are just passing through.  The Manta Rays are the most interesting part of the “free area.”  You can actually pay a small fee and swim with the non-predators.  Which, if I am not mistaken, include swimming with the Rays.  I am sure that is just amazing.   

Please feek free to download these high resolution rock wall photos for your desktop wallpaper or website background.  I took the photos in the Bahamas, and they are of the walls within the Versilles Gardens on Paradise Island. 

I took this picture of a sign in an alley in the Bahamas.  I think it turned out pretty cool after I edited it in Photoshop.  What are your thoughts?

I took a little trip to the Bahamas, and while I was there I spent some time in Atlantis.  It was a pretty neat place.  They have the world’s largest open air aquarium, the opportunity to swim with dolphins, and a gigantic water park that needs to be seen to be believed. 

The weather was great, and the place was very classy.  Stuff wasn’t cheap, but it made for a memorable experience.  Most of these pictures were taken on “the Dig.”  The Dig was a tour of the reminants found of the mythical Atlantis.  Basically, a tour guide takes you through the private portions of the aquarium and tells you all sorts of made up facts about the mythical city that they “discovered.” 

We split off from the tour because it was just story telling, but we stopped and took a lot of pictures.  It was a lot of fun.  The dark underground caverns made for some great pictures of the aquarium.  There were eels, lobsters, tiger fish, jelly fish, and even gigantic rays.  (You could pay extra and swim with the rays!)

Then we split off to the other side of the hotel and took some pictures in the predator area.  Sadly, you couldn’t swim with them.  There were a few kids I would have liked to see with the sharks.  The predator tunnel was impressive, but I was getting hungry by then.  I spent a few hours in the aquarium, but once hunger set in… it was over.

There were some really lavish restaurants in the hotel and casino, but that night I skipped out to Quiznos in the shopping across the street.  After that, I ate “second dinner” in the hotel. 

If you have the means, go check out Atlantis.  If the weather is good, check out the water park.   

I took these jellyfish photos the other day.  I just thought I would share.  Anyone know what kind of jellyfish they are?  I don’t. 

Comments are welcome and appreciated.

I took these photos on a very recent trip to the Big Bend Power Plant, where the manatees go to warm up in the winter. 

Please leave your comments on the photos.

I just returned from a trip to the Bahamas.  While I was there, I spent several days at Atlantis.  Atlantis is the billion dollar resort that resides on Paradise Island (formerly Hog Island). 

Here are the pictures I took on my first day in Atlantis, and I will post more in other updates.  The place is gorgeous.  It is like Disney World for adults.  Although a lot of the activities are pay to play, there are some amazing things to see.  There is a tunnel you can walk through to see sea predators.  There is the largest open air aquarium in the world, and you can swim through it.  There is the largest waterslide in the world.  The list goes on. 

Anyway, I highly recommend that you go check it out. 

I took this picture in the Bahamas of a rock wall on Paradise Island.  Then I manipulated it using photoshop to repeat, so that you can use this as a repeating tile background on your computer or as a wallpaper.  This was my first attempt at making a repeating tile like this, so please let me know if you decide to save it.

Watch Dog or Litter Bug?

 Every time I pick up the St. Petersburg Times I read some story where they trying to act as the advocate for the common man.  They are unveiling some scandal, and they are promising to care for you.  They sit on a pillar above the community, judge, and tell us what we should think.

Where do I get my copies of the Times?  Well, I pick them up off the side of the road or from various parking lots in Riverview, Florida.  No, I am not stealing them.  I am cleaning up litter.  The sad truth is that the St. Pete Times Distribution Center in Riverview off of Crescent Park Drive is a mess.  You can’t go a week without finding newspapers dumped somewhere between their center and Causeway Blvd. 

The reason is that they don’t police their drivers.  Throughout the night, drivers pick up bundles of papers.  They throw them in the back of their trucks and drive off.  Unfortunately, a percentage of those papers blow off into the parking lots, roads, and wetlands of the area.  It is disgusting.  All they need to do is take a little more time, or clean up after themselves… but they don’t seem to care.

Even worse is the fact that the distribution center doesn’t recycle paper!  That means excess paper gets dumped into landfills instead of being reused.  It is 2011 and the newspaper doesn’t recycle!  What pisses me off about this is that there are companies in Riverview that currently pay for recycling.  So not only is it good for the environment, but it would make money for the paper.  However, their are either too lazy or too stupid to do this. 

Shame on you St. Pete Times.  You claim to be a watch dog, but you are just a litter bug!