NASSAU, BAHAMAS – The sun hangs high, distorted by bits of cloud thickening in the blue. People jog along the narrow streets, shaded by exotic trees set in rows. At 7 a.m. the heat is already baking everything around it; the beaches are half-full with swimmers.

A little brown girl with beads bounces on her mother’s knee, staring at all the cars whizzing past.

The sky suddenly opens up and gushes rain…

One of the first things you realize about the Bahamas is that Bahamians drive on the left side of the road (which they call “the right side”), and conch stands are very big business. The sight of them would make Bubba from “Forest Gump” smile. You’ve got conch fritters, cracked conch, conch salad, conch sandwiches, and probably other combinations I hadn’t encountered.

I was told several times that conch was very good and would prove particularly useful if you were male. “Puts strength in back and other things,” a 20-something girl said to her friends, as they each took turns dipping their hands in a container of conch salad. She made a fist. They giggled.

The streets are narrow, and at terrible speeds you wonder how they don’t manage to crash into each other given what little room they have to work with.

Instead of “Yield” signs, they have “Give Way” signs, and there are few places the sun doesn’t manage to touch in some way.

From history, to beauty, to unique island customs (and yes, even conch), the Bahamas is a fascinating place to visit, even more so if you are of African descent. The Bahamas provides a connection I never really knew existed. The people are Black, beautiful and friendly. Best of all, we have a common language: English.

Thursday
I checked into the Sheraton Hotel, room 963, arriving from what I would later call the infamous Lynden Pindling Airport, but I didn’t know that then.

My room had a perfect view of the poolside: a beach and ocean view complete with a horizon that seemed to stretch on without end.

The sun came through so strong every morning around at 5:30 a.m. that I never even used the alarm clock. To call it radiant would be like saying Michael Jackson’s a fair dancer.

This day was about introductions to both the culture and the journalists accompanying me on this press junket.

That evening we dined at a five-star Italian restaurant called Lucianos. I wasn’t ready to dive into anything suspect, so I ordered chicken Parmesan. My evening ended at about midnight with Chris Matthews of television’s “Hardball” talking about Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton’s possible role in his campaign.

Friday
In the morning we visited Clifton Heritage National Park, a site that preserves what is left of several Loyalist plantations from the 18th and 19th centuries. The most interesting is the ruins of the slave quarters. The buildings are ash-gray and crumbled with no tops to them.

I wandered inside, the grass unkempt and high. A tiny green lizard tries to keep out of the sun, resting on the side of one of the buildings.

I am told that this slave establishment was like a community where everyone knew each other. Standing there I tried to imagine what it must have been like to live in that tiny space.

We visited Jaws Beach where “Jaws: the Revenge” was filmed. Our tour driver Romeo Farrington, made his acting debut singing Nat King Cole’s “The Christmas Song” in the film.

Some half a mile away is a tiny island Bahamians call “The Golden Key,” a sanctuary for birds. Reportedly no human has ever stepped foot on that island, out of respect for the birds.

Lunch was at a place called the Poop Deck East, which was rather nice considering its amusing moniker. This was where I had my first taste of conch; I liked it, especially conch fritters, a battered but slightly spicy appetizer that resembles battered shrimp served deep in Detroit.

Conchs are marine mollusks (snails) that come in a shell and are also used as decorations and sometimes as an instrument.

Another Bahamian delicacy is rice with beans. It is served with almost every meal and is quite appealing. The menu said “rice with peas” and I was expecting yellow rice with sweet peas, but this was something different. Not quite black beans, but the rice has a ruddy look similar to Mexican rice.

After lunch we learned about Junkanoo, a street parade with music, which occurs in many towns across The Bahamas every Boxing Day (Dec. 26) and New Year’s Day.

There’s a sense of pride because all of the costumes are handmade, mostly from crepe paper.

Later I got a chance to hear a mini Junkanoo celebration during dinner at a place called Bimini Road. Not only did I have my first taste of grouper fish, the Junkanoo marching band was amazing, performing their own rendition of “Jesus Take my Hand.”

It started as a soft rhythmic pulse that invaded the air. People turned their heads; many stood up to see it better.

Soulful, hypnotic, celebratory, Junkanoo is all of these things. It’s so popular Pepsi named a soda after it, only available in the Bahamas.

I retired to bed knowing the best was yet to come.

Saturday
This was the longest day beginning at around 6 a.m. and ending at about midnight. But there was much to do including a boat ride. It was also the hottest day and the trip from Potter’s Cay Dock to Harbour Island took roughly two hours.

There we rode in golf carts around the place. Here such noted celebrities as Robert Redford have boats they vacation on as well as villas. Our guide was a young Bahamian named Collin Moss, a part time tourism rep.

“Harbour Island is a good place for African Americans to come,” Moss said. “You can find a lot of activities to do: shop, art, folklore, night life – it’s a good place to relax. It is also steeped in culture and history. You can see the colonial, but you can see the upward mobility of the Black people. They are very deep into culture.”

We then visited the home of Elizabeth Higgs, a very good cook who provided us an opportunity to sample homemade pineapple tarts. Lunch was at the Bahama Bayside Café, which was more like having a family dinner with food served in bowls, leaving us to pass the food from hand to hand.

The rain finally came down and cooled off the land. It lasted maybe 20 minutes.

Our final night ended with a real bang: a horrible William Hung-esque Karaoke rendition of Frank Sinatra’s “My Way,” being sung down the street. My colleagues found it less amusing than I. He felt every last wrong note; it was strangely compelling.

Romeo Farrington, owner of Romeo’s Executive Limousine & Taxi Service, spoke to me at length about why the Bahamas was great and all the celebrities he had come in contact with. From Billy Dee Williams, Michael Warren, Connie Stevens, Bob Hope and others, the former “Jaws: the Revenge” actor loves his home.

“I think what we need to do is create an awareness of being positive,” Farrington says. “You don’t need a degree to be somebody, you just need to know how important it is to be successful.

“I plan to retire when I get old or when I get rich. I don’t see either on the horizon yet, so I already started bringing my children into the business.”

Sunday
Possibly the morning from hell. Only because I had no idea that Lynden Pindling Airport would be so small and I would have to either stand or sit on the floor while awaiting my flight out of Nassau.

Despite having to go through a checkpoint twice, I felt a little sad once I boarded the plane and watched those very, green, very blue waters, move farther away from me as the plane ascended. The sound of the propellers lulled me into a certain revelry as I wondered when I would return to the Bahamas.

For more information on the Bahamas, call (800) Bahamas, or visit www.bahamas.com. To purchase one-of-a-kind items and mementos from the Bahamas, visit www.eshopbahamas.com.