U.S. Citizens Warned of Bahamas "Rogue" Jet Ski Vendors

Above, yours truly jet skiing at Great Stirrup Cay in 2024.

Two years ago, a friend and I rode jet skis at Great Stirrup Cay, an island owned and operated by Norwegian Cruise Line.

Our activity on the jet skis went without incident and we had a good time. 

Unfortunately, others haven't had good experiences with jet ski operators as reports of injuries, deaths and sexual assaults. Many of the operators involved are rogue vendors who are unlicensed and uninsured.

According to Fox 11 News:

Americans are being urged to steer clear of jet ski rentals in the Bahamas as U.S. officials warn of sketchy operators linked to deaths, injuries and reported sexual assaults.

In a Monday statement, the U.S. Embassy in the Bahamas said that "rogue operators" are soliciting tourists on Nassau's most popular beaches, including Cabbage Beach, Junkanoo Beach and Saunders Beach.

The rogue operators are often "unlicensed, uninsured, and operating unsafe watercraft," the embassy said — and officials noted that law enforcement oversight is "sporadic at best."

 To read more, go here.

71st Annual Gallup Lions Club Rodeo

Above, a bucking bronco trying to throw the rider. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

Photos by Armand Vaquer

Once late spring and early summer starts in New Mexico, there are plenty of things to see and do. That includes the nearby city of Gallup. We're now in rodeo season at Gallup's Red Rock Park Rodeo Arena.

This weekend, it's the annual Gallup Lions Club Rodeo and this year's rodeo is the 71st.

I attended tonight (it's only 10 miles from home) and spent a good hour and a half watching several events. I would have stayed longer, but I am heading into Arizona tomorrow morning. Contestants included men and women.

Events tonight included calf roping, bull riding, bronco riding, trick riding demonstration and, for the kiddies, sheep riding. The rodeo clown made an interesting point about small fry sheep riding (the sixth photo below). He said, "You'd get arrested these days if you spank your kid, but it's okay to strap them on a bucking sheep!" Oh, well. 

There were several vendor selling hats, western wear and other goods that cowboys and cowgirls may want. The snack bar, of course, was a popular stop.

Rather than blather on since a "picture is worth a thousand words", here's some photos I took tonight:

Japan Attraction Vendor Photos

Many, if not most, attractions in Japan have vendors who, for a price, take visitors' photos.

I've seen some at the Tokyo Skytree, Kyoto Castle, Tokyo DisneySea and elsewhere. We purchased photos from Kyoto Castle and from the tour company in Kyoto. The dates that the photos were taken are printed on the photos.

These we bought along with the photos that we did at the Asakusa photo studio.

Here they are:

Above, yours truly at Osaka Castle. Note that a bird flew into
the picture for its own "photo bomb". The vendor allowed
people to take their own photos after agreeing to buy theirs..

Above, this shot (and a couple of others) was taken while I was still on the "stage".

Above, the Kyoto tour group photo at Kyomizu-dera. The photos were waiting for
 us at Kyoto Station upon our return outside of the bus door. For purchase, of course.

The average cost per vendor photo was around ¥1,500.