DAY 66 Mar 19 - Bridgetown, Barbados

Barbados situated just east of the Caribbean Sea, is an independent West Indian Continental Island-nation in the western Atlantic Ocean. Its capital is Bridgetown.

For over three centuries Barbados was a colony and protectorate of the United Kingdom; and still currently maintains Queen Elizabeth II as head of state.

Located at roughly 13° North of the equator and 59° West of the prime meridian, it is considered a part of the Lesser Antilles.

Its closest island neighbours are Martinique, Saint Lucia, and Saint Vincent & the Grenadines to the west. To the south lies Trinidad and Tobago,with which Barbados now shares a fixed official maritime boundary, and also the South American mainland.

Barbados's total land area is about 166 square miles and is primarily low-lying, with some higher ground in the country's interior. The highest point is Mount Hillaby in the parish of Saint Andrew.

The geological composition of Barbados is of non-volcanic origin, predominantly limestone-coral. After the break of South America from Africa in the Mesozoic, a reef formed; and during the Cenozoic, as both the Caribbean and South American plates moved westward, the two plates impacted and pressed this reef upward.

The island's climate is tropical, with constant trade winds off the Atlantic Ocean serving to keep temperatures mild.

Some less developed areas of the country contain tropical woodland and mangroves. Other parts of the interior, which contribute to the agriculture industry, are dotted with large sugar cane estates and wide, gently sloping pastures, with panoramic views down to the coast.

British sailors who landed on Barbados in 1625 arrived at the site of present-day Holetown. From the arrival of the first British settlers in 1627–1628 until independence in 1966, Barbados was under uninterrupted British control.

Nevertheless, Barbados always enjoyed a large measure of local autonomy. Its House of Assembly began meeting in 1639.

Historically, the economy of Barbados had been dependent on sugar cane cultivation and related activities, but in the late 1970s and early 1980s it has diversified into the manufacturing and tourism sectors. Offshore finance and information services have become important foreign exchange earners, and there is a healthy light-manufacturing sector.

Since the 1990s the Barbados Government has been seen as business-friendly and economically sound. The island has seen a construction boom, with the development and redevelopment of hotels, office complexes, and homes.

The population of the Island is estimated at over 280,000 inhabitants.

We gained another hour last night as we have moved further east.

By 6 o'clock the sun was well up in the sky although there was quite a little sea mist around.

It was already hot although the gentle sea breeze just kept it that bit more bearable even at this early hour in the morning.

The Captain, in yesterday's address, had already indicated to expect temperatures in the high 80s today.

In the distance and through the sea mist the island of Barbados could be clearly seen with at least one cruise liner already docked there.

My research had already told me to expect a busy port today with four different shipping lines showing the flag.

Soon we could make out Fred Olsen's Braemar and P & O's Oceana already docked.

Following us in, not far behind, was the mighty Grand Princes which we had last seen much earlier in our voyage at another port of call.

Yes Barbados in general and Bridgetown in particular are going to be very busy places indeed.

Our friends, the Canadian 'Gang of Four' have kindly invited us to join them on the Island for the day.

They have plans to visit a special resort hotel for lunch and an afternoon exploring the island followed by an evening out at dinner at a famous Barbadian Indian Restaurant. Sounds great fun to me.

George has business ties with the Island. In addition he spent a good part of his formative years on Barbados.

It appears they all know Barbados extremely well. In fact dear Robin was at boarding school here until he was 18 years of age.

We are so lucky to be with them today on this extremely pleasant island of Barbados.

It was an early start and by 9.00 o’clock our friends had found us a driver and large van for the day’s activities. Clayton Scott was our local man and very knowledgeable and friendly he was too.

On our way out of the very well organised, clean and presentable Cruise Terminal, we found Frank Buckingham stationed in a strategic position to help passengers with any last minute enquires they might have about the Island. We invited him to join us for our Indian dinner tonight, which he was pleased to accept.

George was dropped off for a business meeting while the rest of us went on to the Hilton Hotel, about a 45 minute drive, to enjoy its lovely pristine beach and surrounds.

On route we passed many interesting sites including the small RC Cathedral, St Patrick’s and the local armed forces base and the Garrison that had been designed by the British many years ago.

Close to the Garrison were the Prime Minister and Government Cabinet offices. I think it was also the Prime Ministers residence. The building was impressive and was very much the local seat of power.

One had the impression that local politics here was a gentle affair with not too many external threats to the country nor its economy. We understood that Barbados had suffered less than many of its Caribbean neighbours in the current economic climate.

The beach at the Hilton really was covered in golden sand and was very clean. As part of the beach there had been constructed a little man made lagoon for the swimmers to use.

We took the opportunity to walk along the beach admiring the lovely clean aquamarine or was it emerald, coloured water of the Caribbean.

While waiting for George we treated ourselves to some lovely and refreshing ice cold drinks served up by the attentive Marilyn.

We were able to pay for this in US$ at the rate of 2 local dollars to 1 US.The hotel itself was not that busy as I suppose the season here in Barbados is ending now.

It was decided that we would move on round to the east of the Island and visit the Crane Beach Hotel Resort where lunch could be taken.

This large complex was made up of time shares, a hotel, rental apartments and various shops and restaurants. It is Canadian owned George informed us.

The resort’s restaurant overlooks a magni-ficent beach, Crane Beach, reputed to be one of the top 10 beaches in the world.

Who makes these judgements I have no idea!

It certainly did look like a playground for the rich and famous.

Surprisingly neither the resort not the restaurant were particularly busy today.

We decided on a light lunch as an Indian dinner was awaiting us later in the day.

The menu was simple and more than adequate. I treated myself to flying fish in a bun with fries. I must say it was a first for me for this particular fish and it was delicious. Maria had some Mahi Mahi fish which again she reported very favourably upon.

George ordered a plate of crab cakes for us to take as an appetiser and these were also extremely tasty.

Once lunch was over we left the parish of St Philip, where the resort is situated, and moved inland and north to St John’s Parrish.

On route we passed through much interesting rural countryside.

Robin had been at boarding school here and it must have been quite nostalgic returning to the parish church that had served his school as well as the local neighbouring girls school.

They attended the same service every Sunday morning, he instantly recalled, the boys on the left side and the girls seated on the right side of the church.

Oh yes I’m sure this was a nostalgic visit for him!!

The church was built around the 1650s and was in great shape. It was the perfect replica of the traditional parish church found in any village in England.

The local country side was quite agricultural and we passed cotton fields, banana plantations and of course fields full of sugar cane.

Barbados has just two sugar cane refining factories where the sugar is produced for export and the by-product of molasses used by the local rum industry.

It was clear that the Island had become quite urban with houses being built everywhere over the years. There had obviously been a boom in recent years.

Our tour continued with George pointing out various places of interest and describing memories from his past.

Our last visit was to the world famous Sandy Lane Hotel. I say visit but in fact nobody is now allowed in through the heavily guarded security gates unless they are on 'the list'. So we just viewed it through the gates.

Opposite the main entrance to this paradise playground is the entrance to the hotel's golf course (seen in the photo) where we are told the fees are $4000 per round!!

It really had been an excellent day’s tour of the Island and we were truly thankful for the exceptional company of our Canadian ‘Gang of Four’. I suppose now we were becoming the Canadian ‘Gang of Four’ plus two!

I must say that there was no signs of abject poverty on the Island, sometimes observed in other Caribbean Islands.

In the main housing looked in good shape although there were inevitably some smaller and poorer looking accommodation in parts of the country side.

Although we had been to this lovely Island on a few occasions before we had never seen it in the same detail as had happened today.

We just had time for a quick shower and change of clothes on the ship before our next rendezvous scheduled for 6.30.

The ride out to our lovely Indian Restaurant, The Apsara, near Sandy Beach in Worthing took over 30 minutes due to the amount of traffic navigating these quite inadequate roads.

Frank was waiting for us and we were soon seated round a large comfortable table in the secluded gardens of the grand building housing the restaurant.

George and Rosalyn knew the owners, a very nice Irish lady and her Indian husband. They suggested that we leave it to Marie, our hostess, to organise for us an assortment of dishes for our eagerly awaited dinner.

The resultant spread was just quite amazing. Eight gorgeous dishes of wonderfully flavoured Indian food was presented before us; enough to feed an army.

We were able to wash this down with some Kingfisher (Indian) beer and for others a childed Chardonnay wine.

I’m afraid I had to give up and accept defeat with an abundance of food still remaining on the table not consumed. However I'm pleased to report that Robin didn't let the side down and Frank did quite well too!

I didn’t even try the assortment of beautiful nan bread that had been served with the meal.

All in all it had been a real treat. Thank you George and Rosalyn for bringing us here.

The ship was leaving shortly after 10 o’clock and as the time was approaching 9.00 we ordered a taxi and headed back to the port.

I had developed a slight chesty cold, no doubt from constantly being in and out of air conditioning, and was very tired so immediately retired to my bed.

It meant that sorting photos and writing the blog would have to wait for the morning now.

I hope you all understand.