Barbados

The start of May was a busy time for me in terms of travel. On 24 April I arrived back in England after 2 weeks in America, seven days later I was having a long weekend away in England, and 2 days after that it was time to fly back over the Atlantic to Barbados. But who can complain about that?

My then girlfriend worked for a travel magazine, and managed to get us a great deal for a week’s holiday on the Carribean island. Our package included flights and all-inclusive accommodation in a beach resort in Holetown, all for about the value of the flights alone.

As soon as we touched down and left the plane, it felt like somewhere tropical. A constant 31 degrees greeted us to the airport that was more outdoors than indoors – even the check in counters were outside! Must be a great way to save on air conditioning.

Most of our days were spent like this:

• Get up after a small sleep in, and head to the buffet breakfast.
• Absolutely stuff yourself with a fantastic breakfast selection, including Bajan hot sauce on your eggs and delicious sausages, and maybe plantain pancakes for dessert.
• Head to the beach for the morning.
• By 11 am it is probably time to start drinking. Afterall, the poolside bar is serving free cocktails.
• Lunch by the pool provides a choice between the Bajan buffet, usually rice with something delicious like slow-baked chicken or flying fish.
• Back to the beach for the afternoon: swimming, snorkelling, relaxing and drinking rum punch.
• Watching the sun set over the Carribean.
• Dressing up for cocktails in the evening bar, followed by yet another delicious buffet dinner.
• A few more drinks and an early night.

The majority of the days went along those lines. The highlight was on the first day when we took a boat trip out to a spot where you can snorkel with the massive turtles. The turtles can be found around the same spot where they are used to being fed, and they are quite tame. Swimming with them meant just that, and these majestic creatures that just glide through the water even came close enough to be touched.

One morning I was excited to see a monkey run across the garden, as normally all you could see running around were the mongoose.  But of course we did not spend the whole time just around the resort. The biggest two days were where we hired a car and went exploring around the island.

We rented a Suzuki Jimny four-wheel-drive, and explored all around the island with the roof down. We went swimming at the wild surf beaches on the Atlantic coast, drove through lots of towns consisting mainly of corrugated iron shacks, got off the beaten track through the sugar cane country and spent some time relaxing on well manicured beaches of the south coast.

My favourite part was the wildlife park, outside of which you could hand feed green monkeys (that’s what they were called but they were more grey than green), whilst inside you could find everything from large tortoises to peacocks wandering around, and even the odd crocodile in the pond!

I found Barbados to be a really interesting place, but also a place of contrasts. One day I was walking down the beach in front of the luxurious and very expensive Sandy Lane resort, and the next day I was driving through a shanty town where it appears people don’t have enough funds or resources to build a solid house.

Yet people were hospitable, and it all felt very safe. Often if I was lost, a local would yell out to tell me which way to drive.  At times the locals were hard to understand, but you could always understand their unrivalled sense of hospitality.