Island Tour of Barbados

Interesting stop at the oldest church in Barbados dating back to the early 1600's

Interior of St; James Church

Northern tip of Barbados

Limestone caves carved by the rough water off the north coast

Another beautiful beach at Bathsheba on the east coast

View of the flat lower east side from Gun Hill

Island Tour of Barbados

Jan. 27, 2017

On Friday, Zeke arranged for us all to go on an island tour. We had two taxis and guides. They weren't as knowledgeable as we would have liked, but we were still happy to have seen as much as we did. Between that overview and the guide books we have, we know what else we would like to see.

Barbados is a coral island, as compared to other islands in the Caribbean that are primarily volcanic. So it is not very high. We visited the highest point to take in the views. That was 340m. Because of the coral and surrounding reef there are great, light sand beaches and clear turquoise water. The fishing is supposed to be good, also. They have rarely had a hurricane. It is a tourist favourite also because of a low crime rate and friendly people.

The whole island is much wealthier than we thought, compared with the rest of the Caribbean. It also has a wealthy history from the colonial days when British ships always stopped here on the way to the "Americas". The architecture downtown, its commercial and government buildings and churches, are well preserved. We visited the oldest church on the island, an Anglican parish, founded in the 1600's. The guide there called himself a "retired member". (Can church members retire?) There were a lot of interesting things to read and see there. You could tell there was good money in the sugar plantations. But the life expectancy was short in the colonies.

We followed the coast road up the west side to the north of the island. This is the "platinum coast" where the most expensive resorts and homes are. You can stay at places for a $1000 a night, and pay $300 for a dinner. Most owners and renters are not locals. The first settlers arrived in this area. There is another marina/condo complex at Port St Charles that looked quite high end. But you could anchor there, and do your immigration work.

On the north coast there are rocky cliffs, that are undercut by the wilder Atlantic side. We visited one spot where you can go down into caves and blow holes cut into the cliff. Following the road down the east coast, there are the surfing beaches. Most are not safe for swimming. The drive is more scenic here, with hills, rock, gardens and waves.

Driving back across the island, you can see the sugarcane fields and other farming operations. There are pastures for cows and goats. There are good rum factories. There are several gardens to visit, particularly on some of the old plantations. We had a stop at one of the old signal stations used for communications around the island in the past. Today it is a viewpoint, and history stop.

We would like to visit the museum in the garrison area, not far from here. We would like to go on the Mount Gay rum tour and maybe the Malibu one, also. And the rally is organizing a temporary membership at the Yacht Club, which would be nice for a beach day. And there is always duty free shopping.