Barbados...It Rolls Sweetly off the Tongue

My flight to Barbados left from LAX on a Wednesday night, bound for JFK in New York City. I am amazed that American Airlines has managed to jam even more seats, even closer together into the fuselage of a plane. WOW...way to go AA!! The flight from LAX to JFK is about 5 hrs., non-stop. Arriving at JFK we (group of travel agents from the west coast and our Barbados Board of Tourism Representative, the very kind and patient Denise Marie) found somewhere to buy coffee and treats and await our next flight that would take us to Barbados. The next flight, still on American, was more comfortable. It takes 4 more hours to get from JFK to Bridgetown, Barbados. What this means is, you don't want to go for a 4 night stay...which is what we were doing. This is a destination that requires a week, perhaps even 9 nights. It's worth the trip, but this is a destination that deserves the time spent to enjoy it fully.

We from the west coast stayed at The Crane Resort. Nice resort! Large, lots of restaurants, a few shops, a charming bar or two, nice lobby...and free wifi. This is not an all inclusive resort. All inclusive resorts are in rather short supply on Barbados, although I think they will be coming soon. The all inclusive resorts we inspected were clean, charming, and rather small. The Crane had a kitchen in every room and the rooms were quite large. I had a large bedroom, small but complete kitchen, huge bathroom, and a private patio with its own family of kittens there in the morning. Nice, comfortable four poster bed and a tv. All in all, a very nice room.

This was a MegaFam, drawing agents from all over the world. All of the hotels participated and took in agents. The Crane, along with the west coast agents, had a group from New York and some agents from the U.K. Several airlines also participated in bringing us all together to see Barbados. Along with American, which I was on, Jet Blue was also bringing agents, along with Air Canada and probably Air France. Agents were there from Brazil and Argentina and I'm not sure which carrier they traveled with, but it was a mass effort by the Barbados Board of Tourism to show off their lovely island.

Our driver to all functions was Carl Bovell, who I would recommend to anyone wanting to go see the island. His phone is 246-427-9702 and his email is carltaxis@live.com.
His card reads Reliable, Efficient, Day or Night, Reasonable Rates and that was all true. He was kind and patient and always there to get us to our next destination.

Our first night in Barbados, after a tour of The Crane, was a party at The Hilton, complete with live music. After flying all night and being in the air 9 hours I can honestly say I was glad to get back to the hotel, but the Hilton's location was lovely and I enjoyed watching the moon reflected on the ocean and seeing the lights from the party play on the water.

What I was most looking forward to was visiting the caves on Barbados. That was our destination on our first full day on the island, and we sent out with Mr. Bovell at the wheel, right after breakfast. The caves are Harrison Cave, there are others, but Harrison Cave has been explored and is set up to receive tourists. There is a Visitor's Center where you purchase tickets to enter the cave, then a set of elevators that take you down about 2 stories to the ground below. From there, you walk to an Interactive Visitor's Center where you can learn about how the cave was formed, who explored the extensive cave system, and what the flora and fauna in the area are. From there, you watch a short, interesting film, and then proceed to an open train that takes you deep into the cave system. The cave system, to say the least, is spectacular! We went to a depth of around 180 feet underground. Nice, steady temperature compared to the heat outside, and a driver/guide explaining what we were seeing as we went forward. We were given several opportunities to leave the train and walk short distances. This was probably my most favorite attraction of all the lovely things we saw and did. This would normally be about a half day tour, and there are shops around the entrance to the Interactive Visitor's Center, as well as places to picnic and a snack shop. If you are traveling with children, this would make a great excursion!

From the caves we went to St. Lawrence Gap, which is the center of restaurants, night life and activity. And there we found The Boat Yard, which is the kind of place you might expect to find Jimmy Buffett hanging out. Places to relax, nice bar with a wide variety of drinks, food, and also where we got ready to march/dance/walk in the Crop Over Carnival. We picked up tee shirts in whatever color we liked, had them "customized" which meant having them shredded artistically, and were then bussed to the start of the parade. The parade was a hoot! Hot sun, high humidity, and lots of beads and music. The Crop Over refers to a time when a given plantation would be done harvesting their crop...hence Crop Over...and there would be food, dancing and parades. We ended the parade at Divi Resort's beach with a bar-b-que and cold drinks. Of course since cane...meaning sugar cane...was the main crop of the island, that means rum was one of the island's biggest exports...and still is. Mt. Gay Rum is from Barbados and is world famous.

One morning and afternoon was spent snorkeling, doing two stops, one for tropical fish and one to swim with the turtles. Beautiful, clear water, great music on the boat, good drinks and a gourmet lunch. Again, this would be at least a half day tour. I have clients who are scuba divers and, as a non-diver, it certainly LOOKED to me, judging by the fish I could see from the boat deck, that it would be good for scuba as well as snorkel. Sport fishing looked good, too. The water is beautiful, Caribbean blue, turquoise and green and the beaches are soft, sandy, and, in the case of The Crane, pink sand beaches.

One morning was a trade show, giving all the hotels, apartments, car rental places and other tourist related business a chance to show us what they have to offer. The surprise to me was that the trade show was held in an airplane hangar...and there was a Concorde in the hangar! One of the remaining Concordes is permanently housed in Barbados. We were allowed to board the Concorde, which was thrilling. It was smaller inside than I had expected, but still had more legroom than the American flight from LAX to JFK!

Because much of Barbados' tourism comes from Canada and England, usually in the winter months and from people wanting to stay for a month or two, there are a lot of charming hotels, including The Crane, where I was, set up for light cooking. Many of the hotels have small kitchens, an area for dining, and are walking distance to markets. Fresh fruits and vegetables are easily obtained and there is a wonderful supply of fresh fish. Flying fish is one of the specialties of Barbados, usually served fried. Macaroni pie, which was delicious, is another specialty. No really strange food here, Andrew Zimmer from Bizarre Foods would be disappointed, but it was all tasty and well served, no matter where we ate.

Drinks lean toward rum based, I don't think I tried anything other than rum concoctions, but they were all good. There is an island beer, but it's not a dark beer, so I didn't sample it.

Barbados was owned by the English and has had independence for a number of years. The island is clean, the people are friendly and kind, and the education rate is high. Roads were in good condition, although I would probably not recommend renting a car, at least not right away, as driving is on the opposite side of the road for us. Over all, the fact that the island is prosperous and well educated means that there is very little petty crime. You feel safe walking around!

Our flight back was routed through Miami. It is about 3.5 hrs. from Barbados to Miami, then another 5 hrs. back from Miami to LAX. Again, this is NOT Cabo! This is not someplace to go for a long weekend or a few days. This is a destination with a variety of things to keep you busy and deserves a week, minimum.

Of course Barbados also offers top quality golf courses for those of you who are golfers.

Our last night in Barbados we were priviledged to be invited to a performance by Fantasia Barrino, however her opening acts were two very talented singers who are locals to Barbados. It was a great performance from everyone and a fitting last nigt on the island.

Having seen Barbados, I am hoping to get to see Dominican Republic soon, along with St. Lucia and Antigua. No plans in the near future, but those certainly are places where I would like to see the hotels and what is being offered.

Please remember to check out Kiva.org

Until next time,
Sonia