I’ve been scanning in some of my photos (pre-digital camera!) of previous holidays, and thought I’d 're-live' one of my favourite holidays..
To celebrate the new Millennium in 2000 we booked a holiday in Barbados………
We landed at Grantley Adams International Airport and were greeted by a the local steel band which put us straight into the Caribbean atmosphere……..
It was dark when we finally arrived at our hotel so we were unable to see the view from our balcony until the next morning – all we knew was that out hotel was on the beach. We awoke at 6.00am and pulled back the curtains and the scene that greeted us was simply fantastic. Our hotel was on the West (Platinum) Coast where the sea is turquoise and very calm and the sand is almost white. Almost touching the balcony was a palm tree loaded with coconuts…..
If you don’t want to hire a car you can tour around the island in the small open sided yellow buses which were frequent and quite an experience! For a fare of approx 50p the driver would take you anywhere on the island. The driving was very erratic and fast but we always arrived safely!! We visited Bridgetown which is a bustling city with one main shopping street, Broad Street. Our sightseeing tour only took an hour or so. At the top of Broad St on Trafalgar Square is a statue of Lord Nelson. Across from there are the Public Buildings, now called Parliament Buildings. With all these English names, no wonder Barbados is also know as Little England!
We went on a tour of the island, passing many sugar and banana plantations. We stopped at the Sunbury Plantation House which dates back to the 1660’s. It was rebuilt in 1995 after a fire destroyed everything but the 2 ½ ft thick flint and stone walls. It now gives a real sense of the lifestyle and living standards of the elite planter class in the early days. There is an extensive collection of old prints, china, glassware and antiques as well as a large assortment of horse-drawn carriages. The surrounding gardens are a delight…..
We had our lunch here, Bajan chicken, flying fish (delicious!), macaroni cheese, broccoli, squash, roast plantains and sweet potatoes…….followed by maple and pecan ice-cream – mmmmm!
Next on the tour was a visit to St John’s Church, the oldest church on the island after previous churches on the island were destroyed by hurricanes. Old tombstones with bizarre inscriptions populate the churchyard…….
Our next visit was to the East coast of the island, so much different to the West coast where we were staying. There were miles of wild coast at Bathsheba where the pounding surf of the Atlantic was mesmerizing…….
Another day we arranged a trip aboard the Atlantis submarine. We went down to about 140 feet and could see hundreds of fish of all sizes and colours, coral, sponges and plant life. We saw a shipwreck laying on the sea bed……. and a barracuda shark passed close by – the whole experience was quite amazing!
Unfortunately, my photos (pre digital) didn’t come out too clear……
We visited Harrisons Cave and the Flower Forest next, two of the biggest attractions in Barbados. The 1 hour tour of the caves was made by electric tram and we were given hard hats to wear ….. just in case!! The cave is filled with streams, cascading water, pools and stalactites and stalagmites…..
After leaving the cave we walked around the nearby wooded area to look for the famous Barbados green monkeys. We were told that many visitors to the island never see a monkey – it must have been out lucky day as we saw 6 of them!! They were difficult to see as they were well camouflaged amongst the trees……..
We continued on to the Flower Forest which was a cross between a Botanical garden and a nature trail. We spent a couple of hours strolling through a wonderland of tropical plants from gorgeous blooms to magnificent trees. There were fragrant flowering bushes, canna and ginger lilies, puffball trees, delicate orchids to name but a few. A really wonderful sight!!…………
[center][/cen
We were relaxing on our balcony on one of our ‘rest’ days when we saw a movement on the palm tree outside. A local was clambering bare foot up the tree to collect the coconuts……. no ladder, no ropes – just his hands and bare feet to grip the tree!!
Between trips we did manage some sunbathing and relax on the beautiful palm lined beach – keeping an eye open for any celebrity who may stroll by! Bob Monkhouse had a villa just up the beach from where we stayed. You could stroll for miles along the sandy shoreline and the Bajans always gave you a smile and were delighted if you stopped to chat to them …… they were all so friendly and welcoming ……….
Apologies for the quality of the scanned photos....
Lucky, lucky you! It looks a beautiful and very interesting place to visit. The quality of your pics is excellent considering they are scanned copies. Have you any plans to revist Barbados?
The flowers are gorgeous and I love the monkey shots too!!!
lol
No fantastic memory Charlie........... I always keep a day by day diary whenever we go on holiday! 
