Barbados

Our last stop in the Caribbean area was at Barbados. Barbados is the easternmost island in the West Indies and is in the Atlantic, not the Caribbean. It is east of St Lucia where I had been thinking of going.

our route from Jamaica to Barbados

Barbados is the most British of the islands, it remained a British colony until 1961 and gained full independence in 1966 and is a member of the Commonwealth. Right hand drive as in UK. Cricket is a national passion.

Barbados got its name from the banyan tree, or fig trees with long straggly hanging roots, Los Barbados = bearded ones. Mount Gay rum is the oldest rum brand, since 1703.

We docked at Bridgetown, Barbados. There were two other cruise ships already there so we moored at the Sugar Berth -

photo from cruisemapper

I particularly wanted to see Harrison’s Cave. From Bridgetown the tour took us up Cave Hill which is where the university is located. Saw a baobab tree with a huge girth - there are 2 on Barbados and they came from West Africa. Saw an old windmill, they were used for crushing the sugar cane before steam. Barbados used to produce 200,000 tons, now it is only 10,000. Went through small villages to Harrison’s Cave.

After the cave tour we went up to Highland View for the best view of Barbados. It was packed with tour buses.

Village house -

Then down through the countryside, past a couple of sugar cane fields that had been harvested and down to the coast at Holetown. Drove through the really expensive parts, Chattel Village has designer shops. Rihanna the singer has a luxury apartment here.

The Kensington Oval is a stadium outside Bridgetown, primarily used for cricket -

We went back to the cruise terminal without going into Bridgetown. Bridgetown and its garrison is a World Heritage Site. But I didn't have the time or energy to go back into town.  Storage for sugar (pyramid) and molasses (circular tank) -

1 Barbadian Dollar = 50c US.