Amazon & Carnival Explorer Cruise - Day 13: Bridgetown, Barbados

Saturday, February 16

Today is the last in a string of four ports in four days, and with an excursion in every port, we are getting a bit tired. This is the last of our Caribbean ports until our return trip.

Barbados is an independent country in the British Commonwealth and the capital is Bridgetown, where we are docked today.  Barbados is the Eastern most island in the Caribbean.  It covers about 169 square miles and has a population of about 278,000. 

As you can see on the map, Barbados is the eastern most island in the Caribbean.

 

Today's excursion was another early one so we were up by 7:00.  We are not early risers and don't like to get up before 8:00 so we are getting tired of these early excursions.  When I got up I found we were already docked across from a very large B&O (British cruise line) cruise ship.  There was also a very large schooner type sailing ship wedged in between, which was also a passenger ship.

There were also a couple of very nice yachts docked next to us.

Our tour today was a photo tour with a local photographer named Ronnie Carrington.  We were off the ship by 8:00 and had a long walk to the terminal and the tour buses.  We found our tour and boarded the bus but had to wait a bit as it wasn't ready to leave yet.  Finally, just after 8:30 we were on our way.  The tour buses on our Caribbean tours have all been mini-buses because of the narrow roads on the islands.  This has worked out great as it has kept the tour group smaller.

This tour took us somewhat off the beaten path and to some of the less visited places on the east side of the island.  We were docked on the west side of Barbados so we headed east out of town with Ronnie talking about the history, culture and current life on the island; very interesting.  Our first stop was a village where we photographed some of the different types of architecture found in the area.

Lots of bananas.

Banana flower

And lots of coconuts.

From there we drove on to what is called the Scotland District.  It is an area on the east coast, and is different from the rest of the area.  The Scotland District is described as the only highlands area in Barbados and is different than any other area.  Follow this link for more information on the Scotland District.

As we drove through the area, Ronnie pointed out the geological features and the problems they presented.  We stopped at a viewpoint high above the ocean with a beautiful view.  Ronnie told us to breathe deep as this is some of the freshest air we would find as the closest land to the east was Africa, 3,000 miles away.

From there we drove down to a beautiful beach where we wandered around for a bit taking pictures and enjoying the views.  From there we made a quick stop to sample Barbados bananas, which to be honest, tasted like all other bananas. 

Our last stop of the day was another beach.  It was a beautiful beach, but there were a lot more people there as there was a place selling drinks including rum punch, which seemed to be the favorite drink everywhere we’ve been in the Caribbean.  Before we arrived, Ronnie extolled the virtues of rum punch and the correct way to make it and invited everyone to sample it for two dollars a glass.  Val and I decided that we should try it before we left the Caribbean so we bought a glass.  I have to admit, I didn’t like it as I don’t like rum and it is very strong.  Val took a couple of sips and I stopped at half a glass, but now we can say we have tasted real rum punch in the Caribbean.

Our guide, Ronnie, cuts us some fresh coconut.

 

We thought this rock looked like a wild boar.

After that, it was time to head back to the port as this was only a half day tour.  It was an interesting drive back across the island and Ronnie continued to talk about what we saw along the way.  We arrived back at the port and made the long walk back to the ship and into the welcoming air conditioning.  The weather has been quite mild, in the low eighties, but the humidity is very wearing.

This was a great tour, Ronnie was a great guide and also a very good photographer.  He showed us examples of his work during our time on the bus and it was very impressive.

We were back in our room just before 1:00, but even though we were both hungry, we decided to rest a bit before going to lunch.  After lunch, Val was off to trivia and I settled in to download and backup our pictures and catch up on the blog.

The rest of the afternoon was spent relaxing and reading until it was time to get ready for the evening.  It was the usual evening for us; trivia, dinner and the casino.  We lost at trivia and I lost quickly in the casino, but Val had a nice win and stayed longer.  Tomorrow is a very welcome sea day after four ports and four excursions in four days.