Caribbean Cruise April 2013 - Bridgetown, Barbados Page

Thursday 11th April 2013

Landfall in Barbados at last. It took time to get in, so having got up at 0645, I walked the deck & looked at the shoals of flying fish accompanying us. (I did photo them but they are Very Hard to see). The harbour itself is quite a dump & the coach tour started off through Millionaires' Row country, the guide Andrea telling us how much the houses cost or what a night would cost in some hotels - $3,000. What on Earth can they give you for that? Exclusivity - no normal people around.

Then, we headed into the countryside, which did not seem to have much agriculture, as somewhere has put the Caribbean sugar cane industry out of business. (The economy seems dangerously dependent on tourism). We went up the second highest hill for rum punch & views. There was a captive Green Monkey (he was not green) there. The higher hill is only 15' higher.

At the quay	Barbados mountain blackbird	Green Monkey (he's not green)
A strong wind up here	Over to the Atlantic

Then, down to Bathsheba Beach, which had strange rock formations in the sea, obviously soon doomed, in geological time, to fall over, being undercut by the waves. I took photos of houses here and as many as I could on the drive back.

Bathsheba Beach	Strange rocks at Bathsheba Beach	Avis at Bathsheba Beach
Where they live at Bathsheba Beach

After lunch, I walked for the half an hour it takes into Bridgetown, the capital & took photos. There were crabs in a stream at its estuary, posh boats in the marina & public buildings.

The main shopping street seems to be the pedestrianised Swan Street, very photogenic. Then, the Cathedral & Old Town Hall & back to the ship.

Swan Street

Greengrocer

Cathedral

Dinner in the café & then, the 21st Century Swing show, almost the same as the one by a different team on Braemar (& a different agency). Only one song was not the same, according to my memory.