Showing posts with label Barbados. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Barbados. Show all posts

Sunday, March 27, 2011

Driving tour of Barbados

Yes, you drive on the opposite side of the road

and

Yes, you drive on the opposite side of the car

But, where's your sense of adventure? If you're a cautious driver, you can do just about anything. Although, it is funny when you go to turn on the blinker and suddenly the windshield wipers and going. And, yes, Chuck managed to do this quite a few times over the course of the 2 day car rental.

A bit about the roads...
The main highways are fine. The secondary roads are ok, dabbled with potholes, construction work, and people (few sidewalks). The local roads...yikes! There's a reason why the speed limit is 35mph. Just remember to drive slow...you're on holiday, so what's the rush? And, getting lost is half the fun!

We rented a car on two separate days. Rather than book in advance, because I wasn't sure what our mood and/or weather was going to entail, I decided to wait and book at the hotel. If you book in advance, a daily rental is about $110USD. If you wait and deal with the hotel convenience, the price is more like $125USD. Longer rentals (4 days or more) will bring the price down to just under $100USD a day. There are tons of rental car companies (no US based ones). Stoutes comes highly recommended from other travelers; however the one located at the Hilton was Drive a matic, which was just fine.



The island of Barbados isn't very big (21 miles long and 14 miles wide) but the road network isn't very developed, so it takes some time to get from place to place. For example, we drove from Needham Point (lower left of the map) and to Fish Pot in Good Little Harbour (14 miles), in roughly 35-40 minutes.

Our tour included stops at...
Bathsheba Beach - We actually stopped here 3 times. The first time, a storm was just coming in and I wanted sunny pictures, so we looped back and tried again. I still wasn't happy with the pictures, so we came back a third time!


Bath Beach - This is a lovely spot to picnic. The beach has plenty of tall trees swaying in the wind and the beach is relatively calm.


Crane Beach - Crane hotel is up on the hill. In order to get to this beach, you drive down a really narrow public access path and park. Then walk on those round disks and 2x4 pieces of wood to make your way over to the beach.


Sand Dunes Lunch Shack - This was the start of my cold. We ordered the chicken and macaroni pie. A piece of the dry chicken went down the wrong pipe and I have been coughing ever since. So either my lungs are trying to rid me of the chicken or it was the start of my cold / allergies. The short story...it's a popular spot with the locals, the prices are reasonable, it's real Bajan food, the staff are friendly, but it wasn't my 'thing,' so I wouldn't recommend it.

St. Nicholas Abbey - This was definitely worth the drive. The entrance fee ($17.50USD) includes a tour of the property (some guided, some on your own), rum punch, and a little rum tasting, too.



Cherry Tree Hill - This is the highest point on the island and is located just a few meters away from St. Nicholas Abbey. From here, you can see the beaches of the east coast.


Shopping in Holetown -


Earthworks Pottery - I HAD to go here. It was a little hard to find, but the signage was pretty good, so as long as you trusted your gut and looked for the signs, you will eventually find it....now finding your way back to the main road...there's the problem!



Payne's Bay - This is a popular place for the locals and is just south of Bridgetown. If you swim out a bit, you can easily find sea turtles.



Needham Point Old Fort - On the Hilton property is an old fort.

Snokeling with Calabaza Sailing

Whenever venturing to a new location, I check out TripAdvisor...I know, you're surprised, right? In any event, one of the most popular things to do in Barbados is a snorkeling tour with Calabaza Sailing. The reviews were impeccable, so away I went to book our tour.

Chuck and I have been on quite a few snorkeling and sailing trips. Our first experience was in Puerto Vallarta on the Pricessa Yelapa (in 1996)....it is the standard for what we will NEVER do again. We've chartered in Grand Cayman, St. Thomas, St. Croix, Cabo San Lucas, Dominican Republic, Cancun, and now Barbados.

You will never find me on a boat with more that 12 people. My favorite trips are the ones where it was just us (St. Thomas on the Rumbaba with Captain Bobby). So, after searching high and low for a semi-private snorkeling/sailing tour, I found Gina and Calabaza.

The Deets
Duration: 5 hour Luncheon Snorkeling Tour
Stops: 3 - snorkel with turtles, snorkel around shipwreck, lunch/beach/swim stop
Hotel Pick up/return: yes (around 9am)
Departure: 9:30am from Bridgetown Harbor
Return: 2:30pm
Max guests: 12
Food/Drinks: Yes, plenty and all inclusive
Cost: $110 USD per person

Sample Food/Drinks
Banana bread, fish cakes, crisps w/ hummus, bruscetta topping, curry chicken, baked fish, rice, couscous, salad, black bean salad, veggie/fruit salad, rum punch, beer, water, soft drinks, wine...and the list goes on!

TIP: Gina and her crew are very popular, so make sure you book early! I booked 2+ months in advance and my preferred date was already full!






Saturday, March 26, 2011

Birthday Dinner at Champers

I'm not one to take pictures of our meals, so aside from the Roman Candle in my ice cream, there won't be any food pictures. You'll just have to use your imagination.

When I first booked our trip to Barbados, I sought out the advice of other travelers on TripAdvisor (every traveler's best friend!!). The restaurant recommendations were very high for the Tides, Champers, the Cliff, Roundhouse, Fisher Pond and Tapas. After reading the reviews and checking the menu, I decided that Champers would be a perfect place to celebrate my 30-something birthday.

Chuck made a reservation and informed them that it was my birthday, but I'm not one for fanfare or lots of attention, so they could skip the birthday singing....but we'd love a rail-side table on a little cliff over the ocean.

We arrived for dinner and were seated at a rail-side table on the left side of the dining room in a private little corner. The table was decorated with Happy Birthday confetti and every server stopped by to wish me a happy birthday. I ordered a spinach salad with apples, blue cheese, almonds, and a citrus type vinegrette; Chuck opted for the crab stuffed mushroom caps. Our main meal was a jerk pork chop with mashed potatoes and grilled veggies (for me) and Chuck had the grilled mahi mahi. Absolutely divine!

Halfway through dinner, a huge stingray floated just below our table. Even he got the message that it was my birthday :-)

And then, the Roman Candle arrived...and was lit...and almost cinged my eyebrows (kidding).



View of Champers restaurant from the ocean - We were seated on the cliff (on the rail) just left of the gazebo (under the blue covered patio).

Friday, March 25, 2011

In Pictures - Barbados

Some of my favorite pictures from my birthday long weekend in Barbados.