Trip to Barbados - April 27 - May 2, 2003

During our spring break between second and third semesters of med school, we took a week to go exploring Barbados, the eastern-most of the Windward Islands located three islands south of Dominica. Barbados isn't as hilly and green as Dominica -- the only non-volcanic Windward Island is made up instead of coral limestone. Although less tropical, Barbados does have breathtaking white sandy beaches, rolling hills, colorful gardens, and intricate caves and gullies. What impressed us most, after the beaches, is how developed the island is. It seems like we are gradually visiting wealthier islands as we make our Caribbean tour. There is 800 miles of road on an island 14 miles wide and 21 miles long. We were impressed by the houses, hotels, shopping and food. Coming from Dominica, and even after visiting St. Lucia, it was a nice treat and a wonderful vacation.

We stayed at the historic Crane Hotel, located on the southeastern side of the island. The Crane was the first resort hotel in Barbados, opening in 1887, and today it is still a beautiful island escape. Perched on top of a cliff overlooking the Atlantic Ocean and the white sands of Crane Beach, the hotel is perhaps most famous for its swimming pool. We were very happy with everything at The Crane, from the food and the staff, to our jacuzzi bathtub and beautiful room. The hotel itself made a nice get-away, and we definitely recommend it to you.

~The Crane Beach Hotel~

     

Our trip began on Sunday, April 27. We flew out of Dominica around 5:30 pm on Liat, which wasn't as bad of a flight as we had expected. After a nice night at the hotel, we rented a car on Monday and drove to the south part of the island and St. Lawrence Gap area. Unfortunately, Monday was Heroes Day in Barbados, a National holiday, which meant none of the restaurants and shopping were opened, but we did walk along the beach for a while. We returned to our hotel in the afternoon and spent a few hours on Crane Beach. Ian gave boogie boarding a try while Kelly sunbathed. Afterwards, we walked along the cliff to take pictures just before the sun set.

~The Beaches~

           

        

On Tuesday, we drove to the central part of the island and toured Harrison's Cave and Welchman Hall Gully in the morning. Harrison's Cave is a limestone cavern (stalagmites and stalactites) and the only one of its kind in the Caribbean. Although parts of the cave really were beautiful, the tour was a rather short train ride through the cavern with two brief stops for pictures. It would have been nicer as a walking tour. Welchman Hall Gully was better - a beautiful tropical walk though a three-quarter mile ravine. The gully is actually a crack in the coral limestone cap and part of Harrison's Cave. The gully includes lush trees and plants surrounding a background of stalactites (one of which has formed a 4-ft diameter pillar), as well as wildlife, including green monkeys and native birds. We actually were lucky enough to come upon a large group of green monkeys, but Ian was so excited, he shouted out "Stop, Monkeys!" and scared most of them away. Thus the hunt for a monkey picture continued.

~Harrison's Cave and Welchman Hall Gully~

        

        

After our nature tours in the morning, we went to Earthworks Pottery and The Lunchtime Cafe for lunch and shopping. Kelly fell in love with Earthworks Pottery and will probably start collecting it. There is a link at the bottom of the page if you are interested in seeing their designs and learning about their operation. Afterwards, we drove to the western coast and browsed around Holetown for about an hour. The area around Holetown is probably the most upscale part of the island. Luxurious hotels, landscaped golf courses, beautiful houses, and the best of food and shopping is on this part of the island. We finished off the day by driving back to our hotel, getting dressed up and having a very nice candlelit dinner at L'Azure, The Crane Hotel restaurant overlooking the ocean.

On Wednesday, we decided to drive around the island to fit in a few parks and shopping we hadn't been able to do yet. This was our last day with a car, so we made the most of it. We started on the northeastern side of the island at Bathsheba, where we visited the Andromeda Botanical Gardens. Ian was able to get some beautiful pictures, and the park was a very peaceful and beautiful place to start the day - colorful flowers and a nice view of Tent Bay and the ocean.

~Andromeda Botanical Gardens~

        

        

Our next plans were to go to the Barbados Wildlife Reserve, with the hopes of finally getting a picture of the green monkey, but first we were sent on an hour-long detour in search of a bank. Once we found money and had lunch, we went back to the Wildlife Reserve, where we walked around with turtles, deer, birds and rabbits (and some jackalope looking thing), but never saw monkeys. In the afternoon, we drove back to Holetown for some shopping, had an early dinner at Pizzaz (a pretty good pizza place), and watched the sunset on the beach. We're not sure if we just hit Barbados at the wrong time, but the sunsets were a little disappointing. They didn't have all the spectacular colors that they have in Dominica, but it was still nice to sit on the white sand and watch the sun disappear into the water.

~Barbados Wildlife and Barbados Sunsets~

        

        

Thursday was our last full day in Barbados, and also was apparently our last chance to get a sunburn. We went on a morning snorkling cruise on El Tigre Catamaran, where we had two snorkling stops along the west coast. The first stop, Ilene's Bay, is where we were able to snorkle with the sea turtles, and the second stop was at a shipwreck and coral reef underwater park. The morning was a lot of fun, but once we returned to our hotel, we realized we both received a bit more sun than we had expected. We spent the rest of the afternoon and night at the hotel, applying as much aloe as possible. At least we didn't have any mosquito problems in Barbados.

Our last morning in Barbados, Ian woke up in time to capture the sunrise. We had our final nice breakfast, took a walk around the hotel property, and then made our way to the airport for the flight back to Dominica.

~Sunset and Sunrise at The Crane, plus a few more scenes from Barbados~

           

Overall, we had an excellent time in Barbados. There is plenty here to do for water enthusiasts, and a little for nature lovers. But the shopping and dining are probably what help distinguish Barbados from some of the other Caribbean islands. We hope to return to Barbados again someday, and highly recommend it as a Caribbean vacation spot. Below are a few links and resources that we found helpful in planning our vacation:

"Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails.
Explore. Dream. Discover."
~Mark Twain
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