Reflections on Barbados — Part 3

 

The final part of our trip to Barbados is a list of the places we went to on days 11 to 16, the last portion of our holiday.  If you want to catch up on the other days you can find there here:  Barbados Part 1 and Barbados Part 2

Day Eleven

We had promised ourselves a day in Bridgetown.  So us girls could shop, and so the boys could enjoy a cold beer in their favourite bar above the Main Street.   You can shop Duty Free in the larger stores so it was a good opportunity to stock up on souvenirs and any other items we wanted to bring home (though a word of caution.  If you want to shop duty free alcohol and cigarettes you can’t take them away with you.  After purchase they are shipped directly from the store to the airport where you can pick them up after check in and security).     There is plenty of parking for BDS$1 an hour in a car park in the middle of the one way system (on the way out of town, just behind the harbour) and from there it is only a few minutes walk over the bridge into town.

You only need a few hours as it is not a sprawling city and well worth going at the end of the day when it is cooler.

We decided to stop on the way back at Zacchio’s again for more pizzas and coconut shrimp and to catch the sunset.   I first took this picture on our honeymoon ten years ago so I was keen to recreate it again on this trip.   Job done

Day Twelve

 

One of the joys of travelling with older children is the fact they often say “we want to take you out for breakfast”.    Who am I to argue?  There are couple of options in Holetown, though our first choice of Patisserie Flindt appeared to only be open for table service at the weekend.  A real shame as their breakfasts are amazing.     We hotfooted it across the road to a little cafe behind the Chattel Houses and had breakfast there instead.   Amazing cooked breakfast, and incredible smoothies, though you do have to be prepared to argue with a few more flies every now and again.

This being Friday we had promised ourselves we would go to Oistins for fish fry night.   Everyone goes to Oistins on Friday night.  So if you don’t like the crowds, go early, and if you want to be in the thick of it, well go later.   We arrived around 6ish and went for a wander along the pier behind the fish market.   Keep a look out for the fishermen dropping the filleted off cuts of fish into the sea for the turtles, they will come up to the surface to eat and you can get some great pictures.     Then you can wander through the sellers and find somewhere to eat.

We can highly recommend Uncle George’s.   Loads of tables, food cooked right in front of you, and THE most incredible garlic potatoes you have ever eaten.   Rum comes in a bottle (accompanied by a bowl of ice and your chosen mixer) obviously.    You choose your fish, and then choose your “carbs”, so either potato, rice or macaroni pie.     I, obviously, went for lobster though I did get the exchange rate wrong and end up paying about £30 for it.  Oops.  The garlic potatoes made it worthwhile though!

Oistins really is a must do.   There is nowhere else to be on Friday night on Barbados.

Day 13

 

The joy of the internet is that you find out about things that you would otherwise never know about.   Such as racehorses being taken for a swim at Garrison every morning.   We had no idea if this was actually true, how many horses it involved, or really what time, though we read something that said sunrise.   Alarms set for 4.30am we figured if we got there for 6am it would be about the right time

We weren’t wrong.  In pairs, the horses were brought down to the sea and taken in up to their shoulders for a cooling bath.  It was magical.    Follow the signs for Pebble Beach and park in the main carpark near the Radisson, then turn right on the beach towards the pier.    We stayed for over an hour watching them in the water.   It really was one of those moments that we were so glad we had got up at stupid o clock.    In all honesty we should have got there earlier since it felt like the end of the session by 6am so if you want to go, I would suggest 5.30am.

You can even go with them if you want to, though obviously ask first and be very wary of legs and tails!

With the end of our holiday in sight we started ticking off more of the “we have never done that, we might never come again so we need to do it now” list and had lunch from the Roti Den in Paynes Bay.

If you have ever driven the main coast road in Barbados you won’t have missed this brightly coloured building, serving rotis from 11am.   Everything from salted fish, to vegetables to goat, all from BDS$11 each.   Made in front of you they are huge, and therefore filling.   Think tortilla wrap filled with a warm filling and folded so you can eat it like a Cornish pasty and not get messy fingers.   Perfect food for lunch.

And to keep us going when we had an afternoon on our friend Marvin’s boat.  I wrote about Marvin and his Marvellous 1 boat a few years so I won’t bore you again (read it here:  The Perfect Way to Spend a Day in Barbados ) but we love Marvin, and always make sure we spend an afternoon with him, snorkelling, fishing and swimming with turtles.  The guy is a legend and well worth a call if you are ever in Barbados.

Day Fourteen

 

This was the day of our holiday that didn’t turn out how we planned it.   It was meant to be a day of lunch at the Round House on the east coast of the island and then a drive along the coast for a stop to take photos, admire the sea.   The first bit happened (best burgers on the island) with a stunning view of men fishing with spears and snorkelers enjoying the slightly choppier seas than on the west coast.  Then we went for a drive and to sit in the rock pools further along the coast in Bathsheba.

Until that is Caity got hit by a wave and sent crashing into rocks, smashing her head open and fracturing an elbow.

A mad dash in two cars back to the Sunset Crest Medical Centre (please make a note of that if you are ever going to Barbados.  It is in Holetown and is the most incredible medical centre.   Clean, loads of really friendly staff, and an on site CT scanner and x ray machine).   They couldnt have been more helpful, including calling the insurance company for approval.

We left a few hours later with stitches, a plastered arm, drugs and care sheets, all in exchange for £40 worth of premiums and three signatures on the day.

Day 15

 

Which meant this was a lazy day as we all recovered from the day before.  The boys played golf and we pottered about the villas enjoying American TV and air conditioning.

How incredible does that 18th tee look?  Every time I see it, it takes my breath away.

We wanted to finish the holiday on a high, to not have it fizzle out and for Caity’s accident to be the last thing that happened.   And what better way to finish than with dinner at one of the most amazing restaurants on the west coast:  Tides.   We have been lucky enough to eat here a few times, and every time it just gets better.   The food, the service, the view, it is all stunning.    And just what we needed to finish on a high.

Day Sixteen

 

Flights back to the UK leave in the evening so with check in not being until 3pm it gave us a chance to have one last swim in the sea before breakfast.   One last chance to photograph the Caribbean.   To declare this the most incredible holiday.