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| Welcome to Barbados |
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Where are we? Barbados, of course.
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| Many Barbados bags |
Well, today's port of call is our first one in the Caribbean...Bridgetown, Barbados. It is the capital of the island, and one that we have visited numerous times on previous cruises. The population of this island is 290,000 people. The size of Barbados is 21 miles long and 14 miles wide, with an area of 166 square miles. According to the guide on the map, the water is safe to drink and it is safe to walk here. That's always nice to know. Another tip is that taxis are easy to find. There is no doubt about that, because there were at least 50 of them outside the cruise terminal this morning. And we must have said "No, thanks" at least 50 times to each taxi driver as we attempted to walk to downtown. They are very persistant here. Anyway, the VAT is 17.5 %, built into prices, except for the expensive jewelry, which is duty free to a certain extent. That is one reason why there are the Diamonds Internationals, Tanzanite International, Colombian Emeralds International, and Little Switzerland high end stores here.
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| Little Switzerland - highend shopping |
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One of many highend stores
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| Pink and white are Little Switzerland's colors |
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Another clocktower
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And we will surely see these in the next three stops.
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| Local lady who posed for gangway photos |
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Cruise terminal
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| Old sugar conveyers for loading ships |
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| Waterfall from the anchor |
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Amsterdam docked
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Amsterdam docked
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| The way out |
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Port of Bridgetown
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There were many tours here today to see the island, the beaches, Harrison's Caves, Orchid World, the Wildlife Preserve, and the Mount Gay rum distillery. Been there, done that, we opted to explore downtown and eventually work up an appetite for lunch and beer. Despite the warm, humid weather this morning, there was a strong breeze which made walking a bit more pleasant.
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| Surf's up |
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| Bridge across the creek |
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| A sailboat |
We found some side streets this time, and discovered a souvenir market, much like what you would see in the Night Market in Hong Kong, only smaller. Right in the middle of the street market, was a fabric store. We were able to find some nice yardage for a couple of blouses for a really good price. One of us is going to be busy sewing day and night to make these clothes, hopefully in time for our next adventure.
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| A supermarket |
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| Local shops downtown |
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| Old church turned into a bank |
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| Carlisle Wharf |
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| Harley Davidson Store |
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| Marina |
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| Jolly Rogers Rum Boat |
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Shops on the wharf
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One place we found interesting was the local feed store and garden supply. Why, you may ask? Well they had crates of peeping week-old baby chicks for sale.
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| Crates of chicks for sale at the feed store |
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Baby chicks
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Sure reminded us of home. Talking to the vendor, he said this time of year, he will be able to sell up to 5000 chicks a week to the islanders. They cost about 50 cents each, and they are raised for egg laying and meat. The chicken feed of crumble or pellet was about half of what we pay at home.
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| The fish market |
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| Busy cleaning the fish |
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| A tub of flying fish |
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| Cleaning a dorado |
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| Fileted fish |
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| Scaling the small flyers |
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| Filleting takes all day |
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Sold to restaurants fresh daily
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We made our way back to the Marina Restaurant located at the footbridge over the small boat harbor.
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The Bridge House building
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Stairway to Marina Restaurant
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Marina Bar and Restaurant
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| Diners below us |
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| Well-stocked bar |
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Upstairs in the Marina
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| View of the marina |
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Balcony diners
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There was a great spot upstairs to sit on a balcony that overlooked this marina. Now the best part was that they served pizza, along with $2.00 beers. How good was that?
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| Daily menu |
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| OK......pizza |
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Ice cold Banks beer
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Our buddies Barb, Ellen and Aart were already sitting with their beers when we arrived. They had also ordered pizza, like us, but it looked like there was going to be a while before we got them.
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| Aart and Ellen |
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| There's Barbie |
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Here's to Barb!
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Buddies leaving the restaurant
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Down below us in the marina, were several fishing boats that offered tours to catch wahoo, marlin, dorado, barracuda, sailfish, tuna, and even shark. By the time we were into our second beers, one of the boats pulled into the berth below us with four guests who had caught a large barracuda.
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| A catch of barracuda |
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| She probably caught it |
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More fish
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One of the boat hands cleaned and fileted the fish within minutes. It appeared that he cut it into pieces, then bagged it up for the people to take with them. As he was dumping the fish guts into the water, a big green turtle came up to snatch the fish parts. We watched as the turtle surfaced every five minutes or so.
Finally, the margherita pizza arrived, and we were very pleased with it.
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Really good margherita pizza
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We figured that the six beers we had cost a little more than one beer we had in Singapore. Hard to believe, but true. The pizza was about $11 US, about what we would pay at home. They do not rush you in Barbados, since we had to wait a long time for the bill. Not a problem today, since all aboard time was at 5:30pm.
Taking our time, we walked back to the pier, checking out the shops in the terminal. Nothing jumped out at us in the way of more souveniers, well except for the extras large bars of chocolate candy.
But we really did not need those. We got back to the ship by 3:30pm, and worked downloading photos for the rest of the afternoon.
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| A truly fun rum boat tour |
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| Having lots of fun |
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| The rum will do it every time |
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| Pelican Craft Center |
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| Tree-lined beachfront |
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| Blackbird was singing |
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| A bar in the Pelican Center |
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| Crabs |
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| Crabs on rocks |
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| Barbados Hilton |
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| Nice way to spend a day |
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| Even better way to spend a day....on Jolly Rogers |
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| Amsterdam in view |
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| Cool sailboat |
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Pelican Center
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| Back to the pier |
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| Enter this way |
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| Cruise terminal |
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| Forever Christmas in Barbados |
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Cruise terminal
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The very windy sailaway party at the aft pool was jumping to the music of a local musician who played the steel drum to the beat of Caribbean music.
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Sailaway party
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| One steel drum player |
This was the first time on this entire trip that we saw folks dancing, and even doing a congo line to the lively and loud tunes.
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| Pier jetty |
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| Dropping the lines |
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| Leaving the dock |
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| A very nice private yacht |
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| Wonder who owns it? |
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| Leaving the pier |
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| Conveyor system |
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| Pier building |
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| Tugboat |
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| Room for several ships |
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| Small boat near a public beach |
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| Local vessels |
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| Pilot boat |
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Saying goodbye to Barbados
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Hope this sends the message to those involved with the music selections that we love something different. By the time the ship cleared the harbor, the sun went down and it was dark.
