Welcome to Barbados! The second swim was here............!
Hal, Dorothy and me at North Point
And again - this time looking towards the Atlantic....
Bathsheba beach on the East Coast
Dorothy's home in St. Philip's where I am staying
The interior of St. Michael's Cathedral
St. Michael's Cathedral
The Fish Market in Bridgetown
Akkra Beach - swim number three!
Parliament Buildings, Bridgetown
After a very busy few days in the UK from the 1st of December, including my Dad's 70th birthday party in Mitton, I flew from Manchester to Bridgetown via Gatwick on Sunday December 6th. The eight hour flight passed very quickly and before we knew it we were circling Barbados with stunning views of Bridgetown and the resorts along the south coast. I couldn't believe how English it looked from from the sky - like the Isle of Man only sunnier!
Dorothy and her niece Vilma were waiting to meet me and in no time at all we had arrived at Dorothy's comfortable home in Atlantic Park, St. Philip's, which is only about ten to fifteen minutes from the airport.
Monday was a wonderfully lazy day with a brief swim at Dorothy's local cove - Sharks' Hole - where the waves were just too choppy to go very far.
On Tuesday Dorothy's nephew Hal took us both on a drive around the island. It was an excellent day getting a feel for the land and what there is to see. Barbados is 21 miles long by 14 miles wide so it is impossible to get lost for very long. We went up to North Point - the most northerly tip of the island. Two great contrasts stand out as a first impression:
- the south of the island is very developed while the north of the island is completely unexploited.
- the wild Atlantic (East) coast is very different to the calm waters of the Caribbean (West) Coast.
But it still feels very English!
Wednesday I came into Bridgetown on my own on the bus and spent the day sorting out my mobile, email, and flights to St. Lucia on the 31st. Attended Holy Communion at St. Michael's Cathedral; met a great guy called Julian in the mobile phone shop who insisted on buying me a beer at 11.30 in the morning; had a delicious flying fish sandwich at the Fish Market; walked along the new board walk to Akkra Beach and swam there. It was a good day.
Today Thursday I have come into Bridgetown again and spent a couple of hours at the Museum in the Parliament Building: the exhibition of Ten Heroes of Barbados is excellent and has helped me to understand the history much better.
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