Woke up bright and early to get off the ship by 9AM for a private tour. I’m not gonna lie…I was pretty tired and briefly considered just bailing on the day as there were reports of a storm anyway coming today, but boy am I glad I didn’t!
Wasn’t terribly windy this morning as evidenced by the Barbados flag from our mast, but still humid as ever.
Tour Pickup and Start
Walked out of the pier, which was actually a little bit of a hike today, through the dock / industrial area and some shops. Followed the signs for tours but eventually pulled up my email and found where I was supposed to go and Ahmed was there waiting for me with a sign with my name on it (I’ll never get used to that…)
We began the tour in the city and Ahmed asked me what I wanted to see since it was all customizable. I told him I had done 0 research and whatever we see, we see and whatever we don’t, no regrets…so he didn’t have a ton to go on….but boy did he deliver.
One thing I noticed immediately was the driving on the left side of the road, with the steering wheel on the right side of the car, as well as the use of horns everywhere. Different from the states though, honking the horn is not really for alerting (although it can be used for that too), but was more used to say hi to each other, almost like giving a very verbal nod. The minnesota nice in me was cringing everytime the horn honked, but I quickly got used to it as the day went on.
We ended up covering half the island, going up north and coming back down the coast.
City Highlights
We saw a bunch in the city right off the bat. We saw the national heroes square proceeded by a bridge that we had great timing with and got to watch the operator raise it for a boat and put it back down….all done in about 3 minutes (plus 3 minutes waiting for the tourists who didn’t know how to drive the boat get it started and pass the bridge).
Stopped by a lovely beach as well and got see some nice white sand.
We then continued on to our one stop that needed a reservation (Harrison Caves Eco-Adventure Park).
Harrison Caves Eco-Adventure Park
This place is super interesting in its attempt and potential. I’ve been to a lot of caves in the states so that was my frame of reference, but the whole area has been built up not just around the caves but with an aviary, a zip line and some more attractions on the way (that weren’t available to me today).
Caves
The caves themselves were interesting. A tram takes you down and back with some pretty limited time walking around two main caverns. They have things lit pretty interestingly as you drive up to it, and turning out the lights and seeing nothing in absolute darkness is always fun. There was even a formation that appears to be of a proposal with a man down on one knee.
The Rest of the Park
The rest of the park is ziplining and some other areas like a pool and food stands. The people are all super friendly and pretty fun…one guy really wanted his picture taken…
Lots of trails and vegetation as well…as well as an obligatory “why did the rooster cross the sidewalk” quip…there’s chickens literally everywhere on the island…
Hunte’s Gardens
Next we went to a smaller botanical garden, and by small I mean that it was more compact. Lots of trails in and out of trees and up and down. Lots of birds chirping and overall a really nice shaded area that was very peaceful…also lots of places to sit and relax if one wanted to. I got a kick out of some of the really tiny birds.
If you have time, would highly recommend this stop. There were maybe 5 people in the gardens the whole time I was there.
Lunch at Sand Dunes
Words can’t describe how good lunch was. We got to pick a starch and a meat, and I chose the macaroni pie and lamb, and Ahmed had the chow mein and lamb. Came with a salad and a potato salad (with sweet corn that was so delish as well).
The lamb was done so well, meat fell off the bone and the honey bbq sauce was absolutely delish. Had a soda as well that was absolutely delightful (apparently you can get it on amazon shipped home as well), and finally capped it off with a VERY good cheesecake.
Scenic Drive and Spots
We drove all over and saw many interesting stops along the way. Gorgeous panoramic views over the island and ocean.
Monkeys!
We finally saw some monkeys (apparently they’re everywhere, and to the locals….they’re probably equivalent to how I feel about deer and squirrels back home).
BUT, we got to see some playing and chasing each other and boy can they jump and leap. I definitely see myself and Nate in these two particular money’s that were messing around…you know what they say…it’s all fun and games till someone bites the other.
Coastal Scenes
Finally we ended with our last stop overlooking some fantastic ocean shoreline and we watched the waves crash over the shore for quite awhile.
I’d love just spending a couple hours (or the whole day) just listening to the waves.
Heading Back
We ended up trying one last stop at a Starbucks to get a Barbados mug and lucky me, I got the very last one on the shelf again. I’m sure my luck will run out sometime.
Stopped also by Rihanna’s childhood home, but I feel weird taking pics of other people’s houses so I didn’t.
We made it back to port and bid adieu. I super enjoyed my time with Ahmed and if you ever had the opportunity, highly recommend taking a tour with him. He’s so knowledgeable and knows so many people on the island, really a different experience traveling with him.
Back on Ship
Got back and started to relax and cool down (it was a VERY humid day). Caught the sunset and the moon (later in the night), but sandwiched that with some time in the pub multitasking with sports and photos.
Food
Dinner was pretty good. Zucchini Fries, Seafood Linguini and Teriyaki Salmon with the staple cheesecake for dessert.
Vibe Check
5 parts joy — an excellent day
Feedback
Leave a comment or question if you have any thoughts! Anything you want to know about as we go around the world? Any things you want to share as feedback, or any images that particularly spoke to you. I’ll try to read all of them as time permits!
Matti 
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