The second island that we stopped at was Barbados and after the day at sea we were ready to explore! Barbados is a sovereign island country in the lesser Antilles and is 167 square miles. The island is only 21 miles long and 14 miles wide so we decided to rent a car and explore the island on our own. Barbados is a commonwealth of Britain and that means that they sit on the opposite side while driving. They also drive on the opposite side of the road from what we do and since we rented a car, this made things very interesting. During our 8 hours on the island, we seen a lot of Barbados which included beautiful views and rich culture. I really enjoyed Barbados, in the fact that it was the first place that we have been to that was somewhat different from the United States.
Welcome to Barbados!!!The ship docked in Bridgetown, which is the capital of Barbados. I booked a rental car about a week in advance through Courtesy Rent -A-Car, it is located at the port. You pay $10 for a temporary Barbados driver’s license, fill out some paperwork, and they hand you the keys. I would highly recommend renting a GPS from the rental car company because the roads are very confusing on a paper map. Through Verizon, we had very little data to use internationally and could not access maps on our phones to help with directions. Pictured here was our first challenge because everything, as you can see, is backwards.This is located right outside of Bridgetown. The streets put me in the mind of the back roads of Tennessee because there are no yellow or white lines and very few road signs.After driving around in Bridgetown, we decided to make our way up the west coast of the island to Holetown. This is a small town located in Saint James Parish, and it was the only town in Barbados until 1629. The name Holetown came from the small channel located within the vicinity of the town, this is where the loading and cleaning of ships took place.One of the most well-known places in Holetown is the Chattel Village. It is a collection of shops that are painted different colors. Something you will need to known when shopping in Barbados is that they use the Barbadian dollar, therefore when they tell you a total you have to ask US or Barbadian dollar. The conversion rate is on average 1 US dollar equals 2 Barbadian dollars. For Example, the rental car total was $220 Barbadian dollars or $110 US dollars.Strolling through Chattel Village in Holetown, we came upon this unique tree that is called The Cannon Ball Tree. The name comes from its cannon ball looking flowers that are either orange, scarlet, or pink in color. The flowers form in bunches that produce large spherical fruits and contain up to 300 seeds each.This is called a moke and is a very popular vehicle in Barbados. It has no doors, a removable soft top, and can hold up to four people. We, however, did not rent a Moke while we were in Barbados, we rented a Hyundai car.As we left Holetown, we continued driving up the west coast to the next small town. On the way, we saw many different types of housing. This one in particular caught our eye.The next town we came upon was Speightstown, located in the north west part of Barbados. This is the second largest town on the island and is named after William Speight, the former owner of the land.On our way to North Point we seen one of many workers in the fields.Another difference that we noticed was that they tie their animals to stakes instead of fencing them in. This could be a cow, a goat, or a horse. They move the stake to a new location after the animal eats the grass in the current location.The most northern point of Barbados is known as North Point. This area has one of the most well-known caves on the island called the Animal Flower Cave.Cherry Tree Hill is located just beyond St. Nicholas Abbey on the north-east side of the island and the drive was absolutely gorgeous. This is one of the most photographed areas on the island. The rumor is that the name originates from a large number of cherry trees that once existed on this hill.This is the top of Cherry Tree Hill. It is 850 feet above sea level and you can see the “Scotland District” and the longest beach on the island. This breath-taking view is a must-see while in Barbados!At the top of Cherry Tree Hill there are a few vendors set up selling local items. One guy cut off a piece of sugar cane for us to try, as you can see here, he wasn’t crazy about it.This is going back down the other side of Cherry Tree Hill. The road you see here is how most of the roads look in Barbados.Morgan-Lewis Windmill is located in the “Scotland District” in the north-eastern part of the island. This is the last operating sugar windmill in Barbados. It is one of only two working sugar windmills in the world. It operates one Sunday in each month, February through July, grinding cane to provide sugar cane juice. The mill stopped operating in 1947 and in 1962 was given to the Barbados National Trust.This is a view while driving down the east coast.St John’s Parish Church is located on the eastern side of Barbados was built in 1836, it is the fifth version of St. John’s Parish Church due to fires or hurricanes. The original church was built in 1645.This church has Gothic inspired architecture and one of the more popular attractions in Barbados.The Chancel was added forty years after the last reconstruction and the stained class windows were added in 1907. Mass is still held at this church on Sundays.This beautiful and elaborately carved pulpit contains six different types of wood, which are, ebony, locust, Barbados mahogany, manchineel, pine and oak.Located behind the church is a graveyard and beautiful views of St John’s Parish.This is one of the views from St. John’s Parish Church.Located in the cemetery behind the church is the grave of Ferdinando Paleologus. He is the last descendant of the brother of Constantine. He fled to Barbados after the Battle of Naseby where his family was driven from the throne, He was actually the warden of St. John’s Parish and died in 1678.One of the graves in the cemetery behind the church.This brass sundial is located in the cemetery behind the church and can still be used to gauge time. It is one of the only two intact sundials in Barbados.This is the beautiful view from the sundial where you can see the Atlantic Ocean and the Bathsheba Coastline.A view from the driver’s seat as we were leaving St. John’s Parish Church.A mural that we came upon while driving around in Bridgetown.Another mural while driving in Bridgetown.Chris pulled over at a random restaurant on the side of the road in Bridgetown called Paradise Pizza. This is where he and mom ate the infamous flying fish sandwich. This is a type of fish that likes to migrate in warm water therefore, Barbados is known as the land of flying fish and has even made it the island’s national symbol.We stopped at Dover Beach which is located on the southern coast of the island.The kids loved putting their feet in the ocean in at Dover Beach. The water was not as clear as it was at the other islands which was a surprise to us.A beautiful view while driving back to port.
