Barbados was a repeat port. Last time we did a catamaran trip to a few snorkeling spots and had a fantastic day. So great that we almost just did the exact same trip again. But eventually we decided that we’d like to see a bit of the island and went with a tour company called Glory Tours. It was going to be a full day.
First stop Harrison’s Cave. I’ve been in many caves during my lifetime. At some point it usually involves crouching down and walking in a stooped position. Not this cave. This is a cave the likes I’ve never seen before. It’s huge! So big in fact that you don’t walk through it. They drive you through it in a tram. Some of the open areas are like 100 feet high (they told us the exact height but I don’t remember). It was filled with gorgeous stalactites and stalagmites which are constantly growing. The entire time we were in the cave it was drip, drip, drip, drip on our heads. At first it was kind of annoying but after a while I kind of got used to it.
After the cave we stopped for lunch. I was really looking forward to some flying fish and was told that’s what we’d be having. It’s the national dish of Barbados and very tasty. Alas, when we arrived at the lunch spot we were told they were out of flying fish and we were served kingfish instead. I’d never heard of it but it was quite tasty.
Next stop was the Wildlife Reserve. The main attraction there is the green monkeys. They are a pest on the island. Our guide said that for every monkey tail brought in a person can collect a $25 reward. Ick. Anyway, they’re super cute and not very friendly. They feed them pieces of coconut and surround the reserve area with bananas to draw them in. There’s also a very large walk through area with turtles, gators, snakes, birds, deer and other assorted creatures. The more we walked through there the bigger we realized it was. It’s a beautiful and very serene park that could not be adequately covered in the hour or so we had there. Time restraints are the drawback of this type of tour, of course.
Next stop was a snorkeling trip to see the turtles. We did this last time and enjoyed it so much we thought we’d like to do it again. We made a mistake and forgot G’s snorkeling raft –bummer—but were able to make do with her lifejacket, donut life preserver and goggles. It actually worked out pretty well! We saw TONS of turtles. I’m thinking at least a dozen, possibly more. I love the turtles! I mean I really do love them but there were so many surrounding me that a few times I had to push them away a bit. The boat captain fed them sardines which they must really like because they swarmed us. Awesome! We also snorkeled the shipwreck again which I think is a complete bore. The fish, although plentiful, are all silver and the wreck is kind of whatever with snorkel and mask. If I was to do the trip over I’d request double time at turtles, no shipwreck.
After that it was pretty late and we had to be getting back to the ship. Another great port day from which we were all completely pooped out. Seven port days in a row is a lot. Especially when you do them like us, commando style go, go, go!
The cave was amazing!
The green monkeys
Georgie really wanted to touch and reach toward the monkeys. I had to keep telling her over and over "these are not nice monkeys, they will bite".
G trying to swing like George of the Jungle on the vines :-)
The animal preserve was really pretty. G here with another of her creative poses :-)
This was a gorgeous beach. Although seriously beautiful it also had some obviously dangerous tides. Great photo stop.
Now this is a close encounter with a turtle!
G really enjoyed the turtles
At the shipwreck site we were surrounded by fish. G enjoyed feeding them crackers.
Tomorrow: St Kitts!
No comments:
Post a Comment