Barbados! Cheap Spices and Beautiful Beaches
Written: Feb 22 '02 (Updated Feb 23 '02)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: PLENTY of taxis available. CHEAP spices! BEAUTIFUL beaches!
Cons: A little too developed.
The Bottom Line: Breathtakingly BEAUTIFUL beaches, cheap spices, good deals on liquor.
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| remnjava's Full Review: Barbados |
"HEY! Do you want a tour?" "Here! Let me take you on a tour!" No, thanks, we just want a ride into town which can be had for $1-2. Cab drivers were almost tripping over themselves to get your attention to take you on a tour.
Shopping, downtown, t-shirts
The downtown shopping area of Bridgetown looks much like the downtown area of the USA in the 1950s. The buildings are rather simple and two story for the most part. The streets are somewhat narrow, despite the main street being four lanes. The downtown is in good repair, and the residents look well dressed with a place to go. Our cab driver told us that they have some of the best drinking water in the Caribbean, the coral helping to filter the water. (Don't touch bright red coral. Coral are living animals. The bright red is fire coral and will burn you.)
We were somewhat disappointed in the downtown area, wanting to get bargains from the tents which were so prominent on the other islands we visited. We found a tshirt shop with $8 and up tshirts, the cheapest we were to find. Some of the shops had knickknacks and other souvenirs. Other shops included items that locals would most likely buy themselves. The tourists were definitely outnumbered downtown by the locals.
The t-shirts are made on Barbados and the cotton is grown locally, so it is more expensive, when you would think it would be less expensive, since it wouldn't need to be imported. At least this is what one shop lady told us.
Beer
The same with their beer and rum, it is made locally.
I can't speak about all the beer, just the local beer, Banks. The hops and malt are imported. The varieties include Banks Draft, Banks Tiger Malt, Banks Twist Shandy, Banks Plus, Banks Light, Fruesta and Banks Stallion. More on the beer, later.
http://www.banksbeer.com/index.cfm?faction=products
The only thing that really differentiated their downtown from ours was the presence of carts of fruit on the side streets. GEE I wish I had stopped there. Other folks enjoy trying things like rattlesnake and buffalo. I enjoy trying fruits and vegetables I haven't tried before.
We just weren't finding the bargains that we were looking for, so we decided to go back to our ship, have lunch, and go out again in the afternoon to the beach.
DA BEACH!
My husband is a beach person; he enjoys just lying around and tanning. I'd rather be a LITTLE more active. I'm not exactly athletic, but I'd rather be doing SOMETHING. Anyway, the beach on Carlisle Bay is breathtakingly BEAUTIFUL! It is a short drive past the downtown area, and very possibly walkable from downtown. It may be all of 3-5 miles from where our ship docked, and a $5 taxi ride. We could see our ship in the distance.
The water is picture perfect, everything you have been lead to believe in the travel brochures, as are most of the waters in the Caribbean. The sand is fine and white. The beach is CLEAN, with an occasional wayward plastic drinking cup. As the small, gentle waves break onto the shore, a flurry of sand is carried up with them. The sand will cling to your legs, etc. Someone suggested that this sand is the kind that is put into hourglasses and minute timers.
We waded onto the waters and saw an occasional fish swimming around, but I don't think we were in the best place to see fish. I REALLY wanted to go snorkling. I asked at the desk of the Carlisle Hotel how much snorkeling equipment would be. They said $10 and they would take you out to the waters on a boat and let you snorkel for 15 minutes. Hmmm, I think I would have wanted to be out longer than 10 minutes, and should have rented the STOOPID snorkeling equipment from our ship, instead of scrimping to save a few lousy bucks. How often will we be here?
Party with the Jolly Roger!
Partying and getting drunk isn't exactly my style, perhaps 20 + years ago, but not now. If you want to party, this is the place to be. There is a four hour cruise, just off the coast, that will beg you to crawl back to your ship or room. It is said that some folks have taken a wheelchair back to their room, they have enjoyed themselves so much. We even passed the boat walking back to our ship, everyone aboard engaged in joyful song.
http://tallshipscruises.com/jollyroger/
Jet Ski, Glass-Bottom Boat
Ever been on a jet ski? Ever want to be on one? This is your chance. There is a gentleman on a jet ski, hawking his rides. I cannot say if they are insured, bonafied, etc., but they are there. There is also a glass-bottomed boat for your sea life enjoyment.
Let Me Try This on Your Neck, Pretty Lady!
There is at least one gentleman who is selling beaded necklaces, or whatever the popular name is for guys who wear them. As well, there is a person selling hats woven from palm leafs, which he claims travel well and resist crushing. Coconut shell crafts are available here, too.
The Surf, Meeting Folks
We just mainly waded in the water, watching the pelicans dive into the water and so skillfully catch their meals. The first time I saw a pelican I was in Puerto Rico many years ago and thought a bird had fallen to its death, it had descended with such force! As well, there are birds with wings shaped like sloping, symmetrical "v"s. I have tried to find the names of them, without success. They have white wings, edged in black, similar to killer whale coloration, however the sea is SO reflective, the wings appear to be a BEAUTIFUL Caribbean ocean BLUE! It took a while to realize this was a possibility. We saw a huge ship with its door overhanging the sea. The white door picked up the color of the sea, just as the white on the bird's wings had. Intriguing!
On the beach, we met this one gal from New Yawk. She asked if there were any sharks in the waters. I replied, "Who knows?!" which is the truth. Probably not, unlikely, but you never know. Unfortunately, this must have been one of her phobias, as she didn't return to the water. In fact, some very adventurous folks actually WANT to swim with sharks and there is video available of sharks ignoring their human companions.
Drinks were about $6 so we abstained. Although lounge chairs were available for rent from the hotel, we chose to use the beach blankets we brought along. I fell asleep on my stomach on the beach. Fortunately, my husband woke me up to share a beverage. Good thing, I was beginning to closely resemble a lobster!
As well, we met up with our dinner companions, Margie and Todd, a VERY YOUNG spirited couple who were celebrating their 30th wedding anniversary. They mentioned they had a cab coming back for them at 2:30 pm. We decided to go back with them, as our ship left an hour later. The taxi held about 6-8 people, as another couple joined us on the way back to the port.
More Shopping
One of the places we enjoyed shopping was about 1/2 mile outside the checkpoint from the dock. We did find a tent to shop at, several others being close to the dock terminal, but we felt she was cheaper.
She was a nice lady, who made deals with us. We bought a medium sized conch, a t-shirt, and a canvas book bag for our neighbor who watched our canines, for a total of $15.00. She even threw in a FREE Banks Beer! Try THAT in the States! We came back for a second shopping trip here, my husband getting a brown palm tree laden shirt, with "Barbados" written on it.
We walked back to our boat from her tent. We had to pass through an outdoor checkpoint. All we had to do was flash our ID card from our cruise ship, it was dark blue and very obvious what it was. We walked along the seaside, on a concrete walkway. Watch your step, some of the concrete is broken and may wobble as you step upon it.
Cheap Spices
As well, there was a nice, clean, modern looking mall you pass through to get to your ship. Postcard stamps are available here for 25 cents, U.S.* Bargains abounded here. Do you use cinnamon sticks in your cooking? How much do you pay for them? I paid $3 for about 15 cinnamon sticks! Not the $7 one company wants for about 4 of them in the grocery store. As well, we purchased about 15 whole nutmegs for the same price, $3. Approximately 8 ounce bottles of vanilla were available for $3, I believe. I wasn't sure if it was pure or imitation. I didn't see the word, "imitation" on the bottle, but I wasn't wearing my glasses. Other spices and souvenirs were available, too, but these were the ones that caught my eye. I asked the cashier if these could be brought back to the U.S. She said "yes." I confirmed this with the Information Desk on the ship. She said they could be bought back, as long as they were sealed, which they were, in a cellophane bag.
Now I just LOVE to sit at my computer and munch on bits and pieces of crushed cinnamon sticks! They are completely crunchable and you can eat the whole thing!
Here, Try Some Booze!
At the terminal, there were various freestanding booths, where you could sample the various rum based beverages. I had two favorites, two of them having a creamy base, one sold for $5 for about an 8 ounce bottle, or $4 if you buy more than one bottle. The other beverage, the one that we purchased, was about $7 for a 750 ml bottle, "Crisma." Either one is GREAT when poured over an ice cube or two. Picture this on a hot summer day! My third favorite was a coconut flavored rum product, "Malibu", a white rum with coconut. About 1 litre sold for about $8.50 U.S. Barbados used dollars, too, but THEIR dollars. I had no problems using my debit card there. $8.50 U.S. would equal about $17 or $22. There are 3 prices listed on the label, and the U.S. price of $8.50 is the cheapest.
Check with your airlines or cruise company. I believe each person can bring back 6 litres of alcoholic beverages, if at least 5 of them are purchased at St. Thomas. This wasn't our first concern, so I didn't pay close attention.
Rum Cake
One of the highly sought after souvenirs on this island is the rum cake. Flavors, such as chocolate, coconut, coffee are available. In port, you could get sample variety packs,
or 4" cakes starting at about $4, which makes a nice gift for someone back home. They are VERY tasty and MOIST, not overpowering.
http://www.tortugarums.com/rumcakes/index.cfm?&DS_ID=2&DID=7
All in all, we enjoyed being in Barbados, although I felt it was perhaps a little too modern for me. If I wanted to be in a place that looked like the U.S., I would stay here. This was my husband's favorite island. I hope I have given you a glimpse of our brief stay on this island paradise. And when I started this review, I was wondering what I was going to say!
*Be aware. We gave our ship money to buy stamps for, and mail our 4 postcards back to the States. We let the ship mail them. They were postmarked on February 11! 10 days after we left port! Our ship had already made the trip the second time and should have been in dry dock at that point.
Recommended:
Yes
Best Suited For: Couples
Best Time to Travel Here: Dec - Feb
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remnjava
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