The south end of the beach at Hua Hin, Thailand.
Where are Kevin and Ruth now? Hua Hin, Thailand.

Where are Kevin and Ruth going next? Maldives on March 23rd.

Saturday, October 28, 2017

Just another beautiful day in Barbados...

We wanted to do a little less walking yesterday, and we did. But we still managed 7.2 kms (4.5 miles). We headed down towards St. Lawrence Gap, and wanted to check out the Graeme Hall Nature Sanctuary along the way.

It's nice to walk along the beach on the way there, and then walk back along the road where there is a chance of some shade, at least on one side of the street.

We're doing quite well with regards to getting used to the hot sun. I had a very minor bit of red on the backs of my legs after the first day, and did not add to it yesterday. Ruth's shoulders got a bit red, despite putting #30 lotion on first thing in the morning. Not bad though... it'll turn brown pretty quickly. We wear our wide brimmed Tilley hats whenever we're outside. Of course it would be no fun getting a bad sunburn, and we've seen quite a few overly red visitors here already.

Worthing Beach.

Worthing Beach.

Worthing Beach.

We headed inland across the road to the Graeme Hall Nature Sanctuary. Unfortunately, the main part of it has been closed to the public since about 2010. Nobody seems to know why it's closed. But a passerby told us that you could still go in and see the lagoon.

There's a small coffee shop at the entrance, and it turns out that you have to buy something at the coffee shop in order to enter the grounds (the small section that is accessible).

And of course, the prices in the coffee shop are steep. Almost ridiculous, but if you consider that half of what you're paying is an "admission fee" of sorts, then you can almost justify it. Almost.

We each ordered a fruit smoothie, at $10 BBD ($6.60 CAD, $5 USD), and when she made it, we watched her put some shaved ice and fruit syrup into a blender. Nope, no fruit at all. :-(

It was more like a slushie.

Oh well. We went in and wandered around for five minutes and then sat and enjoyed the peace and quiet looking at the various birds flying about.

The photos actually make it look nicer than it was.

Lots of vegetation.

 Ruth, and our empty "fruit smoothie" cups.

This bird had chicken like feet so perhaps it's an Common Gallinule

Ruth thinks this is a Yellow-crowned night heron.

Ruth did a great job taking this photo! This is a Scaly-naped pigeon.

Ruth, doing some bird watching.

The lagoon.

Our spot in the shade.

Not much to do there because all of the trails are closed, but it wasn't bad just to sit and relax. So we sat for an hour in the shade and then went looking for somewhere to have some lunch. Because we were right on the coast, we weren't expecting to find much local fare.

But, as we were walking along one section, we saw some locals crowding around a small van. We wandered over, and the girl was selling lunch out of the back of her van. We asked her what she had, and we ended up with a takeaway beef stew and rice... a substantial portion, for $10 BBD ($6.50 CAD, $5.00 USD)... the same as what we had paid for our slushie earlier on!

Fishing boats in the small bay at the west entrance to St. Lawrence Gap.

Food truck beef stew! It was delicious and we were stuffed!

We sat here to eat our lunch.

So, two days here, and two delicious cheap lunches so far. Wouldn't hesitate to buy another meal off the back of a van!

We walked back to the apartment, and our feet were just about done. And it's sooo hot in the middle of the afternoon, it really takes it out of you. So, it felt about the right time to have a cold drink and some time in the pool!

Ruth, getting in the water.

And I even got in the water.

I don't get in the water very often, but I have to admit that it felt pretty good!

 My view from the pool!

Ruth made us a snack in the evening, and we invited our host Eric to come watch the World Series with us at a local sports bar, but he's neither a drinker or a baseball fan. He already had plans on watching a Friday night movie at home.

So we sat and had a couple of drinks and watched the game on the big screen until the 6th inning or so. Too tired! Walked back home, and right to bed.

Today's blog was late being posted because we were out of the house early this morning. But you can hear all about that tomorrow!

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Nice price drop on a stainless steel crock pot...


And in Canada...




12 comments:

  1. Sounds like you should take off in the mornings when it is cooler and then relax in the afternoons!- maybe even find a good book.

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    1. We would have to take off really, really early in the morning for it to be any cooler. We do try to relax a bit in the afternoon though.

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  2. Worthing Beach is so beautiful. From your pictures, it looks like you were able to put some space between you and the crowds. I never liked to go into Bridgetown unless necessary because once in a while the cruise ship crowd were in port, and I guess they think the only place to go on the island is Bridgetown. Since you two are heading to Mexico, you are now training in Barbados for the heat in the Mexican tropics. Too bad you were not able to bring a good pair of Nike sneakers with you for light hiking on level ground, but I know there is only so much room in carry-on luggage. I ended up throwing mine away before I left because they had been through hell and back with all the walking in rain, on the beach, sweat, constantly wet, and eventually odors. However, I got my money's worth out of them, and they were easy on the feet. In fact, I don't think I felt dry until I got back home, one constant sauna. Not complaining, I expected it.

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    1. Yes, most of the "crowds" are in Bridgetown and we have checked it out a couple of times but really there aren't too many people on the beaches, only where the bigger hotels and resorts are. We are looking forward to checking out the east side of the island though, apparently it is much quieter. There sure is a lot of traffic around where we are.

      Yes, it would be nice to have a light pair of sneakers but as you said we only have carry on so we only travel with our hikers and sandals for me and flip flops for Kevin although on this trip I also added a pair of flip flops. I have been walking mostly in my sandals which are Merrells and find them fairly comfortable but my feet still need to get used to them. Kevin switches around depending on how much walking we will do between his flip flops and his hikers. His flip flops are good quality but he needs to get his feet used to walking in them.

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  3. The water is lovely and it looks like you aren't having to fight crowds. Nice photos!

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    1. Th water is gorgeous to look at! No, not many crowds but if we are walking on the street there is a lot of traffic and all built up.

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  4. Make sure you get to see the monkeys! We stayed at The Sugar Cane Club (https://www.sugarcaneclub.com/) and they were a lot of fun to watch! Keep your eyes open when at the beach for turtles as well. Disfrutar!

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    1. We definitely want to see the monkey's and will head up to the top portion of the island sometime this week.

      We have already seen signs of turtles on the beach, we just need to get out there either real early in the morning or later at night. Who knows we may even decide to go swimming with them. :-)

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  5. Some very nice scenery there and your are enjoying some very nice warm weather.

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    1. It was nice scenery, a good place to just sit back and relax in the shade for a while.

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  6. Ruth is spot-on on her ID of the Yellow-Crowned Night Heron, but I think the first bird is likely a Common Gallinule. What do you think? (Definitely a Moorhen relative!) https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Common_Gallinule/id

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    Replies
    1. Thank you Emily, you are totally right. I still haven't got this bird identification down pat yet, I still learning! :-)

      I have made the correction in the post.

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