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.

Monday, November 6, 2017

Another hike to Barbados wild east coast

When we departed from the Bushy Park Racetrack yesterday, it was around 11:30am. In true Kevin and Ruth fashion, we decided that we could walk the 16 kms (10 miles) in the 30C (86F) heat through sugar cane fields and muddy coastal trails to Bathsheba where we could catch the bus back to Bridgetown.

We had lots of water, and a few snacks with us... so we set off. Worse case scenario on a small island, is that you are never far away from an alternate method of travel should you decide you have had enough!

Leading right from the side of the racetrack was the old railway trail. But it's not maintained at all and it's obviously not used very often either, especially at this time of year. Except by crazy Canadians...

It started off good....

But it is, after all, rainy season.

So some parts are a little waterlogged!

Finally, made it to a paved road!

We had been walking for about an hour, when we came to a green space. I noticed the nice trees and freshly cut grass. Then, I spotted two picnic tables! We had just been talking about finding somewhere to stop for lunch!

Picnic tables in the shade. Yay!

Having lunch!

Next stop was St. Mark's Church. It was listed on my maps.me app as a viewpoint, and it sure was!

In fact, it was worthy of a video...


Here are some still shots of the view...

Barbados east coast.

Ruth, and the view from St. Mark's Church.

Typical local Barbados home.

Hiking in the coastal jungle!

 This had a train running through it 80 years ago!

Thick, green vegetation.

How many more years before this big rock topples over?

Local fishermen.

The east coast is so different from the busy built up west coast.

We made it to the Bay Tavern in Martin's Bay. We had about 3.5 kms to go, and we saw a woman waiting for a bus. We had pretty much had enough! We asked her if the bus was coming soon, and she said yes. We decided to call it quits and we waited for the bus with her!

Turns out that we had done 13.5 kms (8.4 miles) in about four hours. A good hike, and great exercise with pretty scenery.

Took the half hour bus ride back to Bridgetown, and then a ZR van back to the apartment. Made it home before dark! Boy, did we sleep well last night!

Stay tuned for tomorrow morning's blog post when we go 141 feet below the ocean's surface in our first submarine ride!

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Need a new grill for the back patio? Now is your chance... normally sells for over$400!


And in Canada...





14 comments:

  1. Replies
    1. Thanks! It was a hot and humid hike but definitely worth it for the views.

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  2. This may sound like a funny comment, but checking the weather there it seems pretty humid, normal I guess for an island :)

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    1. It is very humid... we're not used to it having spent five months in very dry Saskatchewan! Doesn't take very much exertion and we're dripping in sweat!

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    2. Kevin, you and Ruth surprisingly are doing quite well in the Barbados environment. We were there with friends from Wisconsin, and two of them almost had heat stroke from not increasing their water intake (no problem with increasing their beer intake. Ha!). They also had a problem with packing in too many sun-filled activities each day. You two have done a good job of pacing yourself in the heat and not over-doing the alcohol which dehydrates the body.

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    3. Yes, Dee we do seem to be faring well but we definitely feel the heat. We make sure we have lots of water with us when we are hiking and even on this hike we ran out just before the little community of Martins Bay but we knew that there was a place to buy more which we did. Definitely no alcohol for us while we are hiking, at the end of the hike yes but not during the hike.

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  3. Glad you liked my "church". That rock was the same back in the 80's. Have you been to Stewart Hill yet? We had an adventure finding Bathsheba in a Moke back in the day....lol

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    1. Loved the view from "your" church Mark! :-)

      No, we haven't been to Stewart Hill yet, it is a little more inland and we haven't hit that area yet. Seems like Barbados is meant for you!

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  4. Wow....talk about flashbacks! In re: "typical house". Few yrs ago, we rode around island, visited plantation home, sugar cane fields, other "typical" places & came to this spot. It is near where 2 roads intersect. Remember, wanting to pick big avocados from the tree, by intersection, as we stopped at stop sign! LOVE the porch roof trim on "typical" house. It was 1 of ways I recognized EXACTLY where you were in Barbados! Keep having great time, you've both earned it! You'll be ready for coastal humidity in Mexico!

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    Replies
    1. Too funny that we saw the same house that you did, although we have seen that happen to us on someone else's blog before!

      We are having a great time. There really is so much to see and do and there is just no way that we will get to it all. Looking forward to getting in another hike or two before we go though. Really need to get ourselves up to the north end of the island as well.

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  5. Very long hike but that view from the Church was worth it! You guys are such diehards!

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    1. Several of the views that we had along the east coast on this hike made it worth it not just from the church! :-)

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  6. The houses are designed to be movable. Basically they are panelized. In the past if you changed jobs, you would move your entire house, foundation included, to the new place. That is why the additions are so obvious as they are intended to be removable as well. Or so we were told!

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    Replies
    1. That makes sense! I wondered why they were built off the ground and on blocks.

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