Not a smooth start to the trip...

Well it wasn't a great travel day. But, we are safe and happy in our motorhome, and sometimes you just have to roll with the punches. Today will be a better day.

How about I start at the beginning...

We got up at a half decent hour, with the plan to be pulling out of our daughter's driveway by 10:00am at the very latest.

New dinette table for Sherman... and we're off!

Sherman has a new dinette table!

We've always hated our dinette table in the motorhome. It simply looked cheap.

Our son in law Justin is a wood craftsman. He's actually a trained cabinetmaker, and he builds the nicest furniture. But he's always so busy, so we hesitated to ask. We told him we would pay him to build us a table, and he agreed. So before we left for Barbados, we bought some (expensive!) Peruvian walnut hardwood at a wood specialty shop.

And while we were gone, we let him work his magic...

What did it cost for 19 days in Barbados?

We always find it an interesting exercise to go back over our trip costs when any particular voyage ends. Of course when someone goes on a typical package vacation, it's a lot easier to add things up. The typical one week all inclusive is especially easy because for the most part you know all of your costs up front.

But with us, you just never know until the end. Of course we try and do things as frugally as possible within reason. But when you travel to a relatively expensive country like Barbados, you're pretty much stuck spending whatever it costs. I mean after all, you still have to eat!

Back in Canada

But it's going to be a whirlwind visit, mostly just to say goodbye. We need to do some last minute shopping (maple syrup, among other things!) and then we're heading into the United States on Thursday morning.

Our travel day was fine yesterday. Everything happened exactly as planned.

October Expenses

There was so much going on in Barbados, we never got around to telling you about our month of October expenses. So I've got some time to waste here in Toronto airport waiting for our flight to Ottawa.

October was an expensive month. Mostly because of repairs and maintenance to Sherman, but also because we always seem to spend more money visiting Ottawa than when we're out traveling!

Barbados rough north coast

Our last day touring Barbados and we finally made it up to the rough north coast. Cliffs and caves and wind where the Atlantic Ocean crashes into the rocks.

Our couchsurfing host Eric was headed out anyhow, and he gave us a drive up to Archers Bay where we could then walk to Animal Flower Cave and the cliffs along the north coast.

Scenic flight around the island of Barbados

Our couchsurfing host Eric owns one of the very few private planes on the island of Barbados. He tries to fly it regularly, just to keep in practice. And, perhaps a small plane is something like an RV... using it regularly is better for it than letting it sit!

Yesterday was a beautiful day here on the island, so he offered to take us for a flight around the island, and we were quick to take him up on that!

Out for lunch

Just a coasting day yesterday. Nothing wrong with having a coasting day in Barbados!

We've been staying the last two weeks with a couchsurfing host. He's a single guy, about our age who is originally from the UK, but has been living here in Barbados for about 11 years.

It's not really "normal" to spend 19 days with just one host when you're couchsurfing.

Fun times at the Mount Gay Rum Tour

Think of Barbados, and the first thing that might come to mind is beaches. But to some, the first thing that comes to mind is rum! Because Barbados is home to the oldest manufacturer of rum in the world!

In fact, Mount Gay has been making rum in Barbados for over 300 years.

The ruins of Sam Lord's Castle

Interesting story behind this part of Barbados history.

Samuel Hall Lord was a wealthy Barbados pirate who lived in a castle like estate that was built in 1820. Legend has it that Sam Lord would hang lanterns in the trees of the estate to look like the port of Bridgetown to lure unsuspecting ships onto the reef. He would then plunder the ships of their treasures.

The "castle" has had several different owners over the years.

Disappointing trip to Harrison's Cave, Barbados

We like to visit caves when we're traveling, and we've been to quite a few. I don't think that we are cave snobs by any means, but we have been to the magical Kartchner Caverns in Arizona, and the huge Grutas de Garcia in Mexico. And we've done the wild cave tour in both Mammoth Cave, Kentucky and in South Africa. Among others.

So perhaps it is because of these past experiences that we were quite disappointed in Harrison's Cave.

140 feet under water!

It's not every day that you get to go on a submarine.

In fact, it's taken us 55 years to get to do something like this! Not that it's an exclusive club. In fact, more than 12 million people have taken one of the Atlantis Submarine Tours that operate at select tropical locations around the world.

And we had heard that it's a really great experience, so we decided to go for it!

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!

Go Karting at 50 mph at Bushy Park Racetrack, Barbados

Well yesterday was another fun day!

I love go-karts. And when you get a chance to drive a really fast one, it's a big thrill for me.

The Bushy Park Go Karts in Barbados has go-karts that get up to 80 km/h (50 mph) on the straightaways. When you're only sitting an inch off the ground, that's fast!

Second impressions

Wow, we're already more than half way through our nineteen day trip to Barbados. Only eight days to go and we'll be back in chilly Canada! We notice that November weather is in full swing across most of the great white north.

When we arrived here on October 25th, our first impressions comment was... The people are friendly. It's not as "modern" as I expected it to be, but we haven't seen very much of it yet. Eric says "it'll look really nice when it's finished". We can't figure out how the locals survive given the cost of food.

Now that we've been here for a week and a half, we'll give you our updated impressions...

A blast on the Jammin' Barbados Catamaran Snorkeling Cruise

Up early yesterday morning and it was pouring rain! But fortunately, the rain stopped by the time we were outside. We hopped on one of the small minibuses for the short ride to Bridgetown.

Jammin Catamaran Cruise Barbados leaves from the very first dock at the entrance to the south side of the river port at Bridgetown. Because we had never been there, we left ourselves lots of time to find the right dock... we didn't want to be late for the fun and games!

Finally, a relaxing beach day...

This was supposed to be a relaxing vacation. You know, as opposed to our typical travel lifestyle! But we can't help ourselves... there is too much to see and do! I can't remember who it was, but somebody had mentioned that they thought we might get bored with 19 days in Barbados.

Nope.

Made it back home in the dark...

We hopped on a bus yesterday morning to go check out some more of the island. This time, we were headed to Holetown, which is the site of the first English settlement on the island that began in 1627.

It's also the location of Barbados oldest church.

Sandals Resort, Barbados

Just for something to do, we went and checked out the Sandals Resort in Barbados yesterday.

Sandals is a luxury all inclusive chain for couples only. We have personal experience with Sandals Resorts, having stayed for a week at one in Antigua back in 1993. Of course, they are also very expensive.

But, you sometimes get what you pay for, and at Sandals you get treated like royalty.

Day trip to Barbados east coast

We got out of the apartment fairly early yesterday morning, and waited by the side of the road for a ZR van to come by. These minibuses typically hold about 16 people, although you'll often see them stuffed a little more full than that. (The term ZR is derived from the licence plate code assigned to these vehicles.) They travel the busy roads, and competition is fierce as one competes with another for your business.

As expected, we didn't have to wait long!

Barbados steel pan drum band and new friends!

We had received an interesting email about a month ago. All it said was "Sundays..Southern Palms Hotel, St Lawrence Gap....noon till three.....Steel Pan Band.....rum punch our treat.   We hope to meet you.   Have been following you for quite awhile.  You will love Barbados."

No names mentioned! Who are these people? But, they did mention rum punch! Sounded like fun, and it was located only a 40 minute walk from the apartment.

Not everything in Barbados is beautiful...

Yesterday's blog post was late because our host Eric was going out to do some shopping and wanted to get there early. We went with him so that he could drop us off at the big Saturday market in Bridgetown and we would walk back to the apartment.

He was headed to the big PriceSmart (the Caribbean Costco) store so we went there first to check out prices since he has a membership card.

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.