Barbados

I looked out my window this morning and was struck immediately by the differences in appearance of Barbados and St. Lucia, islands a mere 100 miles apart. St. Lucia was formed by volcanic eruptions and lava flows. It is mountainous and reaches more than 2,000 ft. above sea level. The water surrounding it was dark, sort of a midnight blue color. It's vegetation is green and lush, even now during the dry season.

Barbados, on the other hand, was formed by tectonic lifting and looked to me like a giant turtle shell, not mountainous at all. I believe its highest elevation is about 300 ft. above sea level. The water on the west side of the island looked in places like the beautiful green-blue you think of on Caribbean islands; the sand of the beach was white. The water on the Atlantic (east) side of the island did not have the same color, and that side of the island takes the brunt of the wind and waves coming off the Atlantic. Our tour took us in and around Bridgetown, and on both sides of the island. Although I saw lots of banana and coconut trees, and acres of sugar cane, there were places of dry tall grass that didn't look that different from home.

Because this was a Voyager Club shore event, we traveled as a group on two tour buses. Each bus had a tour guide on board. First stop was St. John's Parish Church, first built in the 1600's, the rebuilt in the mid 1800's, at a highpoint on the top of the island. From there we drove on to St. Nicholas Abbey, the oldest building on the island. It is a lovely house - never was an abbey! We saw several rooms decorated in period elegance and tasted rum punch made from the rum they make from sugar cane grown on the property, process in the original sugar mill (which the current owner revived after years of rust and decline), and distilled right there on the property. The surrounding gardens were lush with bougainvillea which loves the dry season. I noticed a hedge of the blue plumbago I've recently added to my own garden.

I was fascinated by the view from inside the house looking out through the windows to the gardens beyond.

The final stop of our tour took us to the Sandy Lane Hotel, the jewel of Caribbean hotels. While we enjoyed lunch in their open-air restaurant overlooking the beach and Caribbean sea beyond, we were visited by some very interesting characters who usually make appearances during the Carnival celebrations.

I wished my grandson could have seen what I would have to call "cheeky" monkeys. They were quite the acrobats, but definitely had the monkey expressions and curious behaviors. The award for most colorful would unquestionably go to the dancers.

Our tour guide mentioned that flying fish is a delicacy in Barbados. It has a light flavor and is very soft so it breaks apart easily. I tried it and liked is as much as I like any fish.