10 days in beautiful Barbados (with a 5-month-old and a 5-year-old)

It has been years since we took a vacation (sorry family, but coming home to visit doesn't count :) so this fall when we had time off together (thanks to Sweden for generous maternity/paternity leave) we decided to go for it. For years we have been saving our airline miles, and when we discovered that we could fly to the Caribbean (Tomas's dream) we started researching different islands. We wanted to go somewhere beautiful and interesting, and yet safe enough to be out exploring. Since we were traveling in potential hurricane season, we also wanted to find a place that was not so frequently hit by dangerous weather. We considered a few islands (including Aruba, but the airline connections from Minneapolis were horrendous) and eventually narrowed down our choice to Barbados.



As I write this in northwestern MN...

And by the way, writing this post on a cold, dreary, windy Minnesota November day feels positively surreal. Looking through these photos, it is both marvelous and sad that I can still feel the sun on my skin and the sand beneath my feet; I remember the hot, sticky air when we left the airplane when we first landed; I can hear the wind and rain during the occasional thunderstorm or shower; I can still hear the black birds and frogs that turned the otherwise quiet night into a chorus of sound. And after eating it nearly every day, I can still remember the taste of the flying fish cutter I ate (flying fish sandwich), and I can still vividly remember the faces of some of the ladies I chatted with only briefly on the local bus (as they chimed in to comment on our children).




Late afternoon rain clouds moving in over the ocean.

We ended up booking a trip for 10 nights in Barbados for the whole family, including our 5-year-old Yaminah and our 5-month-old (at the time), Leiah. Needless to say, traveling with children poses different challenges than when we used to travel together around Asia a lifetime ago when we were simply married, but without children (back when I carried a smaller purse, that was not yet full to the brim with baby toys, Crayons, and Disney fairies).

Barbados is one of many places that has problem with seaweed (sargassum) washing up on the beaches, so we spent a lot of time reading articles and blogs before we finally decided to stay on the west coast. All the reports we read said that seaweed was much less of a problem on the west coast, and when we were there we did not see any at all. It seemed that all of the island was quite developed, but the south coast has more hotels, restaurants, nightlife, etc, so we were happy with our choice to stay on the west coast. We stayed at the All Seasons Resort Europa in Holetown, which was a good budget alternative. It even had a kitchen so we could save money by having some meals in the room. Except for that we did see some signs for villa rentals and so on, but otherwise many hotels on the west coast were very exclusive indeed. The All Seasons is about a 10-minute walk to the local beach, but we soon discovered that we were happier taking a shuttle or local bus (more on that adventure soon) to other beaches. Many of the other hotel guests were return visitors; we spoke with one Canadian woman, now 76 years old, who was there for the eighth time!





Our porch at our hotel, All Seasons Resort Europa in Holetown.



 

Fall is the rainy season in Barbados, and most days we had some rain, yet only one of our days was completely dark and rainy. But even that day was not wasted, since Yaminah, seemingly completely unfazed by the pouring rain, still insisted on practicing swimming in the hotel's outdoor pool. Then when she went out to shower she nearly (literally) ran into a large monkey, which took one look at her and then quickly climbed up a nearby palm tree. "Monkey!!!" she yelled.

We LOVED our trip to Barbados, for many reasons. The island is small and accessible, and above all--it is gorgeous. The beaches on the west coast where we stayed were picture-perfect, and we spent hours at the beach (completely covered in sunscreen and UV-protective clothing for the girls, as the island is just about 13 degrees N of the equator). One favorite, that we returned to several times, is Mullins Beach. It is a nice stretch of pale-colored sand, and there is a beach restaurant and there are bathrooms and a little shop as well. Chairs and umbrellas are available for daily rentals (which we did, but the $20 USD for two felt quite steep!) But with baby Leiah needing to nap in the shade, it was money well-spent. To help keep her cool in the tropical heat we swam in the ocean before her nap and then let her sleep in the stroller (under a mosquito net) with wet clothes.

5-year-old Yaminah loved the beach!



Taking pictures of Leiah was a challenge... she wanted to eat all that delicious-looking sand. :)

 

Along with (obviously) loving the beaches, we simply loved the island for its people. Although we were unfortunately only able to spend a short time there, as always when I travel, I find it is the brief exchanges with local people (and fellow travelers as well) that form lasting impressions of a place. In this case, the Barbadians were warm and welcoming. The first time we bought fruit (pricey, but huge and delicious) from an elderly woman at a fruit stand she called "welcome to Barbados!" After that she greeted us every time we walked by: "Good afternoon, Tomas!"

 

Usually we got around the island by taking the local bus. Traffic is the one thing on the island that felt dangerous, but after a while we learned to cross streets better, etc. We were warned by the hotel manager to only take the blue, government-operated busses, so we did, except for once when we took a crazier, bright yellow, loud bus. And as fellow travelers and guidebooks alike had said, taking the local busses was a hoot. The bus costs $2 Barbados dollars per person, no matter how far you are going, and except for the fact that I was constantly confused as to which direction we were headed since Barbados has left-side traffic, taking the bus was not difficult at all. All you do is get on, greet the driver and ask him to stop wherever you plan on getting out--after which he may give a slight nod that he understood--(Mullins Beach, for example), put exact change into the box, and then sit down, hold on tight, and pray, as the bus careens around curves and bends and flies down the road. On several occasions women commented on our children. Once a lady asked about Leiah, who was dressed in a bright pink flowered outfit, "Is that a girl baby, or a boy baby?" Another lady held Leiah's hands on the trip and asked her in a gentle voice, in her local accent, "What do you think of all the different colored people you seeing? Well, you don't know about that yet, now do you... you will understand later." And yet another lady said, "She needs to cut her fingernails." :) The yellow busses are deemed more dangerous since their drivers are not paid a government salary, so they try to fill the busses to the brim. Our one ride on the yellow bus was fine, however; we waited for one to come that had seats available so I could sit with the children. Our yellow bus blared Elvis Presley music, and right under the "Do not talk with bus driver!" sign sat another elderly man and had an animated conversation the whole ride with the driver, all the while dancing in his seat and occasionally singing along with the music, with his seatbelt loosely over his chest for looks.

 

My brother David joined us in Barbados for a few days, which was great. He visited us twice when we lived in China, and of course several times to Sweden, so we have traveled together before. Together we rented a car and drove around the island for a day (Tomas did a good job driving on the left side of the road) and another day we booked a trip with a local man, Mark, to go snorkeling with sea turtles.

Dave and Leiah, his goddaughter

 



Our awesome guide, Rory, who helped Yaminah swim with turtles.





Snorkeling with beautiful sea turtles. I am the one with the life jacket under my arm since, even though I can swim just fine, snorkeling in deep water makes me nervous!



You can read about swimming with turtles, and find lots of tourist information, here: http://www.barbados.org/swimming-turtles-barbados.htm#.Vk3mIVWFPIU

First we drove north and stopped at Animal Flower Cave, and saw the beautiful, rugged area where the Atlantic and Caribbean meet. As the waves smashed up against the cliffs, I thought that it would be interesting to be there on a stormy day.

 

 

 

Then we headed inland, and it took a little longer than we thought to find places, simply because they came up so fast compared to what we expected on the map. But the island being as small as it is, we were never far from an ocean view! Everywhere we looked on the drive it was green, green, tropical, and green. We stopped at Orchid World, which was nice (especially because we spotted monkeys high up in the trees) but unfortunately, October-November was not a good time to see orchids since most were not in bloom. Then we continued to the wild east coast of the island where the beaches are expansive, yet completely devoid of people except surfers, due to the wild waves and dangerous currents (nearly all maps and guidebooks have clear warnings against swimming on the east coast). We then continued to the south coast, where beaches are very nice, yet more commercial (we felt), with more food options and hotels than on the west coast.

 

 

 

 

 

Shopping for fruit from a local man.

The coast at Bathsheba, seen from the road above.

 

The rugged east coast: here at Bathsheba, a lovely, very hilly town that seems to primarily attract surfers.



My favorite tropical flowers: frangipani, with the glorious scent.



Yaminah seeing a banana tree for the first time.

We also went to Bridgetown, the capital of Barbados, but we only visited a few times in the evening, unfortunately (partly because it was so hot during the day and we wanted more beach time). Bridgetown, with its garrison, is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, so it really was a shame that we did not see it more. (Next time!) We did walk through town some, and saw its harbor, including one evening when we were surprised that most shops were closed and we did not find a restaurant very easily. When a thunderstorm approached and it started pouring we ended up at the Waterfront Café, a nice restaurant along the water where we ate delicious fish and waited out the storm. As luck would have it, that restaurant had live jazz music that night so we stayed later than we originally anticipated, and the restaurant was quickly transformed, from having only us as their guests to filling up with fashionably-dresssed locals. Tomas was especially interested in hearing the steel drum. Another thing that everyone says is a must in Barbados is going down to the town of Oistins for the Friday night fish fry. Both Fridays we were there, however, we considered it and finally decided against making the trip, since it would require a one-hour bus ride (each way) on potentially very full busses, and in the evening, when the girls would be very tired from swimming. That's another thing that we said we need to do next time.

 

 



The Parliament in Bridgetown





This is actually a poisonous tree. Manchineel trees are all around the island and are poisonous to the touch, and warning signs--sometimes posted--warn people from standing under them during rain. Apparently, they are poisonous enough to cause blindness!

Here we bought coconut water, and then stopped for lunch from a man with a food truck (these were popular around the island). We ate fish, mahi mahi, and David also had pig's tail. Across the road there was a cricket game going on, and there I spotted the "Jesus is coming!" sign. Christianity seemed to be very important for the Barbadians--along with seeing churches all over (and encouraging signs along roads, saying things like, "Did you do your best today?") there was sometimes even gospel music playing in souvenir shops.

 

 

In closing, as I sit and write this, listening to the howling MN wind outside, the only thing that you really need to know is: it was a great vacation. 10 days sounded like a long time before we left, but, like all things, it was over in the blink of an eye and it is now only a memory. Thankfully, even though our tans will fade, the great memories will still remain. (Cheesy, but true, for why else do we do anything we do when time flies as fast as it inevitably does?)

 

If you are considering a Barbados vacation, after our experience, I do recommend staying on the west coast and then visiting the south coast like we did. However, if you crave more nightlife, you may want to consider the south coast and then go up west sometimes (such as by bus) to visit the gorgeous west coast beaches during the daytime.

 

Barbados is a very child-friendly country (except the traffic! But if you go with a baby, bring your car seat (free to bring and check on the flight) because you can at least use that if you rent a car and drive around the island. Otherwise, you will just be holding the baby on your lap--so hold on tight...) Barbadians were very welcoming and friendly, especially with the kids. Just bring along some activities in case of rain, and for entertaining themselves at restaurants.  

 

And now, for all of my friends in northern climes, stay warm! :)

 



If you love dishes and pottery, like I do, be sure to visit Earthworks Pottery.

The little shop/bar at Mullins Beach (there is also a proper restaurant).