BRIDGETOWN, BARBADOS
Today, we arrived at our penultimate Caribbean port, Bridgetown, in Barbados. I have to say that, since we were the only ship in, the port has never looked so quiet. Almost spookily so.
We had originally planned for this to be another beach day but instead we changed our minds in favour of a walk. But where to walk to?
After consulting our trusty Maps.Me app, we decided a walk to the National Botanical Gardens looked promising. It would be a good hours hike and it was hot out there. After a leisurely breakfast we gathered out stuff together and headed for the gangway.
The port terminal is usually bustling, to the point of bursting, with cruise ship passengers. Today, however, it felt almost post-apocalyptic, with many of the shops not bothering to open at all, and just a handful of crew hanging around making use of the free wi-fi.
Once free of the port and the taxi drivers trying to grab out attention, we made our way along the app’s recommended route, which led us through suburbs that were both fascinating and enlightening in equal measure. I love it – it gives us an opportunity to get a small flavour of what it must be like to actually live here, away from the more popular tourist locations.
Along the way, we paused at a small park to get some shade and a breather, then bought some food from a local, nearby convenience store. When we finally arrived at the gardens we found a picnic table where we could realx and eat our lunch of Pringles and biscuits (don’t judge us…) whilst enjoying the views across the park. What to say about the park, though? To be honest – and without meaning to be rude about it at all – it looked more like a massive golf course than a botanical garden, but without the holes or golfers… or in fact any people at all. It was pleasant enough to stroll through, but we just kept wondering at which point the ‘botanical’ element was going to kick in. It didn’t. I imagine it probably gets busy with locals at the weekend, in the same way that any open space is likely to do when the weather is nice (and it’s almost always nice in Barbados), but it didn’t really live up to what we’d expected of it, such are the loose definitions of ‘National’ and ‘Botanical’ it would seem.
There were a few small monuments along the way (which were little more than plaques, really) and what was described as an amphitheatre, but was little more than a large, open-sided marquee which looked like it is probably used for concerts and other local gatherings. Other than that, we exhausted the park’s virtues very quickly, and were soon on our way back towards the port.
Most of our return journey followed a busy main road, but we did take a slight diversion to look at a large cemetery, which was also a good spot for one last breather before the final push back to the ship. We also passed the Kensington Oval Cricket Ground… Barbadians do like their cricket.
Tomorrow will be Christmas Eve, and our final Caribbean port, Castries in St. Lucia, before being back at sea and back at work. Unsurprisingly, we’re thinking ‘Beach Day’ for that one…
