Tonight I am guest Editor on the Caribbean Blog. Today is very special day as we meet up with our dear friends, Peter and Maria who are spending three weeks in Barbados. As this is a turnaround port the ship arrives alongside early in the morning - certainly before we are awake. 85% of the ship are leaving but we are among the lucky 15% who continue to Sint Maarten. We disembark at 08:45 in search of our hire car. Not as straightforward as one would hope but we eventually ascertain that if we stand on the roundabout outside the terminal the agent from the car hire company eventually appears. Once the formalities are completed we set off along the southern seaboard to find our friends. After one or two errors in navigation, we arrive at their hotel - funny to find our friends thousands of miles away from home.
We set off in-land towards our first port of call, the Sunbury Plantation House, an 18th century Plantation House that has recently been restored. It’s quite a revelation and a fascinating incite into the history of the area and the sugar plantations. Possibly some of the items included are a little tenuous but wonderful to see. Our entrance ticket includes a glass of rum punch!
We stop for a regulation visit to St John’s Parish Church - we come here every visit to Barbados - built 800 feet above the surrounding coastline. Since our last visit in 2008 there’s a new tomb for a sadly young departed prime minister.
Our next destination has no provenance but we head towards Hunte’s Gardens. This amazing oasis has been open since 2007 and is the vision of Anthony Hunte, who bought this sink-hole and started work on it in 1990. It is quite the most amazing gardens we have ever seen with the most exotic tropical plants you could imagine. The end of the visit includes a visit to the great man’s house, which turns out to be an extraordinary museum of the most eclectic display you could hope to see. A visit to the tea room is unexpectedly hosted by Anthony himself who tells us about the history of the place back to his Irish heritage, and how his family were brought as slaves. Ginger lemonade and home made cake suffice for lunch and as we leave, he tells us to look for the humming bird nest under the parasol on the way out. We mange to attract the attention of the young by blowing into the tiny nest. Next stop is Bathesda, a wonderful bay with incredible mushroom rock formations and the bluest sea.
Another few miles across the island brings us to the incredible St Peter’s church in Speightstown where we’ve been told about the annual flower festival. We have never seen more beautiful displays than these shown in the church. Outside it’s like a village fête, and the police brass band plays excellently. Sadly the visit is a little rushed as need to get back to Bridgetown to get the car back. We drop off Peter and Maria in the outskirts of the town before parking up to view a few of the key sights. A quick sprint back to the port, we drop off the car and re-embark the ship to see who has joined us for the next week back to Sint Maarten.
There is, of course, time for ice cream, a plum, a rum punch and an hour in the jacuzzi before we shower and dress for dinner. Tonight we are at the TK Grill. A most enjoyable experience of crab cake, iceberg lettuce with blue cheese, rib eye steak and lobster Thermidor accompanied by the most amazing Mac Cheese. The evening is finished with a shared seven layer chocolate cake and ice cream. A pretty amazing day
It’s the first night of a new cruise so we retire to our balcony to contemplate on our day and anticipate our adventures for tomorrow.
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