Beautiful Barbados

From http://www.guardian.co.uk/country-profile/barbados

Country profile: Barbados

Facts and statistics on Barbados including history, population, politics, geography, economy, religion and climate

• The Guardian, Saturday 18 April 2009
• Article history

Map of Barbados. Source: Graphic

Potted history of the country: With Caribs long gone from Barbados, British settlers found the island uninhibited on their arrival in 1627. The demand for sugar, rum and molasses made it a common destination for slaves, and the industries flourished long after the abolition of slavery in 1834. The nation retains a strong British culture, four decades after independence in 1966.

1. At a glance
2. Location: The most easterly of the Caribbean islands
3. Neighbours: Trinidad
4. Size: 166 square miles
5. Population: 273,987 (180th)
6. Density: 1,650.5 people per square mile
7. Capital city: Bridgetown (population 116,000)
8. Head of state: Queen Elizabeth II
   Head of government: Prime minister David Thompson
9. Currency: Barbados dollar
10. Time zone: Barbados time (-4 hours)
11. International dialling code: +1 246
12. Website: barbados.gov.bb
13. Data correct on Saturday 18 April 2009

Political pressure points: The prime minister, David Thompson, in power since January 2008, won a no-confidence vote in March over his handling of a financial crisis involving the troubled insurer CLICO. The Barbados Labour party had accused him of masking the extent of an emergency that threatens jobs and pensions.

Population mix: African-Caribbean 80%, European 4%, mixed 16%

Religious makeup: Protestant 36%, Catholic 3%, Muslim 1%

Main languages: English

Living national icons: Kamau Brathwaite (writer), George Lamming (writer), Rihanna (singer), Sir Garry Sobers (cricketer, retired), Obadele Thompson (athletics)

Barbados on a map. Source: Graphic

Landscape and climate: Almost completely encircled by coral reefs, the easternmost Caribbean island's position, tropical climate and gently sloping limestone plains make it fertile growing ground for sugarcane, which covers about 80% of the island's surface. The wet season runs from June to November and the dry season from December to May.

Highest point: Mount Hillaby 336 metres

Area covered by water: Less than one square mile

Healthcare and disease: Occasional outbreaks of Dengue fever are among the few concerns on an island that has some of the best healthcare facilities in the region. The government is funding a $90m (£64m) programme to reduce the country's prevalence of HIV nearer the Caribbean average of 1.2%.

Average life expectancy (m/f): 72/78

Average number of children per mother: 1.5

Maternal deaths per 100,000 live births: 16

Infant deaths per 1,000 births: 12

Adults HIV/Aids rate: 1.5%

Doctors per 1,000 head of population: 1.2

Adult literacy rate: 99.7% (m 99.7%/f 99.7%)

Economic outlook: The end of the construction boom has hurt the tourism industry, and foreign exchange earnings have suffered as offshore banking activities have slowed. The government has committed to stronger trade ties with China.

Main industries: Tourism, banking, insurance, rum

Key crops/livestock: Sweet potatoes, coconuts, poultry

Key export: Rum

GDP: £1,752m (145th)

GDP per head: £5,980

Unemployment rate: 9.8%

Proportion of global carbon emissions: 0.01%

Most popular tourist attractions: Enterprise beach, one of the most popular white-sand beaches, the Andromeda botanic gardens

Local recommendation: A tour of the 350-year-old Sunbury Plantation House, 25 minutes from Bridgetown in the St Philip countryside

Traditional dish: Coucou (cornmeal and okra paste) and flying fish

Foreign tourist visitors per year: 547,534

Media freedom index (ranked out of 173): n/a

Did you know ... Road tennis, originally played on quiet streets with a wooden paddle and a de-fuzzed tennis ball was invented on the island.

National anthem:
We write our names on history's page
With expectations great
Strict guardians of our heritage
Firm craftsmen of our fate

· Information correct on date of first publication, Saturday 18 April 2009.

As usual, the rest of Wednesday didn't work out quite how I thought it would.  We ended up going out to breakfast at the Crane and saw that the surf was a little high, possibly due to one of the hurricanes forming out to sea.  So, we decided that we wouldn't have the afternoon as an ocean day but would go to the pool instead.

Tom did some work and I did some reading/napping and he got a new job coming in.  So, it was about 3 before he suggested that it was pool-time.  I thought I should take a serious nap since we'd be out all night at the Bajan Roots and Rhythms show (this site has music and video) at the Plantation.

So, I stopped the pretense and put down my book and fell asleep for real.  Tom continued working, calling people, checking email - the usual.

About 5, we started getting ready since the shuttle pick-up was 5:30.  We got to the Plantation early - our shuttle was the first one there - even before the payment booths were open.  That was a first for us, to be anywhere early.

We talked to others from our shuttle and the nice crew of the Plantation set up a table so that all 10 of us from the Crane could sit together.  That was nice and we got to talk to others from here.  One couple is staying right over us, in 221.   They had spent the day driving around, getting lost, making their way up to Bathsheba.

We all got our complementary drinks and were taken to our table, very close to the front.  Last time we were a little closer - actually on the dance floor - but those are four little round tables.  Since we were a group we had a nice large table with more room for our food and drinks.  We were as close as we could be without being on the dance floor.

The waitress kept bringing us more drinks.  I finished my one rum punch and switched over to piña coladas.  She would bring a fresh drink whenever I had only about half the previous drink.  She also brought water, which was a good thing!

After a little while, the steel drum band started playing.  One guy had a double drum, one on bass, a few on other parts, one "real" drum and an electric guitar.  They called themselves The Casablancas and they were very good.  They continued to play while we ate.

We also got to go through the buffet line first, maybe because we were seated first, whatever.  The meal was as I described earlier, with the addition of the macaroni pie and also beef stew.  They had a wide selection of desserts, too.  I got way too much food and couldn't finish most of it.  I never found any hot sauce so I didn't eat much of my flying fish.

I just love that hot sauce, made with Scotch bonnet peppers.  We got some to take home one year but since we never have flying fish at home it's still unopened.  I'm sure I could eat it on something else but it wouldn't seem "right".

After everyone finished eating, there was a little Name That Tune contest with the steel drummers.  Unfortunately for me, they played music that most people would recognize.  Had they played local music I might have won.

Then the MC came out and introduced the show.  The first set was from Africa and had belly dancers, African costumes, and the stilt walkers made their first appearance, entering right next to our table.  The music was loud, with a great beat, and the costumes gorgeous and colorful.

Also in this show was a little "street scene" from Bridgetown about 100 years ago.  This was my least favorite set.

The set from Cuba, old-time Havana cabaret was great and I loved the Crop Over enactment.  Included in that is a "Mother Sally" character, tumblers Shaggy Bear and more stilt walkers.

The stilt walkers were fabulous and they did way more than walk.  They danced, jumped, did splits in the air.  I was sure that they might hit the ceiling sometimes, they were so tall.

There was a tribute to local superstar Rihanna and they danced to some of her music.  Bob Marley also warranted a tribute and some of his reggae music was featured.

The fire eater was amazing, too.  And the limbo dancer did her limbo-ing under a rod of fire.  When they had the limbo contest at least the rookies who volunteered from the audience didn't have to go under fire!

When the show was over, a singer came out and sang popular music.   People sang and danced to soca, reggae, calypso and more.  What a great party!

So last night I was making heating dinner. When I went in the kitchen there was a crab by the sink. When we tried to catch him, he scuttled under the dishwasher. Later, when scooping out ice cream (coconut cream) for dessert he reappeared and was caught. Tom released him back to the sea.

When we used to stay at Coral Point, we would regularly have larger crabs climbing the wall. We would just sweep them off with a broom and out the door.

That place, just up the coast, was so cool - literally. Most of the front and back walls were huge doors that could - and were - open all day so we had all kinds of wildlife crawling and flying through. It made such a nice breeze, though.

That was the first place we ever stayed in Barbados. It was next door to Sam Lord's Castle and we had privileges there. We rented bikes that year. Big mistake. It's nice flat land and would have been great if it were about 20 degrees cooler.

This is kinda silly but I discovered a lip balm, chapstick-y product in Sam Lord's sundries store that I haven't found anywhere at home. I am able to still order it online and I usually get about 10 at a time. It's all I use now - it has SPF, a bit of color and feels wonderful.

Sam Lord's is closed now but has been bought by another hotel company and should reopen...sometime.

Sam Lord was a pirate way back but not the kind that went to sea. He stayed at home, in his castle, and put lights on the coconut trees so ships would think that it was Bridgetown They came close, crashed on the cliffs and Sam added to his treasure.

Today is going to be kind of slow for me. A little email, a little blogging, some Cushing's bios and stuff. Tom has a teleconference at noon so if we go out anywhere, it will be later.

It's ok, though - I can nap and read or float around. Some of my favorite things!

I don't know what possessed me but I signed up for that helicopter tomorrow. Me, who is afraid to fly. But last summer in Alaska, while I was in the restroom, Tom signed us up for a flight plane and it was kind of cool. I was very surprised and shocked when one just like it crashed a few weeks later.

It was fun though and I figure if I can do that, how hard can a helicopter be, anyway? We see it go around the island most every day while we're here so this year we'll be on it!

I was just reading an article about singer Rihanna in the Ins and Outs of Barbados magazine. In it it says "...few could have missed the blue and yellow paraphernalia that adorned photos captured in magazines across the Caribbean, North America and Europe..."

Rihanna chose those colors because they're the colors of the flag of Barbados. I'm wondering if I chose those colors for the Cushing's website in 2000 because I was subconsciously thinking of Barbados, too. I'll probably never know but it's an interesting thought.