Beautiful Barbados

Barbados – A culinary paradise
28 January 2009

The Barbados Tourism Authority has launched the Barbados Gourmet Card to celebrate 2009 as the ‘Barbados Year of the Gourmet’, an initiative promoting the outstanding quality of cuisine and the excellent dining offered in Barbados.

Endorsed by restaurant critic, film maker and columnist, Michael Winner, The Barbados Gourmet Card, valid from 15 April to 14 December 2009, will offer an amazing 25 percent saving on meals at participating restaurants across the island. Presented in a stylish wallet, it will be available to all visitors travelling to Barbados, who can apply for the card by visiting the dedicated website, barbadosgourmetcard.com, which will also feature recipes of favourite signature dishes and general information about the island, its cuisine and Chef of the Month.

Restaurants offering the 25 percent discount include, on Barbados’ south coast, the Aqua Restaurant & Lounge, Josef’s, Luigi’s, Apsara & Tamnak Thai, Simply GiGi and the uniquely Polynesian, Wytukai while on the platinum west coast are Daphne’s Barbados, Elbow Room, Scarlet and Il Tempio, favoured by the late Luciano Pavarotti. Near Bridgetown, Brown Sugar, offers an authentic Bajan Brunch while the Lighthouse at The Hilton is an ideal place to watch Barbados' magnificent sunsets.

As a destination of only 166 square miles, but with over 100 fabulous restaurants of every genre, Barbados has a world-class reputation for the quality of its food. Indeed, the range and choice of exquisite restaurants is one of the primary reasons Barbados attracts visitors back to its shores time and time again, with repeat visitors accounting for 40% of arrivals.

Barbados is also the only country of its size in the world to have a dedicated Zagat guide, which is an indispensable guide to the many types of fine food available including Italian, French, Chinese, Indian and, of course, Bajan.

One of the highlights of eating in Barbados is Oistins Fish Fry, where the freshest fish is cooked to order on flaming barbeques for locals and visitors to enjoy together in the open air. Each October, Barbados also holds its own Taste of Barbados Food Festival, where Bajan and international Chefs share their skills and offer cookery demonstrations and delicious tastings over a week long event featuring the very best in food and drink. In October 2008 the festival played host to the renowned chefs, Shaun Hill of The Walnut Tree, John Williams of The Ritz and celebrity Indian Chef, Madhur Jaffrey.

Equally appealing are the many rum shops, where locals congregate to play a mean game of dominos and generally chat about putting the world to rights. Well known for their friendliness, Bajans welcome visitors to join them, indeed 2009 will see the launch of a special Rum Shop Trail around the island.

Petra Roach, BTA European Vice President, Marketing and Sales, said ‘We are tremendously excited about the Barbados Gourmet Card, which follows on from the success of Barbados being the only Zagat rated Caribbean island, and we warmly thank Mr. Winner for his fantastic endorsement. We take food very seriously, which is why our small island has so much variety and choice and to quote Mr. Winner, “The place is a culinary paradise.”

Visitors to Barbados in 2009 can make even greater savings with the Barbados VIP Card, which offers one free place for every place paid for (to a maximum of four places - two free for two paid) on a range of top attractions and tours, plus other exclusive on-island offers. This exclusive card is obtained only via bookings made with a participating tour operator and will be valid from 15th April to 30th June and 1st September to 14th December. A full list of participating companies will be announced soon on visitbarbados.com.

The fantastic new boardwalk runs from Rockley Beach for approximately 1 kilometer towards Bridgetown. The boardwalk starts just below Accra Beach Hotel, running parallel to Hastings Main Road, stopping just short of Coconut Court.

Not only does the boardwalk run side by side to the beautiful turquoise sea and white sand, but it has also been complimented with strategically planned view points and landscaped gardens, to let you enjoy the views of the South Coast and the incredible sunsets.

The multi million dollar project has brought new life to the area, linking hotels and apartments, local restaurants and bars. The boardwalk opened in December and is being used by tourists and locals, either walking to the beach or local businesses, or simply utilizing the new facility to exercise, meet up with friends and enjoy the views.

Make sure you take the time to visit, it's definitely a great new Barbados Hot Spot!

WooHoo!  This is "our" place!

http://blog.thecrane.com/2008/11/

The Crane, for over 100 years a distinctive part of the Barbadian hospitality landscape, has today received new recognition with the bestowing of the prestigious Four-Diamond Award by the Automobile Association of America (AAA), joining the ranks of three other premier properties in Barbados.  Developed on a phased basis from its original 18 rooms over the last eight years, today this premier residential resort features 202 rooms, five swimming pools, and three restaurants.  Priding themselves on warm Barbadian hospitality, the hotel’s management and staff have placed increasing emphasis on service over the last number of years and are pleased to announce that, along with the concurrent product development, these training and development efforts have been rewarded with the AAA designation.

AAA Diamond ratings for hotels represent a combination of the overall quality, range of facilities, and level of services offered by the property, and the descriptive ratings are assigned exclusively to properties that meet and uphold AAA’s rigorous quality standards.  In order to receive a Four-Diamond Award, the property must be upscale in all areas. Accommodations are progressively more refined and stylish, and the physical attributes reflect an obvious enhanced level of quality throughout. The fundamental hallmarks at this level include an extensive array of amenities combined with a high degree of hospitality, service and attention to detail.  In 2008, a total of 1,159 hotels and 756 restaurants received the AAA Four Diamond Award. AAA Four Diamond hotels and restaurants represent just 3 percent of the 60,000 AAA Approved and Diamond rated properties.

Continuing its product development, The Crane will also open a Barbadian retail village in early 2009, to offer guests and visitors to the hotel a 3,000 square foot duty-free environ, a number of small shops and boutiques featuring local art, fashion and food products; two additional restaurants, and a new conference centre.  The resort is also adding three phases of garden residence suites before the end of 2009, bringing its total room inventory to 282.

While Crane Beach has long been recognized as one of the best beaches in the world, The AAA Four-Diamond award is added to a growing list of accolades that the resort has received recently, including the Pillar of Tourism Award in 2007 and the Top Restaurant - Food in the Best of Barbados Zagat 2009 Guide, for Zen restaurant.

From http://blog.atlastravelweb.com/2008/12/barbados-port-overview/

Barbados is one of the best developed, most popular tourist destinations of the southern Caribbean. Often called the “Little England” of the Caribbean, blends the finer elements of British tradition with warm island hospitality. Located relatively close to South America, the nation of Barbados is around 270 miles northeast of Venezuela.  Explore the many beaches, rolling countryside, charming villages, old sugar mills and plantations that represent the colonial past of the island. Tour the East Coast where the Atlantic Ocean’s waves are a surfer’s paradise. Shop in the capital city or stay out late to party in the nightlife. The average annual temperature ranges from 70°F–87°F.

Ships dock at the Bridgetown Cruise Terminal, about a mile west of downtown Bridgetown.  You can shop for crafts and souvenirs in the terminal area. Barbados offers plenty of duty free shopping for jewelry, perfumes, liquor, pottery & cigars. Not interested in shopping, enjoy Barbados’ endless beaches, natural beauty, attractions and fine dining.  You can tour Barbados via car, 4 x 4, bus, catamaran or helicopter.  Snorkeling and scuba diving are popular shore excursions as well.

Rather than use the cruise line’s shore excursions, we wanted to book a private tour to create our own itinerary. We booked through Glory tours. Confirming everything via email was easy. Please note that the tour operators cannot come all the way to the ship, so there is about a 1/4 mile walk to where you meet up with the tour guides. Our interests were the Mt. Gay Rum Factory, the Barbados Wildlife reserve, Harrison’s Cave, St. John’s Church & Bathsheba.

The day did not go exactly as planned. There had been a small earthquake the day before and it was rumored that there may be an aftershock. So we opted for a 1/2 day tour rather than a full day. We got great pictures of area beaches and made it to the Wildlife Reserve. If I had it to do again, I would have skipped the reserve. Although it was interesting, it took up too much time and I did not get to see a Green monkey which was the main reasons I wanted to go and see them in their habitat. Apparently the monkeys normally come out around feeding time which is 3 p.m.  In my opinion, there are many other “must-sees” that you should spend your day in port enjoying:

Harrison’s Cave:  Travel through the winding tunnels in specially designed trams and make your way into the specially lighted caverns, view the majestic stalactites and stalagmites which have been growing from the floors and ceilings for many centuries. Cascading through the caves, the crystal blue waters form magnificent pools and waterfalls.
Get their early to avoid the lines.

Bathsheba:  It is said that Bathsheba, wife of King David, bathed in milk to keep her skin beautiful and soft. The surf covered white waters of Bathsheba are said to resemble Bathsheba’s bath in both appearance and health giving value. It is breathtakingly beautiful dramatic coastline of striking rock formations against which the Atlantic rollers break in cascades of foam.

Mt. Gay Rum Factory:  Discover the colorful history of Mount Gay Rum Learn how the world’s finest rum is made and then taste it. Enjoy Bajan cuisine in the verandah restaurant overlooking the sea. Then take home a taste of the Good Times from their store.

In speaking to other cruisers, they really enjoyed the Turtle and shipwreck snorkel excursion.

We are looking forward to going back to see these island highlights. 

From http://www.wickedlocal.com/hopedale/fun/x398375796/Rum-and-more-yo-ho-on-Barbados

Bridgetown, Barbados -

A Barbados legend insists when Englishmen partook of the brownish beverage concocted from molasses - a by-product of sugar-making - they became boisterous, bawdy and even unruly or rumbustious.

It didn't take long for the drink to be christened "rum."

The easternmost of the Caribbean islands, Barbados could easily adopt the moniker "the Island that rum built," but that is only part of the story.

Visitors to the island will discover a place of pink sand beaches, clear blue seas and friendly residents eager to share their island's beauty and history.

Bridgetown, the capital, retains its British ambience and is home to the country's Parliament Building - Barbados has been independent since 1966 but Queen Elizabeth II is the head of state.
It is also the main port and the place to head under the sea in the Atlantis III (www.atlantisadventures.com), a submarine sporting multiple windows on both its port and starboard sides so those inside don't miss any views.

As the submarine slowly descends to an offshore coral reef, schools of tropical fish glide past.
Hundreds of blue chromis - so blue they're nearly black - are the main inhabitants of the reef, but they share their home with the "school-master snapper," a gray fish with yellow spots so named because it appears to have a stern look on its face; and the chief predators of the reef, the horse-eye jack. As the submarine nears a shipwreck, much to the crowd's delight, several sea turtles slice their way through the water.

For those who prefer to stay above board, Tiami Catamaran (www.tallshipcruises.com) offers daily catamaran sailing trips. A five-hour sail hugs the shoreline, stopping a few times to allow passengers the opportunity to snorkel or swim. Cruises include lunch complete with the nation's two most recognized dishes - steamed flying fish and macaroni pie.

Back on land, grab a board and head to the island's Atlantic Coast and the best surfing in the Caribbean. Beginners would be wise to book a lesson with professional surfer Alan Burke.
In the basement of his home on Burke's Beach, Burke runs Burkie's Surf School (www.surfbarbados.net) teaching students who have ranged in age from 8 to 65.

"Barbados has an amazing amount of surfing spots. Spots that are consistent," Burke said.
A lesson in Burke's backyard about how to find the board's sweet spot, how to keep the nose of the board slightly out of the water and how to stand in one smooth move, of course becomes a harder process when clinging to a board that is being thrashed by waves - in my case at Long Beach on the calmer waters of the Caribbean.

When you've had your fill of sand and surf, Barbados offers several indoor attractions that are historical, educational and just plain fun.

St. Nicholas Abbey (www.stnicholasabbey.com), in the northern parish of St. Peter, is the second plantation house built on the island. Dating back to about 1660, the home is one of only three genuine Jacobean mansions in the Western Hemisphere.

The place has nothing to do with the church, but, like much of the island, was built as part of the burgeoning sugar trade. Little remains of the original homestead beyond the walls and beams, but visitors can tour the buildings and grounds to get a glimpse of what life was like for the historic privileged few on the island.

For a look into the lives of common Bajans, as locals are called, head to Speightstown and the Arlington House Museum (www.arlingtonbarbados.com). The museum is located in a three-story home with a steeply pitched gable roof, dormer windows and a veranda on its northern side that 200 years ago was home to the Skinners, a merchant family. It's a classic example of a Single House - a house that's one room wide on the street but can be several rooms deep.

Life in the 1800s centered on fishing, sugar cane and trade with England. Speightstown was once called Little Bristol after the English port city of Bristol, a major trading post with the island.
The museum offers historic maps, photographs and prints that tell the history of Barbados, with interactive videos and a movie outlining the story of slaves brought from Africa and the sugar trade.

Visitors can also learn about the island's most famous pirate, Stede Bonnet, a wealthy plantation owner who ditched conformity and joined forces with Blackbeard.

Though it's hard to prove any pirate ever burst into song with, "Yo, ho, ho and a bottle of rum," the beverage is an important part of the island's economy and lifestyle.

At the center of that story is Mount Gay Rum and its factory in Bridgetown which produces 10,000 bottles a day.

You can take a tour of the facility (www.barbados.org/mountgay.htm) and learn about founder Sir John Gay Alleyne, see the various stages in the rum-making process and even sample the end product that is part of everyday life on the island.

"When you're holding a bottle of Mount Gay, you're not just holding a bottle," said Maria Elias, a tour guide at the factory. "You're holding the history of Barbados."

If you go:

GETTING THERE: American Airlines (www.aa.com) offers connecting flights via New York's JFK and Miami; Delta (www.delta.com) through Atlanta.

STAYING THERE: The Hilton Barbados is located on Needham's Point just five minutes from Bridgetown. The two-towered structure offers 350 guest rooms, two swimming pools, two private beaches and a fitness center. Rooms from $299 per night (www.hiltoncaribbean.com/barbados).
The Crane Resort and Residences offers upscale accommodations, overlooking its private pink sand beach. Rates run from $300 per night for a garden-view junior suite to $2,100 per night for a three-bedroom penthouse with ocean views and a private pool (www.thecrane.com).

FOR MORE INFORMATION: Visit www.visitbarbados.org.

(Find more travel features and the Get Away with Fran blog at www.wickedlocal.com/travel)

http://bajanreporter.blogspot.com/2008/10/nature-sanctuary-in-barbados-forced-to.html

For the last 18 months, Barbados Free Press staged an uphill battle against the destruction of the Graeme Hall Nature Sanctuary, with this News-Blog adding its voice where appropriate. I have even gone so far as to e-mail Dr Karl Watson and get his view on some of the international visitors of the feathered kind that grace the Graeme Hall Swamp...

But now it appears as though it is too late, despite Barbados Underground joining in the fray -

Environmental philanthropist Peter Allard announced that the 35-acre Graeme Hall Nature Sanctuary in Barbados will close on December 15, 2008.

Saying that “no one individual can stand longer than a generation in the wilderness of environmental preservation,” Allard despaired that to preserve the environmental heritage at Graeme Hall for future generations of Barbadians would require “a government-led consciousness.”

“I thank the the citizens of Barbados who came to the Sanctuary to visit, and thank those who signed the petition with the Friends of Graeme Hall for a National Park,” said Allard. “I believe the Sanctuary would not have been possible without the support of the many eco-visitors, school children and the hard-working employees who put their heart and soul into making the Sanctuary a first class visitor experience.”

Allard went on to say that the Sanctuary would not exist if it had not been for special individuals who helped make it happen such as Dame Billie Miller and her kind and capable Permanent Secretary, the late Brie St. John, Dr. Lorna Inniss, Dr. Trevor Carmichael, Dr. Karl Watson and many, many others.

Approximately 85 employees and contractors will be negatively affected by the closing. It is expected that tour companies, taxis and local businesses will lose bookings as well.

In 2007, over 6,000 Barbadians signed a Friends of Graeme Hall petition in favor of preserving the approximately 240 acre green area at Graeme Hall as a National Park. As the largest green space on the South Coast between the Airport and Bridgetown, the proposed National Park would include the designated 91-acre RAMSAR wetland approved under the international Convention on Wetlands, the 35-acre Sanctuary, and recreational lands.

Saying that that the future of the Sanctuary and the National Park is in the hands of the people of Barbados, Allard believes that the Friends of Graeme Hall and the citizens of Barbados must decide what their priorities are.

“We have great affection and regard for the people of Barbados, and the Sanctuary effort has always been a philanthropic mission. This has been an incredibly painful and saddening decision, but ultimately it is not for us to initiate or set national goals and long term legacies for the nation.”

http://www.boston.com/travel/getaways/caribbean/articles/2008/10/19/measured_by_the_foot/?p1=Well_MostPop_Emailed3#

Pure air, pristine beaches, and miles of byways make hiking eye-opening

By Patricia Borns

Globe Correspondent / October 19, 2008

Belair is where Barbados's tourist industry got its start. Codrington College in St. John Parish opened in 1745 and is the oldest Anglican theological school in the hemisphere. (Patricia Born for The Boston Globe)

The young British fencing coach had left her friends on the beach to go hiking. It was her first time in the Caribbean.

"Hot weather doesn't normally agree with me," she said, nor, she admitted, had hiking. "At home it's an older person's sport."

We met in the East Coast village of Bathsheba, where some 50 outdoors lovers had materialized like a scene from "Field of Dreams." We hiked for four hours, fumbling through light woods and lianas (woody tropical vines); crowding reverently into a former slave chapel smothered in bush; laboring up Melvin Hill to a fisheye-lens view of the green Chimborazo valley below; and over coral promontories where Atlantic waves exploded in furies of spray.

Our guides, George Medford and Carl Fenty, reminded us that the wind washing over us travels some 2,600 miles across the ocean to this coast from The Gambia in West Africa and is some of the purest air in the world.

"This track was part of the Barbados Railway built to transport sugar cane and tourists," said Fenty. "It went bust five times before ceasing operation under its last owner, the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts. A first-class seat with champagne cost 48 cents; when the train stalled, the third class got out and pushed."

As we spilled down a heathered slope to the seascape of Cattlewash, raw and romantic in the Byronic sense, the fencer turned to me with shining eyes. "I'm definitely coming back here," she said.

While Barbados can be enjoyed without ever leaving West Coast Highway 1, which is fringed with beaches and hotels, a local passion for walking has created opportunities to explore more than 800 miles of roads at little or no cost. Our trek was one of 45 rambles offered free by Hike Barbados, a program of the Barbados National Trust. No reservations are necessary: Simply meet Sunday morning or afternoon at the designated location, break into groups according to pace, and experience a 6-to-14-mile slice of the island that you might not otherwise see.

"Everything we encounter has a reason in history. Our early settlers planted those palms around their plantations so insect-eating birds could nest in safety," said Victor Cooke, a professional guide and National Trust volunteer, on a hike in rural St. Lucy Parish. "Those mahogany trees were planted near the driveway to shade workers waiting to begin the day. You always see these peas planted at the edges of fields. They were used to make jug-jug, a Christmas stew."

It seemed to my fiance, Ron, and me, that at least half of our company were Bajans (or Barbadians), not visitors like us. Richard Goddard, a program founder, explained, "Hike Barbados started not as a tourist attraction but as a way to connect our own people with their environment and heritage."

We noticed several hikers wearing T-shirts inscribed "the Colin Hudson Hike," commemorating a Hike Barbados leader who died a national hero for his advocacy of sustainable development.

If the turnout for the St. Lucy hike was a good indicator, more Bajans than ever are hitting the trails. When we passed through villages (and increasingly, subdivisions), children and grandparents greeted us with a "Good morning" or "All right," as if the sight of 60 backpackers strung out in twos and threes was an everyday occurrence.

Hiking changed our vacation from the lazy idyll we had planned. We began buying rock cakes of dense Bajan coconut bread for carb fuel and saving empty water bottles to fill at the ubiquitous roadside stand pipes, the island's first water supply fed by underground springs. Our pockets bulged with chips of 18th-century blue and white porcelain, clay pipe stems, and wisps of Sea Island cotton. The best prize, an Amerindian adze made of conch shell, was found and given to us by a local insurance agent who placed its age at 500 to 1,000 years.

Members of smaller groups invited us to join their hikes. One, a Wednesday trek in St. John Parish, climbed to soaring views of Consett Bay and Ragged Point; crossed the gold-grained sand of Bath beach; slogged up Society Hill; and lingered beside the lily pond at Codrington College, where young West Indians study theology in the hush of majestic coral stone buildings.

An ambassador's wife told us about BH3, the Barbados Hash House Harriers, part of an international network whose free outings are modeled on the English schoolboy game Hares and Hounds. The group meets at locations across the island every Saturday at 4 p.m. and welcomes walkers as well as runners.

We tried them all.

Who would have guessed that a 21-by-14-mile island could seem so large and varied? The meandering quality of the roads contributes to a perennial sense of discovery - and to the frequent experience of getting lost.

"Every road in Barbados leads to your destination - eventually," Thomas Loftfield, an assistant director at the Barbados Museum, said reassuringly. The museum's collection of early maps clarifies why this is so. By 1645, English settlers had almost completely deforested Barbados and replanted it with sugarcane, which would drive the economy for the next 350 years. Today's roads and public rights of way are a web of those 17th-century cart paths and cane field intervals.

If there is a successor to Colin Hudson as the articulator of Barbadian byways, Adrian Loveridge might be it. "It's almost painful to reveal the spectacular beaches encountered on this hike," said Loveridge as we picked our way along five miles of the East Coast from Bottom Bay to Crane Beach in St. Philip Parish. Together with his wife, Margaret, Loveridge has packaged six hikes with a stay at the couple's hotel Peach and Quiet, in Christ Church Parish, located near one of Barbados's best unpublicized beaches.

We were seeing the others now: Ginger Bay, Harry Smith Beach, Sam Lord's Beach, and Belair. From a tourist map, you might never know they existed or were accessible by car or bus.

"Barbados was born when the original [tectonic] plate fragmented and the Caribbean portion slid beneath the Atlantic one," Loveridge said as we wound among fossilized crags. "Corals thrived in the shallow water this created, and with a final tectonic push, up came our coral-capped island - you're walking on the ancient, submerged plate now."

A staircased ruin appeared weirdly at the shore's edge. "Three guesses as to what this is," Loveridge challenged us.

"The remains of a health spa," he said. "Picture ladies in Victorian bathing costumes being carried to the beach in litters hoisted by Bajan men."

Invariably the hikes ended with some of us removing to a restaurant or rum shop, where we didn't hesitate to try a full-sugar-strength Plus or caloric staple like macaroni and cheese pie. Moving slowly and poetically through beautiful scenery is one of the pleasures of a walking vacation, but guiltless enjoyment of food shouldn't be overlooked.

We ate our hearts out and returned home tanned and toned, having lost a total of six pounds.

Patricia Borns can be reached at patriciaborns@comcast.net.