There are many reasons to fall in love with Barbados, the most eastern island in the Caribbean.
About 1,500 km from the Equator, Barbados has an average daily high of 30 degrees and boasts over 3,000 hours of sun a year. The population, a little over 280,000, is made up of genuinely generous and friendly souls.
- A Rich, Dark History
Although steeped in controversy, the history of any nation encased in colonialism is undeniably fascinating.
An almost haunting sense of “proper” blankets the nation that only became independent in 1966. Old sugar estates dot the Barbados landscape.
From the covered back porch of our Airbnb, we faced a plantain grove and the towering columns of the Sunbury Plantation Great House in the distance. Originally Chapman Estates, the grand and elaborate mansion was built in 1660 by Matthew Chapman. The walls hold the chronicles of eight families, all involved with the sugarcane industry, the last of which dubbed it The Sunbury Plantation Great House after their hometown in England. It’s the only 17th-century plantation home sharing its stories and majestic innards with the public. Our visit was unfortunately cut short thanks to Rose (my Hangry Alter Ego who must be concealed at all costs) and nearby wildfires*.
Everywhere, amongst the palms and bougainvillea, are signs of British control and the influence of the sugar industry. Even the Foursquare Rum Distillery that we toured has been repurposed from a sugar cane plantation and factory.
According to Britannica, Spanish and Portuguese explorers named the island Barbados (“bearded ones”) before quickly emptying the population through “slave raids”. The English ship, Olive Blossom, arrived in 1625 and “claimed” the island for King James I. This is why the official language of Barbados is English, and cars drive on the left-hand side of the road.
2. Rum: “It’s never too early for rum”
Bumping our way over the backroads lined on both sides with sugar cane stalks, we ogled monkeys darting in front of our bumper and old guys sipping on cracked cement porches, drinking rum out of ceramic mugs.
“Pull over here,” I blabbed at the hairpin crossroads as I noticed a large “Old Brigand Rum Shop” sign. Mark willingly complied and pulled into what could loosely be called a parking lot. On one side, looking down steep embankments, the angry ocean waved hello. On the other side, jungle attempted to win the battle over humanity. On the picnic table out front of the bar sat a single gentleman perusing TikTok between smoking and chain-vaping.
“Do you serve rum?” Mark asked the tattoo-covered woman behind the bar. “It’s only 11:00 in the morning. Is it too early for rum?”
“It’s never too early for rum!” she replied with a wink and a slow smile.
This is how we discovered that in Barbados, you don’t get a rum and Coke neatly poured. They hand you a Mickey of rum (unless you want a bigger size), two plastic cups, a 500 ml bottle of Coke, a metal scoop, and a small lunchbox-sized cooler filled with ice. It cost $15 Barbadian ($10.66 CAD). If there are leftovers, you can take them home.
The post-church crowd arrived. Women, in their floral dresses and platter-sized fascinators, and men in collared shirts ironed into stiff chest covers, grinned and said hello as they plopped down in groups and ordered 40-pounders of white rum.
3. Rugged Views
The eastern and western sides of Barbados are very different. We didn’t realize how different until, after the recommendation of a realtor, we headed over to the much busier West Coast.
West Side Story
Head to the west side if you want:
- Teal-blue water that’s calm enough to float on without worrying that a rip current will deliver you to Guyana. Although I’ve never been to Guyana. Maybe it’s worth the “trip”.
- Ground coffee. East side grocery stores only offer up cans of instant. The first place we spotted a bag of ground beans was at the north end tourist trap, Haymans Market. We desperately dropped $75 BBD ($50 CAD) and later discovered that only sixteen minutes south, we could’ve filled our cart with endless brands of java.
- To stare at masses of flying fish as you sip your $25 USD martini.
The Wild, Wild East
Like the grumpy old skin who shouts, “get off my lawn!”, Mark and I are the tourists who like to believe that there are drawbacks to any area in the world assaulted by upper-middle-class folks sporting golf socks. Barbados is no exception.
(Keyword: Assaulted. Because we have nothing against humans who can afford Starbucks Ventis and want to chill out where sand meets buttcrack. You don’t need to remind us that we fall into that category. Minus the socks, of course.)
Truthfully, we’re a bit solitary in our pursuits. We like to avoid crowds. Yes, we’re the wrinklebags who diss sunsets dotted with Budweiser ballcaps and white-blonde cornrows and main drags that feel like New Year’s Eve line-ups at Space Mountain. We often choose out-of-the-way neighbourhoods where we are the only ones that look like yogurt-coated pretzels.
The East Coast, which we discovered by chance, really, fit the bill. The Airbnb was more affordable than West Coast digs, and the photos looked less busy. The house boasted a private pool, and the back porch faced a field where two cows were leashed every morning.
Head to the east side if you want:
- A coastline so rugged you can use it to scratch your lower back. If you’re into somersaulting off cliffs. Otherwise, just plain beautiful to look at.
- Breeze. It’s hard to be so hot that you want to slide out of your skin when northeast trade winds are a blowin’.
- Friendly locals who won’t hesitate to chat and help when needed. Seriously. In the middle of nowhere, when we were where we weren’t planning to be, we spotted a “pub” with barred windows and plastic tables. It was well past mealtime, and our bellies were grumbling. (Remember the mantra: Avoid Rose, avoid Rose, avoid Rose.) Besides an array of booze, the only food on the menu was a ham cutter. We had no idea what they were, but Rose needed to eat. The place only accepted cold, hard cash, so we counted out our coins. Enough for one beer.
”What would you like?” asked the no-b.s.-kinda gal, wiping her grandma-y hands on an apron.
“Oh, we don’t have enough, sorry,” I sputtered in embarrassment.
”I didn’t ask that,” she responded, “I asked what you would like?”
Not knowing whether she’d ever see these white faces again, she gave us two bottles of Banks beer and two cutters. Which, by the way, are sandwiches on salty puff-buns filled with ham off the bone (or fish) that you will spend the rest of your life drooling over. And yes, we traversed the rocky roads again later that day to return with a mittful of cash.
The best part: Don’t choose
West or east? It’s easy enough to have both. How, you ask, will I experience the best of the east AND the west? The island of Barbados is only 33.7 km (21 miles) long and 22 km (14 miles) wide. Think: driving from Guelph to Waterloo or the CN Tower to Markham. Not that far. In only a week, our rental car unearthed a lot around the island. North, south, east, and west.
Barbados. The land of rich history, rum, rugged views and an experience you don’t want to miss.
*Noticing a theme? Read more about our experiences with fires in Costa Rica here.
