Barbados Trip Report Week One

Barbados 2004 trip report



Week One



Liz and I set off from Manchester (UK) on June 13th. Our flight was on
time
and it was as relaxing as an 8 hour flight could be as we’d pre-booked
some
good seats with a bit more leg room. I thoroughly enjoyed the bottle
of rum
which I’d purchased at the airport on the plane, so time went quicker
than
usual.

On arrival at Grantley Adams airport we managed to get through customs
a bit
quicker than normal which was definitely appreciated. We got our
luggage and
boarded our bus to Casuarina. En route someone received a text message
saying that England were beating France in the football, so spirits
were
high.

The bus made it’s first stop and as we had made good time Liz didn’t
might
me leaping off the bus to go and watch the rest of the match whilst
she
travelled alone to the hotel to check in. I tried the Whistling Frog
but
they weren’t showing the match, so I walked to the Ship Inn where many
were
watching it. After a ten minute wait at the bar I then watched the
final ten
minutes or so of the match, squinting through the wicker white wooden
fence
at the tiny screen in the distance. That meant as the two French goals
went
it I had moments of uncertainty before the reality of throwing the
game away
became apparent. A depressing start to the holiday not made any better
by
the Bajans in French shirts driving past singing and shouting as I
trudged
in the searing heat to the hotel.

On arrival I was queuing behind a man who was recognised by a fellow
guest
as Tottenham Hotspur (English Premiership Football team) player Rohan
Ricketts. I had a chat with him and had the task of telling him
England had
lost (he is English). Surprisingly he seemed pleased with the result!

The lady on the reception desk seemed to think that I would be in
trouble
with Liz for leaving her to check in alone, but I assured her that
this had
been agreed beforehand and that she was only joking.

I made my way to our hotel room and was pleased to see that we had
been
upgraded to a one bedroom apartment. Things were looking up!

We went down to the beach for a swim and to have a good relax after
the long
journey and then returned so that I could unpack and get ready for our
first
night out. We chose Bubba’s as usually on a Sunday it’s pretty quiet
everywhere and I knew Bubba’s would be a good location to eat and get
into
the swing of things straight away. Unfortunately I hadn’t realised
that
Sunday is a big night for US sport and the place was packed with
Americans
watching various sports. Not that I would have a problem with this,
but it
was a bit too busy for our first night. After eating we made our way
back to
the hotel and spent time have a few drinks on the balcony listening to
music.

We’d hired a moke for a week so the next day we drove to get some
shopping
in for the room and then went for a drive. Liz drove this time and
apart
from nearly wrecking it on a high kerb she got used to it fairly
quickly. We
drove to the South Point lighthouse and took some amazing photos of
the aqua
sea that is around there. Then we headed up to The Crane Hotel in
order to
take some of the wonderful beach. Before we got there I’d come up with
a
plan to avoid the charge that they make for entry to the Hotel by
saying
that we had come to view timeshares. We had previously decided we
would look
at some on this holiday so this seemed like an ideal opportunity. It
worked
a treat and we were allowed in without any fuss and therefore saved
some
money. However this was to prove not to be the case later on…

We saw the timeshare lady and were shown one of the one bedroom
apartments.
It was awesome. Top quality throughout, the décor was marble and
mahogany
and was complete with a four poster bed and all the top utilities that
you
wouldn’t normally expect from a holiday hotel such as dishwasher,
washing
machine and dryer, US style fridge/freezer with ice maker, DVD player,
two
large TV’s, internet connection, two three piece suites and much more.
We
then looked at one which had it’s own pool and this was the icing on
the
cake. We knew we had to have it! Over the next few days we discussed
it with
a friend of ours who used to work there and it got the thumbs up. We
were
even advised that once the final stages of building and landscaping
work
currently going on there is completed, the price should rise quite
significantly. This was good enough for us and before the week was out
we
had returned to complete the deal. We now have our own place in
Barbados for
a week each September for life! Not only that, but as it is the
highest RCI
rated hotel out of the 4000+ worldwide hotels that it features, it can
be
swapped for most other hotels in the world for 2 weeks. This includes
the
very impressive Bougainvillea. So, although we usually do manage to
get to
Barbados each year, this now confirms it. We can even go this year but
are
going to carry this week forward to September 2005 where we can have 2
weeks
at The Crane. So much for my plan to save money! We are very pleased
with it
though.

Monday night we went to the Harbour Lights beach party, and overall it
was a
bit of a letdown. First of all, it was busier than normal, plus we
were
still tired from jetlag and ended up getting the scheduled bus home at
10.30pm for the first time ever! We usually end up staying and getting
a
taxi home at about 1am. On arrival back at the hotel I found that I’d
left
my digital camera and spent some time ringing HL to see if they could
find
it. They couldn’t and this really ruined the night.

The next morning we went to Bridgetown and bought a new one. A very
decent
price too thanks to the duty free, but despite it being a lot better
than my
old one it was still money spent that could have been avoided. To cap
it all
off, within 10 minutes of getting back to the hotel we received a
phonecall
from the very helpful manager at HL who said that he’d made enquiries
and a
camera had been found on the bus that brought us back the previous
night. We
now have two cameras!

The following day we did our “round the island” car trip, which was as
good
as ever. Going up the east coast first we stopped at the Roundhouse to
find
it closed for renovations, and instead went to the Edgewater Inn, as
our
second choice – The Atlantis Hotel, didn’t look that impressive. We
then
went to North Point and immediately were stopped by the vendors on the
road
leading up to it. We usually do buy something so we got out to have a
look.
However, there was nothing that we fancied so we left and made the
promise
that we’d stop on our way back. At North Point we noticed that some
changes
had been made to the place. There were a few more vendors there and
some
fencing had been put up near to the cliff edges. In general it looked
a lot
nicer. One thing they have also built is a bench right on the cliff
edge of
the previously barren wild rocks that lead out to the sea and built a
hut
over it. It also had a fence on the edge protecting those who sat
there from
accidentally falling as they climbed onto it. However, it was still so
scary
to even get onto the bench that I decided against this manoeuvre and
instead
chose to take a few pics of it and return to the safety of the bar!

After a stay at North Point we drove away and as we approached the
vendors
we slowed down but then noticed that they were in discussion with
themselves
and had not realised we were coming. Quickly I hit the gas and we
sailed
through before they could react. We sped off to the shouts of “Come
back!”
We laughed.

We drove down the West Coast and after a long wait in traffic due to
an
accident (quite a bad one), we made our way to Mullins Beach where we
had a
nice swim and walked along the almost deserted beaches alongside the
millionaires beach abodes.

After this we hit the highway and avoided Bridgetown at rush hour.
Unfortunately I believed Liz’s directions and we accidentally ended up
heading in the wrong direction towards Bridgetown again. We eventually
ended
up somewhere the other side of the Garrison which was quite a way out
of our
way but at least we knew our way back from there. Overall a very good
day
and we got plenty of sun!

We ate at Café Sol that night and it was as good as ever. Pity the
service
was as slow as ever too!

The next day I went to watch England play Switzerland on the huge
screens at
Bubba’s and thoroughly enjoyed England’s 3-0 victory along with
numerous
pints of Banks beer! Back at the hotel we played football in the hotel
gardens and I had the pleasure(!) of being up against Rohan Ricketts.
I’d
like to blame the alcohol for how I struggled, but I think I would
have
anyway. I paid the price for this though as I’d failed to do any
stretches
beforehand and I pulled a few muscles which made it uncomfortable for
a few
days afterwards. I was pretty pleased with some of my performance
though and
to be told I had “good technique” and be praised for a “wonderful
pass”
(cross field – left footed straight to my team mate) by a professional
footballer made up for it.

The next night was Friday and that meant Oistins was the venue. We ate
at
the Fish Net as usual and got there early. However, a lot of pre
orders
meant we had to wait quite a while for our food. Whilst eating the
meal we
got talking to a couple who turned out to have a timeshare at the next
room
to us at The Crane. It’s a small world!

We stayed at Oistins till about 11pm and then got a taxi back after
having
plenty of rum and coke overlooking the sea. A good night.

The Jolly Roger is a trip we missed last year so we had to do it this.
It
now sets off from The Boatyard and on arrival we were impressed by the
set
up. There’s a large colourful jetty made specifically for it and it
looks
great. Plus we got to see Carlisle Bay for the first time during the
day,
and it looks amazing! We had a great trip and met a nice couple who
were
staying at Almond Beach Club – an Aussie called Nick and his
girlfriend
Winnie (Juanita) from Essex (UK). They were a good laugh and we
arranged to
meet them at Oistins the following week, but unfortunately we had to
cancel
this so didn’t get to see them again. The Jolly Roger ship itself has
changed since last time, the top deck is half the size and not quite
as
good, but it was still a great trip and we ended up doing it again the
following week.

The next day (Sunday) was the day we went back to the Crane to
finalise our
timeshare purchase, and we got to stay for the day in one of their
smaller
apartments. This was good as we got to use the main pool for the first
time
as we were granted resident passes for the day. The pool is the best
I’ve
been in in Barbados and has a 10 foot deep end which is nice. Very
relaxing
and great views over the beach! We spent a lot of the day taking
pictures of
the hotel and grounds and generally relaxing in the luxurious
surroundings.



Part Two to follow…
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