Blogs from Bridgetown, Barbados, Central America Caribbean

When we arrived in Barbados to be honest it was not the best as a crew member was taken ill so we arrived early to get the crew member to hospital. So my first view was a big ocean liner which is not the most spectacular sight when you have come in on a tall ship, however, lets hope the crew member is okay now. Once we had disembarked I must admit I did not think well this looks like a paradise island not in the least I thought is this really Barbados - I thought all the a-list celebrities came here so there must be more than this. Ferida our host at our Airbnb though was so nice she had arranged for us to get into the cottage early as check in was not until ... read more

Apologies for not having been here for a while. Let say that a little collapse of my computer didn't help, and it is not easy to download pics using an Ipad! So I', just short of three months late on blogging, with as you can imagine, a certain of blog behind me. So let's try to catch up, on place at a time! Here is is, our last little stop of our Caribbean trip. After the cruise on the Club Med 2, we stay one night in St Anne on Guadeloupe. I really can't understand why people flight 8 hours to such an island. Not cheap, not specially nice, and if you want to find nice locals, you may want to go somewhere else. So one night was compulsory as there are few inter islands flights ... read more

Madeira 6th January Arriving into Funchal on a warm winter, but their spring morning, it was though we hadn't been away. This was our final stop coming home in 2016.The island is noted for its scenic splendours and Madeira wine. After a shuttle into the town centre, the first thing to notice was that Christmas is still going on. The municipal gardens were still decked with all the lights, father Xmas and his reindeer and sleigh. We were leaving before dark so we weren't able to see it all lit up. The P & O ship Ventura berthed behind us and they were staying until late evening so they would see all the harbour lit up with the lights.Rather than take the tours or the hop on hop off buses which we did on our last ... read more

The last time Roisin and I were in Barbados, Harrison's cave was closed for refurbishment although I still haven't figured out what is there to refurbish in a natural formation such as a cave?! The Year was 2006 and everywhere on the island was caught up in Cricket World Cup fever. The Kensington Oval, their premier cricket venue was nearing completion, the Garfield Sobers highway was being extended and Harrison's cave was closed for refurbishment. We had hired a car during our ten day vacation. Harrison's cave was not the easiest attraction to find. After a few hours of frustration we headed back to Almond Cottage in the Christchurch Parish only to be told by the proprietor of Harrison's cave's temporary closure. The cave is situated (somewhere) in the middle of the island between 30-40 minute's ... read more

Geo: 13.11, -59.61Our third Caribbean port was Bridgetown, Barbados. We docked there about 7am but it was after 8 when we were given the all clear to leave the ship. We had had breakfast so about 8-20am we disembarked without the crush of the last two ports. At the Terminal it was far more organised with a taxi dispatcher taking charge. A Best of Barbados tour was advertised at $US25 each but when we asked we were told that you needed a group of about 14 for that price. When we said we just wanted to go by ourselves we were told $US 80 in total for two and a half hours. That sounded good to us as the onboard tours were at least that per head.Our taxi driver was Anne. She wanted to know what ... read more